God's heart: Matthew 5:21-32 (Ben Connelly)

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Speaker 3: Every now and then we
come across these tough verses

in the scriptures, and we get to
dive in and go, "Okay, Lord, what

do you have for us in these?"

So, uh, if you wanna open to
Matthew 5, we are gonna spend

our time there this morning.

Um, I am confident enough in
who the Lord has made me to

admit something to you today.

That as a kid, I was wildly
obsessed with Peter Pan.

And like, like multiple Halloweens,
uh, like every book, every picture

book, every choose your own adventure
book, if there was a book out there.

It was the same story, but I
had like 20 different books.

Uh, my sisters, friends, we would
put on, uh, the, the play, like

the Peter Pan play, that kind
of stuff, like multiple times.

Um, and we got super imaginative.

Like we would create Neverland.

That's where he lives, for the
record, if you don't know that.

Uh, we'd create Neverland in
our home, uh, in our backyard.

Wherever there was a
space, it became Neverland.

Uh, and we would create hideouts.

The, the den where Peter, I if you
will- ... uh, lived with his Lost Boys.

Um, we'd create those in
various closets in my home.

Um, but this is where, this
is where my confidence in the

Lord needs to help me rest.

If you're unfamiliar with the story of
Peter Pan, uh, some of the key characters

are fairies And so we had to become
pretty obsessed with fairies as well.

Um, and the fairies, they lived in holes
in walls and, and they had to have a way

to get around Neverland, and had to have
a way to get in and out of the hideouts.

Um, and so as kids, it's an
easy solution, because wall plus

hammer- ... equals fairy holes.

And then the fairies could, you know...

In their invisible, they were
invisible fairies apparently.

We never actually saw one, but
man, we knew they were, like,

getting in and around because
we created some doors for them.

Um, and only, only after, it was
again, like logic, A plus B equals C.

Uh, only later, uh, we realized
m- parents might not be

thrilled with what we did here.

So another easy solution though
was to paint a picture and

then just hang it on the wall.

Perfect.

For minutes on end, my parents did
not find out that we had poked holes

in the wall, and that did not go
well, uh, when they did find out.

Um, and it was childish, very logical.

Um, and yet, it, uh, and that
immediately came to mind when I was

thinking of these verses, 'cause
we do the same thing in our lives.

We try to cover up deeper issues that
don't actually cover up what's going on.

For minutes on end, we proverbially put
a piece of paper over a hole in the wall,

um, and think that that fixes everything.

And we, and we know this.

Like, there's other proverbs around
this, like putting lipstick on a

pig, covering a Banda- or covering
a bruise with a Band-Aid, right?

Like, we, we know this mentality,
but in a lot of parts of life,

we ignore the deeper thing.

We ignore the real thing, and we only look
at the temporary and external things, and

we do that even with our walk with Jesus.

We do that with our faith.

And so we are in the third week
of considering this collection of

teachings from Jesus called the Sermon
on the Mount, and asking the question:

What is, what does life actually
look like in the Kingdom of God?

And all of my notes just disappeared.

Um, what does life look
like in the Kingdom of God?

And so we started with the, the
Beatitudes a couple weeks ago.

Um, and the answer for the
Beatitudes is not an external thing.

The theme of the Beatitude is not
look like you are humble in spirit.

Look like you are meek.

It's, it's rather be meek.

Be poor in spirit, right?

It's an internal thing.

Uh, last week, uh, Mike reminded
us that, that Jesus's call was not

go act like salt and light as what?

You are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world.

You are living different
in a hurting world.

And so last week, Jesus says He didn't
come to abolish the Old Testament law.

He didn't come to do, to do away with
the things of old, and, and yet instead

He came to fulfill it, to, to make
it bigger, to make it more complete.

And then he says this big
controversial thing that's gonna

set us up for today's verses.

Um, it- it's the, the, the
italicized stuff down there.

