Sermon on the Mount -- More than a legal rant

What to take away from today's blog:

1. "Turn to me (Jesus), because where I am you will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.  
2. Live your life from the heart, even though you will fail in keeping all the law.  
3. You will only succeed in doing #2 as you continue to do #1.

At the end of every Gospel reading in my Lutheran worship tradition the reader says, "The Gospel (good news) of the Lord."  and the congregation responds, "Thanks be to God."  I've always thought it ironically funny to say that after reading parts of the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew chapters 5-7.
"If your eye offends you, pluck it out." 
"Not one tiny mark of the Law will change until it is all accomplished." 
"Any one who doesn't keep the Law and teaches others the same will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven."
"You have heard it said 'You shall not commit murder" but I say to you ... anyone who calls his brother or sister 'You fool' will be in danger of hell fire."

"The Good News (?) of the Lord."
"Thanks be to God?"

But the Sermon on the Mount also has one of the most beloved sections of the New Testament, Matt.5:1-12, called the Beatitudes.

 ¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

    He said:    ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

   ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (New International Version)

On the one hand Jesus is pounding us for our sinfulness and inability to do what we should, on the other hand he lauds those who live lives of goodness.  Who the heck are those people compared to the rest of us who, according to the rest of what Jesus says, are a bunch of dirty rotten scoundrels?

I suggest this is not an "either/or" situation but a "both/and."  We are, as Martin Luther once wrote, "at the same time justified and sinful."  We can be peacemakers and still really hate someone . . . right?

But how do we put together a comprehensive, understandable way of reading these very disparate portions of Scripture?

You who are English majors can help us here with some literary interpretive techniques! Remember those concepts of "theme" and "context?" 

I think sometimes we so exalt Scripture that we cut it up into little pieces and give homage to snippets as though each were a Gospel in itself.  When that happens we end up with competing theology wars -- We will cry, "But Jesus said . . ," and then you can choose a Bible verse that suits your conviction.  For example

"We must feed the hungry!" (“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mt 19:21)

or "We don't have to feed the hungry!" ("The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want." Mk 14:7)

What happened to me this year as I read Matthew (as I'm reading Matthew) is that I applied this idea of whole book theme to what I was reading and I began to have a whole new appreciation for Matthew.

We already talked about Jesus making a very different mission statement than John the Baptist, even though they both say, "Repent.  The Kingdom of Heaven is all around you."  Jesus is declaring that we should turn to him because when we seek him the Kingdom of Heaven is all around us because Jesus is the bringer of the Kingdom.

Applying this statement of theme to the Sermon on the Mount, then, Jesus begins by talking about true religion and those who practice it.  And the Beatitudes lay out this beautiful list of people living life out of their hearts.  There is no legalism in Mt 5:3-12, there are only people living their lives out of their hearts for themselves, those around them, and for the Kingdom of Heaven.  There is no doctrinal boundary mentioned.  Both Jews and Gentiles can be peacemakers.  Both doctrinal Christians and atheists can be pure in heart.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian, and Ghandi, a Hindu were men murdered for being seekers of righteousness is unrighteous realms.

I think it's important to remember that Jesus is talking to people who are practicing Jews and Matthew is writing to practicing Jews who believe Jesus is THE Messiah and are trying to work out how that fits into the whole Jewish system of Law keeping.

The Sermon on the Mount, then, is a seminal statement of Jesus ministry, stating that living as a God person is living out of the heart -- the Beatitudes.  And just to underline that Jesus then systematically interprets the Law (Torah) by the spirit of the Law instead of a more rigid courtroom discussion and application of the law as a way of stripping away anyone's pretense to being right with God on his or her own merit.

The message so far? 

1. "Turn to me, because where I am you will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.  
2. Live your life from the heart, even though you will fail in keeping all the law.  
3. You will only succeed in doing #2 as you continue to do #1.

Here's today's question to ponder and make comment on:

What the heck does Jesus mean when he says,
 ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
What is "poor in spirit?"

By the way . . . I've been underwhelmed by your responses to this blog.  Am I wasting my time here?