The Sermon on the Mount

Early in Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus summarises His teaching and lays the foundation stone of Christian faith and life on a mountainside near Capernaum. He begins His sermon with the list of blessings we know as the Beatitudes. You might call them a Christian wish list – but they are certainly not a list of desirables according to the values of the world. In fact they turn those worldly aspirations inside out.

Who would want spiritual poverty, to mourn, to be persecuted, to be lied about, insulted? At the very least to be called foolish for proclaiming a crucified teacher as Lord and Saviour?

Jesus doesn’t address the wealthy and powerful, as you would expect – His message is to the sorrowful, the poor, the broken-hearted and those rejected by polite society. ‘Ordinary’ people, but loved by their creator just as much as the self-satisfied religious and political leaders, kings and emperors who are full of their own importance. ‘Ordinary’ – but profoundly blessed in all the ups and downs of life in the real world.

The sermon continues. He refers to His followers as salt, whose individuality contributes to the wonderful diversity of God’s creation. Each have special gifts, and are given the responsibility to use them according to the commandment to love as He loves. To forgive, seek peace and reconciliation; to live truthfully; to offer charity; to pray quietly and directly to your Father in heaven.

Be assured of your salvation, He tells them, and don’t spend your life worrying; seek justice, serve others and build your life on the cornerstone I offer.

The crowd have never heard teaching like this before, unlike the insincerity of the scribes and Pharisees, and they are amazed at the authority Jesus conveys. It’s no wonder that they, and the millions of disciples through the ages who call Jesus Lord, will be sustained by His words in the face of unspeakable suffering.

The theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer discusses the Sermon on the Mount in detail in his book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’, regarding it as the basis of Christian living; that view sustained him through imprisonment, torture and murder by the Nazis. He believed it to be a practical guide for action in the face of prejudice, injustice and violence. It is as relevant today as it was then.

Christ’s words are given to all His people in the face of the difficulties we ourselves face in life. We claim them and are assured of Blessing. And that is all we need.

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It seems that every week we hear about people being defrauded by gamblers or ‘professional’ con artists – often highly-educated people, who fall for the simplest and oldest tricks to part them from their money, typically by investing in get-rich-quick schemes based on non-existent hi-gain investment opportunities. As well as losing their savings, one common aspect reported by victims is the shame and humiliation of being fooled by the plausibility of the scammers. It is so easy to continue to be taken in when you desperately want to believe, even though the evidence of deception is increasingly clear.

It’s not a new phenomenon. Confidence tricksters have been around for thousands of years, and no doubt will continue to play on the naïveté of people in the future.

One of the most audacious was an American conman, George C. Parker, who in the early 1900s, sold Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty – another conman, Michael Corrigan (from Cork actually) sold the Tower of London and London Bridge (twice) and 145 Piccadilly, the home of the Duke and Duchess of York (many times), mostly to Tourists. ‘Let the buyer beware’ is the simple remedy, but it seems that the greater the con, believing unbelievable things is part of the human condition.

It is not just the secular world in which scams are to be found – they happen in religious environments too. Huge numbers of false healings, charity appeals, ‘prosperity’ gospels – and perhaps the most dangerous, false Messiahs – abound.

Jesus Himself warns against this, several times. Matthew 24:23 (‘Impostors will come claiming to be messiahs or prophets’); Mark 13:6 (‘Many will come claiming my name’); and Luke 21:8 (take care you are not misled)’ among others all warn against false Messiahs, and Christians are clearly encouraged to be wary of mega-rich ‘prophets’ who wish to manipulate them – not always successfully, unfortunately. We all know modern-day examples.
John the Baptist is himself aware of the charlatans, and sends his own disciples to confirm that Jesus is the promised one – and our Lord’s answer is definitive, demonstrating by His miracles that He is for real, and posing the future test for those who will claim true faith – ‘It is by their deeds shall you know them’. (Matthew 7:16).

When the followers of Jesus are invited to trust and believe in the conversion of Saul, their fanatical pursuer, their understandable (and probably sensible) response is ‘you must be joking’. (Acts 9:13-14, 26). It will take him a long time until he is accepted as Paul, the one called by Jesus, and it will only be by his self-denying actions and words that he will become credible.

They called him foolish. He didn’t care. He knew what he believed, and lived that belief, proclaiming nothing of himself but Jesus as Lord. Perhaps that is the test we should apply to all who would claim discipleship – including ourselves?

Scripture is full of descriptions of people receiving a call from God. In the Old Testament, among many others:

Abram. Genesis 12:1 The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

Moses. Exodus 3:4 The Lord saw Moses coming to look at the burning bush. So He called to him “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

Elijah. 1 Kings 17:2, 3 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

Gideon. Judges 6:14 The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “I will make you strong! Go and save Israel from the Midianites! I am sending you!”

