Christ United Presbyterian Church
August 3, 2014
A Comment on Matthew 5-7
This morning I’m going to do
something that I’ve never done before.
I’m going to employ a manner of preaching that previously I’ve only seen
used by some Southern preachers. I’m going to read all of the Sermon on the
Mount as a way to introduce this series, and rather than making a clean distinction between scripture
and sermon I’m going to intersperse comment within the reading. It’s important that we begin by hearing Jesus’
sermon as a whole unit. The words that
conclude the sermon are in reference to the whole of the sermon. Let me read them to you from the NRSV:
24 ‘Everyone then who hears these words of
mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on
rock. 25The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26And everyone who hears these
words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his
house on sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’
Preachers sometimes isolate
this passage from all the words of the sermon and intellectualize “these words”
to somehow abstractly mean the Gospel (whatever that may mean). Jesus is quite specific: whoever doesn’t take the words of the Sermon
– all of it – to heart AND ACT ON THEM is a fool.
All of the reading is from
“The Message” except the Lord’s Prayer which is from N.T. Wright’s “The Kingdom
New Testament.” I selected The Message
version primarily so that you wouldn’t lapse into “I’ve heard this
before.” Perhaps the words will shock
you or at least startle you enough to hold your attention. However, I don’t like to way that Gene
Peterson translated the Lord’s Prayer in The Message, and I opted for the more
literal but modern translation of NT Wright.
The Sermon on the Mount as
recorded in Matthew is the announcement of God’s Kingdom, a Kingdom waiting for
us to enter into it right now. All too
often we take it apart in little pieces and turn it into proverbs or even
unrealistic commandments. But the Sermon
is not directed simply at personal piety and individualistic salvation. It is a call to people to come as a new
community to live in the reign of God.
Matthew 4
23 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues
for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God's kingdom was his
theme - that beginning right now they were under God's government, a good
government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad
effects of their bad lives. 24 Word got around the entire
Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether
mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. 25 More
and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee,
crowds came from the "Ten Towns" across the lake, others up from
Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.
The verses that we call the Beatitudes
are a description of life as God wants us live in community with one
another. It is the most comprehensive
description of the life God intended for his creatures all along, and it is a
description of the life Jesus lived here among us. They don’t replace the laws given by God to
Moses; they complete the laws just as Jesus completes the role of Moses by
bringing the laws not just to a nation but to the world.
Matthew 5
1 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he
climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed
with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down 2 and taught
his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 "You're blessed when you're at the end of your
rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is
most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to
you.
5 "You're blessed when you're content with just who
you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners
of everything that can't be bought.
6 "You're blessed when you've worked up a good
appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7 "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of
being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8 "You're blessed when you get your inside world -
your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside
world.
9 "You're blessed when you can show people how to
cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really
are, and your place in God's family.
10 "You're blessed when your commitment to God
provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's
kingdom.
11 "Not only that - count yourselves blessed every
time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit
me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are
uncomfortable. 12 You can be glad when that happens - give a
cheer, even! - for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds.
And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always
gotten into this kind of trouble.
13 "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to
be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose
your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness
and will end up in the garbage.
14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be
light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be
kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If
I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket,
do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16Now that I've put you
there on a hilltop, on a light stand - shine! Keep open house; be generous with
your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God,
this generous Father in heaven.
Next
week we’ll spend a little more time focused solely on these first 16 verses of
chapter 5.
17 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to
demolish the Scriptures - either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to
demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all
together in a vast panorama. 18 God's
Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your
feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive
and working.
19 "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law
and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the
way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom.
20 Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the
matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the
kingdom.
Jesus
spent much of his ministry being critical of religious hypocrisy. The Pharisees and other religious leaders
were the ultimate accomodationists. They
would spend hours trying to interpret the Torah in ways that allowed them to
feign obedience to it without interfering with their daily lives and without
contradicting the overarching Roman dictum that Caesar was God. In our review of John that our Bible study
just completed we saw the ultimate piece of hypocrisy when the Chief Priests,
anxious for Pilate to execute Jesus cried out: “We have no king but the emperor.
