Out of the Heart

Matthew 5:20-24
Genesis 4:1-8

In 1991, two hikers, who were hiking at a high elevation through the Italian Alps, stumbled across a body frozen in the ice. They alerted the authorities who got together a team to retrieve the body. Initially it was thought to be the body of some mountaineer who perished climbing the mountain. But they soon learned that the body was of a man from some 5,300 years ago who they named Otzi the Iceman, after the Otztal Alps in which he was found. As you can imagine many scientists gathered to research Otzi, and they learned a number of interesting things.

They learned that his last few meals consisted in part of deer meat and wheat bread. His clothes, unsurprisingly, were made of all different kinds of animal leather. He had various kinds of tools: fire making kit, bow and arrows, a bronze ax, and even some herbs they identified as used for medicinal purposes. And, they also learned how he died. Now, keep in mind where Otzi was found, not resting peacefully at some burial site, but covered in ice on a mountain. So, how did he die? He died due to being shot in the back with an arrow. They surmise that even if Otzi had been treated with the methods of modern medicine the he still would have died from his wound. So, it was a fatal shot.

Now, of course, it’s pure speculation as to the details of why Otzi was killed. But if, for the sake of argument, we assume it was murder, then even though we don’t know the details, we do know the general outline of what happened. Right? Someone, for whatever reason, got it into their mind and heart that Otzi should die, and what was conceived in their mind and heart gave birth to an arrow in the back. We know that would be fairly accurate, if in fact he was murdered, because we know that no matter how long humans have been around, some things just don’t change. And one thing that hasn’t change in 5,300 years is that the evil that humans do is the result of the evil that humans dream up in their own minds and hearts.

As it’s put in James chapter 1, “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.” The problem is, and always has been, the human heart.

We find that same problem in the early chapters of Genesis with Cain and Abel. Cain is jealous of his brother Abel because God found Abel’s sacrifice more acceptable than his own. Cain is angry, enraged by this. But notice what the Lord says to Cain. First there’s the question, “Why are you angry?” As if to say, “What does your brother’s sacrifice have to do with you. You worry about yourself, if you do well, you will be accepted.” But, instead of focusing on himself and what he might do to better himself, Cain focuses on his brother and becomes enraged. But, notice what else the Lord says, “…if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” And the question is, where is this sin lurking? It’s lurking within Cain’s own mind and heart as he ruminates and nurses his resentment.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that the righteousness of his followers should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. That’s an astounding statement, because in Jesus’s own day if any were considered righteous it was the scribes and Pharisees. But throughout his ministry, Jesus will show that there is a way to keep the law on a very surface level, and then there is the heart of the law, the spirit of the law. And it is this heart of the law where true righteousness is found. In fact, as soon as Jesus says that true righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, he gives several examples, one of which we read.

So, he begins, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” What is Jesus referring to when he says, “You have heard it said to those of ancient times”? He’s referring to the reading of the law in the synagogue. On the Sabbath, they would hear the law read. And, it was the law that was given to the ancient Hebrews on Mt. Sinai. “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times.” And, of course, part of that law they would hear read was the commandment, “You shall not murder.”

Now, if we take that commandment at its face value, the way to fulfill it would be by simply not committing murder, which hopefully seems easy enough. But Jesus is going to say that keeping that command entails much more than just not going around killing folks. The commandment is also going to include how we think about folks, how speak to them. He says, “…if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; 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 (in other words-condemnation).

Now, I think at face value, what he is saying here may strike us as extreme. If I am enraged at someone, I’m liable to judgment? If I insult someone or call them an idiot, I’m liable to condemnation? Who hasn’t done these things? But, that’s part of his point. Although not everyone has committed murder, the heart of all humanity has within it the same seed which gives birth to all kinds of sin and malevolence and destruction.

There’s this story about a monk, he was about 80 years old. He said when he would get up in the morning, his cell would be frigid cold, so he would always work his way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He said the cup of coffee would warm him up and get him moving on those cold mornings. So, one morning he goes to the kitchen and there’s only one cup of coffee left. He knows that there’s two other monks, about his same age, that will want that one cup of coffee as much as he does. He thinks about it for a moment, and then he quickly pours the coffee into his cup and walks away. He said, the rest of that day it bothered him that he had done that. It wasn’t that taking that last cup of coffee was that big a deal, it wasn’t. But he understood that the selfishness within him, which led him to disregard the simple needs of his brothers and take that last cup of coffee was the same seed in his heart that when it matures gives birth to all kinds of selfish, self-centered acts against others. In other words, no matter how good a monk he was, he knew he still had it in him.

Jesus taught that the one who is faithful with very little, will also be faithful with much. And the one who is unjust in little things, will be unjust in greater things. The idea is that no matter the act, great or small, it all comes from the disposition of the person’s heart. Everything we do, whether great or small, it all begins in the small space of the heart. This why Paul will continually say things like, be renewed in the spirit of your minds. Get your head right, and the rest will follow. Or, he’ll say, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Or to paraphrase Jesus, it is out of the heart that everything else comes.

And that’s really the point of what Jesus is saying in this passage about the commandment. If in my heart I belittle that other person and see them as somehow less than, if in my heart I find joy in seeing them fail or seeing trouble come into their lives, if in my heart I see them as no better than an idiot or a fool, instead of a creature created in the image of their Creator, then I have already trespassed the heart, the spirit of the commandment.

Notice the last part of our passage. “So, when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Notice how Jesus ties together true worship with our relationship with others. So far, all that we’ve said pertains to the individual heart. The idea has been, get the heart right, and the rest will flow out of that. But, the end goal of that heart made right, is right relationship with God and others.

What Jesus is teaching here is simply the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31, the promise that God will transform hearts and minds so that people will live as God intended them to live: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest…for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”