This postcard sits where it can be seen from my desk. 'The Sermon on the Mount III (after Claude)', by David Hockney. It was brought back by a friend fortunate enough to get a ticket for one of Hockney's exhibitions in London, over a decade ago.
For Christians, perhaps two of the most pay attention words we can hear is, "Jesus said..." And the distilled essence of Jesus' teaching begins with, "And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying..."
Jesus Said…
Monday
Jesus said: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25.31-46)
To see the presence of Jesus in the face of those who are vulnerable, powerless and in need of support, is a fundamental principle in following and serving Jesus.Full stop.
Tuesday
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22.37-38)
We don’t need detailed rules. Just two barcodes of discipleship – Love God with everything we are and have, and love our neighbour no less than we love ourselves. Simple. But not cheap. Costly love never is. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands…”
Wednesday
Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Luke 9.23-24)
Daily. Luke is the Evangelist who remembers that word. Discipleship is an everyday commitment. That’s good news for when we fail, make mistakes, or want to start again. Life isn’t something we cling to, but something we give ourselves to – the best deal in town is to give ourselves in service to God and neighbour.
Thursday
Jesus said: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Mercy. That mixture of compassion, generosity, welcome and inconvenience that makes one human being help another. For Christians, to love others as God loves us, for Jesus’ sake. Jesus told a story about that. It involved a Samaritan, “the one who showed mercy” – same word in both texts. So, go and do likewise!
Friday
Jesus said: “Not just seven times, but as many as seventy-seven times.”
Yes, he’s talking about forgiveness, answering Peter’s question about how many times a person should be forgiven by us. If you’re still counting then you’re not forgiving. The benchmark for comparisons isn’t a number, but the vast incalculable debt God has forgiven us. There’s no comparison between what any of us have to forgive, and what we have been forgiven. Just remember the Cross which makes forgiveness possible as gift and grace. Lord give us a forgiving disposition.
Saturday
Jesus said: “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that belong to God.” (Mark 12.17)
You can’t be a Christian who doesn’t do politics. All the other things Jesus said about following him, taking up the cross, loving our neighbour, showing mercy, living out our forgiveness – they don’t stop at the front door of our personal private lives. Every time we walk out that door we go into a world where what Jesus says still has, and must have, a decisive influence on our public life. Of course Governments and politics don’t work on the basis of who Jesus is and what Jesus said – but we do. And that must shape and guide what we think, do and say about the issues of the day.
Sunday
Jesus said: “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3.20-21)
What we do when no one sees us is a good clue to who we really are. When someone is caught out doing something shameful or hurtful or dishonest these days, the ready-made excuse is an apology and statement, “That’s not who I am.” Well, yes it is. Truth is fundamental to good character. Transparency is like a window; light shines through it, and we can see through it. Everything we do is in the sight of God; live, said Jesus, in such a way that people can see through you, and see a life of love for God and neighbour.
Eternal God and Father, you create us by your power, and redeem us by your love; guide and strengthen us, by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves in love and service to one another, and to you,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
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