************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 101-102 ************
Doctrine: The Third Commandment and Oaths
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on April 28, 2002
Q & 101-102
Genesis 22:15-18; Matthew 5:33-37
"I Swear ..."
Introduction
Have you ever been asked to swear an oath? Join the military, enter public office, testify in a court of law, get a document notarized, and you end up swearing an oath.
What is an oath? An oath is a solemn appeal to God testifying that a statement is true or that a promise is binding. When someone swears, in the name of God, that they are telling the truth – that is an oath. When someone swears, in the name of God, that they will keep a promise – that is also an oath.
Oath swearing. All here would probably agree with me that oath swearing is not a burning issue today. In fact, many here probably think the issue is totally irrelevant in today's world.
Let me mention two incidents that pertain to oath swearing. The first concerns a Dutch immigrant couple who applied for citizenship a number of years ago. This couple refused to pledge in the name of God that they would be faithful and true to their new country. This couple, you see, is an unbelieving couple. They argued that they do not believe in God and therefore can hardly be expected to say, "So help me God." The judge refused them citizenship. The couple appealed the judge's decision and won their case.
We, as Christians, find it tragic that this couple do not acknowledge their Creator. Yet, we have to admire them for not blaspheming or misusing the name of God.
The second incident concerns a trip I made to a lawyer in order to sign some legal paperwork. The lawyer knew I was a minister and said, "Of course you won't swear an oath on this. Can you, instead, make a pledge to tell the truth." This lawyer had it in her head that no Christian can ever swear an oath.
I Illegitimate Oaths
A When it comes to oath swearing, Reformed Christians disagree with the Anabaptists, the Jews, and the Roman Catholics.
First, when it comes to oath-taking, we disagree with the Anabaptists. The basic error of the Anabaptists is their idea that once we belong to Christ we are cut loose from the created, or natural, world. On this basis, the Anabaptists oppose not only a Christian's participation in military and government service but also the swearing of oaths in courts of law.
To support their position, the Anabaptists point to Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount:
(Mt 5:33-37) "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' (34) But I tell you, Do not swear at all ...
For further support they point to what the Apostle James said in his letter:
(James 5:12) Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
Let me make this perfectly clear: Jesus, as well as James, is not speaking out against legitimate oaths. Rather, both Jesus and James are speaking against wrong or illegitimate oaths. Both Jesus and James are speaking against the continual and thoughtless use of oaths – a practice that was so prevalent in Bible times. It hurts Jesus whenever people swear an oath easily, because the name of His Father is involved.
Legitimate oaths are not rejected by the Lord. For, a legitimate oath is a religious act. A legitimate oath recognizes that human life, human society, and human words depend on and are connected to God.
B Second, the Reformed position on the swearing of oaths is also to be distinguished from that of the Jews.
As I mentioned in my first sermon on the Catechism and the third commandment, the Jews held the Yahweh name of God in such reverence and were so scared of misusing it that they refused to ever say it. Instead, in the public reading of Scripture they always substituted "adonai" or "Lord" in its place. They carried this a step further when it came to oath swearing. Instead of swearing an oath by God or any of the names of God they swore oaths by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the hairs on their head, and their mother's grave. This way, if their words were found to be untrue or their promises were found to be broken, they could say they did not misuse God's holy name.
According to Jesus, the Jews were only fooling themselves. The oaths the Jews swore, whether they realized it or not, had to do with God, His person, and His name. In our passage from Matthew 5 Jesus said,
(Mt 5:34-36) But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; (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 swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Jesus is telling us that all of life belongs to God. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to God (Ps 24:1). Nothing exists, nothing has been made, that is unconnected to God. Seen from this perspective, every oath has to do with God. So Jesus says to the people of His day, "Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord" (Mt 5:33). Every oath, when it comes down to it, is an oath unto the Lord. So, to lie under oath or to break a promise given under oath, is to break the third commandment.
