DOUBLE HEADER
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XII (TOPIC: WORDS & JUDGING)
INTRO: This lesson will begin with the Lyle Witcher story from Shoutfest. The story is when a girl will not dance with him because as she states it “your face is hurting me.” Ouch. Then there will be a transition into bad words.
1. WORDS
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:22
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Raca: Raca is an Aramaic word meaning “fool” or “empty-headed.” It implied an abuse towards others. It implied ignorant or senseless, like saying “You Idiot.”
Fool: Mwros is the word here, and it simply means “fool.” Greek for our word for moron fits the closest.
The Difference: In the surface, one word brings people before the judgment of others (technically it implies that they will be held libel for their misspoken word), and the other word brings them before the judgment of God. The difference is that there is no difference. The phrase “fool, idiot” or any other phrase made in a negative light, the Bible is saying is wrong.
What is a Curse Word? In my college linguistics class, we had a discussion on what makes a cuss word a cuss word. I mean, a word or finger gesture in USA that is horrible can mean absolutely nothing somewhere else (an example would be that pointing a direction that we do in USA is often times a rude word in many Eastern European nations).
Regardless, I discovered that curse words fall into 4 categories: an act of defamation of God, an act of sex, bodily excrement/private body parts, & an applied immoral phrase.
Law & Order: The television show Law & Order always has people on trial for murder or other serious charges. Sometimes you will hear a person say, “The deceased was a horrible, awful, evil man and I am glad that he is dead. But I didn’t do it.” The willingly tell the police that they hate someone which is somehow okay, as long as no murder was committed.
That’s the way it works in America, but it is not God’s way. To man, it is all about the external, to God, it is all about the internal. That is why this phrase was so shocking to the people listening.
It’s a Heart Issue:
BIBLE VERSE: Luke 6:45
6:45 The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.
Danger of the Fire of Hell: This phrase Jesus uses here is Gehenna. Gehenna was a giant trash heap that was always burning trash, it really never ever stopped. Dead bodies were actually thrown into it, and it gave off a serious, serious glimpse of what hell might be like!
Jesus did not mean “if you call someone a fool you are going to go to hell.” What he meant was, a sin is a sin and all sin throws us into hell. It is NOT okay to say such things. Say again, it’s NOT okay. NOT. NOT.
Oh by the way, how is your facebook going?
2. JUDGING
Transition Explanation: After the ill words are spoken, what happens next? Judgment. The person hears of the horrid words and wants to confront them, so then there is all the makings of a court case, which happens right there in our high school and middle school settings.
Transition: Weird Lawsuits
Go online and find some recent weird lawsuits. For this particular case, I clicked on Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time for the ones I used (they wouldn’t cut and paste, so you will have to find your own).
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:25
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Quick Questions:
At what speed should the matter be settled in? Quickly.
When should you do it? Even on the way there. Avoid courts at all costs.
Who could be at blame if a judge hears it? Honestly, who knows?
What could happen to you? Punishment.
Settling out of Court: In USA, only about 5% of cases actually go to court, in almost all cases, the lawyers on both sides work to keep the case out of court. Why? Because if both lawyers can get a good settlement for their client, they win. Otherwise, there always exists the chance of losing the major court case.
Courts Back Then: You thinks courts today are tough? Well, back then it was much rougher. Back in the day, judges actually traveled around with their servants in their tents. They set their own agendas, and the only way to hear your case was to pay the judge to have him hear it. Bribes were common and normal.
Getting away from the specific court case scenario…
Pop Psychology: You want to know what is funny, the world is going into a direction that says nobody can judge anyone else, after all, if we haven’t walked a mile in someone’s shoes we cannot judge their actions (and that is true to an extent, for judging others while sinning ourselves is absolutely wrong). Unless of course we are judging Christians I suppose.
BOOK: “SELF-ESTEEM” Many pop psychologists certainly believe that you shouldn’t judge anyone. In their book entitled Self-Esteem, Matthew McKay and Patrick Fanning argue that moral judgments about people are unacceptable. They write: "Hard as it sounds, you must give up moral opinions about the actions of others. Cultivate instead the attitude that they have made the best choice available, given their awareness and needs at the time. Be clear that while their behavior may not feel or be good for you, it is not bad."
So moral judgments are not allowed. You cannot judge another person’s actions, even if you feel that it is wrong. McKay and Fanning go on to say why: "What does it mean that people choose the highest good? It means that you are doing the best you can at any given time. It means that people always act according to their prevailing awareness, needs, and values. Even the terrorist planting bombs to hurt the innocent is making a decision based on his or her highest good. It means you cannot blame people for what they do. Nor can you blame yourself. No matter how distorted or mistaken a person’s awareness is, he or she is innocent and blameless."
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? The reason the world wants to convince others to never, never, never, never ever point out someone’s sin is so that people can sin more! And they want to sin more without consequences.
RIDICULOUS FISH STORY: Let’s imagine I was in a big fish tank. Okay, and while I was in this fish tank, one of those giant sucker fish came over and bit me right in the thigh hurting me a bit and just held on. What should I do? Yup, pull it off! Then another one comes on, then another, then another. What should I do? At the very least, pull them off, if not get out of the pool.
But what do we do as Christians, we surround ourselves in sin, it crouches all around us. And then it latches onto us. And rather than pull it off, we just take it like we are suppose to be there, which is crazy. Then after the pain is so unbearable, we hop out of the pool, yank about 15 fish off of us, skin and all, and say hey “now I am more relatable to the world.” Come world, and accept Jesus, because I have giant pussy sores all over me too! (what do you think happens when the person with the sores marries another with even more sores, and we wonder why divorce is happening all over).
Clean: No! The world wants to be clean, and they will get clean while seeing us clean. And staying clean means staying out of places and situations that make us unclean, staying away from others legitimate judgments by doing things right, pure and holy.
Sources:
Bell, Chip. If Looks Could Kill (Matthew 5:21-26) Fellowship Bible Church Arapaho, Texas, Series: Kingdom Code, March 4, 2004.
Fanning, Patrick & Matthew McKay. Self-Esteem.
Keathley, Hampton. The Unjust Judge and the Persistent Widow. Technical director for bible.org.
NAME: ______________________________________
DOUBLE HEADER
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART XII (TOPICS: WORDS & JUDGING)
1. WORDS
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:22
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘____________________________,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘_____________________________l!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Raca means ___________________________________________________
Fool means _____________________________________________________
What is a curse word? 1. _________________________________ 2. ________________________
3. _________________________________ 4. ________________________
Law & Order: __________________________________________________________________________
It’s a _________________________________ Issue:
BIBLE VERSE: Luke 6:45
6:45 The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his ________________________________.
Danger of the Fire of Hell: _______________________________________________________________.
2. JUDGING
Weird Lawsuits (Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time): ___________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:25
Quick Questions:
At what speed should the matter be settled in? ____________________________________________
When should you do it? ____________________________________________
Who could be at blame if a judge hears it? ____________________________________________
What could happen to you? ____________________________________________
Pop Psychology: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
Ridiculous Fish Story: ___________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
Clean: _______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________