Dear God, I was listening to a great interview this week with Rich Villodas about his new book The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies our Souls. It’s about the Sermon on the Mount, and I look forward to reading it soon. I’ve been asked to teach a Sunday school class for a couple of weeks in a row in a couple of weeks, so I think I want to explore if maybe this is something you’re leading me to.
For today, I thought I would just sit and write an outline of the sermon over the three chapters. I would have sat down earlier today to do it, but I knew it would take some time, and I did not want to be rushed. Okay, here we go:
- Jesus outlines what the life you bless looks like and how you bless us — the Beattitudes
- Our job in living for God – Salt and Light
- The law is still in effect
- It’s easier to break the law than you think
- Take seriously to avoid temptation (take out your eye, cut off your hand, etc.)
- Divorce is serious
- Oaths are important
- Eye for an eye was never law, but permission. Now the new standard is turn the other cheek
- Love your enemies and pray for them
- Give to others
- If you seek reward for behavior now it will be denied you later
- (Here’s the one that is hard for me, but I think I’m doing this for the right reasons–to inspire others to spend time with you) Private prayer is important. It needs to be earnest and not for show.
- How to pray — The Lord’s Prayer
- Forgiveness is critical for our well-being and to secure your forgiveness
- Do not fast for acclaim, but for our own development in you
- Do not make accumulation of wealth a priority
- Money is dangerous and can easily be an idol
- Worry is a lack of faith
- Judging others is really bad. We have enough wrong with us without worrying about someone else
- You love us enough to give us what we want in our prayers if it is good for us
- Finding the path to a good life with you is hard, but worth it
- Choose who you listen to or trust by their fruit
- Following Jesus’s teaching here will lead to peace, even in the midst of storms, on the narrow path
Father, this sermon is a tall order, but it’s remarkable. I am grateful Matthew recorded it for us. One thing that Villodas said is that some people see this sermon as something we strive to achieve so that we might achieve redemption in you and reconciliation with you, but he taught that we should see this as the fruit of a life lived in worshipping you and following you. And I can say that, while I still fail throughout this sermon, I am better now than I once was. Yes, I still judge people, but I am quicker to remember to have mercy on them and consider their perspective. I am also better at stopping myself and doing some self-evaluation when I start thinking about how others are sinning. That’s just one example. I could list many more. But the truth is that I am just grateful to be here praying to, loving you, and even sitting here this afternoon and appreciating what Jesus taught almost exactly 2,000 years ago. Thank you, Father.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 