Part 1 – Setting the Stage

Part 2 – Beatitudes (1)

Part 3 – Beatitudes (2)

Part 4 – Salt & Light/Law

Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce

Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies

Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight

Part 8 – The Lord’s Prayer (1)

Part 9 – The Lord’s Prayer (2)

Part 10 – Fasting

Part 11 – Don’t Worry, Be Righteous

Having blogged for several years around topics of faith and theology, there is a phenomenon that occurs quite regularly that at the same time saddens me and amuses me.  Someone posts a particularly harsh critique of another person (or groups) theology.  That person/group respond by challenging them not to judge (sometimes quoting today’s text).  The critic responds that, when the critiqued tell them (the critic) that they are judging, by in turn are doing the judging.  The endless argument ensues about who is actually judging and who is actually “speaking truth in love”.  Usually neither party is doing the latter, but it still illustrates the often sticky reality of this portion of Jesus teaching.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

As we have seen in the previous two chapters of the Sermon (Matthew 5 & 6), the righteousness Jesus is describing is His righteousness.  There is no merit in our own righteousness beyond that which is the reflected righteousness of Christ.  And we can only reflect that insofar as we are in loving and obedient relationship to Him.  Therefore, if the righteousness is not ours to boast, then who are we to judge others?  Why do we continually do so anyway?

There are many motivations that inspire us to judge.  Some do so in an attempt to boost their own moral position, to distract from our own failure to live up to the expectations of Christ, and to undermine someone we have identified as a threat, an enemy or a proponent of “bad theology”.  Some motivations are not so negative.  Some judge to root our legitimate sin, to expose corruption or to correct blatant moral and/or doctrinal failing.  Surely these issues need to be addressed?  Jesus is not suggesting that the legitimate concerns need be ignored.  Far from it!  Rather, He reminding us that, if we believe ourselves worthy of the role of judge, we are blinded to the reality of our own sin, brokenness and equal need of forgiveness.

Stanley Hauerwas writes:

“The disciples are not to judge because any judgment that needs to be made has been made.  For those who follow Jesus as if they can, on their own, determine what is good and what is evil is to betray the work of Christ.  Therefore, the appropriate stance for the acknowledgement of evil is the confession of sin.  We quite literally cannot see clearly unless we have been trained to see ‘the log that is in [our] eye’.  But it is not possible for us to see what in our eye because the eye cannot see itself.  That is why we are able to see ourselves only through the vision made possible by Jesus- a vision made possible by our participation in a community of forgiveness that allows us to name our sins”

Just prior to this portion of the teaching, Jesus said: “”The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness”.  Just as the single-minded devotion to Christ and His Kingdom is compromised by anxiety and attention on material wealth and stability, so to is it compromised when we seek to become the “morality police” for everyone else.  Why?  Because His Kingdom and His righteousness are defined quite clearly- to love God and love others.  Judging is left to the only one more qualified, the God of infinite grace and mercy.

Again, Jesus is not suggesting that we turn a blind eye towards sin.  Too many of us use this Scripture to avoid or reject necessary correction from the community of faith.  Rather it is the heart and the context of that correction that distinguishes it from judgment.  First, repeated the ever present theme of the Sermon, Jesus is pointing to the motivation of the heart.  We are not to judge out of anger, self-righteousness or impatience, but to correct with love, grace and patience.  Second, as Hauerwas makes clear, this correction is an expression of love born out of a genuine community of faith, where relationship with God and each other is our foundation.

Like the blog wars mentioned above, when we allow ourselves to be drawn into the endless cycle of judgment, we are ultimately treated the same way as we treat others.  The standard by which we treat others is the standard by which we will be judged.  The ramifications of this truth are staggering.

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6)

Perhaps it is through over-familiarity with Scripture, but most people hardly pause at these words of Jesus.  And yet, when you consider them, they are incredibly harsh.  The loving Jesus of grace and mercy are referring to people as dogs and pigs?  What could He mean by this?

Jesus knew that, rather than judging people, we were to extend to them what we ourselves received.  That is, the undeserved grace of the Gospel, both actively proclaimed and demonstrated by His people to a watching world.  He also knew, however, that the fact that we do not judge (and instead love) was no guarantee that we would be well received.  Even in the face of generosity, hospitality, love, peace and grace, some will reject us, even scorn us and cast us out.  How then are we to respond?

Again, the temptation to judge would be most present (and seemingly, most justified).  Jesus makes it clear that we are not to do so, but rather to move on (Matt. 10:15).  However, when we see this verse in the context of the wider teaching on judgment, we realize that He is not calling these Gospel-resistant people dogs and swine. which would be a very harsh judgment in itself.  Rather, He is confronting us (again) with our own self-righteousness.  It is we who make the Gospel worthy only of dogs and pigs in our refusal to “shake the dust from our feet” and move on.

The very difficult tension between judgment and loving correction is not easy to navigate.  The complexity of correction and discipline in the church is very, very difficult.  Jesus is not laying out a comprehensive teaching on these topics in this passage, but rather reminding us that, in all things, we must serve in full humility and grace.  These must be the guiding lights when engaging these more complex issues.

(While Laura is preaching in this section this week, as she didn’t want to blog her notes, I thought I would put mine up anyway.  Peace!)

Part 1 – Setting the Stage

Part 2 – Beatitudes (1)

Part 3 – Beatitudes (2)

Part 4 – Salt & Light/Law

Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce

Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies

Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight

Part 8 – The Lord’s Prayer (1)

Part 9 – The Lord’s Prayer (2)

Part 10 – Fasting

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

With the foundation of the Lord’s Prayer in place, teaching us the priority of the Kingdom in our lives, we learn that even our “daily bread” is secondary to such devotion.  From there Jesus reminded us to fast with pure hearts and motives, a discipline that reinforces not only the selfish longing of our hearts and bodies, but also the importance of its denial in the face of God’s vocation for us.  And it is here that Jesus addresses the inevitable tension these teachings build in our hearts and lives.

It might be easy to read the Scripture above as a warning against greed and materialism.  While there is surely that caution present in His words, Jesus is talking about much more than this.  After all, He does not deny our need for material provision nor that wealth itself is inherently evil.  Rather, He warns us against storing it up, words that would have reminded His listeners of the daily provision of manna (see Part 9 of this series).

