What if Jesus means what he says?

I got disappointed this last week.

Not for the usual reasons I get disappointed, no sir.  This time, it was about something totally different
. This time it was about the notes in my study Bible.  I glanced at my notes, and I was surprised to find that I totally disagreed with them.  I disagreed with them as a Lutheran.

Now, the 'as a Lutheran' distinction is important, becasue here I am, in the position of holding up the merits of the Scriptures as completely inerrant.  This means that the Bible is literally true in what it says, and that we as Christians who read the Scriptures have to let them say what they plainly say.  Okay, great.  Now that we've established that particular rule, then here comes the hammer-blow:

WHY IS THAT SO HARD?

You and I, average Joe Luther, we get a little smug when there are churches that are blessing animals, or using juice for communion, or believing that the earth is like, really really old, guys, and we get all smug and say to them, and to everyone else, that they should just let the Bible say what it plainly says already.  We use this as our ammunition to blast away at other denominations, stating that we, as Lutherans, have the pure, undivided, unadulterated truth of the Holy Scriptures, because we let the Bible just say what it says and we don't try to insert ourselves into it.

Until we do.

Yes, Lutherans, we are as guilty of this as everyone else, just in other directions.  We are people who know what the scriptures say, and that works when we want to hear it, but it works less well when

we don't want to hear it.  Unlike other denominations, though, we're not all bent out of shape about women's ordination, or the age of the earth, but we're bent out of shape about works.  And this ends up being one of our biggest weaknesses.  You see, because of the way we approach works and grace, because of the way that we approach the operation of Christ and his work that he does.  And central to the notion of the Lutheran esthetic is the idea of Grace.

"For it is by grace that you have been saved, and not through works, lest any man should boast"

That's the scriptures saying what they plainly say, and we hold verses like this very dear.  When Jesus tells us that we did not choose him, but rather that he chose us, we hold to that strongly, and show it proudly, show it off to the other denominations that are all works focused, and we pity them for not having the pure Gospel, the pure truth of the Gospel of Christ, that tells us that we are saved by Grace alone.

And that works, until you realize that Jesus has a lot to say about works.  What Jesus has to say about works is desperately cutting, blazing through us like a torch.  What Jesus has to say about works gives us pause for fear and trepidation, it makes us concerned down to our cores in a way that perhaps we can't even articulate, because we want to run and hide from it basically constantly.  We live in perpetual fear of the reality of what Jesus Christ says about works and their place in the kingdom of God.  This is most especially pronounced in the sermon on the mount, perhaps ironically.  The sermon on the mount is part of scripture that everyone claims to like an awful lot, because it discusses people being blessed and so on.  But there is more to it than that.  It doesn't just tell you that you're blessed when people are mean to you (though it does tell you that).  It tells you that you've got some serious stuff to do.  It tells you that if someone asks you to go one mile, you should go two miles with them.  If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer them your other cheek as well.  If someone sues you for your coat, give them the shirt off your back.  And you, average Joe Luther, you have a couple of questions to ask yourself about that, which is that in this situation, will you let the Bible say what it plainly says?

Most of us won't.  Most of us will do our best to wrangle and to force this passage into saying what we want it to say.  And most of the time, what we wrestle it into saying is what we're already doing.  We wrestle and force this passage into making it not just say what we want it to say, we wrestle the passage into instead of it being what it plainly says, we end up wrestling it ito saying hte complete opposite.  When the Scriptures have Jesus saying 'Give to anyone who would ask of you, and do not refuse anyone who would borrow from you,' what we take that to mean is that we shouldn't give to any common rascal, but rather should save our resources for our family, and the people whom we ought to be helping.  Because surely, Jesus doesn't want you to be a doormat, and just to get walked all over by everyone else.

Doesn't he?  Then why did he say that that was exactly what he wants?

You see, we come face to face with the notion of perfection in these passages, and we don't like what we see.  We come face to face with perfection, with the nature of perfection, of what is essentially required to be perfect, and we explain it away.  We say 'Surely, Jesus doesn't want us to be used.  He doesn't want us to be used up, he doesn't want us to be drained of everything, he doesn't want us to enable those who are users, he wants us to ensure that people who work hard get to enjoy their hard work and the fruit of their labor.  Sweat ownership and all that.  But if that's the case, then, why did he tell us to give without ceasing to anyone who may ask, without stopping to question if it would be a good idea or not?

The deal is, at its core and nature, that perfection, she's a tricky mistress.  Perfection, divine perfection, it's a whole other game than we want to play.  You see, if you explain away what Jesus says in these passages as just being idealistic gas, or as exaggeration for the sake of it, then you'll be missing the larger point.  After telling all the people who are there for the sermon on the mount all that stuff, he then tells them to be perfect, as their heavenly father is perfect.  If you're trying to explain this away, if you're trying to tell me, and more accurately yourself that this is big talk and Jesus is just trying to say something completely different, then you're in trouble with who you think Jesus actually is and what he does.

All these things that Jesus talks about in the Gospel reading, these are things that he does for us.  These are things that he does for us out of his own perfection, and we don't think anything of it.  Take a good long look at what Jesus says is important, and then place it side by side with what he does.

"You have heard that it was said 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.  If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Then, they spit in his face, and struck him, and some slapped him saying 'prophesy to us, you Christ!  Who is it who struck you?' (Matthew 26:67-68)

"If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well."

When they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe ... And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. (Matthew 27:31, 35)

"And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles"

So they took Jesus, and he went out bearing his own cross, to the palce of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. (John 19:17)

"Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

[the theif said]"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said to him "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-43)

Do you see what's hapening here?  Do you see what's going on?  What Jesus is saying is not vague idealistic gas, it's not just some exaggeration that he's never planning on putting together in the first place, he is speaking real, actual, genuine words about what he is going to do.  What perfection is all about.  This is what perfection is all about ,this is where it lives, is in Christ.  If you explain away his words in Matthew as just being for exaggeration, then you have to deal with the fact that he shouldered all of it, and walked it to the cross, including, by the way his dispension of grace to a common rascal who was crucified next to him, who wasn't exactly the most deserving person in the whole world.  But Jesus is serious when it comes to perfection, and really, desperately puts it out there as the cost and weight of glory and majesty.

So look at his words, and then look at yourself.  I know you're tempted to, but don't explain his words

away, don't sweep them under the carpet, don't claim that they're about something else, because they aren't.  Let them say what they say, and then realize how far you still have to come to meet those standards.  Realize that you can't nor ought you even try, to bend those words to fit your life.  And if the scriptures won't bend for you, then you must bend for them.  Bend how, be perfect?  Not likely.  But if you won't be perfect, how best to bend yourself to these scriptures?

By meekly kneeling on your knees, and being in repentance of all the things you have not done.  Repenting of missing the mark on those standards that Christ has plainly set out for you.  Repent for all the blown chances and missed opportunities.  Because it is for this reason that Christ died.  Not just for other people in their shame and such, but for you.  For your sin, for your shame, for your inattention to the standards that Christ has set out for you, and for your justifying your sin, and smudging the words of Christ.

As before, you don't like this passage.  I don't either.  You don't want Jesus to tell you to be a dormat.  But he does.  You don't want Jesus to tell you to give and give and give to users, but he does.  He not only says it, he does it.  Becuase he is perfect.  And it is his perfection that is the only source for our life and grace and righteousness.

PJ.