YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID OF OLD BUT I SAY TO YOU

“YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID OF OLD, BUT I SAY TO YOU….”

MATTHEW 5:21-37

[21] “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

[22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

[23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

[24] leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

[25] Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

[26] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

[27] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

[28] But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

[30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

[31] “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

[32] But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

[33] “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

[34] But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

[35] or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

[36] And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

[37] Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Lady Gaga, Alice in Chains, Wiz Khalifa, Pitbull & T-Pain. That’s the music that a lot of people are listening to these days. I don’t know. I must be getting old. Some of the music that you hear these days just sounds like a lot of screeching. Oh well, maybe Ken Floyd was right. Ken Floyd is a musician. He said that one of the benefits of hitting middle age is that you can go to the store and find all your favorite music in the bargain bin. The music that people listen to is changing. Even church music is changing and that can be a mixed blessing. Take the preacher, for example, who was invited to play the drums at a contemporary service one Sunday evening. When the band started playing it wasn’t long before the sanctuary was filled with the sounds of a toe tapping rollicking rocking chorus of praise. When the band finished the song they played it again and this time it was even louder. The preacher even had an ear splitting solo on the drums. When the band finally finished playing the preacher went back to the pulpit. “You know,” he said, “playing the drums is a lot like preaching. If you don’t know what you’re doing just do it a little louder.”

One of the advantages of being human is that you get to choose who and what you listen to. If you don’t like the music on the radio you can change the channel. If you don’t like a political pundit on television you can just click the off button on the remote. If friend’s constant complaining keeps dragging you down you can spend less time with that person.