[John 19:15]” It was this ability to
separate religious conviction from the realities of daily life that Jesus was
talking about when he told the people that they needed to do better than the
Pharisees in matters of right living (NRSV: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. [Matthew 5:20]”
21 "You're familiar with the command to the ancients,
'Do not murder.' 22 I'm telling you that anyone who is so much
as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a
brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court.
Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire.
The simple moral fact is that words kill.
23 "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in
these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an
offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, 24 abandon
your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then
and only then, come back and work things out with God.
25 "Or say you're out on the street and an old enemy
accosts you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with
him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record,
you're likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. 26 If that
happens, you won't get out without a stiff fine.
27 "You know the next commandment pretty well, too:
'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' 28 But don't think
you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be
corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think
nobody notices - they also corrupt.
29 "Let's not pretend this is easier than it really
is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You
have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You
have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. 30 And
you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised
threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good
in the dump.
"Let's
not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally
pure life, here's what you have to do…. [Matthew 5:29]” For centuries Christians have argued about
grace and works. It’s not an
unreasonable area to be seriously explored, but there is no question that Jesus
is saying that not one of us is excused from the pursuit of moral purity in our
lives.
31"Remember the Scripture that says, 'Whoever divorces his
wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights'? 32 Too
many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to
be righteous just because you are 'legal.' Please, no more pretending. If you
divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she
has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a
divorced adulteress, you're automatically an adulterer yourself. You can't use
legal cover to mask a moral failure.
33 "And don't say anything you don't mean. This
counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. 34 You only make
things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray
for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it.
You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In
making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. 35 36 37 Just
say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go
wrong.
38 "Here's another old saying that deserves a second
look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' 39 Is that going to get
us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes
you, stand there and take it. 40 If someone drags you into
court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a
present of it. 41 And if someone takes unfair advantage of
you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. 42 No more
tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
43 "You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love
your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' 44 I'm
challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the
best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with
the energies of prayer, 45 for then you are working out of
your true selves, your God-created selves.
This is
what God does. He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to
everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.
46 If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a
bonus? Anybody can do that. 47 If you simply say hello to
those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does
that. 48 "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're
kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live
generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.
Matthew 6
1 "Be especially
careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out
of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
2 "When you do something for someone else, don't
call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure - 'playactors'
I call them - treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage,
acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds.
They get applause, true, but that's all they get. 3 When you
help someone out, don't think about how it looks. 4 Just do it
- quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in
love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
5 "And when you come before God, don't turn that
into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out
of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box
seat?
How can
we possibly live up to the world described in the Beatitudes? Well, it starts with a commitment and an
acceptance that this is the best way to live in obedience to God. That commitment is expressed in what Jesus
next tells us to do.
6 "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet,
secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there
as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God,
and you will begin to sense his grace. 7 "The world is
full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of
formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want
from God. 8 Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father
you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.9 With
a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.
Like
this: “Our Father in heaven,
May your name be honored,
May your kingdom come,
May your will be done as in
heaven, so on earth.
Give us today the bread we
need now;
And forgive us the things we
owe,
As we too have forgiven what
was owed to us.
Don’t bring us into the great
trial,
But rescue us from
evil.” [The Kingdom New Testament, N.T.
Wright]
14 "In prayer there is a connection between what God
does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without
also forgiving others. 15 If you refuse to do your part, you
cut yourself off from God's part.
Prayer
is the avenue to God. Without it we have
no real connection, and without that connection we have no reason – in the
final analysis – to think that this is just another set of rules or some
rational philosophy. That little verse
15 is meaningless unless we have that connection that only prayer can bring: “If you refuse to do your part, you cut
yourself off from God's part. [Matt. 6:15]” It certainly sounds like we have a role to
play in our salvation, but perhaps the thing we call “salvation” is nothing
more than the ability to be in God’s
loving presence and damnation is the judgment we bring upon ourselves when we
“refuse to do” our part.
