Daily Lesson for February 23, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 33 through 36:

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."

"Do you so solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Well, do you?  Why?

Oaths are necessary in a court of law because a courtroom is a place where everybody knows somebody will either be lying or telling a half truth -- which, according to an old Yiddish proverb, is a whole lie.

There are other places where oaths are not supposed to be necessary because everybody is assumed to be telling the truth. Among these places include: our church, our place of business, and our home.  In fact, Jesus was trying to form a community where people were so committed to truth telling that an oath or a promise was simply unnecessary because it would be redundant.  In this community you wouldn't have to swear; because everybody would already know you're telling the truth.

Observe the day ahead. Listen to the talk on the streets, in your office, and on TV. Listen to your own talk. Who is swearing and why?  Why isn't our simple and straightforward word our bond?

"Let your yes be yes and your no be no," Jesus said.

And my grandfather added, "And let your handshake be firm."