A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 52

Chapter 52 – Our Final Authority

 

Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29)

Jesus was never looking to create a religion or a huge following. His goal wasn’t to build a megachurch and claim all sorts of converts. He wasn’t looking for likes and shares. Jesus was only trying to remind people of what God already asked them to do in the scriptures from which they were already learning. When Jesus asked people to be followers, it’s not because he wanted to command them, or have authority over them. God was already the authority and Jesus wanted people to imitate his teachings on how to have a right and loving relationship with God and with each other.

The hard part is making sure that we are becoming true followers, true imitators of Christ, not just admirers. According to Soren Kierkegaard, “an imitator is or strives to be what he admires, and an admirer keeps himself personally detached.” (p. 328-329) In the quiet, easy life, when everything is favourable to a Christian, it is easy to fall back to being an admirer. (p. 330) Being a follower of Christ means to take action like Christ, not just sitting back and admiring his words and deeds. An example of an admirer would be Nicodemus because, in the end, he never became an imitator of Christ.

So, will you be an admirer or an imitator? Will you sit on your laurels, or will you do as Jesus did – sit with the most marginalized of all and remind them that they, too, are children of God? Will you follow the handbook found with the Sermon on the Mount and take action for justice and peace in the world?

I give our final words to the great Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “but again he does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal, he really means us to get on with it…Jesus has spoken: his is the word, ours the obedience.” (p. 332)

If you’ve stuck with me the entire year, thank you so much. This project ended up being more daunting than I expected. Also, due to life circumstances over the summer, I couldn’t truly get posts done weekly as I had planned. However, it was an amazing experience to explore the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew deeper than I had before. I am grateful for the opportunity to have done so, and to have shared my thoughts with you. Thank you all again for walking with me on this journey. May God be with you all.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 51

Chapter 51 – Building on a Rock

 

Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall! (Matthew 7:24-27)

It's all about the foundation. In order to stand strong, we must have a strong foundation, especially in our faith. I think the problem lies in that we think we have a good strong foundation, but then when we are tested, when we are asked to go outside our comfort zone, suddenly our foundation is nothing but sand.

According to Oswald Chambers, “the way to put foundations under our castles is by paying attention to the words of Jesus Christ.” (p. 326) If you’ve been following along these last 50 weeks, you’ll know where I’m going with this. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is our instruction books; it’s the words that we can use to build our foundation. Pay attention to these words. Send time with your bible. Dig deep into the words of this sermon. It’s only with a solid foundation that when a true crisis arises that you’ll stand there like a rock.

And with this foundation of rock solidly in place, you can stand up for the oppressed, for the marginalized, for the unhoused, for the foreigner. With a good foundation, you can fight for justice and for peace.

Living out Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount will take determination, faith, love, and commitment.

Are you ready?

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 50

Chapter 50 – Lord, Lord

 

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

“If you think of nothing but Christ, and do not set yourselves to do his words, you but build your houses on the sand,” says George MacDonald. (p. 317) In these verses, Matthew is telling us that simply calling out the Lord’s name won’t get you anywhere. There is no foundation to your life if you simply put God’s name in your mouth only when it benefits you.

To have God as your foundation, you must do more than just live in God’s name; you must also work in God’s name, doing the things that God wants you to do. Superficiality will get you no where with God. Using God’s name in vain will get you no where with God. It is easy to say your works are in God’s name, but it is hard to be sincere about it. If you are insincere in your work, then your foundation will be like sand, and you will sink or collapse.

Ask yourself this question posed by Mr. MacDonald, “What have you done this day because it was the will of Christ?” (p. 318) Have you fed the hungry or clothed the naked? Have you forgiven those who can’t forgive you? Have you turned back to save your enemy even though they might not have done the same for you?

Simply stating that you are Christian, that you follow Jesus, that you believe in God is not enough. Yes, we have salvation by faith alone, but faith without works is dead. “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (James 2:26) Jesus calls for us to not only have faith, but to act on the faith, to work on being in right relationship with each other in order to have right relationship with God.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 49

Chapter 49 – False Prophets

 

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Scot McKnight urges us to turn this text back to ourselves like a mirror and ask, “Am I the false prophet of this text?” (p. 310) I will admit that sometimes I’m guilty of this – being patient, kind, compassionate, and all the other qualities that make me a good priest while I’m at the office, the church, or in collar…but then at other times, I’m impatient, easily angered, and other not-so-nice qualities. In these times I pray to understand why this is happening and what I can do to rectify it.

