Sermon on the Mount II
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13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. -
In Jesus’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’, we learn how Christianity is distinct from the world and even from the Religious world. Christianity is different from Religion.
As a Hospital Chaplain when went on the hospital wards people often said ‘I’m not Religious.’ Generally, I didn’t reply ‘neither am I’ simply because in the world’s eyes ‘dog collar’ means ‘religious’ and if you go to church, your friend will think you are religious and it is not important to have a debate about the meaning of ‘religious’ but what is important is what is distinctive about the Christian from the world and from a religious person.
It is a crucial point of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
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Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The Fulfilment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus was with Religious people there is hostility not just from them to Jesus, he lambasts the religious people e.g. they are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside.
When Jesus is with ‘worldly’ people he dines with them, is patient, is kind, he shows mercy but when he is with the religious people – it is a different story.
Our reading in Matthew 5:14 begins:
‘You are the light of the world..’
A Big Surprise in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5 – 7 is that Jesus makes two contrasts and it is not contrasting good and bad, light and dark. Matthew 5:14 there are two lights, Matthew 5:17 two ways of reading the Law, Matthew 6:12 two people praying and two ways of fasting, Matthew 7:13 two gates, Matthew 7:17 two paths, one leads to destruction and the other is the way (the true path). Matthew 7:24 two houses, one wise and one foolish builder.
Surprisingly the two ways are not good v bad, believers v unbelievers.
Both paths look the same two gates, two paths, one is broad one is narrow, two houses. I believe what Jesus is doing here is contrasting the Christian life and the Religious life and unsurprisingly, both look similar. Both are about obeying the law and keeping the Ten Commandments, both give to the poor, both pray, both fast, both are going to church but one is heading for destruction and one grows poisonous fruit.
Christianity is very different to Religion in three main ways - Triple AAA:
It is Attractive
I am Adopted
It is Accomplished
“One is shining in a way that is both attractive to the world and attracted to the world.” — Tim Keller
It is Attractive
In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:14 both the religious and the Christian are the LIGHT but one lights the room and one is under a bowl. Notice, that Jesus is not contrasting light and darkness but the light that lights the room and the light that is undercover. Notice that people who don’t agree with the Christian way are still attracted to it.
I recall a patient Keith on one of our hospital wards in May 2018 saying ‘I always see Christians doing good things and I wish I could believe.’ Keith is attracted to the Christian but we are also attracted to Keith’s needs and to the needy world we live in. That is why Foodbank’s Trussell Trust was formed or how ‘Love Your neighbour’ mushroomed during the Covid pandemic.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Open Doors are active in serving the needs of the wider world. We are attractive to the needy but also attracted to the needy situations whether that is in a hospital ward, a foodbank warehouse or a youth club or a messy church.
A parent I met called Anne goes to all the different Messy church groups around her area – we are attracted to Anne and we are attracted to her needs. They are drawn to us and we drawn to them. The gospel message may still be meaningless to them, they may go so far as to say they disagree with you but the Christian way is attractive and you are attracted to them.
In contrast, Religious people are not attracted to people who disagree with them.
Neither is religion Attractive in that, it makes you feel condemned, you feel worse (you are not good enough), you break their rules, you are covered in dirty sinful specks and the religious people don’t want to be contaminated even though they have planks in their own eyes.
How do you see your town or your neighbours? For example, if the area you live in is sinful, full of problems and you don’t want anything to do with it - you are a religious plank! If you are a Christian you are attracted to the needs, you want to get involved – that is the Christian way (that is Christ in you). Attractive to and Attracted to the needy.
I am Adopted
“your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Christians serve others because we are adopted into God's family. Let your light shine to glorify your ‘Father.’ Our serving blesses our heavenly Father, and glorifies Him. The Sermon of the Mount teaches that the Christian lives the Christian way because God is your father, you are sons and daughters in the family of God. Not that you try and be good or religious and maybe God will allow you into the club.
If you are an employee and you are good your boss is happy, if you are bad you are warned of maybe being fired. If you are a child, no matter whether you are a model child or an absolute pain – you are still a child - accepted and loved. As adopted Joint heir with Jesus, you are accepted and loved – he will never forsake you.
Salt and Light
Why is your light shining – because God is your father – you are adopted and his light is shining from you. Why are you salt? Salt was rubbed into meat to preserve and make it tasty. When you do things in the community – Christians get in there to preserve, protect, and protest — salty. Salt is also a metaphor for tasty.
You never hear me saying after a juicy fillet steak, “Boy, that was great salt!” No, I say that was a good steak.
Christians glorify the father because we are his family.
When religious people do stuff it may look the same - they read bible, pray, give to the poor, do good works - but it is not out of a living relationship with God. When Christians do stuff (read, pray, give, good works), it is glorify God because you are Adopted into His family.
It is Accomplished
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” — Matthew 5v17
Christianity is distinctive from Religion because the Law is Accomplished
When Jesus cried from the cross “it is finished” he was saying “it is accomplished” - fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled the law and through his pure life, we receive his purity. Compare Matthew 5:20, a Christian probably cannot be more righteous than the Pharisees. But in Christ, we are because of all he has accomplished.
The Religious Pharisees ‘did the law’ all 635 of them and could tick the boxes. In verses 21, 27, 31, 33, 43 he says over and over again ‘you have read that the law says… but I say and he goes through the 10 Commandments.
I was surprised to find when I was staying in a Hotel in Jerusalem that on the Sabbath there was no pushing of buttons in the elevator. In Religion, you may have all the external displays of being righteous but internally your heart can be unrighteous, murderous thoughts, living a lie, lustful thoughts. Jesus sets the bar so high for us that we can’t possibly fulfil it. Unless someone who has already accomplished the law gives us a leg up. ‘I haven’t come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.’
What does that mean?
Look at the Sermon on the Mount– he is the one who lived it (perfectly). He fulfilled the beatitudes. (Blessed are the merciful) He was merciful but received no mercy so that you and I could receive it. Blessed are the pure in heart – they will see God. He was pure in heart but the Father turned away from him on the cross (he who knew no sin became sin) so that we could see God. Blessed are the meek they will inherit the earth – fulfilled. He was meek and gave up everything for us so that you could inherit eternal life.
On the cross He cried; ‘it is finished’ not that his life is finished but that he accomplished it - fulfilled the law - perfectly pure so that we could be pure, perfectly be the beatitudes so we could inherit the kingdom and be comforted, obtain mercy, be called the children of God.
If you are a Christian the Sermon on the Mount is not a high jump bar to clear – perfect in your thoughts, totally lust free, without hateful thoughts, always truthful, pure and sinless. The Sermon on the Mount is not a horizontal bar - it is a vertical bar the outstretched hand of God (imagine the ceiling of the Cysteine chapel and the finger of God reaching down to you).
In conclusion, Religion and Christianity is a contrast of Do v Done.
The Religious way is about what you do (all 635 rules). Even then you can never be certain it’s enough. Do Do Do Do
Christianity is what He has done, has accomplished for us (fulfilled the law). It’s Done Done Done Done.
We are forgiven and free and can know his peace – because of what he has done it for us.
Practically what do we learn from this part of the Sermon on the Mount?
Firstly, what matters is who I am from the inside out. I am an adopted child of the living God (joint heir with Jesus) and he has fulfilled every bit of the law that I could never live up to. He emptied himself of everything so I can have everything – his purity, his freedom, his peace. That makes me want to be active – not out of duty but as a child of God. Serving him in others, in prayer, in praise and in reading his word.
