Sermons on Matthew 5:19

a reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew Chapter 5, verses 17 through 37. Jesus said to his disciples, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill. Amen. I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, you shall not kill, and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. …

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… He could have likened his followers to all kinds of vital life-giving things, but what he said is, you are the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world. However much our experience of those things has changed over the years, the metaphors have kept their power, I think, because Jesus didn't say too much about them. Were his followers road salt, table salt, salt to season, salt to preserve? Were they searchlights or nightlights? Were they light to see by or light by which to be seen? The way he put it, his followers weren't supposed to be any of these things. They already were. He could see the crowns over their heads even if they couldn't. and he wanted them to know who they were. Though he did go on to point out some things that could go wrong, losing their saltiness or hiding their light from view, there were no imperatives in what he told them about themselves. There were no conditions under which they might cease to be what he said they were. …

Watch at 28:59 · See full text →

… For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Profound words. Jesus begins by saying, do not think that I came to abolish the law. It's as if he were saying, I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I came to nullify the law. What does he mean by the law and the prophets? The Old Testament. The people of Israel, he assumes and knows, are considering him anti-Old Testament. That's not possible, however. He says, because I am the fulfillment of the Old Testament. …

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… Here they are in Jesus' own syntax, at least in translation. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. It's the you that makes them interesting, especially the second one, since in another gospel, Jesus says, I am the light of the world, but not here. Here he says, you are. To whom is he speaking? He's speaking to you, whoever you are and whatever you're doing here. That part hasn't changed. He's speaking to you who identify as disciples and you further back in the crowd, those of you who are committed and those who are just curious, you who live big lives and you who live small ones on purpose or by circumstance. You, because you're the ones listening, and that's a perfect match for those who were there on the day he went up on the mountain, sat down, and began to teach. He never said the teaching was only for those in the front row, or those who had signed up for the course. …

Watch at 27:01 · See full text →

… reminding everyone within sound of his voice that whoever breaks even one of the least of the commandments that God gave to Moses, like the one about not gathering firewood on the Sabbath, maybe, or the one about not eating bacon. Whoever breaks even one of those and teaches others to do the same will be called squirt in the kingdom of God, he says. Squirt, gnat, junior, rookie, take your pick. Those who think it's all right to break any of God's laws will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, while those who keep them and teach them will be called great. What? Heather said while Cat just banged her head on the desk. Oh no, she said, while Elijah just smiled because he's Seventh-day Adventist. He observes Sabbath and doesn't eat pork. I thought Christians didn't have to follow the law, someone else said. Yeah, the person next to her said, didn't Jesus break it all the time? But there it was right on the page. …

Watch at 32:29 · See full text →