False prophets are found elsewhere in our world; they are all over the place. Have you ever watched a baseball player hit a homerun and when he gets to home plate, he points to the sky in thanksgiving? Or how about when a natural disaster occurs and someone goes onto social media and declares that God sent the disaster to wipe out *insert any marginalized group here*? And then there are the megachurches…

According to Gene Davenport, false prophets are often sincere, truly believing themselves to be messengers of God. (p. 312) However, these same people often think that every problem has a simple solution. A quick quote from the bible and all will be well again. False prophets will tell you that nothing needs to be done during a crisis because God will take care of it. Pray it away! (Whatever “it” may be.)

But life isn’t that simple. Life is messy. Life is complicated. So, beware of false prophets who tell you that prayer alone will help. Jesus tells us that bearing good fruit, having action behind your prayers, is what will get you through this messy and complicated life.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 48

Chapter 48 – Two Ways

 

Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14) 

Throughout this book, there have been many great theologians, prophetic voices, and other inspirational sources. This chapter begins with quoting directly the first section of the Didache. This is not a source I recognized so I did a bit of Googling (yes, that’s now a verb.)

“The Didache (did-a-key), Διδαχή, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is an early Christian text that most scholars date to the first or early second century.” This document was used as a manual for basic Christian living. The first chapter of this document is titled “The Two Ways” and talks about the way of life and the way of death. The piece quoted in our book from page 303 to 305 comes from The Way of Life and sounds pretty much like reading Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. The Way of Life is to love God, love yourself, love your neighbour, and follow the commandments set out by God. The Didache lays out exactly how you would go about living The Way of Life.

The second way is The Way of Death. According to the Didache, the Way of Death is being sinful and doing all things that leads a person away from being righteous. Essentially the opposite of all the things found in the Way of Life. At the end of this section of the Didache, it says, “Beware, lest anyone lead you astray from this way of righteousness, for he teaches apart from God. For if you can bear the whole yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you cannot, do as much as you can.”

How often are we walking the thin line between perfection and failure? We expect so much out of ourselves. It’s hard to live up to our own expectations! But God doesn’t expect perfection. God expects us to try the best we can, ask for forgiveness when we fail, and then to get back on our feet and keep going.

If you're interested in reading The Didache for yourself, follow this link:

https://legacyicons.com/content/didache.pdf

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 47

Chapter 47 – The Golden Rule

 

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew (7:12)

 

The Golden Rule is something that most of us will have learned in our lives, even if our family had nothing to do with religion. Being kind to others doesn’t need a person to have a religious belief. The Golden Rule is a universal ethical principle stating that you should treat others as you would like to be treated. It requires reciprocity and empathy. It has universal application in that the principle applies to all human relationships. As well, despite all of their perceived differences, most religions have a Golden Rule. Here are a few examples:

·         Christianity: “Do to others what you want them to do to you.” (Matthew 7:21)

·         Judaism: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.” (Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

·         Buddhism: “Do not hurt others in ways you yourself would find hurtful” (Udanavarga 5:18)

·         Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do nothing to others that would cause you pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5:117)

·         Islam: “None of you believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” (An-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith 13)

·         Baha’i: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” (Udana-Varga, 5:18)

·         Confucianism: “When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others.” (Li Ki 28.1.32)

But we must remember that the Gospel is not a set of legalistic rules. The Gospel is a gift from God meant to guide our spirits in the way of following the Golden Rule. As Roger L Shinn states, “Love, mercy, forgiveness, the spirit of the Beatitudes – here we find the spirit in which Jesus meant the Golden Rule.” (p. 299)

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 46

Chapter 46 – Ask, Seek, Knock

 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew (7:7-11)

 

Ask, and you will receive. This is one of the many lessons we learn from Jesus in this sermon. Want something from God? Pray, ask, and you will receive it. We are told to pray without ceasing as a way to maintain our relationship with God.