He says, "Unless your righteousness
is more righteous than the most

religious people of the day, you don't
have a place in the kingdom of God."

Now, the most religious people
of the day did not like that.

Who would?

And his hearers had to be confused 'cause,
like, these are the people that, like,

society held up and said, "Follow them."

And Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness
is more righteous than theirs,

there's no place in the kingdom."

Does that sound confusing?

And so today and next week we're gonna
flesh out what he means, 'cause Jesus

gives six topics, six statements,
each of them start with the word,

"You've heard this, but I say that."

This Old Testament way of living,
this religious action says this.

Maybe that's the bruise.

Maybe that's the,

the covering on the wall,
but a Band-Aid is not enough.

The heart of God is deeper.

So fulfilling the Old
Testament law looks like that.

So next week we're gonna discuss
fun topics like oaths and promises,

and retaliation, and loving enemies.

Super easy in today's world, right?

Um, but today's just as easy.

We're gonna talk about
anger, and divorce, and lust.

So Father, would you help us as we dive
into these things and show us your heart.

It's in your son's name, amen.

I just wanna tackle these two,
these topics, uh, together.

I think there's actually
two topics, not three.

I think lust and, and divorce, Jesus
is merging those two as o- overflows

of the same thing, and, and we're
gonna see his pattern with both.

Here's the external Old Testament
religion, here's the internal deeper

reality, and then here's the heart of God.

So external Old Testament religion,
"You've heard it said of those of old,

'You shall not murder, for whoever
murders will be liable to judgment.'"

Then a few verses later, "You've
heard that it was said, 'You

shall not commit adultery.'"

A few verses later, "It was said also,
'Whoever divorces his wife, let him

give her a certificate of divorce.'"

All right.

So, so just to be clear, so we
don't swing the pendulum too far,

it is good to not do these things.

Like, even if it was just the
actions, like, like, avoid those.

So Jesus is not saying, again,
"I'm coming to abolish the law.

Actually, those things are okay.

Uh, can't beat them, join them."

Like, that's, that's not where Jesus
is going with any of this stuff.

In fact, to say it boldly, in an ideal
world without sin and brokenness, if

we were all fully committed to, to God
and shaped in his spirit, murder would

not happen, and adultery would not
happen, and divorce would not happen.

But that's not the human reality.

And so for a lot of reasons, including
sin we commit toward God and people-

And including sin committed toward us,
and just brokenness and foolishness.

Like, all, all three of those are
part of the reality that we live

in, and some of those things have
touched us personally very deeply.

And so the Old Testament shows God's
people His ideal, "Don't do these things."

In fact, all three of these relate to the
Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not murder,

thou shalt not commit adultery, thou
shalt not covet the neighbor's spouse.

So Jesus is not coming to abolish
these things, but neither is He content

with addressing the actions alone.

In other words, and, and we know
this from our own life and struggles,

whether it's these three or others,
it doesn't suffice to say, "Stop it."

Right?

And we've tried that.

It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't
even suffice to say, "Oh, there's

this verse that says to stop it."

Like, that, that, that's not enough
to change our hearts, and history

proves that rules and regulations
are not enough to change people.

And so instead, Jesus is inviting
us, his kingdom people, the salt of

the earth, the light of the world,
who are showing a better way in a

hurting world, He's inviting us to
think about these things more deeply.

And so again, you've heard it
said of those of old, "You shall

not murder, and whoever murders
will be liable to judgment."

There's the, there's
the Old Testament law.

"But I say to you," here's the deeper,
here's what's going on in our hearts,

"that everyone who is angry with his
brother shall 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."

So in general, what is Jesus
saying is the origin of murder?

Where does murder start?

It's not the action.

What's the internal thing
that leads to murder?

Anger.

Anger.

Not every time.

And, and to be fair, um, there's
times when anger is healthy.

Like, the, the wrath of God is
a, is a, is an attribute of God.

Jesus was angry at sin and hypocrisy.