In this light consider the modern trend to not say God's name in the swearing of oaths. It used to be that oaths ended with "so help me God" and your hand was placed on the Bible. Now God's name is never used and the Bible is never to be seen – except by some politicians taking the oath of office. Modern man is only fooling himself – even if God's name is not being used, all oaths are still done under and before God.
C Third, the Reformed position on oath swearing also differs from that of the Roman Catholics. Among members of the Roman Church it is permissible to swear an oath "by saints or other creatures" (Q102). Two favorite oaths are: "by the beard of St. Peter," and "by the hairs of St. John."
An oath, as I said, is a solemn appeal to God testifying that a statement is true or that a promise is binding. A legitimate oath, then, calls upon God. The prophet Isaiah says,
(Is 65:16) Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth
A legitimate oath calls upon God and not upon any saint, creature, or thing. Says the Catechism,
A legitimate oath means calling upon God
as the one who knows my heart
to witness to my truthfulness
and to punish me if I swear falsely.
No creature is worthy of such honor.
Only God knows if I am truthful to my word and promise; St. Peter doesn't know; neither does St. John; nor does heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem, or the hairs on my head. Only God knows if I am truthful. Only God is worthy of having oaths sworn in His name. And, as the highest Judge, as the Almighty, God is more than able "to punish me if I swear falsely."
II Legitimate Oaths
A It should be clear by now that there are two kinds of oaths: illegitimate or improper ones, and legitimate or proper ones.
According to the Catechism there are two instances when it is permissible for us to reverently swear oaths in God's name. The first instance is when the government demands it. In our country, it is required when one joins the military, enters public office, testifies in a court of law, or gets a document notarized.
The second instance when it is permissible for us to reverently swear oaths in God's name is
... when necessity requires it,
in order to maintain and promote truth and
trustworthiness
for God's glory and our neighbor's good.
B What is the purpose of oaths in these two instances? What we have to recognize, congregation, is that we live in a sinful world. Sin has affected and infected everything and everybody in the present world. It has poisoned all of our talk and communication so that man's verbal statements are no longer reliable. The net result? Only the simple-minded and the naive today don't take statements by politicians with a grain of salt. Every normal person is suspicious of advertisers' claims. In most public conversations we automatically wonder where a person is coming from, what personal axe they may have to grind, what they know or don't know about the subject at hand, and if they really mean what they say or are they only giving lip-service to something.
Sad, isn't it? Trust is the basis of human society. But if we didn't have a certain amount of distrust we would be victims of deceit at nearly every moment.
Topic: Trust
Subtopic: In Man
Index: 3184
Date: 4/2002.101
Title: Never Needs Batteries
I remember the time I was too trusting of a manufacturer's claims. On a glossy brochure was the picture of a man changing a flat tire late at night. A powerful beam of light from a flashlight held by his wife lit up his work area. Captioned above it: "Never needs batteries. Always direct a powerful beam of light where you need it. All you have to do is gently squeeze." I fell for it and sent in my money. Needless to say, I got taken: what I got in the mail was a palm-sized flashlight whose powerful beam of light did not even reach down to my feet; as for the gentle squeeze, I had to pump like crazy to make a built-in generator send power to the bulb. I think we gave this powerful flashlight to someone as a gag gift.
We can't trust everyone in our sinful world. We often find out the hard way who and what we can believe. In a recent poll Americans were asked who they trusted. The results: 60% of the people trusted clergy, 47%-policemen, 26%-bankers, 16%-congressmen, and 6%-car salesmen.
C In the midst of all this distrust, deceit, lies, misinformation, and exaggerated claims, the oath is a beacon of light. For what happens when we swear an oath? First of all, we make a confession about our own sinful unreliability: I cannot trust you, and you doubt my truthfulness. Second, in an oath we place ourselves before the face of Truth; here and now, in God's presence, in the presence of the God Who cannot lie and Who banishes all untruth and punishes all perjury, I promise to tell the truth and to keep my promise. So help me God! In a court of law, and in certain special cases, we have learned we cannot trust each other anymore, so we need to call on God to be our witness.
