Oct 23 - Matthew 5:36

Jesus said,

And do not swear

by your head, for

you cannot make

one hair white or black.

Matthew 5:36

 

Tucked in the middle of yesterday's verses was a little gem. 

 

In the context of "do not swear falsely, and Jesus saying instead, "let your word to be 'yes yes' or 'no no,' Jesus also said, "do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black."

 

Over the years, my black hair has turned white. But I didn't do it. Father Time took care of that for me. (Wait! Read that again: "Time" did it. And my Father in Heaven - not some mythological creature called Father Time – knit my genes together in such a way that gray hair was my destiny.

 

I did not change my hair to white. And I certainly cannot change it back to black ... or actually brown. (Dyes, of course, are a temporary mask, not a literal transformation.)

 

What Jesus is saying is, "Why on earth are you swearing by your own name and in your own power? You are temporary. You are fragile. You don't have any real power except your own good intentions. And if you claim a power to follow through absolutely -- a power that only truly belongs to God -- that is more than conceit. It is a form of blaspheme. 

 

Yes, I want people to give me their word. And yes, I want people to trust my word. But mostly I want to follow people who humble themselves before God and trust in his Word and his power ... whose yes is yes because of Christ's overwhelming call to integrity and not their own fragile desires. (And, indeed, I want people to trust Christ-in-me, not just fallible me.)

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who, in this silly season

of politics, wants candidates

to quit swearing by themselves

-- "You have my word" --

and wants them instead to start

following God's Word