2.1.5 12.27.2020 Matthew 5.1-16 The Direction of the Disciple...

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Series Overview:

1 How do you measure what is intangible?

Love.

Peace.

Goodness.

These qualities elude our instruments. Yet there are times when we can determine, almost by instinct, what is important, significant or life-changing. Most Christians recognize the Sermon on the Mount as a central part of the message of Jesus as well as the elemental core of New Testament teaching about discipleship. Both the language and setting of the Sermon on the Mount are memorable; of all the discourses delivered by Jesus it has a title. As much as Christians quote from, discuss the contents of and prescribe the tenets of the SOM, perhaps it has even greater impact outside of the church. For non-Christians, no part of the New Testament speaks with the same spiritual authority as these words of Jesus.

2. Why is it important? Here Jesus begins to re-imagine spirituality beyond the ethnic and cultic norms in which religion has existed for most people practically forever. Here begins His revolution. Here begins the process of a universal call to Kingdom living.

One message

to redeem

One Fallen humanity.

As easy as it is to blame Judaism and the Jewish leaders for a narrow-minded spirituality-it’s not like gentiles were any more tolerant or responsive in their thinking. Pagan superstition could be just as narrow-minded and bigoted as the over-zealous legalism of formative Judaism. What becomes clear is that Jew and Gentile alike seemed to proceed from a deep-seated fear and mistrust of anything other and a reluctance to grow beyond one’s inherited prejudices. Jesus imagines a world defined not by what we already know but by what we can discover. He offers Himself as the “discoverer-in-chief” and will subsequently offer to believers the Holy Spirit to continue the adventure.

How is this adventure going for you? Are there challenges you did not anticipate? Are there people whose goal seems to be irritating you? How are you balancing the “spiritual” with the “normal”? One of the traits of the SOM is that it brings together and links these two dimensions of human experience giving us a more wholistic approach to being a human made in the image of our creator.

Entice: We begin with the Beatitudes

Engage: Of course, Jesus rose as a prophet in Israel. However, His kingdom message goes beyond the borders of nation and the color of skin. This is a revolutionary and very scary step in God’s dealing with humanity. Humans have always relied upon the most obvious, most external of markers to establish boundaries between one another. This is why legalism is so appealing; whether the rules are the codes revealed in the laws of Moses or the unwritten codes which govern the behaviors of every imaginable fraternity or club. We are clearly far better at building walls than we are at building bridges.

Expand: In the beatitudes Jesus teaches an approach to spiritual maturity which is unprecedented in its scope and undaunted in its appeal. Jesus assumes that people of goodwill, normal folk like us, when we humbly submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, when we are led by faith, can exhibit a character derived from His own. What’s more He is telling us all “You can do this”.

Excite: There are few of us who would cultivate humility, purity or peace on our own. Through His example, His passion and the giving of His Spirit we can make these transforming words live in our time-we make them live through our lives.

Matthew 5:1–16 ESV

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Explore:

A vibrant faith is produced on the inside but projects outward bringing praise to God.

Explain: Jesus reminds us that the whole life of the spirit combines an external demonstration of what goes on inside us-let’s talk about how He lays it out.

1 Internal=Grow.

verses 1-(3-12)

1.1 Question one.

Who am I becoming?

3-10

This is the primary question which lies at the bottom of the beatitudes. Try as we might to create or attach rules to these characteristics they prove impervious to further reduction. They are Internal not external.

1.1.1 They are Internal attributes with clear impacts on every other person we meet. So, we can see the impact in all our relationships, but those people over whom we impact cannot force us to do those things which have impact.

1.1.2 We are blessed in becoming something new and different something which is molded by God’s own character and in so doing we bless others by allowing God’s character to work through us.

1.2 The next question

Who am I challenging?

11-12

Persecution is a sign that the Empire is threatened, persecution is a kind of cultural, social, economic reaction to the contagion-the virus of righteousness in its midst.

1.2.1 Spiritual behavior unmotivated by matters of the flesh is a challenge to the structures of our world which use the passions, prejudices and paranoia of the flesh to control people.

1.2.2 When we live from the inside out; this world will be threatened because it will become apparent that the qualities we are exhibiting are not vulnerable to threats, intimidation, humiliations, tortures, or ridicule.

So…Jesus first focuses on the internal aspect of our character and how we should grow. Next He transitions to the External dimension of our character or what we Show to the world.

2 External=Show.

verses 13-16

Jesus uses three simple metaphors to focus our thinking on how we show the world we have ben changed….

2.1 Salty Salt.

2.2 City on a Hill

2.3 Shining Light.

Shut Down:

1 When people examine our lives the goal should not be to demonstrate how spiritual we are or how blessed but to exalt Christ thus bringing praise and glory to our Father in heaven.

2 We are to be a persuasive example of how God operates in our lives. Are you growing? Are you showing?