These Are Spiritual Matters

Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Theme: “Rhetorical Questions”
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 30, 2011
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

In the Name of Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth – like his distant relative, John the Baptist – could really draw a crowd. He had some star power, and His entourage was growing. If you’ve been a good little boy or girl and read your Epiphany season Gospel texts, than that much is quite clear: Jesus, all through His three year public ministry, was something of a celebrity. If He were here today, the paparazzi would be running wild. He might even be featured on Inside Edition or Entertainment Tonight! I wonder if Jesus had a good singing voice. It would be so much better if He could sing; then He could be on American Idol!

Matthew reports that “large crowds” from five different places – Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across the Jordan – followed Him. His appeal was not limited to one region. His message must have packed a wallop, and He seems to be a kind of free clinic for health care what with all the healings that He did.

Today’s Gospel reports that Jesus “saw the crowds.” With all those folks in His field of vision, He goes up on a mountainside and sits down. Somebody be sure to hand him some bottled water! Arguably, it was the most religious thing He did that day; He sat down. Back then, that’s what Rabbis did before they spoke. That’s what religious teachers did before they taught: they sat. So, perhaps to grab the attention of the religiously inclined, He sat Himself down on the mountainside. No prancing around a stage with Bible in hand. No PowerPoint. No podium. No pulpit.

But yet we’ve called the message Jesus presented that day the “Sermon on the Mount.” Aren’t sermons to be properly delivered from a pulpit? Should not religious discourses be presented from a podium? And what’s this business of sitting on a mountainside? Religion has a certain decorum, and our Lord doesn’t’ seem to be paying attention to that. Would it not be far more appropriate for Rabbi Jesus to be sitting in the synagogue with his liturgical vesture on? The Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount could quite possibly make us – what’s the word? -- cringe! It’s an unsavory and unsettling image. He comes off like a hippie from Woodstock! It’s all very unsatisfactory and, for that matter, very un-Presbyterian! Newsflash: If Jesus doesn’t fit our notions of propriety, then it’s not Jesus that has to go!

This Sermon on the Mount, or the Meditation on the Mountainside, or the Homily on the Hill, or the Briefing on the Bluff – whatever you wish to call it – begins with nine short statements which all start with the word “Blessed.”
Hundreds of years of tradition have called these statements “The Beatitudes.” One writer, in a rather obvious if not desperate attempt to make them sound relevant, called them the “Be Happy Attitudes.” It sounds kind of cheesy to me. So what’s the point, dear Jesus? Are you saying that you want to be happy but you won’t be happy until you make us happy too? If that’s true, then the big problem with us is that we’re not happy. The job of God, then, is to solve this problem and make us happy all the time. How’s that working out for you? Maybe God is just busy with other things. Happiness is a rather fleeting thing, isn’t it? It’s like jello. You can’t pin it to the wall and expect it to stay very long.

The Biblical word for “Blessed” does have a whiff of happiness to it, but there’s much more to it than that. To be “blessed” means that you are on the receiving end of a gift, a gift from God. But again, that doesn’t mean that every day is supposed to be like Christmas morning when we open gifts. “Blessed” has to do with the gift of your ultimate well-being. Let me repeat: “Blessed” has to do with your ultimate well-being. This is truly wonderful – if not revolutionary – news! It really is.
But the temptation – so very old and so very new – is to run everything Jesus says through a religious grinder. In short, we often interpret Jesus in only a religious way. For example: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” says Jesus. So we better get cracking and learn to be poor in spirit. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” says Jesus. So, if we want comfort, we best live our lives with as much sorrow as we can muster. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” says Jesus. So we better get out a religious brillo pad and scrub out all those evil thoughts and impurities from our hearts. Make sure there’s no streaking, and pay special attention to the corners. What I’m trying to say is that we Christians often attempt to interpret Jesus in a religious way but not a spiritual way.

Just as an aside, the version of the Bible that we have here in the pews and that we use for worship is the New International Version. Guess how many times the word “religion” shows up in the NIV Bible. I mean, the Bible is about religion isn’t it? I went to a parochial grade school where the first class every day was religion class, led by the pastor, where we studied the Bible. You’d think the word “religion” should be peppered throughout every book and chapter. Another newsflash: you can count the times the word “religion” is used in the NIV on one hand – only five times. But it would take nearly twenty two sets of both hands to count how many times the word “blessed” shows up in the Bible. Crunch the numbers. Is God more concerned about your religion or your ultimate well-being?

I understand. The meaning of a word can change over time. The internet site, dictionary.com, defines “religion” as, basically, a “fundamental set of beliefs.” But it’s one thing to know the current definition of a word; it’s another thing to know the origin of the word. The origin goes to the original meaning. And the original meaning of the word “religion” meant, quite literally, to “tie” or “to bind.”

Going with the original meaning, religion ties you up; it binds you. But along comes Jesus Christ who says, in John chapter eight, “If the Son of Man sets you free, you will be free indeed.” It should come as no surprise that the word for setting free means to let loose, to unbind you, to untie you.

If we limit ourselves to only the original meaning of religion, then I don’t know about you but I say it is a dirty word and I don’t want anything to do with it.
The Sermon on the Mount is not another religious declaration or statement among many. The world is filled with those. Rather, this “sermon”, through Jesus, links the Spirit of God to the ultimate well-being -- the blessedness -- of the listener. These are spiritual matters.

Now, our Lord does bring up religious topics later on in the sermon. For instance, Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” It is as if He is saying: “You want religion? It’s out there. You want rules and regulations? They’re out there. But I’ve just upped the ante. You want to bind yourself to the rules? Great! Let me tighten the knot. Murder is wrong; it’s illegal – the whole nine yards. But now I’m telling you that as far as God is concerned, the same is true with hatred.” You want religion, you can have it. But Jesus is setting the bar impossibly high.

Jesus says: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” John and Jane Doe are sitting out there listening to Jesus, and it dawns on them: “There’s no way. There’s not a chance.”

If all you have is religion, there is no chance. But the good news is that there is Jesus! Jesus says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets.” Okay, so He’s not going to destroy, wipe out, or nuke religion. What’s He going to do then? “I’ve not come to abolish them,” says Jesus. “I’ve come to fulfill them.”

He fulfilled them not to prove a religious point. He fulfilled them not to show the world what a morally upright man He was. He fulfilled them not to become just another famous teacher on the world stage. No. He fulfilled them for you. He did it on your behalf. And His eventual death and His resurrection from the grave sealed it. Your ultimate well-being is secure.

When the world starts to blast you with another round of reasons intended to drive you to worry or despair, you may politely tell the world to take it up with Jesus. Then go on your way, for your ultimate well-being is secure.

Amen.