There, there are things to
be righteously angry about.

But rather than just judging people
for the act of murder, Jesus is

saying, "God also cares about the
anger that lives in our hearts."

And all of a sudden, what this does, at
least in my mind, is go, "Hey," all of a

sudden this applies to very few people who
are murderers, and now invites us all in,

because turns out most all of us have been
angry, and not just righteously angry.

Some of us have been righteously angry,
angry at the things that hurt God's heart.

A lot of us have been unrighteously angry,
angry at stuff that just hurts our heart.

True?

I won't make you raise your hand, but
all of a sudden, Jesus is speaking to us.

And if you're not convinced, have you
ever held resentment or a grudge or

bitterness or scorn against anyone?

Have you ever felt critical, whether you
said it out loud in the form of gossip

or just held something in your heart?

Have you been overly critical?

You wanted to ruin someone's
reputation, whether you did it or not.

Have you looked down on someone?

Have you ever considered
anyone worth less than you?

Have you ever thought someone
to be incompetent based on your

standards of how you would do it?

Like, those are the kind of things
that Jesus is addressing here.

And, and it sounds bold, but what
he's saying is the same seed that

leads to those thoughts are the same
seed that leads to the act of murder.

Make sense?

And, and so hear what he's saying.

Murder, at its core, is the
ultimate devalue of human life.

Is that fair?

Like, murder, at its core, takes what
God created in his image and damages

it and defaces it and ruins it.

And all those other things,
while admittedly in smaller

forms, they do the same.

So Jesus is saying, "Don't destroy
people's physical bodies, but

also don't destroy their souls.

Don't destroy their spirits."

Murder is a sin.

Unrighteous anger, the motive that
leads to murder, whether it's toward

a brother, toward an enemy, we'll
see in a little bit, that also

is just as sinful in God's eyes.

A leads to B.

Both are devaluing of the
life that God has given.

Both say you're taking something that
was made in the image of God and,

and saying, "I'm going to deface it.

I'm going to destroy it."

That opposes the heart of God.

That's the deeper thing
going on with murder.

And so similarly, you've heard it said,
"You shall not commit adultery," but

as Jesus ups the ante, "I say to you
that everyone who looks at a woman with

lustful intent has already committed
adultery with her in his heart."

For the record, that goes both ways,
so also women looking at men with

lustful intent in her heart as well.

So in general, what is Jesus
saying is the origin of adultery?

Where is, where does that action start?

It's lust.

And so again, same story,
just different chapter here.

Adultery is an overflow of lust.

Adultery is a, a result or an extension.

Lust is the starting point.

That's the internal.

That's the heart.

And so in the same way- We're, we're,
we're zooming out from the few people

who take that action, and now all
of us who've ever felt any lust,

this applies to us.

So again, if you don't know if this
applies to you, have you ever spent

hours online, whether overt images
and videos, uh, Facebook pictures of

old flames, TikTok suggested videos
that take you down a rabbit hole?

You ever stared as an attractive
guy or gal walks into a restaurant

and start to wonder, what if?

Spend time on, on memories,
self-gratification.

Again, the issue here is not are
you married, are you not married?

The issue is heart.

It's lust.

It's coveting something that is not ours.

And if I may, the issue is in part
using other people for our pleasure.

The using of other people, whether
physical, mental, whatever it is,

using other people for our pleasure.

A- and similarly,

at times, divorce is another
overflow of this heart of lust.

Divorce is a, is more than just
breaking a human relationship.

It's breaking a one flesh covenant
that God designed a man and woman for.

And so in many cases, and
again, I know there's...

in, in all of these,
there's, there's nuance.

Hear me on that.

But in many cases, both in the
movies and in real life, and in

stories we hear, divorce is treating
someone as if they're disposable.

Is that fair?

You don't meet my needs anymore.

You're not something enough anymore.

I'm gonna trade out for a new model.

