Words of Welcome

Matthew 5:38-48 This morning we return to our journey through Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. One of the basic premises of this sermon is that if we want to be disciples of Jesus, then our righteousness, our sense of justice, and our character must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:17). In our last installment we heard Jesus push on our understanding of the Law, by calling on the people of God to internalize God’s teachings so that not only will we live right, but our hearts will be transformed. This morning we continue what we began in the last sermon of this series by listening to Jesus’ call for us to embrace the “law of love.” As we saw in the last leg of the journey, Jesus says to the people: “You’ve heard it said . . . But I say to you . . .” In this morning’s text Jesus does this two more times. First he speaks to retaliation and then he speaks to loving our enemies. If you look closely, you see that these are two sides of the same coin. 1. Beyond the L

Matthew 5:21-37 As we continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount , having heard the call to be salt and light, and having been told that our righteousness should exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, we’re now confronted with the details. And, as they say, the “devil is in the details.” I chose the title “law and order,” because we often link the two terms together. These are words that everyone seems to understand. In fact, these words are so prominent in our society that they have inspired a series of very popular cop and lawyer TV shows. For most of us law and order means keeping criminals off the street so we can live safe and secure lives. We understand the meaning of these words, but rarely do we apply them to our own lives. As we consider this set of verses from Matthew’s Gospel, the idea of “law and order” seems to move beyond the concerns of the criminal justice system, and begin to speak to our own daily lives. The words we hear in this passage seem har

Matthew 5:13-20 Last Sunday we began a journey through the Sermon on the Mount by looking at Jesus’ words of blessing on the kinds of people whose lives define God’s realm. Blessed are the poor, the grieving, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who experience persecution. To them belongs God’s realm both in heaven and on earth. Now, as we continue this journey, we hear Jesus say to us: “You are the salt of the earth” and “you are the light of the world.” That is, you are signs of God’s reign in this world, which God loves deeply. In these two phrases, Jesus answers two of the most important questions that we can ask of ourselves: Who am I? And what am I to do? Because Jesus addresses these words to the community and not just to individuals, the questions become – Who are we? And What are we to do? These questions have emerged with even more urgency since this congregation made the commitment to become