In the New Testament:

Mary:  Luke 1:30, 31 The angel said “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

Andrew. John 1:35-39  John the Baptist was with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

Simon Peter. Mark 1:16, 17 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.

Paul. Acts 9:5-6 Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Very different people, but the one thing they have in common is that they all (albeit sometimes reluctantly) followed the call. Each had a specific role for which their unique gifts equipped them. There are so many other examples throughout history, all of their contributions continually building the Kingdom of which we are part despite threat, persecution, worldly temptation and indifference.

In prayer, we ask: Who is God calling to come and use their specific individual gifts to continue to build His Kingdom in the future?

His reply is clear.

“You”, He says.

So let your Holy day begin.

In the cycle of the Church Year, the Sunday following the Twelve Days of Christmas is celebrated as Epiphany – God making Himself known to all through Christ – rich, poor, old young regardless of race or status. Typically, it is a time when we talk about the significance of the Magi – the Wise men – who journey from afar to worship the new-born King, demonstrating that God’s love abounds for all – not just the Jews, but Gentiles too. The readings make a pleasant change from the previous Gospel story describing the horror of the despicable Herod’s actions resulting in the slaughter of the innocent boy children; we tend to pass over that story quickly to get back to some nicer news.

But let’s not. Instead of concentrating on the ‘Three Kings’, let’s look at the children. It’s not a unique story – it echoes the story of Moses and many others in history who tell of infanticide commanded by corrupt and brutal leaders. We wonder why, and discover similar motivations.

Those leaders fear of a new generation replacing the status quo with accompanying loss of authority and power. In many cases, there is an accompanying desire to destroy a community by killing the male children, while leaving the women to a fate of slavery.
This is compounded in many cultures by regarding children as unimportant, of no value unless they maintain a bloodline, generate income, and become old enough to work or supply the next generation of sons.

In our Christian tradition (but sadly by no means worldwide), we don’t do these things – we treasure our children as part of the Kingdom, loved as much by God as is a lifelong worshipper (or grumpy Rector!). But the issue of how to support their Epiphany remains in our daily lives and especially in our church. Children are noisy, need special attention and special age-appropriate programs; they add to the financial burden of the church but don’t put money on the collection plate. None the less, we are commanded to bring them. We do not have a choice.

We are to Encourage them and make them feel welcome.

Matt 18:5 – Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matt 19:13-15 – Let the little children come to me

We are responsible for their Christian Education – telling the stories of Jesus in understandable words – better still by setting an example in our daily lives, not just for a hour on a Sunday morning.

Deut. 6:1-8 – The commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tell them the stories of Jesus and what He has done. Tell them about faith

Ephesians 6:4 – Bring children in the training and instruction of the Lord

We are to Pray – the most important of them all. If you can do nothing else, Pray for our children. Psalm 127:3 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

Dating from the early 15th Century, the ‘Cherry Tree Carol’ is still very much loved and sung in the last days of advent, as the Holy Family draw close to Bethlehem to be counted. It’s a simple song that speaks of Jesus’ miracle from the womb and the power of God over nature – it can also give a sense of the emotional turmoil experienced by both Mary and Joseph during the months of her pregnancy

We can imagine Mary’s trepidation on telling Joseph. “How shall I tell him? What will happen to our marriage? Will he believe me? I couldn’t blame him if he didn’t and threw me out.”

And we can understand Joseph’s harsh words. “I can’t believe what she is saying. I’m being made to look foolish, to say the least, especially when people hear the improbable explanation. She would be punished and ridiculed. I love her still – I don’t want her humiliated. We’ll just quietly separate. I don’t want to, but I’ve no other choice. It’s all very well what the angel told me in a dream, but I still get angry and jealous sometimes.”

As we sing the carol, Joseph gets a bad press. He appears to snap back when Mary asks for a cherry. But like many old songs, it has been edited and translated many time over the years; and the earliest version then tells of Joseph’s regret for his outburst when he hears the voice of the unborn child

‘When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’.

O then bespake Joseph:
‘I have done Mary wrong;
But cheer up, my dearest,
and be not cast down.’

Joseph’s example is one of love, human reaction, vocation and ultimate obedience to his Creator. So we rightly celebrate both Mary and Joseph as the chosen parents of the Christ-child. But we must also remember that they were ordinary people with human emotions who lived extraordinary lives. That’s the whole point of the story of incarnation. If Jesus had been born of an aristocratic or military family, there would have been a social hierarchy. His salvation could not have been regarded as universal, offered from pauper to prince. As it is, born in a stable and shortly afterwards seeking asylum as a refugee in Egypt, there are no exclusions – he is servant of all. In that ‘upside down’ act of Salvation, perhaps it is those wordly ‘rich’ who often consider they don’t need Him.