Redwood Empire Baptist Association

Matthew 5:27-48 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205.27-48&version=NIV

Innovation? Dedication? Courage? What does it take to turn ones back on the standard and traditional and start a revolution? In the world of track and field, that is exactly what Dick Fosbury did. Literally. Up until 1968, the high jump had always been executed by attacking the bar face down, chest down toward the bar. You kind of 'rolled over' the bar as you soared to your highest height. But in the 1968 Summer Olympics, a Junior from Oregon State won the gold medal for the USA by turning his back to the bar. His approach was 180 degrees different from the status quo. He innovated, committed to his new method, practiced and refined it, and dared to bring it out on the world stage. Fosbury revolutionized the event!

Jesus was a revolutionary, too. In His sermon on the mount, He took the standard approach to right relationship with God and stood it on its head. The standard approach then (and pretty much still prevails in all 'religious' systems around the world) was "right" behavior. "Don't murder; don't commit adultery; balance justice; love your neighbor and hate your enemy." That's where the bar was set in Jesus' day. Clear the bar, and you and God are on good terms. Fall short, and God will punish you. And while many were falling short, Jesus raised the bar!

"True, you shall not murder, but there is a way of treating people that disregards their life; this too is a form of murder." "True, you shall not commit adultery, but there is a way of being unfaithful in the lust of your heart; this too is adultery." "An eye for an eye? No, press on past mere justice to mercy." "Love your neighbor? Yes, AND your enemy."

Jesus has raised the bar too high for Dick Fosbury or anybody. How can anyone be right with God if we are called to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect? This is unattainable. But Jesus has not revolutionized the idea of holiness; He simply has clarified the full implications of it. It's like being a little pregnant. There is no holy ENOUGH. Either you is or you ain't. And, if that's the case, who can achieve right standing with God? Here's what Jesus revolutionized. He revolutionized the approach. We don't approach God with our spiritual Gold Medals in hand. We don't recite to Him our Olympian feats of righteousness. And He just smiles and shakes His head when we try to justify our "good-enoughness."

Go back to Jesus' prelude in the sermon, the Beatitudes, to put this revolutionary approach into perspective.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." Aah! I fall short of the spiritual high bar and I ADMIT it! I have no gold medals. I am impoverished. To acknowledge it and admit it is the beginning of right relationship with God.

"Blessed are they that mourn ..." I can't clear the bar and it brings sorrow, not excuses. Tears, not justifications. The Lord sees me mourn my spiritual bankruptcy and He comes and comforts me.

"Blessed are the meek ... [and] ... the merciful ..." So, we humble ourselves before the perfect One.

"You are holy and I am not; have mercy on me."

Let's say it plainly now. Good deeds don't get you to heaven. Being in right relationship to God isn't about being 'spiritual' or 'holy' enough. What is enough? Jesus says enough is perfection. And you and I can't jump that high. So it's not about 'good enough.' It's about humbly seeking forgiveness; our meekness and His mercy. It's only the love and grace of God through Christ that will carry us over the bar.

Pray: Father in heaven, have mercy on me, a sinner.

 
Matthew 5:1-26  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205.1-20&version=NIV

Freedomland opened its gates in 1960 and shut them forever in 1964. Such a short lifespan for the "Disneyland" of the Bronx. But my family lived a short car ride south of that entertainment wonder, so I got to experience with seven-year-old senses one of the 'meteors' of amusement park history. The park was laid out like the lower 48 states, and had regional theme rides and attractions throughout. I got to board the flying saucer which was also a radio station and caught a glimpse of Connie Francis. I got to help the firemen bring down the blaze of the Chicago Fire by manning the handle of the old pumper.

But the memory that is preserved most indelibly is the Casa Loca. Located in the Southwest region of the park, this Crazy House was built such that everything seemed to defy physics. Empty cans would roll uphill across a table top and out the window into a waiting garbage can. In the Casa Loca I saw for the first time the "magic faucet." Here's a gigantic version of this impressive optical illusion. Even at seven I kinda figured how it worked, but still ... it was awesome eye candy.

As Jesus begins His teaching ministry, He introduces his followers to the nature of the Kingdom of God. It becomes immediately clear that it is a topsy-turvy Kingdom. There is something 'upside-down' about it. There is something out of proportion and logic defying about it. It doesn't work like the kingdoms of this world. The house of God is a bit of a Casa Loca. (In the very best sense of the word 'loca!')

In God's kingdom, an impoverished spirit is an advantage. In God's kingdom, you can be happy and mourning at the same time. In God's kingdom, the ones who don't seize anything end up owning everything. In God's kingdom you're blessed if you're insulted, slandered and discriminated against. You have to stay hungry and thirsty in the Kingdom, famished for righteousness, because that's the food they serve at the table of God and it doesn't show up much on the world's menu.

In the world they feed on ego, and never admit 'poverty'. But there's no blessing there. In the world they feed on pride, never admitting a loss - fearless, tear-less - but there's no blessing in that. In the world they consume and consume some more. It's all about having, but it's never enough. No. No blessing there. In the world they feed on domination and they put themselves high by putting others down. But when the kingdoms of this world are laid low, there will be no hope of blessing.

Live upside-down. Defy the world's logic. Follow Christ, the Ruler of the Upside Down Kingdom, the Teacher on the hillside. Learn from Him that accepting the impoverished state of our spirit is the point where the outpouring of endless mercy begins. Learn that mourning losses due to sin brings a new longing for the good and the holy. Learn from the Master that yielding to him in meekness assures us of a Kingdom inheritance. Learn that we will all fight for an identity; so let your scars mark you as a 'righteous one'! And let this life of running against the grain penetrate the world's darkness as Divine light. Let it penetrate the stuff of earth and preserve it against decay. Righteous salt. Righteous light. Uncommon members of the House of the Holy.

It's a crazy house. But it's the forever freedomland.

Pray: Lord, I am exposed constantly, relentlessly to the world and its ways. It is so easy to go with it, think like it, shape my values by it. Help me. Help me devote to the discipline it takes to plunge myself into Your Kingdom and its ways. Help me absorb that. So I can live in stark distinction to prevailing unrighteousness.