Ol' Fuzzy's Cave

Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 15

Ol’ Fuzzy’s been gone from this blog too long. Accept my apology for the silence. I’m getting back into it.

Today’s post begins the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. The sermon in Matthew is large enough to span three chapters. Sort of like the sermons of certain somnolence inducing preachers today. Jesus was continuing:

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have blory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”

Again, Jesus is speaking about the intentions behind the actions. If it is your intention to be seen as a good person by the people around you, nothing you do that is good is of any benefit to your soul. Your reward is the acclaim of the people who see you at it. But if you do good out of love for the person in need of it, your reward is in your soul. It is the fullest growth of your soul that Jesus is interested in, not merely the good deeds you may do. That is one definition of love. It is because Jesus loves us that He wants us to grow to the fullest extent of our potential.

The wording about heaven is not referring to some pie-in-the-sky hereafter. Heaven is a realm that is both here and now. Our reward in heaven is also a reward in our own souls. Therefore, doing good for the sake of the one in need is also doing good for the sake of our own souls. Remember that whatever you do in the physical world has an effect in the spiritual and psychoid worlds. The ripples of the act are directed by the underlying intent. So if you intend only to please people, you will have less impact for good in the other realms. But if you act out of love for the one in need, your impact is world spanning.

To act out of love is spontaneous. You don’t have to plot and plan for it. You don’t need trumpets or drums to do it. You just do whatever is necessary to alleviate any problems. Looking at the whole sermon from that point of view, we can see that it is the love that matters, not the act. When you view the world with the same kind of love that God views it, you don’t look for advantages in doing things. You do things to better the lot of others. That is what matters.

I know this is short today, I have a lot on my burner. I will try to be a little more regular in posting these notes.

Ol’ Fuzzy is not employable and was denied for disability benefits. The only thing I have is the blogs. But I don’t qualify for ads on the blogs until September. If you like the scribbles I post, please help me keep it going. You can leave me a gratuity by dropping a buck or two in Ol' Fuzzy's Tip Jar. This is a PayPal account I opened on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.

Friday, April 28, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 14

Let’s finish Chapter 5 of Matthew’s Gospel today.

“43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

There is little hyperbole in this passage. What there is becomes obvious in reflection. It is an exaggeration to say that the “publicans” (literally tax collectors, not bar tenders) all love their neighbors and salute their friends. In fact very few friends would be attracted to the tax collectors of the Roman empire. But the point is to love all without regard to how they treat us. God does not stop loving the sinners who reject Him. He sent Jonah to Ninevah, didn’t He? We are made to be like God. That means we are made to love.

I covered the meaning of the words for love in a prior post on this blog. But the word in this passage, ̓αγαπή, or as we write it agape, is the most intense form of love, that which give of oneself without expectation of return. God loves all of the creation in this way, and we are to emulate Him in that love.

This is the key to all of Jesus’s preaching, to love. The rest of the sermon is centered on it. What came before is the build up, and what follows is more applications of that love. This kind of love is not a feeling, it is an act of will, conscious and intended. We must make up our minds to love, choose to do so every minute of every hour of the day, seven days each week, all year long.

I will write more on the will and its importance in Christian living again in a later post, once I complete the series on the sermons of Jesus. But in this instance the emphasis is on love. Elsewhere Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your mind, all your heart, and all your soul; and... thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On this rests all the law and the prophets.” In His sermons He merely expands on the concept.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 13

Ol’ Fuzzy has noticed that people don’t want to read an exegesis. I guess it was too dry, and the original language was all Greek to most people. So today Fuzzy is going to change tack and make summaries of the scriptures instead of exegeses.

Matthew 5:38-42: “38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that aesthete thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”

In this passage, Jesus engages in the typical Hebraic idiom of hyperbole. He exaggerates to emphasize the point. The point is that we are to be kind in the face of unkindness, good in the face of evil, and generous in the face of greed. We are the example of what is right in the world. But if we act just like everyone else, no one will notice a difference. To be a visible example of difference we must be different.

So let’s look at the specific examples of hyperbole that Jesus uses. To turn the other cheek is unthinkable in the modern society. Our knee jerk reaction is to lash out at those who try to harm us. Stand your ground is the rally cry of today’s popular culture. But in the way of Christ, standing your ground with kindness is the proper response. It takes far more courage to abstain from responding to violence with violence, and evil with evil.

I have faced some of the most violent and evil men in Texas who wanted to do me harm. Most folks wonder why I didn’t fight. By not fighting I won the encounter. Fighting never proves who is in the right, just who is in the wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I stood ready to fend off any attack, and at times I was required to do so. By reacting with peaceful intent, I usually defused the situation. And on the few occasions when I was attacked, by not responding with maximum violence I proved it was possible to treat even those who will you ill with love in your heart for them.

Generosity is not just voting for government handout programs to redistribute tax money. Nor is it merely giving to charities. When you are liable for damages, make it up to the aggrieved party with interest. And if you are compelled to serve, do so willingly and do more than is expected of you. A modern example is the draft. Some people of my generation avoided it by entering college and getting deferment or escaping to Canada. But the ones who not only served but volunteered for officers’ training or specialty schools are examples of the type of service Jesus expects of His followers.

An attitude of gratitude is expressed in the actions of the grateful. If we say we are thankful to God for the blessings He has given us, and we are stingy with those same blessings toward others around us, our words are empty air and don’t please God. The old saw, “Actions speak louder than words,” is very applicable here. Be the blessing God has been to you.

