Monday
Matthew 5.1-2 “Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:”
Right, let’s ask the hard question first! Did Jesus mean what he said? Is the Sermon on the Mount (SM) meant to be a template for how we live our lives? Is it practical, sensible, even possible, to live up to the commands and promises of the Sermon on the Mount? If so, why do we find it so hard? Why have there been so many wrestling matches with the text to make it easier to live up to the demanding words of Jesus? SM test 1: Do I forgive others as I have been forgiven?
Tuesday
Matthew 5.1-2 “Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:”
“The Law was given by Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1.17) The Law was given on a mountain; grace and truth are now spoken in a new covenant, the law written on the heart. Jesus as a teacher with authority, sits, and teaches, and speaks the grace and truth that is the manifesto of the Kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount (SM) gathers together the values and principles, the guidance and commands, of the One who comes to teach and to live the life of loving obedience to God. SM test 2: Do I follow (understand and do) what Jesus says?
Wednesday
Matthew 5.13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again.”
Saltiness is the unique quality of our personal devotion to Jesus. Saltiness is our determination to seek first above all else the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. Saltiness is also wise determination to build our life on the rock-solid foundation of hearing and doing the words of Jesus. Jesus teaches his followers to live differently, to act and think and behave in ways that enact before the world the ways of Jesus as signs of the Kingdom of God. We have only followed what Jesus says when his teaching is followed up by who we are. Salt serves it purpose by making a difference by its presence. SM test 3: Am I maintaining my saltiness?
Thursday
Matthew 5. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Jesus is the Light of the World, and his disciples, those of us who confess him as Lord and follow his teaching, are the reflected radiance of that light. The Sermon on the Mount is the handbook that describes the spiritual power source of “the light that gives light to everyone in the house.” You, (plural) – the Christian community, are like a city visible in the darkness for miles around, because the accumulated light makes it stand out. Those who believe Jesus meant what he said, by relying on God’s grace, and who seek to live out, and live into the teaching of Jesus, will stand out in the surrounding gloom. SM Test 4: So, as followers of Jesus and practitioners of his teaching, do we stand out in the surrounding gloom? See Philippians 2.14-16.
Friday
Matthew 5.16 “Let your light shine before everyone, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
What good deeds? Those actions of kindness and compassion that go the second mile. Those words that rather than obscure the truth, are words where yes is yes, and no is no. That way of being in which Christian anger management uses the levers of forgiveness, applying the brakes that restrain and retrain the way we speak to and about others. Those attitudes to others that seek reconciliation, and work towards neighbourliness, so that we can come to offer worship without embarrassment. SM Test 5: Am I light that by my good deeds gives light to everyone in the house?
Saturday
Matthew 5.19 “Whoever practises and teaches these commands, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
By practising what Jesus teaches, we teach others the ways of the Kingdom of God. Forgiveness is a practice; truthful speech is a practice; compassion to those who suffer, considerate neighbourliness, generosity with our stuff – these are practices in which we work out the teaching of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is a Highway Code for those seeking to follow faithfully after Jesus. Of course some of Jesus’ saying are hard to put into practice, but in the everyday life that is ours there are countless times when we are called to be salt and light, to take up our cross and follow. SM Test 6: Is my life a persuasive lesson in what it means to follow Jesus?
Sunday
Matthew 5.48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
No pressure there then! No, in this life on this earth we will never be perfect, but that is the goal and the end of Christian life. The word does not mean flawless, it means complete and whole. God loves his enemies, we should too. God blesses people like the rain, generous and un-choosy; likewise our love for others can’t be just for those that we think ‘deserve it.’ God is most revealed in Jesus. He is our paradigm, the single criterion by which we examine ourselves. SM Prayer: “To be like Jesus, all I ask, to be like him.” Amen
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