Are we therefore forbidden to be responsible with our money through saving?  I don’t believe so, as Scripture affirms the wisdom of preparing for meager times (such as the ant who stores up for winter).  Rather, Jesus looks to our hearts, the motives which drive us to save, leaving no room for selfishness.  However, we must be careful to recognize the two faces of this takes.  While most of us are aware of the dangers of greed, we too often miss the danger of fear.  It is equally as dangerous to store up wealth out of a lack of faith that God will provide as it is from selfish greed.  Here lies a difficult tension, one that requires the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the accountability of the community of faith.

When we understand this, we realize that the danger is not simply in the quantity of wealth we accumulate (though Jesus does warn us of the dangers to our heart that come with great wealth), but rather the condition and motivation of our hearts that shape our actions.  In this way, even a lack of material wealth can be a justification for fear or selfishness, placing all under the same standard.  Our hearts must be first and only with Christ.

Yet Jesus doesn’t reject our desires for treasures, instead promising us His treasures in Heaven.  What are these treasures?  Jesus is not clear, but I cannot help but think back to the blessings of the Beatitudes.  Far greater than any earthly treasure, Jesus opens up to us the blessings of His Kingdom.  What greater treasure could we seek?

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:22-24

For the Jews of Jesus time, the eyes represented the central access point to the heart.  It was through our eyes that all we see and understand is taken in, allowing us to function properly and effectively in the world around us.  Having two very close friends who are blind, I am well aware of the costly reality of their condition.  While impressively adapted to the limitations of their sight, they know that they are still just that- real limitations that present real challenges.

In this way, Jesus is reminding us of our need for single-minded devotion on Christ and His Kingdom.  Any other focus blinds us from what really matters, crippling our capacity to function in all other functions of life and faith- not absolutely, but primarily.  In other words, Jesus is saying that when greed or mistrust leads us to focus on our material wealth and/or financial security, we inevitably lose sight of our true priority, thus stepping into darkness.

By saying this, Jesus is making this clarity of vision the single priority of His teaching.  He is pulling no punches with the reality that it is a binary choice- either you are in light or in darkness; either you serve God or Mammon/money.  There is no room for degrees when it comes to devotion to ones master.  In a world where we may have several bosses, we fail to understand the uncompromising nature of a slaves devotion to his/her master.  We are to be absolutely subject to our King and His Kingdom, leaving no room for compromise.

This raises some very difficult questions for us.  Are we, in any way, living our lives and faiths in ways that accommodate materialism along with faith, even if in a subordinate position?  Are we serving Mammon at all?  If so, Jesus indicates that our devotion to Him is completely compromised.  Few teachings of Christ are so explicit as this.  It is a choice.  It is a choice that requires immediate response and tangible changes.  Lord have mercy.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25-27

It is in these words that it becomes clear that Jesus is not primarily focusing on greed.  The emphasis on greed has too often been a way for us to by-pass the harder implications of this teaching.  However, in addition to the fact that, relative to most of the world, we are indeed very wealthy, we see here that Jesus is talking about the worry, uncertainty and fear that lead us to store up wealth.  The Jews faced the risk of having what little security they had taken from them by the occupying Romans, so their desire to store up wealth is understandable.  Yet Jesus saw that such storing would (and did) limit their ability and willingness to extend hospitality, charity and generosity.  And yet Jesus still makes it clear that to do so, even in these circumstances, was a violation of their devotion to God.  How much more, than, is our own storing up of wealth and security a compromise?

Jesus is not putting forth a “health & wealth” theology.  It does not exempt us from having to work (and work hard) for our provision.  Neither does it mean we are excused from our mandate to give and share what we have.  Above all, it is not a promise that we will never experience trying times where things are lean.  Rather than a law to be obeyed and through which we receive an immediate, material reward, it is about the the eternal fruit of obedience to the law of love and grace.  It is a promise that we need to worry or be anxious about anything.

As the unlikely people of the Beatitudes, we are call live in eager and trusting expectation of our King and of His Kingdom.  Rather than living in fear and uncertainty, we can instead live in single-minded devotion to serving our King and building His Kingdom, knowing that as we do so, He will provide for our every need (not whim).  Even death cannot rob us that promise, thus liberating us from the uncertainty and fear that drive us to selfishness.

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:28-34

The beauty of this passage is summed up so eloquently here.  While we live with the uncompromising devotion of a slave to their Master, that Master treats us, not as slaves, but as His beloved children.  The bird and the flowers, while created by Him, are not His children, yet He provides for them in every way.  How much more can we trust that He will meet our needs?  This is the hope that banishes the fear, allowing us to embrace this seemingly reckless devotion to serving God and building His Kingdom.  It is this very hope that the Kingdom offers to all of creation.

Like in the priorities of the Lord’s Prayer, we are again called to make His Kingdom our priority, even before our own well-being- not out of self-destructive neglect, but out of radical trust and obedience to our Father-King.  And the nature of this King and His Kingdom?  This has been the constant message through the Sermon on the Mount, even reflected in His temptation in the wilderness.  In addition to seek first His Kingdom, we are commanded to seek also His righteousness.  What is this righteousness?

This word “righteousness”, as we have seen previously, is better understood as justice.  In addition to being call to live for His Kingdom, established in and through the community of faith, the Church, we are also called to champion justice in a world shattered by injustice.  It is here that our role as ambassadors of the Kingdom propel us out of the context of our faith communities and actively into the wider world for which Christ came to save.  This is the justice we are blessed for hungering and thirsting after.  It is also the justice for which we can expect to be persecuted for.  It is in seeking both His Kingdom and His justice that we see what it means to be both salt and light to the world.

We are called to believe the Gospel in our hearts and minds.  We are called to proclaim the Gospel in our words and deeds.  We are called to obey the Gospel at all costs and without compromise.  This is what it means to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.  Then, when we do this, all the other details of life and provision will be given to us by God.  Therefore, crucify any worry that robs us of our single-minded devotion to Christ.

Part 1 – Setting the Stage

Part 2 – Beatitudes (1)

Part 3 – Beatitudes (2)

Part 4 – Salt & Light/Law

Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce

Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies

Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight

Part 8 – The Lord’s Prayer (1)

Part 9 – The Lord’s Prayer (2)

Fasting was a practice that St. Francis and his followers were well acquainted with.  In part out of self-denial, in part out of repentance for their sins and in part because they gave what little they had to those in need, fasting was a very regular reality.  When Francis became better known, he would often be invited into the homes of wealthy merchants and nobleman.  When rich food was placed before him, the humble saint would slip ashes into his food to dull the taste.  Why would he do this?  What did Francis think this would accomplish?