Friday, April 21, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 12

Today we cover the part of Jesus’s sermon on swearing of oaths. People have a tendency to exaggerate the veracity of their statements by swearing an oath. Let’s see what Jesus says about it:

“33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

That is a total condemnation of the practice of swearing. Jesus tells us that it is evil to try to prove your own veracity by an oath. He points out that the need to swear an oath is not evil of itself, but the evil is in the intent to deceive by assuaging the doubt of the listener with an oath that sounds iron-clad. Fact is if what we have to say requires any external proof of veracity, we really ought not bother with saying it.

The Greek word rendered oath, ͑́όρκ͂ος, denotes a limit. And the Greek word rendered swear, ͐ομνύω, denotes the declaration of that limit. These words, used in this context map quite well to the English words with which they are rendered. We use the same concepts in our modern language as the ancients did two thousand years ago.

Jesus goes on to give several examples of oaths sworn the people in His day. The reasons He gives for each oath being withheld are applicable to this day. But the most important message is that the entire concept of swearing to the veracity of your words is based on the intention to deceive others, and thus it is evil. When we are truthful in everything we say, without exaggeration or understatement, then people will notice, and their belief in our veracity will be based on their own experience of prior truths.

So when you have something important to say, follow the admonition used in court to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 11

Today’s passage covers divorce and remarriage. Jesus is chiding the people of Judea for being hardhearted in the way they cast off wives like rubbish. Today the Arab culture is still in the habit of easy, no-fault divorce, but only for men. It had become so discriminatory toward women that God had to tell Mohammad to order protections for women in divorce proceedings. Sort of the opposite of American divorce proceedings where women are offered financial security when their husbands decide to dump them.

“31 It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”

Boy, that looks harsh, especially by today’s standards of marriage. Let’s take a closer look in the light of the culture and the context. In spite of the fact that God viewed women and men as equal in every spiritual matter except their roles in the family and society, the men of Israel viewed women as chattel, little more than property. A woman on her own was treated as a non-person. She could only draw her identity from her husband. Under the Law of Moses, a woman was to receive protection by the writ of divorce her husband had to give her upon dissolution of the marriage. By the time of Jesus, lawyers had found ways to spin this to the advantage of men over women. It had gotten so bad that women were routinely left destitute and helpless, unable to own property in spite of the writ of divorce, and not allowed to claim ownership of their earnings should they find employment. Often women were reduced to the level of prostitution because the society would not allow them to live any other way.

Enter our Lord who saw the intent of the hearts of these men who twisted the law. He condemns the practice of divorce for financial gain, sexual variety or any other excuse that they came up with. The only thing He allowed was a divorce of a bride found to have been sexually active before marriage. Note that He doesn’t require an engaged man to break it off if his bride was sexually active, He merely allowed it.

It is interesting that one meaning of the Greek word used in this context for divorce, απολύω, is also used to denote a criminal pardon. There was no distinction in law in those days between the bondage of a criminal under punishment and a woman in a marriage. Quite often there was little difference in effect either. Jesus worked to make that change.

The solemnity of an oath is lost today, especially the oath of marriage. But in the case of marriage the dissolution of the oath does not undo the spiritual and psychoid bond between the partners. The destruction of a marriage is the most scarring thing that can be done to a human soul, no matter which partner instigates the divorce. Often this scar becomes an impediment to the spiritual growth of the victims. Therefore, divorce should not be entered into for convenience or financial considerations. Only the betrayal of the marriage vow excuses the dissolution of a marriage.

Monday, April 17, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 10

Today I will of necessity be shorter than usual. I have been out running all day. So I am only doing two verses. These two are sort of a bridge between the admonition on sex and the admonition on divorce and vows.

“29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

This passage seems at first to be out of place, not a part of the “You have heard...but I say….” formula of the ones before and after it. Yet it fits into the context by the relevance of the message to those other passages. Jesus is telling us to get rid of the things that tempt us to miss the mark of holiness that God has set.

The Greek word rendered offend thee, σκανδαλίζω, is the source of our modern English word scandalize. Its meaning is to cause you to trip, to trip you up. In the context of a journey, a trap that trips you to delay your progress is doing this. The idea is that it is not an accidental trip, but one deliberately caused, and the thing doing the tripping is aware. From this we can assume He is speaking metaphorically when using the eye as His example. Because a mere ocular organ cannot intend to trip you as you journey, it must be something we hold as precious as our sight and as painful to remove by plucking it out as an eye.

The word is used in both verses, reinforcing the connotation of a metaphor. The two body parts mentioned, the eye and the hand, are both important to the daily routine of an individual in the first century Roman Empire. The cultural significance of the right eye and the right hand must also be examined. The Greek word for right is δεξιός, from which the English word dexterous comes. It simply signifies the right side of the human body. But in Middle Eastern culture a person whose right eye was removed was cursed, and someone whose right hand was removed was assumed to be a thief.

The Greek word rendered cast, βάλλω, denotes an aimed and deliberate throw, much like one throws a baseball. This is not just a casual toss, but a vigorous hurling of the object, in this case to ensure one is rid of it.

The Greek word rendered perish, ͗απόλλυμι, means to utterly destroy, erase from existence. The word is not used in the connotation of simply discarding the object, but eradicating it.

The Greek word rendered hell is γέεννα, referring to the Jerusalem city dump in the Wadi Ben Gehinom, or Hinom Valley, on the Southwest side of the hill on which the city is built. In the dump, there was a stench of rotting garbage, smoke form constant fires, and of course lots of refuse. This is another metaphor. for the place of the damned.

So the conclusion one draws from this is that we should examine our habits and hobbies, like the free sex so prevalent today, which we hold dear and derive a false pleasure from, to see if it causes us to trip on our spiritual journey toward God’s perfect holiness. If it does, we must rip it out of our lives and violently throw it as for from us as we can manage so it can be eradicated from our lives. Then we will be able to continue to follow the road of Christ toward the glorious end He has promised.