 

But praying in this manner isn’t just asking for things and hoping to receive them. Praying to God is about building up your relationship with God, and also with yourself. Praying it about learning how to recognize that a relationship with God means that you can ask to leave your burdens in God’s hands, thus receiving relief from stress, sadness, and anger. Asking and receiving isn’t always about material goods. In fact, most of the time, it’s about spiritual and emotional needs.

 

Seeking out a relationship with God means that you’re ready to receive all of what it means to be in relationship with God – grace, mercy, forgiveness, and, most of all, unconditional love. Ask, and you will receive all of this and more. Ask and seek, and you will receive an abundance of love that you’ll hardly know what to do with it all. Ask and seek, and you will receive the gift of being able to lay your burdens down, even if only for a while.

 

Everyone who asks, everyone who seeks, will receive. No if, ands, or buts about it.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 45

Chapter 45 – Casting Pearls

 

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” Matthew (7:6)

 

 Of all the verses in the Sermon on the Mount we’ve covered in the last 45 weeks, this one is so far toe most difficult to examen. Is Jesus calling people dogs and pigs here? What pearls are we talking about here?

 

As Christians, our “pearl” would be the Gospel – the Good News of Jesus Christ that we are called to share to all people. Perhaps Jesus is asking us to be cautious about who is at the receiving end of our message? Seems counterintuitive, though, to the fact the Jesus has told us the Good News is universal and for all people.

 

Dallas Willard talks about forcing our religion on to others, or considering our “pearls” being “offered with a certain superiority of bearing that keeps us from paying attention to those we are trying to help.” (p. 288) Now this seems more Jesus-like. Jesus never asks us to consider ourselves superior to anyone. He only asks that we share in our love. And while the metaphor seems a little odd, the second half warns us that if we try to act superior to others, we will be trampled upon and left behind.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 44

Chapter 44 – Judging Others

 

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” Matthew (7:1-5)

 

I enjoyed Anthony de Mello’s contribution to this chapter. De Mello talks about the possibility that when we judge others, we are actually judging something about ourselves. He states, “Every time you find yourself irritated or angry with someone, the one to look at is not that person but yourself.” (282) De Mello reflects that perhaps the irritation we see in others is something that we find irritating about ourselves, therefore we project that irritation back to the other person.

 

No matter what, it is not our place to judge. People make their own choices in life and who are we to judge what they do. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t call someone out when they are being harmful or hurtful to another person, or if they are breaking the law, or are about to find themselves in danger. Not judging does not mean not confronting sin.

 

However, the speck and the log in our eye that Jesus talks about certainly comes into play if we deem ourselves better than another for whatever reason. A better person. A better parent. A better Christian. It is not our place to determine what is “better”. Only God will be our ultimate judge. In the meantime, our job is to live in the best way we can, love as much as we can, and do all that we can to take care of our neighbours.

 

In these verses, Jesus is calling us to worry more about removing the plank from our own eye than from the eye of others. As they say on airplanes, put your own mask own before trying to help others.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 43

Chapter 43 – God’s Kingdom First

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew (6:33-34)

 

Jesus wasn’t a king, nor did he want to be. Jesus was sent to us to teach us how to love. He didn’t ask for worshipers and wasn’t looking to start a new religion. He wasn’t asking anyone to call him “your majesty” or to fall to their knees before him. Wealth and fame meant nothing to him. I mean c’mon! The guy rode to his death on the back of a donkey! No luxurious horse or carriage to be seen.

 

At no time did Jesus claim to be a king. He was certainly a leader, a great leader, but he was not a king. In fact, he reflected that question back at Pilate in Luke’s chapter 23 verse 3: “Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ He answered, ‘You say so.’”

 

Jesus was mockingly labelled as the King of the Jews and ridiculed by the crowds, the soldiers, and even the criminals hanging from their own crosses next to Jesus. Everyone mocked him, asking why as King and Messiah, he didn’t save himself. The crowds were furious because they believed that if Jesus wouldn’t save himself how on earth could he save the people of Jerusalem?

