Sermon on the Mount

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. ¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:1-20, NRSV)

Nothing from the Law and the Prophets will pass away until the law is accomplished. So whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. We are to be light for the darkness to give way to Christ’s love and salt to give seasoning to the world. And how do we do that?

We need to uphold all of the scriptures because that is what Jesus came to fulfill. And we do that by keeping the commandments…

And how many of us can keep the commandments?

Well none of us can.

But we blessed when we are poor in spirit, when we mourn, when we are meek, and when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

We should be filled with mercy and peacemakers and to stand up for our faith.

But we can’t do these things to earn heaven. We do them because Christ is living inside of us. We are living as Christ would live to help others see how they might live.

That is what we are called to do, to emulate Christ and allow His life to shine through ours so that others may see in darkness and be seasoned with mercy.