Righteousness Matters – February 5, 2023

Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 5:13-20
February 5, 2023

Righteousness matters!  That’s the title of this sermon.  And I want us to remember today that we are called to be righteousness.  We are called to live life at a higher level.  We are called to seek God’s righteousness.  And we are called to be “the light of world!”  That’s what Jesus said in our reading for today.

Does that sound like a daunting task?  Anybody want to back out now?  Does that even sound possible?  Do we even take that call seriously?

Too often Christians don’t take seriously enough that righteousness matters.  They don’t concern themselves with it, even thought, the first thing on the list of many people’s aversion to church people is, what?  What’s the biggest criticism people have of Christians?  Hypocrisy!   They say that Christians don’t live what they say they believe.  And too often that is true!  And too often it does hurt the church!  And Jesus knew that!

And we shouldn’t take that criticism lightly!  We shouldn’t just blow it off, thinking people just don’t understand!  We should know that everything we do reflects on God’s kingdom!  I heard a pastor once say, that, at any moment, we might be the only Jesus another person ever sees!  Think about that!  We are his representatives!  We are his ambassadors!  Following Jesus matters!  Righteousness matters!

But too often, when accused of hypocrisy, the church has answered that criticism with catch phrases.  Church people have said things like, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven!”  I’ve seen that on bumper stickers!  I call that “Comforting by cliché!”  What I mean by that is that you say something that “sounds nice,” and makes you “feel good!”  But it doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.

Because at the heart of the problem is the fact that Righteousness does matter!  But too often God’s people have given up on the idea.  They’d rather not bother. They’ve convinced themselves that it’s not possible, anyway.  They’ve decided that Jesus must have just been exaggerating when he said these things we read today!

He said, “Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, or you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”  Does that sound like a “tall order” to you?  It should!  But, was he just exaggerating?  Was he just using “hyperbole?”  I love that word.  Hyperbole means “exaggeration to make a point.”  “If I told you once, I told you a million times!  Don’t exaggerate!”  And Jesus used hyperbole from time to time.  Was he doing that here?

Possibly.  But I think what he was really doing was encouraging the people – and us – to have a desire for righteousness.  Just before this, in the Beatitudes he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  Not just “Blessed are the righteous.”  But “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness…”  I think that’s what he wants in us!  He was giving us a goal to shoot for.  He was helping us with our “attitudes” – as in “Be-atitudes!”  He was helping us to orient our lives towards righteousness.

You know, there are people in this world who choose to be positive and encouraging.  And there are people who choose to be miserable and complaining.  It matters what a person’s life is oriented towards.  And Jesus is telling us to orient our lives toward righteousness.  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

Now, notice that he did not say, “Blessed are those who are holier than thou!”  That’s not what we’re talking about here.  Righteousness is not something we wear on our sleeves or throw in people’s faces.  It is something we strive for, humbly.  And we strive for it knowing that we can never attain it, but still we shoot for it.

Paul understood this.  To the Philippians he wrote this.  “Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do.  Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

Now, let me say this.  Even though we “press on” toward the prize of that upward call, our aim is not to appear “falsely righteous.”  That’s the implication when we use the term, “Holier than thou.”  Isn’t it?  This is not about making ourselves look better than someone else.

Later in this same sermon,  “The Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus would talk about “Not practicing your piety before others – in order to be seen by them.”  Seeking righteousness is not something we do to show ourselves better than others.  It is something we do through our devotion to God and a desire to follow Jesus.  It is a humble, unassuming attitude that gives glory to God, not to us.

But on the other hand!  Our pursuit of righteousness – our humble pursuit of righteousness – should serve to further the kingdom of God.  By the way we live, God’s kingdom should be furthered!  And it should be defended!  When the occasion arises, we should be prepared to stand for righteousness.  Because righteousness is something that’s lost in this world!  As I said last week, just turn on the news!

And finally, I want you to keep in mind something you heard me say last week.  I said it very quickly, so it might not have been as memorable.  I said that we seek to know the heart of God because it’s a better way of living!  Well, the same can be said about this.  We hunger and thirst after righteousness because that too is a better way of living.  And others will see that.  That’s how we are the “light of the world,” as Jesus said.

He also said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Notice, he didn’t say “should not be hidden.”  This was not an admonishment to be courageous enough to show your faith.  It’s a statement of fact.  A city on a hill is visible.  When we live our faith it will be evident.  We won’t have to do things “in order to be seen by others.”  It will be who we are, and it will be how the world sees us.

My friends, the world needs to see people of faith that are good examples.  It needs to see what it’s like when people hunger and thirst after righteousness.  It needs to see the light of God’s love and Grace shining through his people – through us!  The world needs to see that Righteousness matters – a lot!

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to be people who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  Help us to be the light of the world, as Jesus called us to be.  Help us to be people who humbly show in our lives the joy and peace that only you can give, no matter what the circumstances.  For we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.