16 "When you practice some appetite-denying
discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It
might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. 17 If
you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your
hair, brush your teeth, wash your face.18 God doesn't require
attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward
you well.
19 "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets
eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. 20 Stockpile
treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. 21 It's
obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most
want to be, and end up being. 22 "Your eyes are windows
into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body
fills up with light. 23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and
distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows,
what a dark life you will have!
24 "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one
god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the
other. You can't worship God and Money both.
One of
the self declared Christian pundits on Fox News recently asked – quite
seriously – “Who says you can’t worship God and money?”
25 "If you decide for God, living a life of
God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at
mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far
more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer
appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. 26 Look at
the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in
the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 27 "Has
anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an
inch? 28 All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you
think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk
out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or
shop, 29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like
it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside
them. 30 "If God gives such attention to the appearance
of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll
attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
31 What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to
not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. 32People
who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know
both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality,
God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all
your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 "Give your
entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about
what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard
things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 7
1 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures,
criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. 2 That
critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. 3 It's easy to see
a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your
own. 4 Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face
for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? 5 It's
this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a
holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer
off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your
neighbor.
6 "Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and
silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In
trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
How
often do we see and hear bumper slogan Christianity? How often to we see and
hear people claiming to proclaim the Gospel trying to show us how clever they
are. How often do we see and hear people
trying to reduce the love of God and the reality of life in God’s kingdom to
some self-serving political claim?
7 "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what
you need. 8 This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game
we're in. 9 If your child asks for bread, do you trick him
with sawdust? 10 If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a
live snake on his plate? 11 As bad as you are, you wouldn't
think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't
you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?
12 "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for
behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the
initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what
you get. 13 "Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market
is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be
practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of
people do.
14The way to life - to God! - is vigorous and requires total
attention.
15 "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot,
dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some
way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. 16 Who preachers are is the main
thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or
your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be
chopped down and burned.
“Friends,
I have 36,572 people hearing me preach every Sunday morning. They must know something. Join them, and let God know you are serious
by sending us a small donation to support this fabulous ministry! Who knows:
God may just bless you with a winning lottery ticket as soon as you send
that check!”
17 18 1920 21 "Knowing
the correct password - saying 'Master, Master,' for instance - isn't going to
get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience - doing what my
Father wills. 22 I can see it now - at the Final Judgment
thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we
bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' 23 And
do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use
me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of
here.'
24 "These words I speak to you are not incidental
additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They
are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into
your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid
rock. 25 Rain poured
down, the river flooded, a tornado hit - but nothing moved that house. It was
fixed to the rock. 26"But
if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life,
you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the
waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
28 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into
applause. They had never heard teaching like this. 29 It was
apparent that he was living everything he was saying - quite a contrast to
their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.
Matthew 8
1 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the
crowd still ringing in his ears….
The
Sermon on the Mount isn’t about joining a church. It’s not about membership in anything. It’s about obedience and discipleship. It’s not about personal salvation. It’s about
salvation defined as an invitation given to us by the grace of God to enter
into God’s new creation, God’s kingdom, and to live now in the faith-fueled
anticipation of the final realization of the Kingdom as Jesus himself returns
to be among us once again.
The
Sermon on the Mount is the call to people everywhere who wish to come to
God. The Sermon on the Mount is a
description of life – a whole new way of life - in that new creation. Jesus is calling together a new kingdom made
up of people not defined by tribe or race or language or location. The people of that Kingdom have to choose
between the powers and rewards of this world and the power of God. They have to choose to whom they will be
obedient. There are no members in God’s
Kingdom simply because they have been born into a certain family or certain
tribe or certain nation. You have to
choose. It’s not about membership; it’s
about discipleship, and in choosing that discipleship you will come into
conflict with the world.
Amen.
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