August 20, 2006
By Rev. Steve Bass
INTRODUCTION
- Illustration: * The Sermon on the Mount Unfiltered
- Dr. Virginia Owens- a professor at Texas A & M University- thought she had a great idea
- She would have her freshman composition class read the Sermon on the Mount- and then write a short essay
- Dr. Owens assumed that since most of her students were from the Bible Belt state of Texas- they would have a basic respect for the text
- When the essays started rolling in-
- She realized her assumption was wrong.
- The students had reacted to Jesus’ message with genuine anger and resentment
- Examples:
- There is an old staying that you ‘shouldn't believe everything you read’ and it applies in this case!
- I did not like the essay ‘Sermon on the Mount.’ It was hard to read and made me feel like I had to be perfect and no one is.
- The (Sermon on the Mount) is extremely strict and allows for almost no fun without thinking it is a sin...
- Now before you start worrying about the spiritual health of today’s college students- let me point something out:
- Their reaction is EXACTLY the kind of reaction Jesus wanted
- Jesus-
- didn't want The Sermon on the Mount to make you feel warm and snuggly inside
- He intended it to be offensive and acidic and shocking to His listeners
- So why don't more of us have the kind of reaction that students in Virginia Owens’ class had?
- Because we've sanitized and Sunday Schooled and smoothed out the rough edges
- To the point the Sermon on the Mount has lost its ability to make you feel uneasy- and threatened- and maybe even angry
- Beginning this morning- and continuing for the next three Sundays-
- we're gonna strip away the holy glaze
- And let the astringent, uncompromising message of the Sermon come through
- Now I can assure you-
- you're not going to like everything Jesus is going to say
- But you need to hear it anyway
- Before we get started let me explain how this is going to work
- Rather than going through the Sermon verse-by-verse
- we're going to examine some of the themes Jesus develops in the Sermon
- In other words: We'll be skipping around some
- But hang in there with me- because Jesus has something important to say to you!
STATEMENTS OF THE ABSURD
- A few minutes ago I read some of the comments the Texas A & M students wrote in their essays on The Sermon on the Mount
- There’s one more I want you to hear
- The things asked (for) in this sermon are absurd. To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, inhuman statement that I have ever heard.
- When was the last time you heard something Jesus said described as absurd- stupid- and inhuman?
- I suspect it’s been a LONG time!
- But in this particular case- the student was right!
- Forget for a minute that it was Jesus who was saying these things
- Listen to them with an open mind- and see if YOU don't think they sound pretty ridiculous
- Now get the picture of what Jesus is saying here. He’s equating-
- Calling someone a fool
- With committing a murder
- Unless Jesus has some warped understanding of the value of human life- that makes no sense whatsoever!
- All right ladies- you tell me.
- Which would bother you the most:
- Knowing that your husband had just spent two hours thumbing through the Sports Illustrated swim-suit issue
- Or discovering that he'd had an affair with a neighbor down the block
- I thought so!
- Now that’s pretty extreme
- Jesus is prescribing physical mutilation of the body as an antidote to temptation
- Not only is it inhuman- it wouldn't work
- I've heard about the principle of non-violence- but this is insanity
- If someone breaks in my house and begins to attack me...I don't have the right to DEFEND myself?
- Instead I'm supposed to let this person keep on beating me until he decides he’s had enough?
- That’s not just dumb
- That’s dangerous
- OK: Let’s say you had a loved one die in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. According to Jesus-
- you're supposed to ignore the instinctive need you have for justice and revenge
- And love- and PRAY- for the people who were responsible for this incomprehensible act of violence and destruction
- I told you Jesus would make you uncomfortable
- At this point some of you are thinking: But Steve- surely Jesus didn't MEAN what He said!
- Actually...He did!
- A careful reading of the text reveals that Jesus:
- Meant EXACTLY what He said-
- And said EXACTLY what He meant in these verses of Scripture
- If you don't believe it- look at what He says in verse 48
- He didn't say.../ Jesus said...
- Be nice- try to do what’s right- live a good life
- Be PERFECT- just as God is perfect
- The Greek word that’s translated as perfect is teleioi
- It means the end, the goal, the limit
- In other words: Your goal in living a godly life is the absolute standard of your Heavenly Father
- His righteousness- His justice- His love- His holiness- His perfection
- Is the standard you must live by if you're going to be a part of the kingdom of God!
- And Jesus-
- Offers NO shortcuts- no compromises
- He REFUSED to lower God’s absolute standards
- Turn with me to Mark 10:17-22
- Here was man who was that close to salvation
- He'd come to the right person- He'd come to Jesus
- He'd asked the right question- What must I do to inherit eternal life?
- And he could honestly say he'd lived a good life- he'd followed all the rules of his religion
- But then Jesus says: There’s one other thing you need to do. Sell everything you have- give the proceeds to the poor- and then come follow me
- The man gets a shocked look on his face- and then he turns and walks away
- And here’s the thing I want you to notice: Jesus let him go
- He didn't say: Wait a minute! Let’s talk about it first. I didn't LITERALLY mean you had to give away EVERYTHING!
- No- the standard was absolute devotion to God- and the standard would not be lowered. PERIOD!
- Go home this afternoon and read through the Gospels
- You will see this happen over-and-over-and-over again
- Jesus... He...
- NEVER compromised God’s standards
- ALWAYS told it just the way it is
- So much so that if...
