Notes on a sermon series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
These notes cover a series of sermons on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, preached by the Vicar, George Day, in summer 2007, and aim to be a summary of what we covered in these sermons. The notes are deliberately quite full, since it is worth giving time and attention to such important teaching. They will make most sense if you have an open Bible beside you and if you read each section of the Sermon as it is dealt with in the notes.
The Sermon on the Mount is found in St Matthew’s Gospel chapters five to seven. Almost certainly it is not the record of a single sermon or talk given by Jesus, but a collection of his teachings that Matthew has brought together in one section of his Gospel. But even if the various teachings were originally given in different settings on different occasions, the whole Sermon hangs together as a unity.
Look first at 5:1 - the crowds are around, but Jesus teaches his disciples. So the Sermon is primarily teaching for individual Christians and for the Church, but often there are implications for the wider world as well.
The first major section (5:3-12) has a series of brief sayings beginning “Blessed are...” or “Happy are...” “Blessed” is perhaps too pious-
sounding a translation and “happy” is too superficial. What the original word gets at is that here is the pattern of life that opens the way for God to bring us his love and goodness. If we live like this it will not only be the best way to live morally, but the best way to live if we want to know true fulfilment. (What an important point today when people look in so many wrong directions for fulfilment!)
The first of these Beatitudes (as they are called) says “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. What this means is the vital truth that when we reckon we are spiritually rich and OK, we are likely to be closed to God, whereas when we realise we are spiritually needy the way is open for God to bless us. Look at the message to the self-satisfied church at Laodicea in Revelation 3, for an illustration of this - see especially verses 17-18 - or the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14.
The second Beatitude, though sometimes used in funeral services, is not so much about mourning in bereavement, but true sorrow for sin.
“Humble” in the third one does not mean being a doormat, but the setting aside of pride and instead having the gentle strength we see in Jesus himself.
The next beatitude, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, is very helpfully ambiguous. It can mean hungering for righteousness in our own lives, or hungering to see righteousness prevail in the life of the world. To take one historical example, William Wilberforce showed both - a personal desire for holiness, but also a deep hunger and thirst for social righteousness that led him to campaign for years for the abolition of the horrific slave trade - an example for us today on both counts.
You could briefly reflect on the other Beatitudes, including the last one which reminds us of the reality of persecution faced by many of our fellow Christians.
The next section (5:13-16) compares us to salt and light - salt was a vital preservative in a hot climate, and the oil lamp was equally vital - without it, after sunset you really couldn’t do a thing! So here is Jesus’ picture of the impact the church should have - on the negative side, preventing decay and corruption, and on the positive side displaying the light and love of God.
We do this through:
evangelism - the direct sharing of the Gospel which aims to bring people to faith in Jesus,the moral quality of our lives shining a light that shows God’s ways,social action that brings light into the dark places of the world.All these aspects are vital and discussion about which one is most important is generally very unhelpful - all are needed in their different ways.
However, Jesus in these verses clearly envisages the possibility of failure - the salt losing its saltiness (probably through leaching if it gets damp) and the light stupidly being put under a bowl. Here is a warning to the Church - at times we have failed badly and presented not anti-
corruption and light, but obscurity, darkness and sometimes even evil - though at other times, the church has gloriously shone the light of Christ. Which will it be for us?
