Tag: Sermon on the Mount

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Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit – Matthew 5:1-12

The expectation of the Jewish people was that the Messiah would come to overthrow the Roman government and establish A Jewish kingdom. Jesus came to establish a different kind of kingdom, and during the Beatitudes, he walked through the values of that new kingdom.

Jesus first action in this passage is a differentiator, as he sits down to teach, in contrast with the religious teachers in the synagogue who would stand to teach.

Then he goes on to teach, walking through multiple ways in which people are “blessed” or “happy” – the Greek is makarios, implying a deeper, broader story than material blessings or surface-level happiness. These statements show the potential of what is available to us through Christ.

The first is these may well be the most important, but in some ways the most confusing. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit?” Fundamentally, it means to recognize our own inadequacy – that we are entirely helpless without Christ, and at our core have an absolute need for God.

But we will never depend on something we don’t think we need. Do we understand the depth of our need here? In Revelation, Jesus speaks to the church in Laodicea, a church that considered itself rich, but in reality was, in the words of Christ, “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

What is this poverty and blindness? What are the riches offered by Christ to the poor in spirit? First, without Jesus, we stand condemned by our sin. “The wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through him, we have the assurance of salvation, forgiveness and eternal life.

Without Jesus, we can only cope with the tools of the world. Jeremiah wrote of false prophets who assured Jerusalem they would not be destroyed, “they offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wounds, they give assurances of peace when there is no peace.” But Jesus is the prince of peace, and offers more to sooth our pain and hurt than anything the world offers.

Because of Jesus, we have purpose, and a promise of life abundantly, life to the full.

– Sermon Notes, Jeff Fullmer, New Life Church, Lynnwood, WA, March 6, 2022

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The Leftovers – John 6:1-15

John’s intention in this account is to minister to the mature Christians, as opposed to Mark’s account, which was written for the catechumens. It is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. No one will be dissatisfied – as we pray in the Lord’s prayer.

This is also a message for all generous people who have given their time, talent and treasure to the Kingdom of God, both priests and laypeople. What gifts and blessings have your received from God? If you do not appreciate what you have, how can you share it?

The disciples did not appreciate the little food they had because it did not seem like enough. Jesus, though, did appreciate it, and it turned out to be more than enough. The generosity of a little boy was turned into a miracle, with basketfuls of leftovers.

Bread must be broken in order to be shared. That is how it fulfills its mission. We are reminded of this every time we receive the bread and wine.

Why did Jesus have the leftovers gathered? The leftovers are all those who have given of themselves to the Kingdom. And they will be gathered up by God in the end. This is what is so beautiful in this gospel.

– Homily Notes, Church of St. Katherine of Alexandria, Riverside, CA, July 29, 2018

John 6:1-15

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Anger, Hatred and the Gospel – Matthew 5:17-22

The news the last two weeks have been disheartening. It would be very easy to condemn the bad guys and move on, but that would be looking outward, and in the context of this church, we need to look inward. We need to see how it is impossible to reach the levels of goodness we are called to, and how we – and everyone involved – need Jesus.

So Jesus here is discussing his relationship to the Law. He himself will follow the Law down to the smallest portion, living out the Law to its fullest extent. Jesus was the embodiment of loving God and loving others, the building described by the blueprints of the Law.

The Law thus fulfilled in its smallest part, Jesus gives a new command. Rather than loving via the written law of Moses, we follow what James calls the “royal law.” The Mosaic law was for a specific culture and context, but the Law as embodied in Christ is universal. The standard of love embodied in Christ becomes our new goal. Did this raise or lower the bar? In Jesus’ audience, the majority of people followed the Law as best they could, but did not necessarily make special efforts.

But the the Pharisees, on the other hand, made following the Law a full time job. They went above and beyond, tithing more than necessary, hedging the Law and following rules even above and beyond the Law. And yet Jesus says that God’s standard is even beyond the example of this Pharisees.

Not even beyond, but simply of an entirely different kind – killing is not just about the end result, but about the moral starting point. Anger, hatred, prejudice, slander and pride all flow from the same spring. And that is difficult to deal with when our anger and hatred are pointed at that prejudice and slander.

So what does God say about anger? Anger should be slow to come. James tells us to be slow to anger because human anger does not accomplish God’s end. Anger should be short lived – do not let the sun go down on it.

Anger should not be a characteristic of our tongue. Again, James says that if we respond with speech in unrestrained anger, our “religion is worthless.”

Responding to anger with anger and hatred with hatred, we accomplish nothing. But the takeaway here is not “five ways to be less angry.”

The takeaway is that we are worse than we thought we were before, we are trapped in cycles of anger and resentment. We are no more righteous than anyone else we have seen.

But there is another path to righteousness. As with Abraham, faith is credited to us as righteousness. The gospel is not just what we go to for our initial salvation, but what we must go back to again and again for confession, repentance and a shift of our focus back to Christ as our model and source of the capability to love.

– Sermon Notes, Brent Rood, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA

Matthew 5:17-22

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