Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not foreswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by the head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea: Nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Matthew 5:33-37

Jesus words here can appear hard to understand. Is He condemning oaths? If so, then that would contradict the instruction on vows in Deuteronomy 23. What about marriage vows? Is the church in sin when we ask the head of household to make membership vows? No Jesus is not condemning oaths. He is condemning man in his pride and arrogance. 

You have given your word to do something. Good. But that is all you can do. If your word is not good on it’s own than extra promising won’t help. You cannot back your word up by swearing it by heaven or by earth or even by swearing upon your own head. Your own life cannot guarantee your word because you don’t have control over even that. Can you keep your hair from turning gray? No. Can you keep your hair from falling out? No. Then stop acting like you have control over all of life. Yes, be honest, all the way down to your toes. When you say you will do something, do it. Keep your word. Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Parents, this is incredibly important for you. Never allow the word “maybe” to become codeword for “no”. Don’t say “I’ll do it in a little bit” with the knowledge that you will run out of time and then never do it. Protect the value of your word at all costs. But combine truthfulness with the humble knowledge that you are just a man. You will wake up tomorrow morning only if it is the Lord’s will. Check your pride. Check your promises. You are not God. Your days are like grass and your plans are a vapor. 

Zach Browning – March 3, 2024

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One of the high callings placed upon our lives is letting our reasonableness be made known to all. I say this is a high calling, and it always is. But it is particularly high in times of decay. You must let your reasonableness be known to all while everyone plunges head over heels into an abyss of irrationality. You must not be pushy when everyone is shoving. You must not be demanding over small things when the order of the day is to screech on the internet over the slightest offense. 

So you must let your reasonableness be made known to all. But that does not mean that it is your duty to get unreasonable people to acknowledge your sanity. You must let your light shine amid the darkness. But only God can give the blind eyes to see. Do not be shocked because the decaying doesn’t recognize the fruitful or because the void cannot comprehend substance. Your duty is to be fruitful, be substantial, do good works and ask the Lord to bring the growth. Your assignment is not to shave off the corners of your normalcy in order to get the fringe to accept it. Neither is your assignment to fall into begging other Christians to see how normal you are. 

We are dealing with a battle over the definition of normal at the moment. But you will be far more persuasive if you actually carry on with doing reasonable deeds than you will by protracted conversations about your reasonable deeds. The proof is in the bright-eyed children, the happy marriage, the sourdough, the respectful and hardworking football team, the generous financial gift, the robust psalms, the honorable business, and all the feasting, gratitude, and joy. If you want to see our reasonableness, we say with the Apostle Paul, “these things have not been done in a corner.”

Jared Longshore – February 25, 2024

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One of the most important spiritual vital signs is whether you have a low-grade fever of fear. Do you wince easily? Is your mind tangled up with nightmares of all the scenarios of things going wrong? Have you been fretting over all the bad things in the headlines, and letting your emotional state be dictated by oil prices in Saudi Arabia? This sort of fear is rightly described in Scripture as having torment.

Fear will sap your strength and will. It will rob your joy. Your voice will quaver in timidity instead of being raised in praise. Letting fear wander the hallways of your life unchecked will make it certain that you only do the safest of things. You won’t stand up against evil. You won’t venture out of your comfort zone. You’ll be confined to the small chamber of safety, as defined by all your fears.

But where God’s Spirit dwells, there His love dwells too. This love, we are told, casts out our fears. If you know that God has manifested His love to You through Christ, and your sins are forgiven and abundant and everlasting life is your birthright you can walk fearless.

Whereas fear confines you, God’s love is deep and wide and long. This is why the attribute which defined the early church was that of boldness. It is how Acts describes the early Christians, and it is what Paul asks the church to pray that he would have, even in his imprisonment. Now, this boldness doesn’t mean being a loud-mouth. Rather, this boldness is the straightforward declaration of the Gospel, and the fruit of a life assured of this Gospel. The security of knowing that God’s love is upon you and dwells in you, wherever you go makes you fearless regardless of any persecution, famine, distress, or peril you might encounter.

God’s people throughout history have been marked by their fearlessness. They have rebuked kings, faced down armies singlehandedly, put the enemy to flight, and preached righteousness to a stiff-necked people. They have done this because they feared not man, while reverently fearing God Almighty. When we get this backward it cripples our witness, confines our lives, and kills our joy. May God forgive us for trembling before the threats and worries of this world, instead of standing steadfast and certain in His love. And may He grant unto us a true evangelical boldness to live and declare His truth in this dark age we live.

Ben Zornes – February 25, 2024

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”

The righteousness that the Lord speaks of here can seem a bit ambiguous. The word righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) is used at times to refer to personal righteousness: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. But this word can also be translated as “justice,” which requires more of a social focus. 

What the Lord has in mind here can be nothing short of righteousness in all its forms and in every sphere of human existence. The Lord wants sinful men to receive his imputed righteousness in justification and that they might then, in turn, live righteous and fruitful lives. And when groups of these men get together to form churches, cities, and states, the inevitable result is a righteous and just society built upon the law of God. When such societies exist, they promote the true religion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which in turn causes more sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus and receive his imputed righteousness. And on and on the cycle goes, world without end. 

But if that is the case, if the Lord blesses a hunger and thirst for righteousness in all its forms, it ought to raise the stakes for us and humble us. 

It raises the stakes for us by keeping us ever aware of two ditches. This sort of thinking keeps us from getting comfortable in a pietistic bubble of individual and emotional religion that has no concern for love of neighbor in the cultural or political space. Christ will have just cultures. Christ will have just politics. 

At the same time, this keeps us from falling down the ditch of the social Gospel that cares little for personal adherence to the law of God, and that seeks to redefine “justice” according to the latest trending fads in the media. 

And it ought to humble us. Christ uses the analogy of hunger and thirst. It’s as if he says, “Blessed are those who are empty, who have no righteousness in themselves.” Their emptiness reminds them of their great need and desire for that which only the Lord can provide. The promise is that such persons will be filled, not that they will fill themselves. We bring our emptiness, and the Lord fills us to the brim. We bring our hunger, and he satisfies us. James reminds us that we cannot anxiously grasp after righteousness. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a good gift from his hand if only we as individuals, as a church, and as a people would recognize our great need for it, desire it with utter desperation, and cling to the promise here. Should we do that, we shall be filled.

Zach Wilke – February 25, 2024

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