In our sinful world we know that our only foothold on the truth depends upon God and His Word. Human society, human words, human communication, are all worthless, unreliable, and untrustworthy apart from the faithfulness of God. Thus the oath gives our words worth and dignity.
D According to the Catechism, "such oaths are approved in God's Word and were rightly used by Old and New Testament believers." The Bible records the oaths of Abraham (Gen 21:24), Jacob (Gen 31:53), Joshua (Josh 9:15), David (1 Sam 24:22; 2 Sam 3:35), and Paul (Rom 1:9, 9:1; 2 Cor 1:23). Even the Lord God swore an oath – which is totally unnecessary, because God is utterly reliable. For instance, God established with an oath His covenant with Abraham and his descendants after him (Gen 22:16-18). When we page through Scripture we often hear from the lips of God such things as, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind" (Ps 110:4); "I swear by myself" (Gen 22:16; Is 45:23; Amos 6:8; Heb 6:13); "as surely as I live ..." (Ezek 17:16); "I swear by my great name ..." (Jer 44:26); "The sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness ..." (Amos 4:2); and, "The Lord has sworn by his right hand and mighty arm ..." (Is 62:8).
One day Jesus had to testify under oath. Before the Sanhedrin the high priest said, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God" (Mt 26:63). Jesus replied, "Yes, it is as you say" (Mt 26:64). Jesus swore by God that He was the Messiah, the Christ. This oath failed to convince the Sanhedrin, however. They charged Jesus with blasphemy and with making a false oath. Notice, the Sanhedrin demanded of Jesus something they themselves never dared to do: they demanded that Jesus swear an oath by God.
E It needs to be pointed out that an oath must be kept even when one suffers danger or loss because of it. Psalm 15 says that the man who worships God "keeps his oath even when it hurts" (Ps 15:4). In the book of Numbers the Lord commands,
(Num 30:2) When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
People must be very careful, then, that they don't make a rash or foolish oath that they will later regret. The most horrible example of this is Jephthah. Jephthah was leading Israel into battle against Ammon. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord:
(Judg 11:30-31) "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, (31) whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
Jephthah and Israel were granted victory in battle; the Lord gave the Ammonites into their hands. When Jephthah returned to his home, who should come out to meet him but his only child, a daughter! Jephthah gave his daughter two months to weep and fast and pray and then he fulfilled his vows to the Lord.
A vow that is made must be kept. The best example, of course, is God Himself. God swore by His holiness that He would be faithful to His covenant. God keeps His oath. He changes not. He is ever faithful. He has sworn to His own hurt. Did He ever! God's oath cost Him His only Son's life upon the cross.
F In the church, of course, we do not need the oath. It is in the church that our "Yes" is "Yes," and our "No," "No". You see, those in the church realize that they always stand before the throne of God. They know that God is always their witness and judge.
Those in the church realize they stand before God when they make promises at such times as baptism, profession of faith, marriage, and the ordination of office bearers. We do not need to swear an oath at such occasions because God is in our midst; the promises are made in His presence. Even so, we know that these promises have the same significance and binding character as an oath.
Also, in our dealings with each other the oath is not needed. We are all Christ-believers and know we always stand before the throne of God. He is our witness and judge on these occasions too.
In the church the oath is not needed to testify a statement is true or a promise is binding. For it is in the church, more than any other place or institution, where we should find and speak and hear the truth. It is in church that we can expect "Yes" to be "Yes," and not "maybe"; and "No" to be "No," and not "perhaps."
Conclusion
Congregation, we are talking about the third commandment as a guide for thankful living. It tells us that what we say and what we promise is always before God Who is our witness and judge. It tells us that if our words are false and our promises are not meant we blaspheme and misuse the name of God. And, it tells us that we must always use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe.
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