Don’t loose your rag.

I’m sure that you have all been to a theme park in your time and seen some spectacular roller coasters. Or even less spectacular ones at the local fair on a bank holiday. Before you can get on the ride you have to pass the height test; you have to be taller than a specified height. It’s painfully clear cut; if you don’t reach the mark you can’t get on. There is no point trying to wear platform shoes or high heels in an attempt to qualify, it won’t wash. You either measure up or you don’t.

As Jesus continues with his sermon it is as though he is measuring up all of our lives and we know that we are wearing platform shoes!

"You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” Matt 5:21-22

No-one ever said that it was going to be easy being a Christian; it is not a cop-out option for the faint hearted.
Having found our freedom as slaves to righteousness, Jesus now says that sticking to the letter of the law is not enough. What he proposes is something truly radical and so impossible to achieve that we must fully rely on God. He tells us not to just avoid murder but we must even steer clear of the cause of it; attitudes of hatred, superiority, judgement [in a negative sense].

I have no doubt that, just like me, you have these words stinging in your mind because you can recall an angry outburst, a muttered criticism and a casual curse that you have been responsible for (sure, you can argue their justification but the point is that they came from your lips, your heart).
Surely Jesus is being unreasonable; so far he has upset, overstretched and confused his audience and now it is as if he is saying that none of us can qualify! But that is not at all what he is saying. Here Jesus is saying that under Moses’ law we had to show self-restraint (and on the whole we are all comfortable with that because we are still in control) but under this new ‘law’ we must be reliant upon God (and this feels uncomfortable because we surrender control into God’s hands). But this is what our faith is all about. We are called not to live but die; die to self each day as we take up our cross.

Jesus heightens the bar but in doing so he opens up a way in which we are also lifted.