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!!