Lots of great content in the sermon on the mount. I want to highlight humility. The Sunday morning Bible study I've been attending at church has been focused on the reformers of the church during the Middle Ages. There was only one church at the time, the Catholic church, and it was ugly. Quite a lot had changed since the days of the apostles Peter and Paul. Working closely with European governments, the church basically held all the power. Offerings were used to build extravagant palaces for bishops. People who wanted a word with these church leaders would have to bow and kiss the rings on their fingers. People who disagreed with false Catholic doctrines were persecuted, even to death.
Even after some of the reforms took place in the church, unfortunately not all of the Protestants behaved much better. Heretics were executed (where in the Bible does it say to execute heretics?). War was used to force communities to join the Protestant church. (Fortunately I'm not talking about anything directed by Martin Luther.)
I share all this because it struck me that what was ugly about the church--Catholic and Protestant--was its lack of humility (which is, of course, intertwined with other fruits of the Spirit such as faith and love). Power grabbing might make the church feel like it is gaining ground, but in reality it sets it way back in people's eyes. It makes them no better than anybody else striving toward greed and power. Christians are unique only when they follow the example of Jesus, which is to go against every fiber of the human nature to serve others at all times. That stands out to people. That is very different. Then when they ask us what's different about us we have the opportunity to say, "It's Jesus."
Thanks for the insightful ties between faith-born humility and the state of affairs back in Luther's day. I'll play off of that just a bit. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' loving way of showing his disciples how to live a life of love... and humility... that stems from faith in him as their Savior. The pre-reformation church was gripped in seeking salvation based on one's own works or on the purchase of indulgences, and not on faith in Jesus and him alone. The good news of Jesus as our Savior had been discarded in favor of Papal writings, etc. Praise the Lord for Martin Luther and others who rediscovered and stood up for the precious Gospel truths God wanted people to hear, for translating the Bible and completing the catechism so the common folk could read it for themselves, and for the invention of the printing press so people could afford to buy these books. May God grant us the follow-through to make the most of whatever tools and opportunities we have to share Jesus as the Savior of all people.
ReplyDelete