The Everyday Prayer

RE Verse reading–Matthew 5:17-48 (day three)  A great help for reading and interpreting the Sermon on the Mount is to ask yourself, “What kind of world is Jesus describing?”  What would it be like if people were moral/good/loving not because they were forced to do so by the Law?  What if an inner change made us  walk with God in ways that pleased Him?  What if no hatred (no malice, no contempt) was the rule rather than no murder?  What if purity of eye and imagination was regarded as essential for the protection of marriage?  No adultery AND no unrighteous fantasies!  What if every divorce was regarded as a sin against God’s creation plan?  What if every word was required to be true, not just the ones sworn “on a stack of Bibles”?  What if no retaliation was the normal response and love the deepest burden?  One good question leads to the next.  HOW could this ever happen?  The Lord will answer soon.  Right now, He wants us to imagine and believe!

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:17-48 (day two) “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (vs 19)  Jesus is answering His critics.  They have noticed His flexibility with Sabbath, His different views on the temple and concluded that He is “abolishing the Law”.  Jesus denys it.  His purpose is to fulfill the Law, to press it forward to its original purpose.  He states that breaking or misinterpreting the commandments will make a person “least in the Kingdom”.  Does this surprise you?  Our rank and reward in the Kingdom is connected to the commandments!  I know many Christians who say “we are not under Law but under grace” (Romans 6:14) as if this frees them from any obligation to study or obey the laws of God.  Jesus never intended this to be so.  Maybe we have misunderstood our freedom and calling.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:17-48 (day one)  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (vs 17)  The Old Testament was the Bible that Jesus read.  It was “a light on his path, a lamp for his feet”. (Psalm 119 )  It is a mistake to teach or think (as some do) the New Testament makes the Old obsolete.  Jesus respected the Old Testament.  He “filled it full” of its original meaning and intent.  On Wednesday, January 4, we will begin a series of “Bible talks” on the 10 Commandments.  The subtitle of the series is “What they mean and why we need them”  As you read Matthew 5 this week, I hope you will observe the Lord pressing the 10 Commandments beyond external compliance to spirit and motive.  ( No murder AND no hatred!)  Jesus knew that for us to keep the commandments as God intended, we need new hearts.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day seven)  The wise men worshipped Jesus as the new-born King of Israel. (Merry Christmas!)  What experiences should we expect who do the same?  We should expect to experience humility (poor in spirit).  With small resources, we will have a daily, desperate need for God.  We will experience grief (mourn).  We will face honestly the reality of our sins and their consequences.   We will experience meekness.  No more self-determination, we will wait on the Lord and obey Him when He speaks.  We will hunger to be right with Him.  We will be merciful because we have been “mercied”.  We will be pure–only one goal.  We will be peacemakers.  We will be persecuted.  (How ironic these last two are!)  The good news?  The Kingdom of God is near (available, possible, attainable)!  The bad news?  It brings many experiences that are negative and/or difficult.  To follow this King, we must deny self and carry a cross.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day six)  “Blessed are the poor in spirit. . .blessed are those who mourn.  (vs 3,4,)  At a doctor’s appointment yesterday, I was attended by a young tech who had the word “Blessed” tattooed on his skin.  I asked him about it and he told me his story.  His happy gratitude is the foundation of our faith.  People who know Christ are blessed in Him.  People who seek the Kingdom are happier, wiser and  more successful. (Now or later or both.)  Even admitting that Jesus defines success in a different way, the FACT that we are blessed is undeniable.  “He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him”  (Hebrews 11:6)  I wonder how much weakness we welcome into our lives by leaving this promise unbelieved?  How confident are you that you are (and will be) BLESSED to follow Christ and to contribute to an eternal Kingdom?  Do you have a tattoo?  How about a testimony?

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day five)  “Jesus did not say ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ because they are poor in spirit. . .He was not making poverty or mourning a meritorious condition”  (Dallas Willard)  Some teach Jesus’ words with this interpretation.  They propose a new legalism, a new way to be blessed by God.  If not a “salvation through works”, at least “salvation through attitude”.  “If I can just be poor in spirit, or grieve my sins. . .” Big mistake!  The Beatitudes are NOT Jesus teaching us how to be blessed.  They are His declaration of the unlimited reach of the blessings that come to us in the Kingdom of God.  Everyone is included!  Shy people, broken hearted people, overweight, HIV positive people (you fill in the blanks to make it contemporary and clear).  Those that we dismiss as burned-out and beyond help are invited into blessing!  “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”  Joy to the WORLD!

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day four)  “If the salt loses its saltiness. . .it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (vs 13)  It was a compelling illustration.  Convicting even today.  While salt (NaCl) can never lose its chemical properties,” blocks of salt” did so all the time in the ancient world.  As the real salt leached away, it left a useless, tasteless pile of chalky impurity.  The warning?  It is possible for Christians to lose our distinctiveness and ministry!  Avoiding persecution and desiring pleasure we become cautious and forfeit our Kingdom service.  When this happens, the Lord ” throws us out” just as the ancients did the impurities–used for road construction projects.  Are we already seeing the warning light of such a judgement by God?  Many are.  If lost completely, salt cannot regain its saltiness.  Better for us to hear this warning and repent now!  May the Lord give us urgency and hope!

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day three)  The question may be too high for me, but judging from the Sermon on the Mount I am convinced that we can reach some conclusions about the mind and heart of our Lord.  He BELIEVED that eternity matters more than time, that pains suffered in this life will be more than compensated by the rewards and peace of the next.  He BELIEVED that the Kingdom would come.  It was a certainty in His mind.  He BELIEVED that courage is required from us who love God, that “salt can lose it saltiness” by getting discouraged or cautious or self-protective.  He BELIEVED that loss of courage is a mistake.  He BELIEVED that the purpose/duty of light is to shine and that others will be motivated to glorify God if we lose our reluctance and fear.  As you read this week, will you consider the question and my conclusions?  What do you think Jesus believed?

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day two)  When Jesus said that people who were poor or mourning or persecuted were “blessed”, He was not being insensitive to the injustice that frequently comes with life.  He was, instead, declaring that none of these pains are “worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us”  (Paul’s words in Romans 8:18).  Jesus believed that the Kingdom was coming.  Already present, coming in fuller measure, the Kingdom was something He prayed for and believed in.  (Note the future tenses used in this passage, they will be comforted, they will inherit the earth)  This future confidence gave Jesus a different perspective on life and trouble.  Who are the truly blessed people of this world? –those who have a place and a reward in the world that is to come.  “Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day one)  At Christmas we celebrate “good news of great joy” which the angels sang to the shepherds. (Luke 2)  This week as we read the Sermon on the Mount we listen as the Lord explains the content of this good news.  What is the gospel?  How has God blessed us so that we can rejoice even when life is hard?  By giving us the Kingdom of God–a new, possible, beneficial relationship with God, made possible by the Son, in which we trade our will for His will, our destiny for his destiny.  When we experience this new relationship it changes everything. Not poverty, or loss, or powerlessness, or hunger/thirst now has the power to defeat us.  His Kingdom more than compensates us, transforming even these hardships into blessings.  It is the great good news!  It is the reason we can rejoice in the hardest moments of life. The Kingdom is ours.