Matthew 5:1-16
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and
after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and
taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its
taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything,
but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill
cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,
but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way,
let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and
give glory to your Father in heaven.
Scot McKnight begins his commentary of the Sermon on The
Mount with these words:
"The Sermon on the Mount is
the moral portrait of Jesus' own people.
Because this portrait doesn't square with the church, this Sermon turns
from instruction to indictment."
I think of almost all the stories in the Bible --- the
Sermon on the Mount has been pasteurized and homogenized because we find the
message so challenging.
Pinchas Lapide, an Orthodox Jew of all things, in his
commentary writes:
the history of the impact of the
Sermon on the Mount can largely be described in terms of an attempt to
domesticate everything in it that is shocking, demanding, and uncompromising ,
and render it harmless.
Yet at the same time, the sermon on the Mount has been
called the greatest moral document of all time.
But one of the questions that we must wrestle with is: just
what is this document?
·
Some have argued that The Sermon is just Moses
on steroids, designed to show us just how wretched we are --- and how much in
need of the righteousness of the Christ.
·
Others argue that the teachings in the Sermon
are meant to be lessons on how to live privately as a Christian and not how we
live publically
·
Still others say that they are meant only for
the most committed disciples --- like Monks or “uber”-Christians
·
and others would say that they are only for
those who have been transformed by grace and see these demands not as law, but
rather a grace-filled ethic for those whom grace has transformed
So what is this “sermon”?
Is this simply a collection of moral virtues?
Stanley Haurewas wrote:
"Virtue may be its own reward,
but for Christians the virtues, the kind of virtues suggested by the
Beatitudes, are names for the shared life made possible through Christ. . . .
Christians are not called to be virtuous.
We are called to be disciples."
If there is a theme for this coming year that Mary and I are
going to zero in on it is this: What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
In everything we do this year, we are going to center around
that question.
And considering what is going on in the United Methodist
Church I believe it is more important than ever before.
We are going to try to answer that question (What does it
mean to be a disciple of Jesus?) in two ways
1. What
does it mean personally?
2. What
does it mean for Meridian Street UMC?
You and I have absolutely no control over what happens in
Minnesota when the United Methodist Church gathers in May at our General
Conference.
What we do have control over is: who we are, and how we live
as followers of Jesus.
And for me --- who we are --- and how we live as followers
of Jesus is found right here --- in the Sermon on the Mount.
We may not like what it has to say
We may argue and do our best to minimize the ethic that
Jesus presents
But it is here --- in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus
tells us what being a followr of Jesus is all about.
Listen for a moment at how this "Sermon" begins
and how it ends. Because this is the frame
we need to hear what Jesus has to say to us.
It begins with these words:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. (Matthew 5:1
CEB)
And ends with these:
“Everybody who hears these words of mine and
puts them into practice is like a wise builder who built a house on bedrock.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house.
It didn’t fall because it was firmly set on bedrock. But everybody who hears
these words of mine and doesn’t put them into practice will be like a fool who
built a house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and
beat against that house. It fell and was completely destroyed.”
When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he was teaching them like
someone with authority and not like their legal experts.
Now when Jesus had come down from
the mountain, large crowds followed him.
(Matthew 7:24-8:1 CEB)
This Sermon is a microcosm of the message of Jesus --- it is
his ethic --- his moral vision
Chapters 5-7
Matthew seems to be saying --- Here is Jesus message
Chapters 8-9
--- Here is his actions
NOW --- YOU DECIDE
So, for the next few weeks, Mary and I will go through these
nine beatitudes and try to help us understand exactly what it is that Jesus
wants from us.
But before we do that --- Let me try to put this Sermon on
the Mount into some kind of context
While the Sermon is found it two places, Matthew and Luke,
we are going to focus mainly on the version that is found in Matthew.
When we talk about Matthew, we need to understand a few
things.
More than likely Mark is the first Gospel written, it, along
with an unknown collection of stories of Jesus that scholars call "Q"
were probably written in the early to mid-60's.
Most date Matthew to the late 70's or maybe even early 80's and believe
that Matthew had access to both Mark and "Q" and possibly even other
written and oral sources.
But to be honest, the dating of Matthew is not real
important.
What is important is who and why Matthew wrote his Gospel
While Luke is written primarily for
a gentile audience --- Matthew is clearly written to a Jewish audience
Matthew expects you to know the Hebrew Bible
Matthew is constantly quoting from
the Torah and Isaiah (along with various other books)
The structure of Matthew is quite interesting
It can be
divided into 5 distinct sections --- just like the Torah
And it is constantly trying to demonstrate that Jesus is not
a New Moses who supersedes the Moses of the Hebrew Bible --- but rather that
Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses and re-iterates the law in a new way.
Think of Moses’ birth and Jesus’ birth --- the parallels are
striking
But if we just focus on our story, we can see numerous
parallels as well.
How does the story begin?
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. (Matthew 5:1
CEB)
Jesus WENT UP A MOUNTAIN
Who also went
up a mountain to receive the law?
And like all good teachers HE SAT DOWN
The posture of a lawgiver is
sitting --- we are reminded in both Matthew and Luke that those with legal
authority sat in the seat of Moses
Jesus is teaching a new law as the new Moses for the new
people of God.
And as we try to understand this new ethic, we need to keep
one important thing in mind.
This new ethic that Jesus is teaching is unique because it
is based around the understanding and assumption that Jesus is the Messiah
This ethic
that he is presenting is quite simply a Messianic ethic
And nothing about the Sermon on the Mount will make sense
until we understand that it is a messianic vision --- and only once we
understand the messianic nature of this ethic will we be able to embrace it ---
especially its more radical elements.
N.T. Wright described it this way:
"The Sermon . . . isn't just
about how to behave. It's about
discovering the living God in the loving, and dying, Jesus, and learning to
reflect that love ourselves into the world that needs it so badly."
This ethic is not simply about some future time or place ---
it is about NOW and how we are to live with God.
But let me say one more thing
We cannot live this ethic on our own.
Of that I am
certain
The only way we can begin to embrace this ethic --- this
life of Jesus --- is through the Holy Spirit.
Without the
Spirit --- we are sunk
The Holy Spirit is, as Scot McKnight describes, able to take
"human abilities to the next level and human inabilities and turn them
into new abilities."
Joachim Jeremias wrote:
"What Jesus teaches in the
sayings collected in the Sermon on the Mount is not a complete regulation of
the life of the disciples, and it is not intended to be; rather, what is taught
here is symptoms, signs, examples, of what it means when the kingdom of God
breaks into the world which is still under sin, death, and the devil. You yourselves should be signs of the
coming kingdom of God, signs that something has already happened."
Augustine said the entire Sermon on the Mount was the
"perfect standard of the Christian life." And it leaves us with one question that Jesus
seems to be asking:
WILL YOU
FOLLOW ME?
Or as John Stott said in his commentary:
"Jesus confronts us with
himself, sets before us the radical choice between obedience and disobedience,
and calls us to an unconditional commitment of mind, will and life to his
teaching."
Next week we will begin digging into these beatitudes or
blessings that Jesus proclaims to us.
Joachim Jeremias wrote:
The instructions of the Sermon
apply to everyone who is a disciple of Jesus. They direct his way to the narrow
gate, to the reign of God.
Take some time and read Matthew chapters 5-7
While we are going to focus on just a few verses in chapter
5 --- we need to see the entire context of this sermon.
As you read --- ask God to open your mind and heart
So that you
might hear the invitation of Jesus.
The
invitation to COME and FOLLOW him. Amen.
