Sunday, September 23, 2007
TOPIC 3: The Sermon on the Mount
Read the relevant passages from Matthew, Mark, and Luke concerning the Sermon on the Mount (see Aland's Gospel Synopsis pages 49-64). Read them as if you've never heard them before. What do you find? What are the main themes happening here? Why are these themes important? What if the present-day church took this teaching seriously? How are we doing?
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Response: One of the most obvious themes to me was what I call: The reflection of eternity in this life. This theme is found in words and phrases such as: Kingdom of heaven, hell, your Father will reward you in secret, light, darkness. These phrases and words show us he is not just talking about here on earth. He goes on to show us how our actions hear echo in eternity when he talks about removing appendages. Of course this is not a literal direction, but a warning for us to remove temporary things that would hinder us from entering the kingdom of heaven.
Another theme is the contrast between Teacher and Student. This is really one big “class” session. Jesus is going through saying ok guys along the way things got really messed up, so this is the new covenant. Jesus is going through the basics with them so they could spread the word thus becoming the teacher. Jesus had really god time management skills and got a person from every walk of life so in the end they could relate to people from those backgrounds and be able to reach them with the gospel. We all know how short Jesus ministry time was so the choosing of his students was a vital part of his ministry.
If the church today would take these two principles seriously it would change the face of the church as we know it today. The realization of the brevity of life and the consequences or wages we receive in eternity would bring everything into perfect focus upon our relationship with Christ. When I think of my life I certainly don’t think of a short existence, but to look into eternity and understand that this life no matter the hardships or good times is only a blip in the vast-ness of forever. In the life of the church petty things such as doctrine and sometimes theology would only stand in the way of our mission and commission to take the good news to all who will listen and basically not stop until your dead. Our motivation would rise as we see the harvest compared to the workers. How many un-saved people die everyday. Is that a barometer of our success? As the church we need to drop every thing that does not deal with finding people to talk to about the gospel and make that our number one focus. We don’t have the time or luxury to divide in denominations over theological differences. Our world today tries to divide us to make us easier to conquer anyway we don’t need to help in that area. The question of how are we doing? Wow…….uh…….that’s a question I can’t answer. I know we are human and we become side-tracked on things that appear to be the work of God later to find out that we have missed the mark. One thing I don know…..only by the grace of God can we improve!
The first time, the second time, no mater how many times I read these passages it always seems to me that the main theme here is the Teacher, Student relationship. Jesus is trying to get his point across to his disciples and to the people. Sometimes he sounds a little upset because he has to keep on telling everybody over and over again what it is that the Father really wants us to do. I can almost here him saying “Are you listening, Can you hear me now.” That also leads to the next theme, Old vs New. There was the Old covenant, or laws, now there is the new. God gave use the Old and we couldn’t seem to handle them, so now Jesus is here to give us the New ones. He didn’t come to do away with the old, he just wants to help us to get it right. They are different. He tends to take the old and make them clearer so we shouldn’t have any problems trying to follow them. Well being human we can mess anything up. If we as The Church would follow his teachings more closely and take them seriously and not literally, I believe there would be a lot less Divorce, adultery, lawsuits, materialism and a lot of other negative junk for us to navigate through. And if we as a Church started to have happier, more productive lives, then maybe it would be a lot easier to talk to people about putting their faith in Christ. I believe the church is getting better at it but I don’t think it’s supposed to be a walk in the park. History shows us that.
Todd I agree with you when you can see Jesus getting frustrated with the disciples. As I think about that idea it kind of makes me happy that we can see Jesus being frustrated with his disciples. I Know we see him over turn tables in the temple, but that is righteous anger. As I look at this I see these guys who are not letting these ideas get through there thick skulls start to "get under Jesus skin." To know our Lord and savior got frustrated with his guys is.............um.....is a comfort. Is that ok to feel? It is probably my human side grateful to be able to identify with Jesus in that way, but I do feel comforted by that! That is something I didn't pick up from the passages. Good eye!
The first thing that would need to be considered here is the definition of blessed. Is it worth it to the present-day church to be blessed? Why would I care about being meek or accepting my station in life as one who is persecuted if I don’t care about or “get” what it means to be blessed by Christ? Even those who do care about being blessed and who do understand what it is and have experienced it, tend to forget in the midst of trials and persecution that we are blessed. This “tending to” we do is all encapsulated in this thing called humanity. However, sanctification would steer us towards the “unacceptance” of the nature “to tend”[whole different topic]
There is such a great thing to be said for a leader who spells it all out for you. One has to wonder if Jesus thought, “I guess I am going to have to mention every single thing I can concerning how to live this life so that there is no misunderstanding or confusion.” Yet here we are debating and discussing what is meant by this or that. For me, I love the spelling out. There is safety in the guidance rendered.
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Matt 5:15 what does he mean by righteousness here? What is he expecting?
I love matt 5:23-24. this would revolutionize the present-day church. Every poor attitude and harsh comment would cease to hold any power over a congregation and the functioning of a church if we were all more concerned about being in unity with each above being right.
There is so much that is important to us here on earth; our careers, family, friends, goals, fame, fortune, success. The Sermon on the Mount can be summarized by the scripture that states all is in vain if I don’t have Christ. He addresses the body parts because they are relevant to our completion as a person, but it is far more important to remain pure that to be whole as a human. Get rid of that which you think makes you complete and hold tight to the things that make you complete in Christ. Being salt, being light, remaining pure, accepting your station, loving and doing good to your enemy.
Simply put, we are too full of us and not full enough of Christ. This is what makes receiving a blessing not such a big deal. We get what it means to receive a raise at work or a medal in school. We get what it means to have success in marriage or in child bearing and receive joy and a feeling of achievement from that. We will do well when it becomes all about Him and his mission rather than all about us in “our realm”. Is this possible? I see Mother Teresa and I say, “yes.” I see me and I say, “a very small maybe” .
steve
i love reading your stuff. you should be a teacher. i don't think of eternity much and i appreciate your opening my eyes to the eternity of these scriptures. eve though he mentions eternity, i view the act of obedience and surrender to what he is calling us as the goal. maybe my focus is all way off. that is so likely.
todd
i love what you sd aout the churchs' ability to reach the world more effectively if we were living this sermon and it was evident in our lives.man, what would that look like?!
Jill
Thank you for the compliment but I must say that it has all been from the Holy Spirit revealing this to me. Before I go into any type of situation where my words or opinions will be taken into consideration I pray "May they be your words Lord, not mine." I have seen his faithfulness in that prayer. we serve an awesome God.
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