Mmmmm…..

“Some of them seem downright Communistic (gasp!)”

I hope you aren’t trying to make light of Communism with that statement. I can understand why you may think that some of the Sermon on the Mount has some socialist qualities, I don’t think it has anything to do with Communism.

I mean, Jesus didn’t say anything about how we should all aspire to be a murderous dictator like Stalin who slaughtered millions of his own people and subsequently eliminated almost every single human right that existed. Seriously, don’t any of you people study 20th century Russian History? Or, how about the human rights nightmare that the Communist Chinese government has foisted upon the Tibetan people?

I don’t care what you say, Jesus wasn’t for that. Do I see some ideas in the sermon that have some similarities with Socialism? Probably. But I don’t really think mass genocide was Jesus’ thing, do you???

Kate,

That’s great that you’re sharing your thoughts on the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ before your congregants and that you’re reading Matthew.

My take on Jesus’ most famous sermon is that it convicts me on how much I fall short of following Christ’s words and teachings. The cliche within evangelical Christendom is if we’ve made Jesus our ‘Saviour and Lord.’ Well, I acknowledged my sinful condition and need of a saviour in 1979 at age 18…it’s making Him my ‘Lord’ that’s the lifelong struggle: the constant battle between the ’spirit and the flesh.’

Jesus asks a lot from those who follow Him (Paul in the New Testament referred to it as ‘dying daily and taking up your cross’). The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ reflects Jesus’ greatest moral proclamation - and I believe the most convicting.

To show you where we are in culture, a number of years ago people were surveyed and asked basic religious cultural questions. Fewer than four in ten people could name who gave the ‘Sermon on the Mount;’ a high percentage of people thought it was a sermon given on horseback….

Good luck on your message!

Kate, you are one brave woman….

Seriously, there is so much in the Sermon on the Mount to consider, and so much to look at. I’m not sure where to start. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve read it front to back. However, it has it all. It starts with the Beatitudes, and then gets into a lot of detail about living a righteous life. It includes some things that can only be seen as frontal attacks on the religious leaders of the day. So, what to say about it?

Being a convinced believer, I would suggest that the ONLY way to truly live the life that is proposed within this remarkable piece of writing is to have completely embraced a faith position along with regular prayers for strength and ability to carry it out.

And, the things that are suggested as appropriate behaviors are so very different from what society and culture demand of us, that this can be seen as a major attack on social and cultural norms. Blessed are the meek? Blessed are the poor in spirit (usually interpreted as the humble)? Blessed are the mourners?

What about the demand to swear no oaths? Or the demand to do your acts of generosity privately, so no one knows? Love your enemies? ACK!

On a related note, as I commented earlier, I’m participating in a Webinar sponsored by Princeton Seminary that is reading Calvin’s Institutes over the course of the year in honor of his 500th birthday. This weeks readings are on the Ten Commandments, and Calvin’s comments on the sixth (thou shalt not kill) are particularly valuable in this conversation about the Sermon on the mount…and sound remarkably modern to this reader. Calvin writes: “The purpose of this commandment is: The Lord has bound mankind together by a certain unity; hence each man ought to concern himself with the safety of all. To sum up, then, all violence, injury, and any harmful thing at all that may injure our neighbor’s body are forbidden to us….” And, he brings in the passages in Matthew 5 about expressing anger as being equivalent to murder.

To keep it legal, the above reference is from Vol 1, book 2, chapter 8, section 39 of the Westminster Press/McNeil edition of Calvin’s Institutes

To me, a careful reading of the sermon on the mount CAN be seen as a radical social and cultural statement, a call for a way of life that is radical, perhaps even “socialist”. And we rarely, if ever, hear that message from our pulpits.

I’m curious about where the socialist and communist undertones are comming from…I don’t really get it. Is it the helping your neighbor part or what? I think you can read social gospel into it, but Jesus was often mistaken to be a political radical, which He denied. I think quite a lot of what He said that is taken to be about secular government is really directed at

Just remember Kate, as C.S. Lewis said, Jesus was a liar, lunatic or lord (i.e. he was who he claimed to be.) Why bother trying to learn from a liar or lunatic? I guess you could say it is a legend, but then instead of learning from Jesus, you would be learning from some anonymous liar.

