ࡱ> egd` "6bjbjss 8X".X2X2X2X2<2D9*222223339999999$:h(=n;9[633[6[6;922P9!8!8!8[6:229!8[69!8!8!822 pfX26!89f909!8=q7=!8=!83m4|!84dM5333;9;9 83339[6[6[6[6 Bite My Tongue Matthew 5:33-37 Read Matthew 5:33-37 So we are able to stay completely focused on the meaning of this text, Im going to begin by first clarifying what it doesnt mean Jesus says in v. 34 ( Do not swear at all. -by swear He is not referring to profanity or cussing...not that those are okbecause several other N.T. passages address this sin but this text is not one of them --the context clearly points to taking an oath -by swear He is not saying that a Christian must not ever take a formal oath --some Christians interpret it that way and therefore will not say the words I swear...and thats fine --of course, many of us here today have done just that in court, for the military, as an elected official, or even at your wedding ---but if you remember the previous three issues Jesus has tackled, all of them were a move away from the external, superficial, letter-of-the-law kind of obedience...and He has emphasized, instead, the spirit of the law...as well as what goes on in our mind and our heart and our speech ----in the very least, we know Jesus isnt rewriting the command or adding to it...rather, He is giving us its full meaning and significance -and to grapple with that, we need to understand how swearing became such an integral part of first-century Judaism Going all the way back to the time of Moses, taking oaths in Gods name was not only practiced, it was called for...just one example: -Deuteronomy 10:20 ( Fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. --but like most of us tend to do, they took a relatively simple command and complicated it to the point where the point was completely missed In Jesus day there were two primary abuses -some were swearing about everything, regardless of its importance --for example, I might say, I swear by Busch Stadium that Carabbas has the best Italian food in Kansas City. ---the effect was that Ive watered down my oath so that its virtually meaningless --in college I worked in the Admissions Office with a woman who, by habit, ended every conversation with thank you ---what seemed at first to be polite eventually became quite hollow so that when she actually meant thank you no one believed her or even noticed -the other abuse was swearing by something invalid --get thisthe Jews had two books that divided oaths into two categoriesones you had to keep and those you didnt ---the difference was who or what you chose to swear by ----swearing to God, of course, was a keeper ----swearing by the earth meant nothing...it wasnt binding ----swearing by Jerusalem wasnt binding, but swearing toward Jerusalem was very much binding -the whole thing was, of course, ridiculous...a persons word meant nothing unless it was coded correctly...and the system eventually allowed a person to lie while appearing to be telling the truth --it makes 21st-century political advertising seem rather innocent ---and its into this 1st-century mess that Jesus steps Read Matthew 23:16-22 Lets read our text again, with this now in the forefront of our minds Read Matthew 5:33-37 What is Jesus saying to them...and to us? A follower of Jesus Christ should not need to sweareverbefore speaking the truth -your word, my word should always be so reliable that nothing more is necessary --when I speak you should believe me --when I speak I should expect you to believe me -REB translates v. 37 ( Plain Yes or No is all you need to say. --dont cheapen your integrity by feeling the need to make dramatic oathstruth stands quite well on its own merits Not many seven-year-old baseball players are written about in Sports Illustrated, but in 1993, first baseman Tanner Munsey was -he was playing t-ball in Wellington, Florida, when he fielded a ground ball and then tried to tag a runner going from 1B to 2B --the umpire, Laura Benson, called the player out, but Tanner ran over to her and said, Ma'am, I didn't tag the runner. ---ah, the innocence of childrennot smart, but innocent --to reward young Tanner Munsey, Mr. Honesty, the ump reversed her call and sent the runner to second base -just goes to show youintegrity often comes with a price tag Tanners story reminds me of me...but not in the way youd think -I was a fresh, young, nave, Air Force second lieutenant in 1987 --I was a deputy missile combat crew commander, serving with Tony, my crew commander -back in the day, some colonels at wing headquarters would get together every few weeks and select a crew of the month --it was a relatively big honor that recognized crews who had performed well under less-than-ideal circumstances ---to get it, however, you had to have something really bad happen to you...and I just figured that I wasnt that lucky -but during one alert, we had some maintenance guys welding in the missile capsule when they ignited some insulation --there were flames, real flames...and we were stuck 110 feet under