Understanding the Sermon on the Mount - Part II of IV

I had hoped to write these four installments on the Sermon on the Mount in a more timely fashion, but life has a way of changing our plans when we don't expect.  When I wrote Part I last month it was around midnight the day I was starting the Chaplain's Retreat for the ministry I lead down at Lee University.  Since that night, life has been a whirlwind, full of fun and crazy moments.  But I'm finally getting back to what I had set out to do over a month ago.

We left off discussing the Sermon on the Mount from the book of Matthew chapter 7 verses 13-23.  The first part of our conversation was about verses 13 and 14, the narrow and wide gate.  In these first few verses, as well as the next eight, we will see that Jesus is pointing out four separations that people of the Kingdom (see Christians or Christ followers) are supposed to have from different aspects of society or religion.  Basically, the way I see it Jesus has articulated what the Kingdom of God is all about, the ins and outs, the expectations of the Kingdom or his manifesto for what Kingdom life is all about.  Now, in the final verses he is helping his followers understand what they are to do with this knowledge about the Kingdom.  In verses 13 and 14 Jesus points out the need to love and be set-apart in a way that is counter-intuitive to the world's way of loving and living.  Instead of being self-loving and living for ourselves Jesus says we should love others and live for the betterment of others.

In verses 15 through 20 we see Jesus warn his followers to watch out for false prophets who will be known by their fruit.  He uses the analogy of two trees; one which bears good fruit and the other which bears bad fruit.  The good tree can't bear bad fruit and the bad tree can't bear good fruit.  So a prophet will be known by his or her fruit.  But what does this really mean? What is good fruit and what is bad fruit?  Why would Jesus choose to discuss false and true prophets at this time in his Kingdom manifesto?

Are you ready?  Because this is going to be fun!  The following are my random thoughts.  I'm going to discuss them in as logical an order as I can, but it may take a second reading to really follow my wanderings and perusing of this passage.

Let's start by asking the question: why two trees?  It seems like a simple question with a simple answer: because if there is a false prophet to be wary of, there must be a true prophet so if one is going to use trees as an analogy it makes sense to use two trees.  But here is my thought...In Jewish culture a child's education starts when they are around 6-8 years old.  But instead of learning math and science or reading and language arts, they are taught to memorize the first five books of the Torah (our Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).  As crazy as this might be, we have to ask ourselves what stories would they first have learned and memorized?  Starting at the beginning a child would instantly learn about creation and the fall.  As part of the fall we have a story about two trees, one bearing good fruit (the tree of life or the tree that gives life) and one bearing bad fruit (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or the tree of judgment).  Jesus compares a false prophet to the tree bearing bad fruit.  It is my thought that Jesus is telling people that the root of a false prophet is not just a prophet who is heretical, but instead is someone who is judging those who are different from him or her.  It's almost as if Jesus is asking his followers to not use the knowledge of the Kingdom of God as a way to judge or lord over others.  The goal of the Kingdom is to love and welcome people to the Kingdom, not keep them from God's love by pointing out their faults or judging them on a scale that even the prophet can't live up to.

So what does it mean to bear good fruit.  I have two thoughts.  First, keeping in connection to the Genesis story about the two trees, the tree of life was all about giving life.  After Adam and Eve eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil God won't let them eat of the tree of life because they will live forever.  God isn't punishing us through death, instead it's a form of liberation.  To live forever as judgmental, fallen people is to live eternally in a fallen state.  This would break God's heart more than the fact that we are fallen to begin with, so God allows us to die.  But God doesn't leave us in our fallen condition, Jesus comes to conquer death, giving us hope in his resurrection for our own resurrection.  But not only does Jesus overcome the curse of death, he provides a way of life that actually brings heaven to earth.  The Kingdom that he comes to establish isn't just a healthy way to live, but instead is bringing the fruit of the tree of life.  When we live according to the Kingdom we are giving people life, giving them fruit that will last forever, bringing heaven to earth.

My second thought in connection to good fruit is found in Galatians 5 when Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control are the fruits of the Spirit.  A prophet should be known by his or her fruit.  In comparison to the Sermon on the Mount, it is amazing how many of these fruits of the Spirit found in Paul's writing are specifically mentioned by Jesus: blessed are the peacemakers, love your enemies, etc.  

The Kingdom of God is about exemplifying the fruit of the tree of life and the fruit of the Spirit.  When we live in this way we bring the Kingdom of God to earth.  But the knowledge of the Kingdom isn't to be used to judge others or to point out others faults.  Instead, the knowledge of the Kingdom is to be used in order to live a life that brings life, a life that brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control to the world.  If we truly listen to the words of Christ, if we listen to them closely and let them soak into our very being they have the power to change us.  The power to transform us into lovers of people who bring heaven to earth and bring life straight from the tree that gives life.