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18

Moments before stating these words, Jesus had said: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (6:1)  He went on to explain three ways where this was critical to embrace- our generosity (giving to the poor), our prayer life (in contrast to actors & pagans) and then, here, in our fasting.

The Jews were very familiar with fasting.  In addition to the 3 required national fasts- on the Day of Atonement, at the New Year and for Tisha B’Av- many practiced personal, voluntary fasts twice a week (every Monday and Thursday).  These latter weekly fasts were commonly (and openly) practiced by the Pharisees.  Fasting was normal and expected.  Because Jesus said “When you fast…” it is clear that He is affirming the discipline, just as He did with giving and prayer.  While the latter two, for the most part, are familiar and commonly practiced by most Christians today, fasting remains a far more rare and unpracticed discipline.

True and acceptable fasting is a response to God, not an effort to increase our “spiritual status”, especially not for the recognition of others.  The outward act is necessary, but it is only acceptable insofar as is the genuine fruit of a changed heart.  It is a discipline of obedience and submission to God, making His Lordship central to practice.  When we fast (or do any act of Christian service or devotion), we must be mindful of our motivations and intentions.  We must put to death any desire for public affirmation, even if we fear they’ll assume we are impious for not seeing it.  Otherwise we are serving another master, defying the King to whom we are sworn to serve.  This theme is repeated again and again throughout the Sermon on the Mount.

When Jesus told them to put oil in their hair and wash their faces while fasting, He was going against a longer history and tradition (such as the use of sackcloth and ashes in certain kinds of penitent fasts).  He was not intending to reject or devalue these traditions, but was demonstrating how critical it was for His followers to fast in ways that were acceptable to God.  The rewarding life of the Beatitudes cannot be fulfilled otherwise.  The price is too high!  In this light, we see that Jesus in not simply placing a burden of strict obedience on his followers, but is lovingly warning them of what they risk should allow compromise.

Proper fasting will not kill us.  Yet, when we are faced with this discipline, our bodies resist in powerful ways.  It is uncomfortable and dis-empowering.  It reminds us in painfully real ways of the true discomfort and cost of true obedience to Christ.  As powerfully as our bodies resist this, so too our hearts and minds work over time to conceive of short-cuts, excuses or exemptions that would lighten the cost.  We are too busy, have other health concerns, are not bound by legalism- the list goes on.  In a culture of such indulgence and wealth, this discipline is essential precisely because it is so particularly painful to us.

It is at the table of our Lord, in communion, that fasting takes on its deepest meaning.  Christ alone is the Bread of Life, relieving the deepest of hungers.  The passing fulfillment of food, wealth and power can blind us of our absolute hunger for that true Bread.  Fasting strips us of the pretense that we what we have is enough, that it is even possessed apart from the grace and provision of God.  We need Him for life in every sense and in every way.

Christ, You are the Bread of Life.  None else can satisfy.

Lord, we take this moment of silence to consider anything & everything in our lives that has filled any cravings, longings or needs that are apart from you.  We name them to You, repent of them & carry them to the Cross.  Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, by eating this Bread we declare that you are enough.  You alone can give satisfy all that we need.  We are Yours.

And so, as we eat this Bread, we do so in full submission to You.

Jesus Christ, You are the Fountain of Life.  The terrible cost of your spilled blood quenches any & every thirst.  Any temptations, expectations & rights are empty apart from You.  In this moment of silence, we name them, repent of them & carry them to the Cross.  Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, by drinking from this Cup we declare that you are all we need.  Only You can quench the burning desires of our hearts.  We are Yours.

And so, as we drink from the Cup, we do so in full submission to You.

Thank you, Lord, for the undeserved gift of grace and love, in which we become the willing slaves of Your will, yet humbled to be called sons & daughters of God.

All this we do and pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Part 1 – Setting the Stage

Part 2 – Beatitudes (1)

Part 3 – Beatitudes (2)

Part 4 – Salt & Light/Law

Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce

Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies

Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight

Part 8 – The Lord’s Prayer (1)

Having established that in prayer, as in life, the priorities of God must be first and foremost for all believers- even before the basic sustenance of life- we discover that God is both Lord and Father, wanting to provide for our every need.

“Give us today our daily bread”

This simple sentence has baffled Christians for centuries, largely due to the use of Greek word that seems to appear nowhere else in Scripture or other Greek texts.  The writer, it seems, coined a term (yes, pun intended).  While we cannot get into the fascinating debates around the word “daily”, the general topic of the debate is very telling.  Is Jesus teaching us to ask only for the “bread” we need for each day as we face it?  The bread for the day ahead?  Just enough to survive or enough to be comfortable?

What is interesting is that, in this prayer, the request for our bread is the only explicit request for material provision.  This led many early theologians to suggest that Jesus was not speaking of actual food, but rather the Bread of Life, Himself, a foreshadow to the broken bread of the Lord’s Table.  While this might be a secondary interpretation, the later references to God’s provision at the end of Matthew 6 suggest that Jesus was primarily responding to the provision of actual food.  This affirmation of our physical selves- its care and sustenance- is critical in our understanding of God’s provision for us.

Again, drawing from the rest of Matthew 6, Jesus seems to be suggesting that the provision He offers is day to day.  While perhaps not explicitly a 24 hour period, the deeper meaning is that Jesus wants us to trust His provision, freeing us focus on Him (as opposed to storing up for our own survival) and on generosity and hospitality to others (as opposed letting our needs excuse us from charity).  This is a practical affirmation and commitment to living our the Great Commandment to love God and love our neighbours.  We can embrace this trust because He is our loving Father (Matthew 7:11).

Jesus also teaches us to prayer for “our” bread.  As His Body, even as we ask for our basic provision, we ask for all.  As we learned in the previous post, this prayer transcended the loyalties of family and race.  Our new loyalty is primarily to God and those who we now call brother and sister through His adoption of us.  Even after placing God’s priorities first, we are still taught to put aside self-interest for the great good of God and His people.  Consider what this means to the money you make from your job.  Despite the work we do to earn it, we recognize that God is the provider of all things, therefore even that is subject to the teachings of this prayer.  How do we spend, save, give?

