blessing and abundance in a stuck-together world
Epiphany 6A | Matthew 5:21-37
Sometimes I walk up here eager to tell you a story. Often it’s reminding you of the grand arc of the Gospel. Sometimes its poetry. Usually, though, I look for a hook. Something to pull you into the story so we can explore a problem and the grace.
And sometimes we get a really different story. We get a gospel that jumps from one fire to another and then another and then another. In those moments it seems that direct is best.
So here we are the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5. We’ve heard the blessing of the beatitudes and the universality of God’s grace. Then suddenly we’re tackling commandments.
Do you think God’s not into murder? God’s not into thinking about murder.
Adultery? Same deal.
Divorce? Guess what?
Swearing oaths? You’re not going to like this one!
It is easy to be confused by this hostility. In a sense it comes out of nowhere. And to many well-meaning Christians, this passage is truly outrageous.
So let’s dig deeper…
The full text may be found here.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.