 

But Jesus does not come down off his cross to prove his supposedly kingly status. Instead, he remains on that instrument of torture and humiliation as a representative of all who suffer unjustly. And he does not promise a better tomorrow but instead offers to redeem us today.

 

Jesus was not sent to rule the people of Israel and all the earth. Jesus was sent to be a teacher…a mentor…a leader…to show us how to love ourselves and how to love one another in order to find peace. Peace and reconciliation for all of creation are signs of the kingdom of God in Jesus. Whether it will reside above the clouds, beyond the stars, in our hearts or, most likely, in a dimension well beyond our current comprehension: Christ’s kingdom will come. Jesus will reign in love and peace and serenity: King of Kings, Lord of Lords. That’s the kind of king we have. The question now becomes – what kind of subjects will we be?

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 42

Chapter 42 – Beyond Worry

 

‘“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.’ (Matthew 6:25-32)

 

Do not worry. This is the message from Jesus in this bit of his sermon on the mount. Do not worry. Not exactly the easiest statement. It is in our human nature to worry – about food, clothing, money, other people, etc. We humans worry about everything! What Jesus wants us to do is lay our worries at God’s feet. Hand our worries over to God and let God do the worrying. Easy as pie, right? Ha!

 

It's not easy, but it can be done. Through prayer, we can lay out our worries and ask God to walk with us, to help us carry the burden so that some of the weight can be lifted. We can pray to God to help us find someone willing to share the burden with us. We can talk it out with our family and/or our friends. We can release our worries to our therapist or our psychiatrist. There are many ways that we can use to relieve ourselves of the worry that we have in our hearts.

 

And sometimes, we need to realize that there are worries that we can’t do anything about. We can only control what we can control. Anything else is out of our hands. It’s of these things that Jesus calls out to us, “Do not worry.” Knowing the difference between what is and is not in our control will mean the difference between crumbling under the worry and working our way through it.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 41

Chapter 41 – God or Mammon

 

When thinking about the debate between God and Mammon, and whether or not money and love should be mutually exclusive, I’m drawn to the parable of the dishonest manager. You know, the story about the manager who skims money from the land owner, who then finds out and has the manager fired, but before he leaves the manager makes shady deals with all the customers? Ebenezer Scrooge comes to mind, too.

 

According to Eberhard Arnold, “Mammon is the rule of money over people…. Dependence on material affluence and financial security – that is mammon.” (p. 259) The bottom line is that you cannot serve both God and wealth. If all we care about is getting wealthier, our relationships grow less important. We don’t care about the customer, just the customer’s money. That doesn’t mean there is anything inherently wrong with being wealthy. It’s all about what you do with that wealth. Do you hoard it or share it? Are you selfish with it or generous with it?

 

We can’t love God and money, but there needs to be balance. We need to pay the rent, buy shoes and school supplies for the kids, save up for college funds, and make sure we’ll someday be able to retire without burdening those kids. There is nothing inherently wrong with money, but money should never overshadow our values or faith. There is nothing inherently wrong with having wealth, but God calls us to steward our resources faithfully, letting go of the desire to hold on to wealth and, instead, centering our lives on generosity and compassion.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 40

Chapter 40 – The Good Eye

 

As we get into the final few weeks of our exploration of the Sermon of the Mount, we begin to delve into some of the more difficult verses. Matthew 6:22-23 talks about eyes and lamps, darkness and light. Quite a curious pair of verses.

 

If your eyes are working properly, they will take in the light of the room and allow you to see. If they aren’t working, you will be in darkness. This same description is used in Luke 11. Timothy Keller links both metaphors to money, materialism, and greed. He declares that “Jesus says … this darkens your eye spiritually.” (p. 254)

 

According to Keller, the darkness comes from not wanting to talk about greed, not wanting to admit that we are quite likely greedy, we just don’t realize it. We compare ourselves to someone richer than us, and there’s probably always someone richer than us, and decide that because rich people exist, we aren’t greedy. But just because someone might be more extravagant than you, doesn’t mean your greed is non-existent. Did you choose your job because of enjoyment or money? Or are you turning a blind eye to the damage your employer is causing to the environment?

