September 19, 2004 - Lesson: Matthew 16.19b (13-19)

SERMON TITLE: Staying Within the Lines

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INTRODUCTION:

One night, a hotel guest stepped into the hallway to go to the ice machine and accidentally locked himself out. The problem was he was in his underwear.

Knowing he had no choice, the guest went downstairs, across the lobby and up to the front desk. He asked for another key to his room.

The young lady looked at him and said, I'm sorry, sir, but before I give you another key, I need to see some identification.

  1. Key - Identification; Identification - Key

    1. He couldn't have one without the other.

    2. Identification is not the only necessity.

    3. The keys and what they provide are also a necessity.

MAIN BODY:

  1. You have the keys to the kingdom.

    1. Last Thursday, Helga and I attended the American Players Theater performance of Cymbeline.

      1. To get into the play you need a ticket.

      2. To get into the kingdom you need a ticket.

    2. The keys are the teachings of Jesus Christ.

30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name, (John 20:30-31, NRSVA).

6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life, (Romans 5:6-10, NRSVA).

    1. So you have the keys what do you do with them?

    2. You use them to bind and to loose.

    3. To bind is to teach what is necessary.

    4. To loose is to teach what is not necessary.

      1. We saw last Sunday how the first major council in Jerusalem dealt with the requirements of the party of the Pharisees who demanded that new-born people of the Way be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.

      2. The council ruled that neither of these rules would be established.

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  1. You need to stay within the boundaries that the keys establish.

    1. Today, at noon, the Green Bay Packers play the Chicago Bears.

      1. A football field has boundaries.

      2. The playing field is 300 feet (100 yards) long and 160 ft wide.

      3. If Donald Driver, Javon Walker or Robert Ferguson catches a pass from Brett Favre they have to stay inbounds, otherwise the pass is incomplete.

    2. For the Christian, life is the playing field.

      1. It is longer than a hundred yards and wider than 160 feet.

      2. It still has boundary lines.

      3. We need to know where they are and of what they consist.

      4. It does make a difference.

      5. It would be tough to get to the end of life and find that you had caught an incomplete pass.

      6. That your ticket was for another destination.

Home For The Holidays (1)

A student was heading home for the holidays.

When she got to the airline counter, she presented her ticket to New York and as she gave the agent her luggage she asked, "I'd like you to send my green suitcase to Hawaii, and my red suitcase to London."

The confused agent said, "I'm sorry, we can't to that."

"Really? I am so relieved to hear you say that because, that's exactly what you did to my luggage last year!"

  1. Can we ever hope to establish the boundary lines?

    1. Let us start with what we see in the teachings of Jesus! (The Sermon on the Mount)

    2. A number of times the idea "You have heard that it was said, but I say unto you" is repeated.

      1. Matthew 5:21 through Matthew 5:48 (NRSVA)

        1. Concerning Murder

21"You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.

        1. Concerning Adultery

27"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

        1. Concerning Divorce

31"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

        1. Concerning Oaths

33"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

        1. Concerning Retaliation

38"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

        1. Love for Enemies

43"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

      1. You have heard that it was said, but I say unto you.

      2. Do these vital teachings of Jesus create boundaries that ought to be understood and observed? Of course!

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    1. These are boundaries that I seek to observe to live and to teach, at least within the limitations of my own humanity.

    2. A few weeks ago during Bible Study I was asked about a sermon

      1. The question was one pastor says one thing, a different pastor says something else and you say something different. Whom are we to believe?

Helga and I first visited you during February 2001.

I will not forget something that was said in the sermon that day.

The speaker was talking about sheep and shepherds.

When the sheep strays the first time, the shepherd goes and brings it back.

If the sheep strays a second time, the shepherd goes and brings it back.

If the same sheep strays a third time, the shepherd brings it back and breaks it's leg.

The same, he said, is true for you.

If you stray once, you will be brought back.

If you stray a second time I will brings you back.

If you stray a third time, I will break your leg.

      1. This is so out of Jesus' character.

        1. In Matthew 12, Jesus meets a man with a withered hand

9He left that place and entered their synagogue; 10a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?" so that they might accuse him. 11He said to them, "Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath." 13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

        1. Matthew in the next section writes about God's chosen Servant, Jesus Christ quoting from Isaiah 42.3

15When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16and he ordered them not to make him known. 17This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 "Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smoldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

      1. You may notice that I do not preach very much from the Old Testament.

        1. I do not do this because the keys are in the New Testament.

        2. There are prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

      2. Our doctrine does not come from the Old Testament.

      3. Our doctrines come from the New Testament.

        1. What is bound is in the New Testament.

        2. What is loosed is in the New Testament.

      4. The boundaries are to be taken from the New Testament.

      5. Jesus not only establishes the keys, but also the boundaries.

        1. What does Jesus do?

        2. What does Jesus teach?

        3. How does Jesus live?

        4. How does Jesus relate to people?

        5. What do the Apostles, both original and chosen have to say about Jesus

        6. What do they tell us about life?

        7. How is life to be lived?

        8. How is life to be understood?

        9. What are we to believe about other people, good or not-so-good?

        10. The basis for life is not law, but love.

        11. Some regulation may be necessary for many, but too much regulation gets in the way.

          1. It squashes the spirit.

          2. It leads to rote observance of rule rather than principal.

Confusion (2)

Hospital regulations require a wheelchair for patients being discharged.

A student nurse found one elderly gentleman--already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet--who insisted he didn't need any help to leave the hospital.

After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let the nurse wheel him to the elevator.

On the way down she asked him if his wife was meeting him.

"I don't know," he said. "She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown."

        1. We are to do no harm.

        2. Violence has no place in the life of the Christian, with the one exception of the immediate protection of family or personhood.

    1. We understand God not through the eyes (minds) of Moses or Job, Elijah or David, Rahab or Deborah.

      1. We understand God through the eyes (mind) of Jesus Christ.

        1. If you have seen me you have seen the Father.

        2. The Father and I are One.

        3. Jesus does not punish people.

          1. The only object that withered at the words of Jesus was a fig tree.

18Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away, (Matthew 21:18-19, NKJV).

          1. This is a fitting object lessons which portrays what will happen to the barren person in the last judgement.

        1. We existed together before creation, fall, incarnation, death and resurrection, and we exist together now!

CONCLUSION

  1. What is bound or loosed means that we are not to teach less than what is in the New Testament.

  2. What is bound or loosed means that we are not to teach more than what is in the New Testament.

  3. What is bound or loosed means that we discover ways in which to live within the boundaries.

Amen.

1. Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke! Crosswalk [You_Make_Me_Laugh@lists.crosswalk.com]

2. from GCFL.net, preachingnow@preaching.com

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