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GROWING
EDGES
 The
Sermon on the Mount is the spotlight of
this Perspective. The reason for
this focus is intentional and thought through
with great care. Genuine Christian renewal
will always carry in its wake a richer and
deeper understanding of Scripture. As there
arises in our hearts and minds a determined
quest for him who is the sole object of
it all—for Jesus Christ himself—we are driven
irresistibly to seek a fuller understanding
of his wonderful words of life. And when
we consider the renewal movement of discipleship
to Jesus, that is, the spiritual formation
of our souls under God, the Sermon on the
Mount is simply the most central text in
the Bible.
The
Greatest Teaching Ever Given
This sermon, recorded for us in Matthew
5-7 (along with its parallel in Luke1),
is absolutely the greatest teaching ever
given on how to live fully and freely. It
is a continuous discourse in which Jesus
lays out the principles sufficient for anyone
who wants to live the blessed life. This
sermon is THE GOLD MINE that the Church
has too often dismissed as interesting in
a poetic sort of way but having nothing
essential to do with how we might actually
live today. Or relegated it to another dispensation
because it seems like an impossible way
to live in our present world. And, tragically,
we have too often embraced these convenient
ways for neglecting this greatest of teaching,
to our own detriment.
O’
dear friend, believe me, the riches in the
Sermon on the Mount are worth a lifetime
of study, thought, reflection, and practice.
The truths in it can bring life and order
to the emotions and the will and the spirit
and the soul.
Somebody
Confused Somewhere
But it does need to be understood. When
we read the literature on the Sermon on
the Mount we have to conclude that somebody
is confused somewhere. Many, for example,
turn these penetrating words of Jesus into
a new set of soul-crushing laws. This, the
greatest of all teaching on life, is often
used to beat people down and put them into
the worst of bondage. It is true, isn’t
it, that the best of literature is often
taken and used to the worst of ends.
But
in this great sermon Jesus is not teaching
systematically or exhaustively. He is not
giving us a system of doctrine or of moral
rules. Rather, he is aiming to convey a
certain spirit to us, a spirit that will
transform our minds. And he uses concrete
examples and everyday situations and striking
sayings to fix that spirit and outlook in
us.
The resources we are providing you on pages
7 and 8 all take the Sermon on the Mount
seriously for life today. And while they
may not agree on every interpretive detail,
they will give you a balanced and practical
understanding of this great sermon. I hope
you will look them over carefully. Taken
together they will provide you with a core
library on this most important of Jesus’
teachings on life in the Kingdom of God.
Peace
and joy,
Richard J. Foster
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1 There is no justification whatever for
setting Luke’s version (often called “the
Sermon on the Plain”) over against Matthew’s.
Matthew, for example, is not spiritualizing
the beatitudes, and Luke giving them in
their original form, nor is Luke giving
a political twist to an original form of
the sermon that applied only to the individual.
The variations of the sermon are akin to
studying a diamond from multiple angles.
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