 

The darkness of materialism is everywhere in our society. Perhaps it’s time for us to reassess how we spend out money. Even just by focusing on buying Canadian and/or local, we are letting our eyes see the reality of where our money goes after it leaves our hands.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 39

Chapter 39 – Lasting Treasures

 

Not only is humanity full of selfishness and greed, but it also seems to be incapable of letting go of things and stuff. It’s as if the accumulation of “stuff” is the most important thing to many people. And the richer you are, the less likely you’re willing to let go of anything, especially money. Basil the Great states, “if everyone took for himself enough to meet his immediate needs and released the rest for those in need of it, there would be no rich and no poor.” (p. 249)

 

I took economics in school, and I still couldn’t tell you what’s happening in today’s economy. Pries are skyrocketing, especially when it comes to food and other necessities. And how about the salaries for professional athletes? Why do they need all of that money? Probably just to buy more stuff. It’s hard to comprehend why the few richest people feel like they need more when so many people have nothing, can’t even buy food to feed their family.

 

And it’s not like you can take it with you when you die. All these earthly treasures that are being accumulate will just be left behind once you’re gone, so why not spread the wealth while you’re around to see the joy on someone else’s face? As Clement of Alexandria says, “In the end it is not the one who keeps, but the one who gives away, who is rich.” (p. 251)

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 38

Chapter 38 – Deliver Us

 

…but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

Now that we’ve asked God not to lead us into temptation, or to save us from the time of trial, our next request is to be delivered from evil, or the evil one. But what is this evil, or who is this evil one? Our minds automatically go to Satan. Makes sense that we’d ask God to deliver us from Satan and his evil ways. This feels too simple, though.

Romana Guardini says, “The evil I have to contend with is a distillation from past evil that comes from others or myself.” (p. 240) The evil we come across in our lives is not Satan, but humanity. The selfishness and greediness of God’s creation have done more harm in this world than Satan ever has. Guardini continues, “Wars are not started by the force of nature, but by selfishness everywhere.”

Repeatedly we hear how humanity is destroying the planet, and how if we were to take better care of our resources, there would be enough for everyone. And yet, the world is run by a select few with millions barely able to get their hands on a loaf of bread because “the real evil does not stem from nature, but from the coldness and hardness of selfishness, the negligence of the indolent, the thoughtlessness of the superficial and pleasure-loving.” (p. 240)

The good news is that God can deliver us from this evil, if only we would put our faith into God and follow God’s lead. Jesus has given us the roadmap to deliverance, now it’s up to us to listen.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 37

Chapter 37 – Temptation

 

And lead us not into temptation…. (Matthew 6:13)

 

Do we really think that God is leading us into temptation? “How easy is it to blame someone else when we’re tempted to sin. It’s “his” fault, “her” fault, or when all else fails, it’s God’s fault.” (Bad Girls of the Bible, p. 57)

 

God does not lead us into temptation. That’s ridiculous. This is not something God would ever do. Leading us to temptation is Satan’s work. That’s why Pope Francis called for this particular line of The Lord’s Prayer be changed. In 2019, Pope Francis called for the traditional translation “Lead us not into temptation” be changed to “Do not let us fall into temptation”. Francis explained, “I am the one who falls; it’s not him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen.” (www.desiringgod.org/articles/reading-the-bible-upside-down)

On page 234, N T Wright says that there are three levels of meaning in the verse “lead us not into temptation”:

1.      “Let us escape the tribulation”

2.      “Do not let us be led into temptation that we will be unable to bear”

3.      “Enable us to pass safely through the testing of our faith”

In the more modern Lord’s Prayer, it states, “Save us from the time of trial.”

There are so many ways we can look at this verse without thinking that God is leading us towards temptation. It is more likely that God wants to walk with us through temptation, helping us to get through whatever trouble we find ourselves in.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 36

Chapter 36 – As We Forgive

 

…as we also have forgiven our debtors… For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)

 

Forgiveness is one of the hardest things we will ever have to do. When someone has wronged us, when someone has hurt us, the last thing in the world we likely want to do is forgive them. Because to forgive means we must forget, right? To forgive means we accept what that person has done to us as insignificant, right? Not exactly.