As a collective prayer for His provision, we also see that we are not to be ashamed of our need nor proud of our wealth.  We must live together in such a way that those in need can ask without shame and those with plenty take no pride or even ownership, for all they have is God’s provision to His people.  This cannot and should not be enforced, as this must be voluntary act of free will, inspired by genuine love and familial devotion, not moral, legal or social obligation.  However, it should be our ideal.  How do we do this without being taken advantage of?  What does it mean to affirm the ideal, correct mistakes, yet refuse to enforce?  These and other questions are difficult, often the very reason Christians drifted from this kind of commonality.  However, they must be explored, tested and tried.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Then, like today, people understood the power and bondage the came with debt.  However, unlike today, the penalty for failing to pay your debts was much higher, often resulting in forced servitude and/or imprisonment.  This was further underlined by the fact that usury- lending with interest- was forbidden to the Jews.  Today, debt is a way of life, taught to be acceptable, normal, even expected.  Yet, such debt forces us to make choices that limit our ability to submit to the priorities of God and His Kingdom.

Jesus is obviously talking about more than just monetary debt, likening sin and its bondage to that of debt.  Yet He also uses this word, I think, in order to demonstrate that sin is as tangible as debt (and may actually include actual debt), forcing us to look past private moral failings and examine the whole of our lives.  Without question, debt itself is seriously critiqued in this phrase and should therefore be among the first of the things we examine as Christians as we seek to truly and actively repent of the debts of sin.

It is also very telling to note the sequence of action in this sentence.  We ask for forgiveness, having already extended the same forgiveness to those in our debt.  Does this mean that God’s forgiveness is conditional?  It is not that God is offering a transaction to us- that if we forgive others, He will forgive us.  Rather, He is saying that to be forgiven by God requires genuine repentance and the truly repentant would not- could not withhold the grace that they themselves expected or received.  Not only that, but just as Christian died for us while we were still in our sin, so to must we learn to extend forgiveness to others even before they ask for it.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Does God willfully or negligently lead us into temptation?  Since Scripture teaches that God will never cause us temptation, why would we pray for something already promised to us?  Some suggest that we should never take for granted the promises of God and therefore, even when we know He will not do this, we should still ask.  Others believe that rather than temptation, it is times of intentional testing that we are being asked to be spared from.  Both of these seem unlikely, given that the sentence goes on to ask for deliverance from our the evil one, who is Satan.

Rather, Jesus is teaching us to acknowledge our inability to stand against the enemy on our own strength or righteousness.  The enemy cannot be defeated without the intervention of the God on whom we are fully dependent.  The provision of that deliverance can take many forms, including the intervention of His people.  We must therefore look to those things in our lives that we are seeking to overcome alone and bring them to God and His people with trust and humility.

This prayer cannot be prayed without looking at the way we live our lives, individually and together as the Church.  The lines of this prayer presuppose a level of commitment and change already in place.  Jesus, therefore, is cautioning us against insincerity and hypocrisy in our prayers, especially in this most wonderful and demanding prayer.

Lord God in whom we are united as one Body, one family, sister & brother,
May Your name be made holy by Your Word & by the witness of us, Your people.
May Your Kingdom be established here and now,
May Your will be our first & most immediate priority, just as it is to the angels above.
Provide for us the essentials for life together and obedience to You.
Let the gift of Your undeserved grace for us overflow from us onto those who have wronged us.
Lead us on Your path, away from the empty promises & hidden snares of temptation.
Rescue us from every scheme of sin & darkness which would take us from that path.
For you are King, this is Your Kingdom and we are Your citizens & servants.
All we are, all we have & all we will do is by Your power and for Your glory alone,
In the past, in the present and in the future.
Amen+

Part 1 – Setting the Stage

Part 2 – Beatitudes (1)

Part 3 – Beatitudes (2)

Part 4 – Salt & Light/Law

Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce

Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies

Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight

With the Advent and Christmas season behind us, Little Flowers Community is returning to our study on the Sermon on the Mount (SOTM).  The next two Sundays has us exploring the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-10).  As I began to prepare my notes for the first Sunday it became immediately clear that two weeks does not allow even a fraction of the time needed to dive into the powerful text.  As a community, we may return to it in more detail later this year.  This week we are looking at only part of the prayer.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

While the word “hypocrite” is meaningful for us today, when Jesus used the word, it would have had a more immediate connection to its root meaning- that is the Greek actors of the day.  Jesus was making it clear that the “quality” of ones prayers were not measured by the eloquence or sophistication.  We should not pray in ways that we think people want us to pray, nor is the depth of our faith measured by the theological words one uses.  Rather, prayer was genuine insofar as it was sincerely about God alone.

If God the Father already knows what we need, why then should we pray at all?  Clearly we are not informing God or even coercing God.  Instead, prayer is a declaration of our dependence on Him, an act of submission to the Lordship of Christ.  Further, it is the exercise of the authority given to us by God, authority in heaven and on earth.  Do our prayers move God?  I believe they do, but the complexities of what that means & how that works is topic enough for another time.  Ultimately, prayer is not about convincing God that our priorities are right, but rather that we must be orienting our hearts and lives around His priorities.  This is made clear in how Jesus goes on to teach us to pray:

“This, then, is how you should pray: ” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

While this prayer is in many ways very (and importantly) unique, Jesus is not creating this prayer out of thin air.  The Jewish people of His day prayed regularly several times throughout the day, most often using formal prayers, both privately and collectively.  The prayer Jesus teaches us here uses many of the same phrases and emphases as these other prayers.  This is important to note because Jesus was not rejecting the traditions and liturgies of His people, but reorienting them to their intended focus.  In many ways, Jesus is significantly celebrating the learned, shared and formal prayers of His Jewish heritage.

However, the prayer also significantly unique.  Unlike the typical prayers of the Jews, it did not identify God as the God of Israel (i.e. “God of Abraham, Isaac…), but rather He taught us to address God as “Our Father”.  The word Jesus used was the Aramaic equivalent of our “Daddy” or “Papa”.  While still a title of authority and respect, it was one of intimacy and love.  Further, it did not limit His Fatherhood to just the Jews, but made it universal.  This was further reinforced by the use of Aramaic in the prayer.  For the Jews, Hebrew was the sacred language, thus used for prayer.  By calling God Abba (expanding the focus for Israel to all peoples) and using Aramaic (ultimately saying that there was no longer a sacred language or that all languages were ultimately sacred), Jesus was shifting prayer into the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant that His people would be a blessing to all nations.  This is a foreshadow of Pentecost!