ground, locked behind a 6-ton steel/concrete blast door --that cant be good...before I could even move, the maintenance chief grabbed an extinguisher and had the fire out in seconds -a few days later, Tony showed me the write-up he was going to submit for us to get nominated for crew of the month --funnysee, the way Tony remembered the incident, the raging inferno had engulfed the entire capsule, and with the safety of the free world hanging in the balance, he (Tony) courageously leapt through the flames to get the extinguisher and save the total nuclear arsenal of the Strategic Air Command...thereby preserving freedom and democracy for another day ---I put up a mild, mumbled protest about not remembering it happening quite that way, but he assured me that such bravado was pretty much expected in these reports, so that made it okbesides, those maintenance guys probably ever read the base paper anyway -sure enough, we wonhow can you beat a fire with real flames? --I was uncomfortable accepting the certificate from the wing commander in front of the other crew members...but I figured when youre a hero, it all goes with the territory when you are surrounded by mere mortals ---after 3-4 weeks of telling the story, I had come to believe it myself...and sometimes my story included me performing CPR on those poor maintenance chumps --guess what? these poor maintenance chumps do read the base paper...and the very next issue they printed a retraction: The recent capsule fire at Delta-01 was extinguished by tech sergeant Steve Jeryk of the 341st MSS, not by lieutenants Brown and Morgan, as previously reported. We regret this error and commend tech sergeant Jeryk and his team for their quick thinking and commitment to the safety of the weapon system and the well-being of the missile crew. I didnt lie...but neither did I tell the truthwhich carries the same consequences...I was just as guilty as Tony -he justified it as merely elaborating the truth...but he was lying --I justified my silence as support for my commander...but the truth is that by not telling the truth, I still lied -just as James 4:17 leaves no doubt ( Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesnt do it, sins. --I knew exactly what I should do, but I didnt have the courage nor the conviction to do the right thing See? I told you that my story and Tanners have a lot in common -but the similarities dont end there Back in Wellington, Florida, just two weeks later, Laura Benson was again the umpire and this time Tanner was playing shortstop -on one play, Benson ruled that Tanner had missed the tag on a runner trying to advance to 3B, and she called the runner safe --Tanner, obviously disappointed, threw the ball to the pitcher and returned to his position --Benson asked him what was wrong, and he quietly replied, I tagged him. -would you like to know what the ump did this time? --she yelled, Youre out! and sent the runner to the dugout ---of course, the opposing coach rushed the field to protest, and Benson explained what had happened 2 weeks earlier ----the coach turned around, walked back to the bench, completely satisfied with the call Three years after the inferno fiasco, I was the commander of an evaluation crew assessing another crews proficiency in the capsule -the crew made a critical error during a security situation --I had no choice but to call their squadron commander, tell him of the incident, and inform him that he needed to send a new crew to replace this current crew, because they were by regulation, deemed unqualified for duty ---he was furious with me and ordered me to disregard the entire incident...I refused and again cited the regulation -the following morning, my deputy and I were called to meet with a roomful of angry colonels who demanded we withdraw the error because it made the entire wing look bad --one said, You know, gentlemen, that its basically your word against theirs. You have no proof. Youre asking us to believe this happened simply because you say so. *PAUSE* Id never connected these AF incidents until 2 days ago -Friday morning I realized they are linked in a way I dont like --no...no colonel screamed, Its you! Youre the same guy who didnt tell the truth about the capsule fire three years ago! ---in fact, Im sure none of them remembered it -but heres the thing...I wanted to say, Colonel, you know me. You know my integrity. Truth is something I never violate. My word is is my honor and I would not compromise it for you, for that crew, nor for my own benefit. --but I had to bite my tongue...and remain silent ---sure, I was telling the truth now, but the ramifications of failing to tell the truth back then were still haunting me --do you think it would have made any difference if Id been able to say, Sir, 3 years ago, my commander wrote a fraudulent citation that would have easily gotten us crew of the month. Despite the obvious risks, I stood up to him and exposed the truth. 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