But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No." For whatever is more than these is from the evil one

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

- Matthew 5:27-37

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7 of Matthew's Gospel (beginning with Monday's reading).   Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  Jesus quotes from the Law regarding adultery (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18).  My study bible says that what is at issue here that Jesus discusses isn't the God-given mutual attraction of men and women.  Rather Jesus is speaking of the selfish promptings of lust.  Sin isn't what nature gives us; sin is rather the distortion of nature for self-indulgence, a kind of greed.  Thoughts that enter our minds involuntarily are not sins.  They are temptations.  They are only sins if held, entertained, nurtured.  Jesus speaks of the importance not only of self-knowledge and self-awareness, but our own capacity for self-mastery -- to put away what feels like a part of us but really isn't healthy for the whole of us, and would tend to drive the whole in a self-destructive path.  My study bible says that Jesus' striking imagery is not to be taken literally; it rather refers to decisive action to avoid sin and to continue in purity.

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."  In Jesus' time, there was easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and a great deal of misuse of divorce.  In fact, there was dispute about divorce between various parties, with the Pharisees coming closer to Jesus' point of view.  Jesus repeated condemns divorce because of misuse (see also 19:8-9).  Instead, He emphasizes the spiritual and eternal nature of marriage.  It is a way of understanding the union of persons with immortal souls.  The possibility of divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality expresses the concept that marriage can be destroyed by sin.  Even our relationship to God is subject to abuse; in this sense it is a fundamental concept of community and love to understand what can be broken by sin and hence abuse.   The implications of the necessity and power of repentance and forgiveness also are evident here in this example.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."   My study bible says here that trust cannot be secured by swearing an oath by things that are not in man's possession anyway.  The only assurance is by simple integrity.

What does it mean that our word is our bond?  In marriage we give our word as commitment.  In some sense, all of today's reading focuses on integrity.  What does our word mean?  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the example of name-calling as akin to murder.  Today we consider what marriage vows mean, and how bonds can be broken by sin, by abuse.  In this light, it is not so strange also that Jesus gives us a teaching about swearing oaths.  By what is our word worth something?  Where is our integrity found?  It may be strange to consider, but once again we come back to the importance of language, of words.  Are our words worth listening to?   Ironically, perhaps, in the age of the internet, the impact of our words, the evaluation of whether what we have to say is worthy of giving voice to those words, is both more needful and more forgotten than ever.  As fast as a person can tweet out a message or post something on Facebook (or even a blog like this one), our words slip into an expanding whirlwind of what it is that passes for commerce, participation, and community.  Rather than drawing us together, thoughtless iterations draw us apart, making actual communication seemingly lesser and lesser.  News which used to be counted upon for factual understanding of events in our world now takes on characteristics of egging on one side or another, for who knows what actual purpose or interest -- and increasingly rather than being able to sort facts for truths we can count on, "news" takes on the appearance of pure conflict without enough substance to give us actual analysis or ability to sort fact from fiction.   It all comes back to Jesus' words here about integrity, what we will swear by, what we can put our own trust into, and what our commitments mean.  When language becomes abused, when our word means nothing but is meant merely to sell or attract attention or distract attention from elsewhere, meaning goes by the wayside.  We're no longer able to trust, and for the public trying to find its way to truth and understanding, obscurity becomes more profound, reality hidden far behind publicity.  Perhaps the most healing act we are capable of making in such confusion is the measured use of our words, and most especially a high value placed on our own integrity.  As my study bible points out, in the end we really own nothing but our own word.  Let us make certain, in the whirlwind of chaos in which we may find ourselves, that our own words have the worth He asks of us.