As an important aside, it is also in this universal understanding of God’s Fatherhood over all people that we must then orient our lives in relationship to each other.  No longer do religious, traditional or even familial loyalties take priority in how we live.  Now all women and men are our sisters and brothers.  Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said He would set families against each other (Matthew 10)? Or when He said “Who is my mother?  Brothers?” (Matthew 12).  Is it that now, our primary loyal is to our Father, then to His children?  And so, whenever our other loyalties conflict with this, it is to our heavenly Father’s family that we must give privilege?  These are important and difficult questions to ask.

The opening lines of this prayer are by no means semantic embellishment, designed to butter God up until we got to the important things, such as our needs.  Far from it!  Rather, the order reflects where our priorities must be in prayer and all of life.  It is with God first and foremost that our priorities lie.  “Our Father, who is in heaven” is not a declaration of His location, but a powerfully contrasting statement of His authority.  He is both our loving, intimate Abba, yet also the powerful and unequaled King.  “Hallowed be Your name” would better be translated, “May your name be made holy”, which every Jew listening knew (in part) came about by how they, His chosen people, reflected His holiness in their lives.  “Your Kingdom come” demands an active submission to His Lordship, working through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit to establish that Kingdom.  “Your will be done” is a declaration of our duty to discern and obey, individually and collectively, His will (which, with the prior reference to the Kingdom is clearly more than just living moral lives).  And finally, “on earth as it is in heaven” is a foreshadow of the completion of His work, when the new heavens and the new earth come together in the great Resurrection of all Creation for His glory.

It is only then, after such powerful and all consuming submission is declared, that our other needs for sustenance, forgiveness and deliverance are made.  To be a Christians, sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ, completely and unwaveringly submitted to His Lordship, means that His holiness, His Kingdom and His will must be, without even one exception, the priority of our lives.  All else MUST be secondary.  And there is not reason to do otherwise, for as our Father, He will meet all our needs.  Jesus reinforces this emphasis later in Matthew 6:33, calling us to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, knowing that all the other things will be given to us by Him when (and if) they are needed.

Teach us to pray, Lord Jesus.

Lord God in whom we are united as one Body, one family, sister & brother,
May Your name be made holy by Your Word & by the witness of us, Your people.
May Your Kingdom be established here and now,
May Your will be our first & most immediate priority, just as it is to the angels above.
Provide for us the essentials for life together and obedience to You.
Let the gift of Your undeserved grace for us overflow from us onto those who have wronged us.
Lead us on Your path, away from the empty promises & hidden snares of temptation.
Rescue us from every scheme of sin & darkness which would take us from that path.
For you are King, this is Your Kingdom and we are Your citizens & servants.
All we are, all we have & all we will do is by Your power and for Your glory alone,
In the past, in the present and in the future.
Amen+

“The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton. In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart…The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”  — Frederick Buechner

Every Christmas brings with it all kinds of anticipation.  At best, it is the excitement to gather with family and friends for good company and good food.  It is the struggle to fall asleep on Christmas eve to discover what the next day will bring.  It is the thrill of the unopened gift, the hopeful uncertainty of what is inside.  However, it can also be a time of anxiety, stress and fear.  It is facing the hurt and anger all too often linked to those we call family.  It is the dangers of financial instability in an all too expensive season.  It is the deep worry that the heart-felt gifts you have chosen for those you love will be met with disappointment, or worse yet, indifference.

As we consider the Advent of Christ’s birth, can often get swept up in the romance of the story.  The beauty of the nativity as we portray it is deeply moving.  Few hymns of praise are more universally enjoyed than those we sing during this Christmas season.  The majesty of the angels, the quaint and simple reverence of the shepherds, and the mystic devotion of the magi from distant lands.  What magical story!  After all, we know that this tiny child will be the salvation of all Creation.

And yet, like the conflicting anticipation of the Christmas season, the story of Christ’s birth is anything but quaint.  The fear and loneliness Mary and Joseph must have experienced!  Not only was Mary’s pregnancy the source of much controversy, but now they would have to bring the child into the world in an over crowded in among strangers.  No sooner had they brought Jesus into the world than they had to flee into a distant land to save His life, bearing the knowledge that so many other infants would die in their wake.

Imagine too the anticipation of Israel.  Long had they waited for their Messiah to come and inaugurate His reign.  Under the thumb of the Roman empire, they dreamed of the day when God’s Anointed One would raise His people in triumph over their enemies, demonstrating to the world that Israel was God’s chosen people.  And yet, when the Messiah did come, it was to a handful of dirty shepherds and a group of strange practitioner of a foreign religion.  Talk about not getting what you want!

And yet, in the face of such unlikely events, in ways that seemed so ineffective to the ultimate end, God manages to surpass our expectations through the very way in which He underwhelms us.  His entry into the world was not the triumphant victory of a military liberator, yet no person before or since has had more of an impact on all of Creation.  So too His confrontation of the great enemy that is Death was not a refusal to die but an embrace of the cruelest death, yet it led to the single greatest hope through His resurrection in the promise of our own resurrection.

The lesson we learn, then, is not that we should not live in anticipation.  Far from it!  The whole story of God through history, including the promise of hope for the future, has led His people always and ever into deeper anticipation.  Rather, the lesson we learn is to believe the power of grace- that when life seems to offer us it’s greatest struggles and harshest circumstances, that our anticipation would not falter, but instead bloom!  Whenever the realities of life seemed to indicate weakness, suffering and even death, it is there that God’s greatest love is made manifest.

And so we must enter into that anticipation, confounding the wisdom of the world by celebrate His hope in the face of suffering and death.  And we must let that anticipation fuel us in living and proclaiming the hope of salvation and resurrection before a watching world.

Over the last two weeks I have been traveling a great deal.  Last week was spent in Calgary at Renov8, the Canadian Church Planting Congress (more on that soon), with the week prior to that in Vancouver the YWAM Western Canada Leadership Team meetings.  Both weeks were spent deeply engaged in the questions of mission, community, leadership and direction.  As I began to prepare for worship with Little Flowers Community these dynamics were at work.  Putting aside my original plans, instead I wrote down a series of questions that we explored together as we journeyed towards the Table of Communion.  It was very dialogical, so the following is my attempt to share a small part of what went on.

What kind of God is our God?

Compassionate.  Just.  Loving.  These are just a few of the words that came to our minds as we considered this question.  It is not too difficult to throw together such a list, especially for those of us who grew up in Christian contexts.  However, as we listed these characteristics off, we were naturally led to the next question:

What do these things mean in a world that is so often unlike God?