 

Forgiveness “does not wipe out the consequence of sin.” (p. 228) Even if forgiveness is given, it doesn’t cancel out what was done, and there should still be consequences. A child breaks a dish. They might still have a punishment – cleaning it up, maybe some time in their room – but it is unlikely that the parent will not forgive the child for breaking the dish.

 

“Forgiveness is the re-establishment of right relationship.” (p. 228) To give forgiveness means that you want to repair the relationship that has been damaged by the sin. It’s not forgetting what happened but acknowledging the harm the event has caused and deciding to move past it in order to work on the relationship. Now, if forgiveness is given but no change in behaviour occurs, then perhaps right relationship will not be restorable. Only the parties affected can make that decision.

 

What happens if there is no opportunity to forgive the person directly? If the harm occurred many years in the past and the two people are no longer in contact, can forgiveness be given? Doesn’t it even matter at that point? That would depend on the person looking to give forgiveness, but it certainly can still have an effect on that person. By forgiving the sinner, even from afar and with no current relationship, it can still relieve the burden that is being carried. Forgiving someone longer parted from your life can be a way of letting go of the shadow that might be hanging over your head because of the event in question. Even if you can’t right the relationship, or don’t want to for whatever reason, relieving yourself of the burden can be very liberating. In that case, you’d be re-establishing right relationship with yourself, your own heart, and your own soul.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 35

Chapter 35 – Forgive Us

 

And forgive us our debts… (Matthew 6:12)

 

“It is a basic Christian doctrine that we are all sinners.” (p. 218) This is something we learn right from the start of Sunday school. We are all sinners. As humans, we will never be perfect. It’s impossible to be perfect. We are all sinners. What we get as Christians, though, is the knowledge that God knows we aren’t perfect. God’s level of expectation of creation is pretty low. As equally as we know that we are all sinners, we know that God will always forgive us.

 

An important piece of this doctrine of sin is remembering that “all” means “all”. It doesn’t mean “everyone else but me.” As M Scott Peck states, “Housecleaning, like charity, should begin at home, and we usually have quite enough to do being our own watchdog without having to be anyone else’s.” (p. 218) It is important that we self-reflect on our own sinfulness and ask for God’s forgiveness and not worry about anyone else’s sins. We can only control what happens within ourselves.

 

And what does forgiveness mean? It means to “let go without a sense of guilt, obligation, or punishment.” (p.220) In the petition found in Matthew 6:12, we are asking for God to wipe the slate clean and allow us to start again. We acknowledge what we did today was wrong and we are asking for a new beginning tomorrow.

 

And you know what? That’s exactly what God gives us – a new beginning with a clean slate.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 34

Chapter 34 – Daily Bread

 

Give us today our daily bread… (Matthew 6:11)

 

A little bit of bread could be everything to someone who is hungry. It’s a staple in most households, and yet we take it for granted that that loaf of bread will always be available to us. When we pray to God for our daily bit of bread, that prayer can go a long way. Not only are we praying that our loaf of bread will continue to exist, but that all mouths will be fed. By saying “our daily bread”, we are recognizing that all mouths deserve to be fed. The prayer also extends to all the work that goes into making that loaf of bread, because it doesn’t suddenly appear in our homes.

 

Behind a single loaf of bread, there is an entire string of events that takes place, events that go mostly unseen. Seeds need to be planted, tended to, and harvested. Many people are involved in storing the grain and then, subsequently, turning that grain into bread. Then there are all the stores who are involved in the selling the bread. There is an entire line of relationships that go into making, and then consuming, bread.

 

God is all about relationship, and a relationship with God means maintaining relationship with others. As per Leonardo Boff, “When we present God with our own needs, [God] wants us to include those of our brothers and sisters. Otherwise the bonds of fellowship are severed and we live only for ourselves.” (p. 215)

 

We pray to God for our daily bread, but God doesn’t want us to keep that bread to ourselves. We are meant to share it with others so that no one is in need. If we only give crumbs, are we really taking care of our neighbour? Or would it be better to give a sandwich?