Matthew 5:20
This morning we will complete a full year of studying the Sermon on the Mount with the reality that we probably have a full year of study left. Rather than simply plowing through I thought that today, the last Sunday of the year, would be a good time for us to reflect on where we have been and to not lose sight of where we are called to go. The Sermon on the Mount is the language of liberty, it is the heart and character of God and I believe it is the foundation for His voice in our lives. “Take up your cross” is hard to comprehend if you have not first heard and followed the calling to “turn the other cheek”. “Search me . . . and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me” takes on new life and the hope of freedom when we realize that sin, even the sins of murder, adultery, idolatry and vanity begin in the heart and are seen by God long before they are performed by men. This means that the conviction of sin is not God reminding you of what you have done it is the Holy Spirit alerting you to what is brewing in you. We often feel convicted and say things like “I have not done this or that” and the Spirit is saying, I am trying to prevent you from it, not condemn you of it. The Sermon on the Mount reveals conviction as a hedge of protection rather than a panel of judgment. Without the Sermon on the Mount Jesus’ prayer of “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” sounds like something that only the divine Messiah could pray, with the Sermon on the Mount we come to learn that we have all been called and equipped to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. What we sometimes shake off saying, “That was Jesus, He was perfect” the Sermon on the Mount reveals as our calling, our opportunity and our ability in Christ. The Sermon on the Mount turns the upside down right side up, it makes our places of comfort in this world uncomfortable and it reveals the character of God, His kingdom and His children. The Sermon on the Mount reveals the depth of what Peter meant when he wrote “I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” Our citizenship is not about a place it is about the heart and character of our king and so wherever we are we are to bring His kingdom, example His kingdom and love His kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount reveals our Father and shows us how to be children, it takes us from a righteousness that lifts some up and pushes others down to a surpassing righteousness that exalts God and serves man. It is the language of liberty simply because “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” and the Sermon on the Mount is not how to get to God it is the announcement that God is here, as Jesus Himself went about preaching, “the kingdom of God is at hand!”