Immediately we began to see that all too often, as we describe characteristics of God, we do so as though they are static descriptions.  However, we confronted with a world that is often unlike God, we began to see that these characteristics only have meaning insofar as they are actively engaged to transform the world.  By His very nature, from the very dawn of Creation through to the end of known revelation, God is actively at work, moving out into the world with the redemptive power of His nature.

If this is the nature of the God in whose image we are created, what does that mean for us?

As we look to the story of the Garden, we see that God created humanity in the wider context of Creation, in perfect relationship to Him, to each others, within ourselves and with all He created.  That relational unity expressed through diversity- the unhindered intimacy with the Divine, the generative love we share with each other, the un-self-consciousness of our individuality and our interdependent place within the created world- was formed in the image of the perfect unity of God in Father, Son & Spirit.  But sin marred that image, resulting in every facet of that unity damaged.  We hid from God, each other and even our own nakedness.  Even the earth seemed to turn against us.

How are we restored to that intended image of God?

Through Jesus, who in the incarnation entered into our brokenness, invited us to share in His.  Through the death of broken selves and into the resurrection of His Body, we are remade in the image if Christ.  The way to restoration is on and through the Cross of Christ.  The grave of our old selves is not optional.  Being reborn into Christ, no longer our own but entirely and indivisibly His, is not the saintly act of the exceptional Christian.  No, these are the essential and exclusive realities of our salvation.

We also realized that, as Scripture teaches, there is one faith, one baptism, one Lord.  There is but one salvation.  While we choose to enter into the saving work of Christ as individuals, it is together we are reborn, resurrected as One Body.  Just as our salvation is bound up together, so to is our new life as His Body.  Your choices are no longer your own, but touch every one of us in that Body.  And that Body is not yours to do with as you please, but is called to be the submitted member under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  After all, it is His Body to do with as He chooses.

What would Jesus choose to do with His Body today?

If we truly believe that our salvation is dependent on dying with Him on the Cross and resurrecting as His Body, and if we truly believe that we are His Body and submitted to His Lordship, then this question has staggering implications.  Looking at His life, his words and deeds, we see that He, in the incarnation of humanity, perfectly reflects the active nature of God we explored earlier.  And therefore, as His Body, restored to His image, submitted to His Lordship, that is the nature we (collectively & communally) must actively embody too.

What does this say about Communion?

Communion reflects both the commonality of our identity in Christ and the means through which that unity is achieved.  This sharing in common, even as it points to the brokenness of Christ on the Cross, also connects to each point of disintegrative brokenness that sin produced.  By consuming the Body and Blood of Christ, we are embrace our identity within Christ.  By sharing with our sisters and brothers, we die to that which divides us and are reunited as One in Him.  By taking up this Cross, we stand expose in the nakedness of our sin transformed even as individuals.  Even Creation, whose fruits produced the wheat and grape by which we celebrate this sacrament, participates in the work of God.

Participating in Communion is a public and communal declaration that we are taking on the image of Christ found only through the Cross.  Participating in Communion is a public renewal of our Covenant with God and with each other, where any blessing we received is for the blessing of the nations.  Participating in Communion is a sacred and binding rite in which we release all we are and all we have and all we want, taking on instead the mind and nature of Christ.  We recognize that this means a constant and absolute submission of our whole selves to become like Him, actively in heart, mind and body.

This is the heavy cost of Communion.  And so we do not approach the table lightly.  We believe that Little Flowers Community is being called more intentionality in embracing His restored image in and through us.  It is both exciting and terrifying.  It was in this spirit that we entered, some literally trembling, to the sacrament.

When we had finished, we stood together and raised our Communion glasses.  For while the broken bread and pour juice remind us of the heavy cost of following Christ, we also know that this brokenness does not defeat us, but is itself defeated along with death.  And so we raised our cups in the celebratory conviction that resurrection life one of hope, peace and joy.

• Setting the Stage – SOTM (1)
• Beatitudes Part 1 – SOTM (2)
• Beatitudes Part 2 – SOTM (3)
• Salt & Light/The Law – SOTM (4)
• Murder, Adultery & Divorce – SOTM (5)
• Oaths, Eyes & Enemies – SOTM (6)
  

In our last exploration of the Sermon on the Mount, we finished off Matthew chapter 5.  While we know, of course, that Jesus did not speak in chapter or verse, the beginning of chapter 6 does marks a shift in the emphasis of the SOTM.  The shift is critical, so take a moment and reread all of Matthew 5 before moving on.  It’ll just take a few minutes.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

While reading this portion of Scripture on its own may seem like a worthy reminder about humility, it would not have been missed by the people listening to Jesus that, moments earlier, He had said:

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Was Jesus contradicting Himself?  How are we meant to be a light before men, not hiding it away, while at the same time doing our good works in secret?  This tension is one that we will need to wrestle with always.  Working it out is no simple thing.  However, we can learn some key lessons from Jesus’ words.

Jesus made it clear in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:6) that we are called to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”.  As we explored several weeks ago,  true righteousness is not about external acts of goodness alone, but about a life actively dedicated to loving God and loving others (see SOTM 3 here).  It is this internal transformation of the heart that produces the fruit in the external- words, deeds, etc.  Yet in this Scripture Jesus warns again “acts of righteousness” (or as other version say “practicing your righteous”) before others.   He is warning us against equating the external fruits of righteousness with the transformation of the heart.

Jesus followers might very well have heard his teaching up until this point and used it to justify overthrowing the traditions and laws of Judaism.  Some might even have used it to incite violent insurrection against Rome.  While Jesus was calling for a radically new way to live in the world, He was very clear that this way of living was not meant to be the agent of change in the world.  Jesus did not come to start a revolution that wanted to overturn the world, but rather to overturn our hearts.  Only then would the world be truly and honestly changed.  When Jesus said “When you give to the needy…”, He is making it VERY clear that external acts of righteousness are necessary.  Faith of the heart is inseparable from faithfulness in life- word and deed (James 2:14-17).  As Dorothy Day once said: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us.”

If we confuse righteous action for righteousness, we make a God out of activism.  Only Christ alone is righteous.  We do not do acts of righteousness- be they justice, mercy or peace- so that people will look to us, see our merit and be convinced of our faith.  Rather, it is the very presence righteousness, not diluted or distracted from by our involvement, that points to Christ.  We must decrease so that He might increase.

