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Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Solid Rock or Shifting Sand?
Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24; Matthew 7:21-29
Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew chapters 5-7) probably drives professors of preaching crazy. It hardly follows the old traditional 3-points-and-a-poem format. And yay for that! [To all profs who actually train preachers in contemporary communication skills -- Thank you, thank you!]
In fact it seems to have everything all backwards. For instance, he begins with the benediction.
God bless you, says Jesus, if you are poor... hungry... weary... weak... even persecuted....
There's your signal, right up front, that this is a new way of understanding God's ways -- from start to finish!
The sermon proceeds to challenge all sorts of typical assumptions about morality and affirmations of faith. Fidelity... chastity... murder... charity... prayer... good works of every kind... worry... fear.... In every case, the heart of the matter is this: Love God, love people... Serve God, serve people... Treat others the way you'd like to be treated yourself....
And then, finally -- lo and behold -- Jesus ends his sermon with a punch line. An invitation, an altar call, a real live "come to Jesus" moment.
In the form of a little real-life story: Two men build two houses... one on a rock foundation and the other on sand. Rains come, floods rise, winds beat both houses... Guess what happens next!
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
12:10 PM
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