- You allow anger to consume you- you'll be in danger of the fire of hell
- You fantasize about a good-looking man or woman on the beach- you're guilty of adultery
- Temptation is causing you to sin- gouge out your eyes or cut off your hand
- Someone hits you on one cheek- offer them the other cheek as well
- Someone commits a sin against you- love them and pray for them
- ...I told you Jesus would make you uncomfortable
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF MEETING JESUS’ STANDARD
- Of course this insistence on absolute perfection creates a bit of a problem
- we're human beings
- And we don't do that perfection thing
- Turn with me to Romans 7:15-24
- Now remember- Paul is writing these words from the perspective of being-
- A redeemed, born-again child of God
- He’s God’s chosen instrument to carry the Good News of Jesus to a lost and dying world
- But here in Romans 7 Paul’s admitting the standard of Sermon on the Mount perfection is impossible for him to achieve
- Not difficult
- IMPOSSIBLE!
- Even when he sets out with the best of intentions
- THIS time I'm going to live like Jesus expects me to live!
- Invariably he fails- he comes up short- he’s unable to live up to the standard
- Now if Paul-
- Who was a lot closer to godly living than we'll ever be- had this problem
- What possible chance do you and I have?
- It’s the essential dilemma- the fundamental paradox- of the Sermon on the Mount
- Jesus says: Do this!
- But the truth is: We can't do it!
- Like I've already said: Jesus will make you uncomfortable
- Now at this point you have to come to one of two conclusions about the Sermon on the Mount.
- Jesus was either:
- Cruelly setting us up for failure
- Or He was teaching a greater lesson of infinite value
- So which was it?
- To begin to answer that question you need to look at Matthew 5:20
- I suspect that Jesus’ original audience was blown away by this remark
- Unless you are MORE righteous than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will not enter the kingdom of heaven
- Jesus might as well have been saying: None of you will enter the kingdom of heaven!
- Here’s the thing: Whatever else you might say about the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law
- They were EXTREMELY vigilant about obeying the Old Testament Law
- They competed against one another in seeing who could be the most scrupulous in keeping the Law
- Not only did they strictly obey the 248 commands and the 365 prohibitions found in the Old Testament Law
- They observed more than 1,500 rules about the Law they'd created for themselves
- For instance:
- One of the rules said that to avoid sexual temptation a man should walk around-
- With his head lowered and his eyes partly covered
- So he wouldn't risk seeing a woman
- Some of these guys were so strict people started calling them The Bleeding Pharisees
- What with all that walking around with their heads lowered and their eyes closed
- They had a nasty tendency to crash into walls and other obstacles in their path
- The fact is the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law took the Old Testament Law further than anyone had ever imagined
- The Bible said to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy
- The Pharisees proceeded to outlaw 39 specific activities that could possibly be thought of as working on the Sabbath
- These people- the Pharisees and the teachers of the law- were essentially professional holy men
- Most of them were fairly wealthy people who didn't have to work for a living
- Most of them spent the majority of every day praying- and worshipping- and pouring over the Scriptures
- They were... religious fanatics
- They were totally committed- totally sold out for the Lord
- And yet Jesus said: unless your righteousness SURPASSES that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven
- The people listening to Jesus could hardly imagine EQUALING the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law
- Let alone SURPASSING it!
- And THAT’S the key to understanding the Sermon on the Mount!
- The incredibly high standards Jesus establishes in the Sermon on the Mount should lead you to the following conclusion
- There’s nothing I can do to get right with God!
- The standards are too high. The demands are too great
- It’s time for me to admit the obvious: It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to enter the kingdom of heaven
THE MESSAGE OF AMAZING GRACE
- And that’s where the message of God’s grace comes in
- See the Sermon on the Mount doesn't end with the impossible demands
- It ends with an affirmation of God’s absolute love and mercy and grace
- Do you see the point Jesus is trying to make?
- God’s standard of righteousness is absolute- and so is His love
- God demands perfection- and He also made provision for imperfect people through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus
- God is pure justice and holiness- and He’s also filled with tenderness and mercy to all those who call on the name of His one and only Son
- Jesus demonstrated this quality of God’s grace through-out His life
- He forgave a terrified woman who been caught in the act of adultery
- He promised eternal life to a convicted felon dying on a cross
- He even offered a prayer of grace for the people who had arrested, and beaten and crucified Him: Father- forgive them for they do not know what they are doing
CONCLUSION
- * In the movie Ironweed the characters played by Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep stumble across a drunken old Eskimo woman lying in the snow
- Half drunk themselves they begin to debate about what they should do about her (I'm going to clean up the dialogue a little bit- but I think you'll get the picture)
- Conversation:
- Nicholson’s character asks: Is she drunk or a bum?
- Streep’s character answers: Just a bum. Been one all her life
- N: And before that?
- S: She was a whore (prostitute) in Alaska
- N: She hasn't been a whore (prostitute) all her life. Before that?
- S: I dunno. Just a little kid- I guess
- N: Well- a little kid’s something. It’s not a bum and it’s not a whore (prostitute) It’s something. Let’s take her in
- You know- that’s the message of God’s grace
- Maybe you haven't fallen as far as the drunken Eskimo prostitute lying in the snow
- But compared to God’s standard of righteousness and holiness- you are a hopeless, helpless sinner
- But God sees past your sin- God sees past the disgrace you've made of your life
- When God looks at you He sees the child He created in His own image
- And He loves you- and He sent Jesus to die for you- and He’s ready to offer you His love and grace if you will...
- Repent of your sin
- And turn to Jesus
- Let us pray
* Source- Phillip Yancey- What’s So Amazing About Grace
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