We face significant pitfalls in this dynamics tension.  As Jesus warns, we can become so focused on “achieving” the external acts of righteousness, convinced that by doing these acts our hearts are changes, that end up merely aping truth.  Like the Greek actors on a stage (those hypocrites), we pretend to be on the outside what it untrue of our true identity.  Conversely, we can oppose this external pretense, so seen as legalism, claiming a “freedom in Christ”, leading to lives of unworthy action (or inaction).  The lesson for both extremes remains the same.  Jesus calls us to a new identity of the heart that produces a radical new way of living, but one that does not seek to draw attention to itself, but points only and always to Jesus Christ.

Together we ask ourselves some hard questions.  In the last year, month, week, even 24 hours, how has your heart changed?  How has that change worked itself out in how you live?  For if it has not changed you life, is your heart truly changed?  Also, in the last year, month, week, even 24 hours, have you embraced new ways of radical obedience to Christ?  If so, what heart change has accompanied it?  For if your actions is only out of external adherence to expectations and not changes of the heart, are your actions truly righteous?  These are difficult questions we must look at regularly.

St. Francis of Assisi lived in this tension in powerful ways.  Of this righteousness one biographer said of him:

“Among the saints, he was the most saintly, and among sinners, he looked like one of them.”

May it be so of us too.

• Setting the Stage – SOTM (1)
• Beatitudes Part 1 – SOTM (2)
• Beatitudes Part 2 – SOTM (3)
• Salt & Light/The Law – SOTM (4)
• Murder, Adultery & Divorce – SOTM (5)
  

At Part 6 of our Sermon on the Mount series at Little Flowers Community, we are beginning to see that Jesus not only has a way of teaching that reinforces His central point through many directions, but that He is calling us into a way of life that is disruptive and demanding.  I believe that this section of His teaching, Matthew 5:33-48, brings the heart of His message out more clearly than previously.

“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.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

Growing up, this Scripture was not talked about much in my own tradition beyond the simple lesson “Be honest”.  Attending a Christian school with several Mennonite teachers, it was mentioned off and on that this verse forbade us from swear an oath in court.  It was even suggested that this meant that the priestly and monastic vows of Roman Catholicism were also contrary to Scripture.  I was always left underwhelmed by these answers.  What was Jesus speaking of here?

In years of youth ministry, I cannot count how many times, when I would have to question someone about one problem or another, that I heard these words in reply: “I swear I didn’t do it!” or “I swear to God I am telling the truth”.  Speaking nothing of the sincerity or honesty of their words (for some were telling truth and others were not), I was always left frustrated by these oaths.  While often said for emphasis, the underlying message of swearing that you are telling the truth is that, when you do not swear, your word is less than trustworthy.  It is not that the oath itself is wrong, but rather that your word becomes only trustworthy when you declare one.

Jesus calls us to be a light to the world, requiring a purity of conscience that is not clouded or hidden by half-truths or “untrustworthiness”.  We are called to live lives of such integrity that our character is the only oath of authenticity our words need.  In Jesus’ day, like our own, people used little white lies all the time, like when running a business.  People expected it.  It was the norm.  However, Jesus leaves no room for us to compromise in even the seemingly small issues, for on our ever word is hinged the Gospel & God we represent.  He emphasizes this point by showing us that anything else is from the evil one.  Again, the standard of behaviour, linked to our representing Christ to the world, is raised.

And so, our words must represent the truth- not rationalized and not qualified.  Our yes must be yes and our no must be no.  Proverbs 10:19 tells us that, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds the tongue is wise”.  How often do we try to minimize, qualify, justify or mitigate our failings even while we are “repenting”?  If we are to truly embrace a life of wholly loving God and others, we must be people of truth, in word and deed. This is not an optional virtue of the super-Christians, but the base-line standard for all believers.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Here Jesus is reminding us again what sin is.  Rather than primarily about acts of moral failure, He shows us that sin is about “missing the mark”- that is, failing to God’s best.  Again, if we read this section as if these examples are for the especially devout, we miss Jesus point entirely.  It is not enough for us to not strike back when we are harmed.  It is not enough that submit to requirements of the law. Rather, we must go beyond what is required of us, returning evil with good every time. This is to be the nature of who we are as people of the Beatitudes, people of God.

If we believe this then we will se that there is always- ALWAYS- a cost to following Christ.  That cost will be paid out in service and love to others, even our enemies (especially our enemies).  After all, it is not about us, but about God.  Our ability to truly know Jesus is inseparably linked to our ability to embrace His costly way of life.  Further, we cannot expect others to see and embrace Jesus is our lives are willingly and consistently following this path.

This is not merely about charitable generosity, but about choosing to give love (tangibly) in the face of being wronged.  By tangibly, I mean it will likely cost us time, money, energy, possessions, etc.  When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He calls us to give up our rights.  Just as He had a different will from the Father (“Not my will, but Yours be done”), but willingly submitted to the Cross, so to are we called to this submission.  And, again like Christ, it will lead us daily to the Cross.  After all, how can we proclaim the Cross of salvation when we are not willing to drink from that cup in our own lives?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

It is critical here to note that when Jesus refers to our enemies, He identifies them as people who persecute us.  Jesus presumes that our enemies are those who hate us, not those we hate.  Clearly Jesus knows that we hate others (as the openly line suggests).  However, He turns this maxim around, building on the clear premise that His followers do not hate anyone, but love all.  Neither is He blind to how hard this is, but rather points clearly to the fact that this is demanding and (again) costly for us.

Through the Sermon on the Mount we are called accept suffering and consider ourselves blessed for it.  Then we are told to give up our right to fight back.  Now He takes it so far as to say that we are to love our enemies.  Jesus commands us also to pray for our enemies!  Consider that for a minute: Not only are we to accept their abuse, return evil with good, love them even as they hate and persecute us, but now we are to stand before God and speak in their defense! We are to be for our enemies what Christ is for us.  How monumentally difficult, beautiful and humbling.  Imagine a world in which we truly lived this way…

It is in this section that we first see Jesus use the word “love” in the Sermon.  Love.  It is in this direction that Christ has been leading us all along.  It is the direction that God has been leading all of Creation towards from the beginning.  It is the promised end to which we strive fulfill.  Love.  It is here that we begin to understand what true love is.  True love is not merely the love of affection and loyalty that comes easy to us, but a love that is not mitigated by whether the person is our sister or whether they are our executioner. This is the love of Jesus, a love that will die willingly for the sake of others, whether they deserve it or not.  It is the love symbolized by the stark paradox of the Cross.