And if you're wondering about
these, these last, these last

phrases, everyone who divorces his
wife, except for grounds of sexual

immorality, makes her commit adultery.

Whoever marries a divorced
woman commits adultery.

That's c- it's caused a lot of
confusion through the ages, but some

of that's cultural and contextual
'cause, 'cause in Jesus's day, it was

generally unthinkable that someone
would become divorced and not remarry.

And so by remarrying, back to
the Ten Commandments, you're

coveting your neighbor's spouse.

You're committing adultery
with the neighbor's spouse.

That's not as common today, not always
as common today, but the, the, the

reason for adultery is, is 'cause you're
causing someone to marry someone who

wasn't married to you in the first
place, and so by the remarriage, it fits.

But more important than that
detail, 'cause it is a little

confusing, as with many things in
Jesus's day and today, there was a

legal process to divorce a spouse.

But here's what Jesus is saying,
just because something is legal

does not make it the heart of God.

Is that fair?

Just 'cause something is allowable
doesn't mean it reflects the heart of God.

And to me, verse twenty-nine and
thirty is, is the core of everything

that Jesus is saying today.

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.

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 be thrown into hell.

And so here, here's the heart of what
Jesus is telling his first followers,

and the heart of what he's telling us.

On one hand, sin is serious.

He's saying, "Do everything you
can to avoid and guard against it."

Like cutting, cutting out an eye, cutting
off a hand, those are drastic steps.

Those are drastic measures.

Jesus is saying, "Go to whatever
extent you can to guard yourself

against sin, to avoid these things."

Sin is serious.

And so social media cause you to sin?

Leave it.

Do bars and pubs cause you to sin?

Don't go.

Is it cable and laptops
that cause you to sin?

Cancel them.

Lock them away.

Does the news cause you to sin?

Turn it off.

Anger, lust doesn't start out here,
it starts in our heart, and yet

something tempts us into those things.

Would you be willing to live a quiet
life off of Instagram if you can't get on

Instagram without feeling anger or lust?

Would you be willing to not know
what's going on in the rest of the

world if you can't turn on the news
and feel something rising up in you?

'Cause sometimes it's like, "Oh, well,
I'm not gonna cut off my eye or my hand."

That feels way too far out there.

But we're not willing to put it in context
of what would you be willing to do.

On the other hand, though,

is the eye the actual source of sin?

Is the, is the hand that murders the
actual starting point for sin, church?

And this is some of what we miss if
we're just focused on the external.

Those other things, cutting things
off, removing things, not going

places, those things are helpful.

But do you think if you had neither
of your eyes, you'd never lust again?

I don't think the, the external
is where this stuff starts.

And so as much as Jesus is saying, "Do
everything you can to guard against

sin," those things are helpful.

They're not gonna solve it.

Because where does sin start?

It starts in our own hearts.

Jesus says in Matthew, "It's not what
goes into the mouth that defiles a

person, but what comes out of the mouth.

This is what defiles a person."

And so the core of what Jesus is asking
here is what are you doing to guard

against anger and lust in your heart?

'Cause if you could cut out your
eye and cut off your hand and still

feel angry, that means anger and
lust start somewhere different.

So the core question for us is
what are you willing to do to cut

out anger and lust in your heart?

Which is to say, is your heart
more for yourself, and so you're

unwilling to cut things out, or is
your heart more for God and really

seeking His kingdom and holiness?

Where is your heart?

What's your heart aimed at?

If it's aimed at God,
everything else will pass away.

If we're clinging onto things,
what does it say about our heart?

'Cause at the, at the end of the day,
what is, what is the heart of God?

This is the question we have to not
just circle around, but land on.

What's the heart of God as it
relates to lust, which overflows into

things like adultery and divorce,
and a lot of other, quote unquote,

"smaller and hidden things" as well?

As it relates to lust, the heart of God

is a heart of faithfulness.

The heart of God is, is about valuing
and caring for others more than yourself,

not using others for your own pleasure.

