For the Sake of the Gospel #4 The Sermon on the Mount Fr. Frank Matera
For the past three weeks, I have been writing a column entitled “For the Sake of the Gospel.” Thus far, I have made the following points. First, what we do for the gospel, we do for Christ. Second, the gospel is the good news of what God has done in Christ as well as the good news that Christ proclaimed: the kingdom of God. Third, the kingdom of God refers to God’s rule over our lives. Today, I turn my attention to another question: If we are to give ourselves to the gospel for the sake of Christ, then how should we live? What does it mean to live in light of the kingdom of God? The answer to this question is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
If you consult the Gospel of Matthew, you will note that immediately after his initial proclamation of the kingdom, Jesus delivers a mighty sermon that we traditionally call the Sermon on the Mount. You will find this sermon in Matthew 5?7. The sermon begins with an extended introduction in which Jesus pronounces a series of blessings or beatitudes over his disciples, comparing them to the salt of the earth and the light of the world (5:3-16). Next, he affirms that he has come not to destroy but to fulfill the Law of Moses (5:17-20). To explain what he means, Jesus provides six examples of how his disciples should fulfill the Law of Moses now that the Kingdom has made its appearance (5:21-48). After this, Jesus instructs his disciples how to practice their piety in a way that is truly pleasing to God now that the kingdom has made its appearance (6:1-18). Finally, Jesus exhorts his disciples to be single-minded in their devotion to God (6:19?7:12). The sermon then concludes with a warning that it is not enough to listen to these words, one must also do these words (7:13-27).
Throughout the centuries, people have asked if it is possible to live the sermon that Jesus proclaims. Is the sermon practical in today’s world? Does it make unreasonable demands? Can we take the sermon seriously? While this is a problem for many of us, it was not a problem for the early church, which viewed the sermon as the charter for Christian living. The great Saint Augustine, for example, called it the perfect measure of the Christian Life. In other words, the sermon is the norm by which we ought to live in light of the kingdom of God.
For the next few weeks I will be focusing on the Sermon on the Mount. These are some of the points I will be making: (1) The central theme of the sermon is single-minded devotion to God; (2) The sermon is for all of Jesus’ disciples, not for a chosen few; (3) It is only possible to live the sermon in a community of like-minded disciples; (4) Living within the kingdom of God enables us to live the sermon. Read and pray over the sermon in the week ahead.