Too often we view our faith as a way of life that is about making us better people, a philosophy that will improve the quality of your life.  This is a poisonous lie.  It is not about us, but about God. Under the Lordship of Christ, our lives are not our own, in every aspect.  Our money, times, career path, energy, imagination, giftings, expectations, etc. are all God’s for His purposes and His glory.  Of course, He is a God of love and so our lives will ultimately become better.  We will become better people.  However, these are the graces of the Father given to His children, not our deserved reward for simply becoming Christians.

Jesus’ love for us was demonstrated on the Cross. Our love for God & others must be demonstrated in the same way.

• Setting the Stage – SOTM (1)
• Beatitudes Part 1 – SOTM (2)
• Beatitudes Part 2 – SOTM (3)
• Salt & Light/The Law – SOTM (4)

To understand the following section of the Sermon On The Mount (SOTM) we must, as usual, look at the section that precedes it. Jesus has just clearly stated that He has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. For Jesus, the law & the prophets are summed up in the Jesus Creed- to love God and love others. His radical grace is never a license to abandon His precepts. We cannot truly follow the law without becoming like Christ and cannot truly become like Christ if we ignore the law. They are critically and indivisibly bound together.

In Matthew 5:21-32, Jesus goes on to look at some of the hardest hitting issues that the law addresses: Murder, Adultery & Divorce. It would not surprise me if these issues were the bigger hitters of Jesus’ day and age. The righteous could stand firm against these issue with moral superiority because, for the most part, few of them ever had to deal with them. I wonder if those who did fail in these areas, like with today’s hot button issues, were a means by which others boosted their moral standing. Jesus, of course, makes no room for this technique:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Jesus reminds us with powerful clarity that the law is not kept through external and explicit obedience to the prescribed behaviors and/or adherence to a set of prohibitions. Rather, we see that the bar has been raised significantly, requiring that not only are we to follow the law, but that the intention behind that law be written upon our hearts. The motives and attitudes that lie hidden in the secret places of our hearts and mind are exposed before God and it is there that the measure of our obedience is laid.

Sin literally means to miss the mark, suggesting that sin is more about what it has missed- what it has failed to be– than just the transgression itself. Murder is wrong because it fails to be loving, peaceful, gracious, etc. That is why, even if we resist the act of sin but fail to embrace the righteous and just higher alternative, we are still guilty of violating God’s law. We are not, ultimately, loving Him or others.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

In the first section, Jesus demonstrates that the condition of our heart is the measure of our obedience and righteousness. In this section He goes even further, showing us that good works or obedience cannot somehow balance the scale. Given that we share very few of the rituals of first century Judaism, it is important for us to recognize how this applies to our context. Our worship, service, ministry, etc.- all critically important to our walk of faith- are to be put aside until we address the unresolved issues of broken relationship with God and others. This does not devalue those acts of worship, but rather demonstrates that reconciled relationship is the central expression of Christian worship. It is the grace in our brokenness that most glorifies God. As we’ve learned previously in this series, this is also an expression of our public witness to the world.

It is interesting to note that Jesus is not clear whether you or your fellow are at fault in the conflict. Jesus is less concerned with where the blame lies than He is on the state of the relationship. As we pursue true reconciliation, we must be brutally aware of and strongly resist our tendency to look for “percentages of wrong”. We are responsible for our hearts, thus making even the slightest failing our 100% of fault. No matter how much “more” the other person wronged us, this does not mitigate our own fault in the slightest. This might mean that we humble ourselves for a failing while the other makes little or no effort to take responsibility. Humility and repentance are painful and- obviously- humbling. (NOTE: I am not suggesting here that we let people get away with injustice. This is why the community at large must participate in correction.)

Again Jesus makes His summation of the law and prophets abundantly clear: our pursuit of righteousness (i.e. our sacrifice & worship) lack value as long as we ignore or participate in injustice (i.e. broken relationship with others). In other words, we cannot expect to love God while not loving our sister or brother. The barriers of sin between each are invariably the barriers between us and God. The two commands are inseparable. We often like to interpret John 15:13 (“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”) as being about literally dying for others (which is an important meaning). I believe, however, that Jesus is referring to our whole lives, including the simple, but costly sacrifices grace, humility, service and love.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

In perhaps one of the most brutally explicit commands against sin, Jesus’ words here are often read as dramatic overstatement. However, I believe that Jesus is being quite literal here. If any part of your body causes you to sin, then by all means, you should cut it off! Reflecting back on what Jesus has been teach thus far, we can see that He is remind us that sin is born of the heart, not the body. Our hands, eyes, etc. can never cause us to sin. We choose to do so with our will because of the condition of our heart. It is our heart that should be cut out and thrown away (not literal, of course, but referring to our mind, will & emotions). Again, Jesus points towards the Cross.

This is not easy task. Imagine how you feel when a fellow Christian calls you out on your sin. Even when done well, we most often respond with anger, denial and even counter-accusations. How much harder, then, is it for us to address the hidden and secret sins that lie in our hearts? If we are going to embrace these teachings of Jesus, we must be prepared face significant and painful humility and repentance.

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”

First, while Jesus is addressing divorce here, it is not the primary focus of His teaching, but rather as an example to further illustrate the broader teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. So while we must pay close attention to these verses in respect to divorce, they cannot be used apart from wider Scriptural references on the topic.

In this section Jesus is addressing another abuse of the law that was all too common in His day (as it is today). The Jews were using the literal letter of the law to get out of certain marriages (often as a means to get into new ones). To use the law to justify selfish and sinful choices is to exploit God for our own ends. The laws about divorce were given to us to protect us and teach us to truly love God and others. For it to be used in such a way is a violation of the spirit of the law and thus the law itself, regardless of the letter of the law. Jesus was primarily addressing the sanctity of covenant, reflected in this example through marriage, but implicitly in respect to God’s covenant to His people. Again, the bar has been raised.

Following Jesus is difficult. While we want forgiveness of sin and the assurance of eternal salvation from judgment, we often fail to recognize that the free gift of Christ is costly. He has made a way for us to be saved, but it is through the suffering and death on the Cross. Further, the new life we find is no longer our own, but rather His. We are reborn into His Body, thus His to command. Adherence to this costly way of life is not an option for the especially righteous, but the standard by which we are all called to live. We can be humbly grateful that He is gracious and forgiving, as we continue to fail to meet this ideal. However, we must never allow His love and grace be a license to waver from this path of devoted submission.