Lately, I’ve been teaching on and studying the famous Sermon on the Mount this last month or so for our Jesus series in student ministries… along with the Jesus for President in bigchurch. I have never wrestled with, struggled over, and learned as much from this part of the New Testament ever before. I want to share with you my bullet thoughts:
- -All things considered, Jesus is easily the most political figure ever.
- -At times, Jesus teaches with a mathematical pentameter… Five, six, seven, eight, “You have heard it said BLANK but I tell you BLANK.” Its soothing… like a lullabye.
- -The type of holiness Jesus is calling listeners to is impossible for man to achieve (never think hateful thought, don’t lust) which just reaffirms that He was actually talking about much more than rules.
- -To truly think about the better way of living that Jesus is talking about is a thing of beauty. What would that look like for MY life?
- -He loves us. His ministry on earth, His words, His actions, show His insane love for us.
- -He was truly a candidate of change… to the point that the true change He was speaking of was ONLY made possible with His death and resurrection. Try that on for size, Obama and McPalin.
- -Finally and thanks to my buddy Matt… what rules/box/restrictions have I put on my faith? In living with other humans, the question should NOT be “Are you saved?” but instead, “Are you loved by God?” The answer for every human is, “YES!” God loves everyone. Matt posed me this question, “You love your boys, right?… is there ANYTHING they could EVER do to make you want them to spend the rest of their lives in torment and away from you?” No.
If you haven’t in a while, you should read the sermon that was delivered on a mountainside 2,000 years ago.
“You love your boys, right?… is there ANYTHING they could EVER do to make you want them to spend the rest of their lives in torment and away from you?” No.
I want to say so many thing about this quote… I keep writing things and then deleting them. I’m such a chicken. That’s why I deleted my blog about Hell. Nobody would hire me, haha!
@Ryan – awww come on… email it to me! Is it good or bad? I’m not making any claims here, it was just a quote that challenged me in a few ways. In the background I could hear someone saying, “You don’t have to live like this. YOU don’t have to live like this. You don’t HAVE to live like this….”
Sounds like Matt’s been reading The Shack. How would I know? I read The Shack.
Or “The Last Word and the Word After That” by McLaren. How would I know? I read “The Last Word and the Word After That.”
Nick, your first response said it was from Mandy, and I was confused.
@ryan – yeah sorry, Mandy used my computer and her name was saved in the field… I didn’t catch it until after I hit “submit” (then I changed it)
As far as The Shack goes, all I know is that Mark Driscoll hates it and therefore I like it… even though I have never read it.
I did, in fact, read The Shack. And I liked it! ~matt
Matt, I like it alot as well! I just recognized that analogy… I also loved the quote a little later on “It is not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way.”
“As far as The Shack goes, all I know is that Mark Driscoll hates it and therefore I like it… even though I have never read it.” Wow, there is some open-minded commentary for you.
@Justin – I was having a cynical day when I wrote this… please forgive me!