And so God, guard- guarding our heart,
going to the extremes to, to fight sin

and temptation might mean asking for help.

It might not mean cutting out an eye
or a hand or cutting out a literal,

literal heart, but, but it might mean
doing everything you can to cut out

sin and to cut out lust and to cut
out anything that we do to degrade

people by using them for our pleasure.

The heart of God as it relates to
lust is a heart of faithfulness.

The heart of God which opposes
anger is a heart of reconciliation.

God is a God of reconciliation.

And so as people of God, we
are a people of reconciliation.

So what Jesus says, "If you're
offering your gift at the altar

and remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your

gift there before the altar and go."

Fast-forward to 2026 culture, what
He's saying is like, "Hey, you're

sitting here in a worship gathering,
you're about to take communion,

and you realize that you've got...

There's an issue between someone that
you're not unified with," He would

say, "Get in your car and leave."

That feels like a big thing to do.

But this is the extent to which Jesus is
asking us to cut out anger, to, to deal

with anger, to, to pursue reconciliation.

So first, be reconciled to your
brother or sister, and then come back.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser
while you're going with him to court,

lest your accuser hand you over to the
judge, and the judge to the guard, and

be put in prison, and you never get
out until you've paid the last penny.

Jesus often talks about true worship as
being more about heart and relationship,

right, than just words or actions.

At one point, he says, uh, in a
parable that there's a master who

forgives his servant's huge debt.

Do you know this parable?

Master forgives a servant's huge debt,
but then the forgiven ser- forgiven

servant turns and makes this other servant
pay this comparatively tiny little debt

against him, and then the anger of the
Lord, the anger of the master rises

up because what you just did does not
reflect the heart that I showed you.

Don't worship outwardly.

Don't put on the good face outwardly,
but hold on to sin inwardly.

Be reconciled.

Forgive and ask forgiveness.

These are the heart of God.

And why?

Because all of us have been that
first servant receiving great

forgiveness from the master.

All of us sin.

All of us deserve to be handed
over and handed over and handed

over, and yet God has instead
reconciled us and forgiven our debts.

We all are angry.

We are all full of lust for something,
someone, whether it overflows into

murder, divorce, adultery or not,
no one is fully faithful to God.

Can we at least agree on that?

No one is fully faithful to God.

No one always pursues reconciliation.

And in that, we all deserve this judgment
that Jesus is talking about here.

But if you follow Jesus, then
God is like that good master in

the parable who has forgiven all
of your lust, all of your anger.

Not just the stuff you've already
done, felt, participated in,

whatever, but, but an all-knowing
God who knew every day of your life.

There's not an ounce of it that
He hasn't already forgiven.

And because of that, for us, every
relationship is an opportunity

to value people, to use your
life for their good rather than

using their life for your good.

Every relationship is a chance
to breathe the life of God into

people rather than to suck it away.

Whether they're Christian or not,
whether they treat you well or not,

whether they agree with you or not,
whether they're easy people or hard

people, the heart of God is faithfulness
and reconciliation toward you.

And so if we're salt of the earth
and light of the world, then, then

the heart of us is faithfulness and
reconciliation toward those around us.

This is what Jesus did for you.

The Book of Hebrews tells us that
Jesus was tempted in every way.

And so hear me, Jesus
knew the draw to lust.

Jesus knew the temptation
to unrighteous anger.

And Jesus alone had, frankly, every
right to be righteously angry and to

hold grudges, 'cause He was walking in
His day forgiving, calling people to

better things, knowing what was best
for them, and was instead met with anger

and rejection and this kind of stuff.

He, He had the most right
to be righteously angry.

But even as He went to the cross

to reconcile you to God and to forgir-
forgive all of your anger and lust and

all the other things, as He did that,
Jesus was giving Himself fully for you,

not using you for anything that He needed.

He was giving Himself fully
for you, and thus perfectly

displaying the heart of God.