Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
I saw my friend Matt the other day. He spent the first six-weeks of his summer working at a camp. Said that his mentors at camp were spending lots of time in the Sermon on the Mount.
You know, from Matthew 5:
"And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And, opening His mouth, He began to teach them, saying,
'Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for their is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets before you.
You are the salt of the eart; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.'"
Most of you know that I usually come back to this passage. In fact, I usually come back to these three chapters in my study. The reality is that I think they're crucial to anyone who walks with Christ.
See, in our reading of this, who could argue with the platitidues? Who is against things like gentleness and righteousness and peace? It's like a politician who is for lower taxes and education, right?
Not right, actually.
See, this was anything but a polite little diatribe. Nope...these were fighting words to the hearers as the listening audience would've been expecting something entirely different. They were rogues. Looking for the Messiah to come and help them overthrow the occupying Roman government and take back Israel. Nope, these were people who were looking for a political revolution.
And Jesus blessed all the wrong people.
He talked about a kingdom in which the true revolution was found in people's hearts nad minds. That a life with God flips your inner world upside-down and then affects those around you. Hardly the saber-rattling these ruffians wanted to hear.
And, hardly what we want to hear...if we're honest.
At this time of year the American revolutionaries get a lot of publicity. We see the paintings, we maybe even read the Declaration of Independence. We admire the rabble-rousers like Jefferson, Hancock, Adams, et al. But we lose a bit of sight on the reality that it was the inner beliefs that these leaders held that they wrote pushed them towards forming their own nation. They wrote them down. It was their "Sermon on the Mount."
And we gloss over the reality that those words were the first salvo in a war. The British army and the newly-formed American militia would go at it over those words.
But Jesus said that our war will initially be fought in our hearts and minds. The inner revolution will have outward results.
I can never say that enough, or point you to this section of Scripture often enough. Thanks, Matt, for reminding me of that by telling me how much your summer study was encouraging you.
So, for today, what encourages you about this section of His revolutionary speech?
Brent 4:31 AM
Comments:
Brent, I have a question about our student ministry, as Christians, we are to be like Christ and stand out and be different from the world, and our student ministry is far from that! I walk into youth group and there is loud rock music playing, the girls are dressed very immodestly, and I feel like I am at a school get together where the school dress code no-longer applies! People are left out of activities because they are unable to go to after church and week-day activities, and end up surrounded by people that they don't know.
Why don't you talk to our youth group about their irreverent behavior?
Also, to keep people from being left out, we could have small group disscussions about the lesson DURING CHURCH like we did at Tuesday Night Discipleship. By doing this, we would get to know each other, and reinforce and more thouroughly understand the lesson.
I know that we would have time to do so if we cut back on the movie/music video clips and jokes and stories that have nothing to do with the lesson.
Please answer ASAP.
-In Christ
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Why don't you talk to our youth group about their irreverent behavior?
Also, to keep people from being left out, we could have small group disscussions about the lesson DURING CHURCH like we did at Tuesday Night Discipleship. By doing this, we would get to know each other, and reinforce and more thouroughly understand the lesson.
I know that we would have time to do so if we cut back on the movie/music video clips and jokes and stories that have nothing to do with the lesson.
Please answer ASAP.
-In Christ