Just interested in this, I seem to see a lot of humanists or universalists grabbing onto select teachings from people who (if any record of them is close to true) are either divinely inspired or crazy.

left a dangling thought on the first paragraph:

…directed at his followers and the future church.

To Mikew:

For the most part, the view of “Jesus as a Radical” comes from a couple of different perspectives. At least, this is my opinion and my take on it.

First, the very strong emphasis within scripture from the Mosaic law onwards towards fair dealing; justice; concern for the poor, the widow, the orphan; the strong words against the accumulation of wealth; and so on all lead to what could be called “a religion of the little people”. There is a whole lot more in scripture about being on the receiving end of oppression than there is on being wealthy, comfortable, and powerful.

Second, and this is particularly thought provoking during Holy Week, is the idea that Jesus was executed by the Romans for being a political danger to their power. The Jews had their own agenda, and the fact that it dovetailed with the Roman one is coincidental. Note that in Luke’s telling of the Palm Sunday story, he has the Pharisees telling Jesus to silence his followers…did they want to avoid drawing notice?

Third, when one reads the descriptive texts about the early church in Acts, about how they held all things in common, and the reasons for the appointment of the first Deacons…to make sure the widows and orphans had plenty to eat…it’s not hard to see where an image of God’s Kingdom as a socialist utopia might come from.

Personally, I’ve been thinking a great deal about current events in the US, and wondering if the financial melt down is an act of Judgment by God against our greed? What other word is there to use to describe Bernie Madoff other than THIEF? And, by seeming to create a culture and a legal environment where these things could be encouraged and justified…would we, as a nation, be deserving of judgment? Harsh words, I know. WWJD is a common enough phrasing these days. What WOULD He be saying to US in our current situation? I’m not sure I’d really want to hear it.

Kate,

Jesus is the light of the world. No one should expect to get the full spectrum of his light through the prism of ethics. The “Sermon on the Mount” is about God and our relationship with Him. This is a family relationship. As such, the sermon is more about our aspirations and our intentions than what we have already done. May God bless you in the smaller portion of the light that you see.

hs,

I get that He was a radical. I think the Romans erroneously thought he was trouble for them. I don’t think He was often talking about government reform. I think His words are about how we should act, not because we are forced, but because we are transformed and want to. I get that if you’ve been given much, much is expected…but expected by God, not the US.

Just to be clear - I have no problem with a christian communist utopia and I look forward to it. It’s just not going to be here. In fact if this entire country wants to acknowledge God as our real leader, submit to the word of god as our main guidance then i’m happy to go that route. It didn’t end up working for ancient Israel and they had prophets and high priests with direct lines from God…so I won’t hold my breath; I think we’d get the kind of communism that necessitates a totalitarian dictator.

Also, I think we need to be careful before assigning any crisis (Katrina, this economic crisis, WWII) as judgement from God. There’s alot to be said about deserving of judgement and who did it and whether it was intentional, but that’s not really the point. I’m just not so sure that God works that way, since He told us what His judgement is about and that we’re all equally bad. (Another - jump in here with the “don’t judge” stuff, this is the appropriate usage.)

Kate,

Your also asking the wrong question. It’s not “what does the sermon on the mount mean to you,” but rather “what did Jesus mean when He gave the sermon on the mount.” The intention of words is the real important part, without intention words are noise and attempting to find meaning outside of intention is pointless as everyone can create false meanings and you have invited chaos-if the words can mean anything, then they mean absolutely nothing. This is all assuming that one cares about truth, or believes that it exists.

milkew,

True Christians are a threat to any government because the world and government is corrupt and according to scripture will always be that way until God’s government of things is established. It is just the same for true Christians in many corporations and in political office, government, law firms etc., serious committed Christians are always a threat because they do not compromise their Christian authority who is Christ because they do not tolerate, turn a head, participate nor or they willing to be a party to any wickedness or evil. Nor do those who are truly committed to Christ appreciating His sacrifice would behave in unethical ways because we certainly understand and is sicken by all the injustices that took place against Him.

Here’s some great reading on the trial and injustices that took place against Jesus, not much different from what wicked people do still until this day and where many such wicked individuals call themselves Christians. No one truly respecting Christ can behave in such unjust ways.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials27.htm

Great in dept information concerning the unjust trial of Jesus here:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/jesus.html