Peace be with you.

Understanding the Sermon on the Mount - Part I of IV

I woke up today at the butt-crack of dawn to get ready for church (at least in my world it was the butt-crack of dawn, for the rest of the world it was just 6:30am). Although I had been in a similar situation before, I was especially excited about giving the 'talk' (sermon, lesson, teaching,whatever) this Sunday morning. My entire summer seemed to fly by; with a short trip to California for my beautiful sister-in-laws wedding, an even shorter trip to Minnesota in order to hear my talented little brother give a speech at his high school graduation, engrossed in the dark road of misery known as a summer language (my language of choice being Latin). Needless to say, I haven't had much time for thinking or writing or preparing talks at church. So today, at the crack of my proverbial dawn I found myself in nervous waters of excitement and anxiousness awaiting the moment when I would take the mound, I mean holy pulpit, I mean the borrowed music stand and stool.

But more than just my long summer of language misery and my selfish need to feel the adrenaline rush before I go take the stage and do my thing, I was really excited to talk about the passage of scripture that I would be touching on. (Looking back, I am even more excited now than I was before. I think I finally am understanding the brevity of the subject matter from this morning.) For the past 11 months we have hopped around, danced within and hopefully put into practice the Sermon on the Mount; found in Matthew chapters five thru seven. This journey has been long, all consuming and flat-out fun. But more than anything it has challenged us to see the world and the roll of Jesus' disciples in the world differently. And today I was able to talk about the final seventeen verses, Matthew 7.13-29.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer does these passages more justice than I ever could. So if you really want to know what's going on I suggest picking up The Cost of Discipleship and flipping to about page 200.

But here are my thoughts on these verses, namely verses 13-23.

Jesus has just laid out his plan, his kingdom manifesto (as Brian McLaren puts it). He's spent time discussing the Beattitudes (basically a list of certain characteristics that should define kingdom of God people), he's redefined the law and discussed how he has come to fulfill the law and not abolish the law, Jesus has clearly helped the people see what non-violence and non-resistance looks like in the face of persecution and oppression, he's pointed us toward understanding love differently by discussing the need to love not only those who love us but our enemies as well, and Jesus has also discussed the idea of judgment and called his followers to look again at the mission of believers on this earth (to be lovers of others, not judgmental condemners). And now Jesus is nearing the end of his manifesto.

There are four separations that Jesus is making us aware of in these passages. I suggest sitting down with a bible while reading through this; I would never want anyone to blindly trust what I have to say about scripture. It's not that I doubt myself, but I don't pretend to know everything. Plus, I would love to hear back counter arguments or additional thoughts or insights. Finally, please know that I hope and pray that as you read these thoughts the Holy Spirit is helping you discern what is right and true and what is not.



1. The Narrow and the Wide Gate

There are two thoughts that I have about this analogy that Jesus poses. The first thought is that the narrow gate or path that is rarely trodden is a path of self-sacrifice and enemy love that the world and those outside of God's kingdom don't understand. The wide gate or the wide path is one of self-love and the pursuit of power. The wide gate is the understanding that people should gain control and influence by whatever means possible, even killing our enemies to protect our freedoms. The way of Jesus, the narrow gate is to trust in the power of self-sacrificial love. This way says that the only way to truly change someone is to affect their heart through loving service, not temper their behavior through the threat of violence.

My second thought is that this analogy of a narrow gate and a wide gate is really a paradox. The way of Jesus, the narrow gate, is really a broad love. And the way of the world, the wide gate, is really a narrow understanding of love (loving only oneself at the cost of others). The love that Jesus calls us to is a broad, all inclusive, all encompassing, all forgiving type love; whereas the way the world loves is narrow and closed off to the feelings and hopes of others.

The sad part is that this separation between the narrow and wide gates should be the separation between the Church and the world, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world, the kingdom of the cross and the kingdom of the sword. But the Church has fused the two kingdoms, making it almost indistinguishable from one kingdom to the next. So often the Church or the body of Christ is focused on gaining power the way the kingdoms of the world gain power. So often the Church is passionate about influencing culture in the same way that the kingdom of the sword influences culture. We forget that Christ calls us to be set apart, to be different, to be a peculiar people who don't let the powers and structures of the world dictate how and when we love. Instead we are supposed to love radically and serve willingly and die honorably for the cause of Christ. Is our gate narrow or is our gate broad?

Part II of Understanding the Sermon on the Mount will cover the second separation - The False Prophet (who will be known by his or her fruit)

Stay tuned for this one because it will be a doozy!!