I feel like we need a pause… a pause to consider the greater picture before we dive into the words of the sermon of the mount after the Beatitudes. Firstly, because the Beatitudes present a lot of food for thought, lot of perspectives to consider before we take a step ahead. Sometimes we fail to process what we are hearing, what we are going through, and therefore we fail to go as deep we could, to truly suck the marrow of life of those experiences and get everything we could from them. The beatitudes demand of us that we take the time to go deeper, drink fully from their well and that we continue to come to them often, when we are thirsty, and to renew our thirst. But also because we are about to engage with teaching that speaks into the core of life in the way we relate to God, the way we relate with ourselves, with our neighbours and the whole world, and in order to perceive both the greatness of this teaching from Jesus and the simple ways to live them out in our own context, we need to understand why Jesus spoke about those specific issues at that specific time. Because the Bible, before it was made into one collection of books that is known as sacred and holy, was books that told stories, teachings, personal journeys as well the journey of a people group, they were letters written from missionaries and apostles to small churches and groups of believers, letter from friends to friends… all of them written in a specific context, to an specific audience living in specific circumstances. To understand those circumstances and to understand those people will help us to dig deeper into the meaning of the messages of Jesus and will help us to imagine how to apply them to our context in our days.

The difficulty lies in the fact that we may have a hard time understanding the humanity of Jesus, or to be honest, accepting the humanity of Jesus. There is something comforting about keeping Jesus on the throne in heaven being worshipped by angels and away from the dust and sweat of life down here. But the Gospel is the story of the God that came to live among us- Emmanuel. A God willing to be born as a baby, grow as a kid in a poor village in one of the poorest areas of one of the poorest countries of the world, come from a family with a sketchy reputation, and challenge the status quo at every step of the way while upholding the heart of God even when it meant to come against the expectation of the religious leaders. Every single step of his life was drenched in humanity- rejection, community, family, hunger, exhaustion, betrayal, drama, love, acceptance, tears, sweat, blood, smiles.  Humanity in all its nuances. When he speaks, then, there is a backdrop of real experiences on a real context- which adds colours and flavour and smells and texture to everything he says. The Bible in general and the gospels in a very special way are not written on a vacuum with the expectation that it would become universal literal truth- the Bible in general and the Gospels in a very special way need to be explored, interpreted, translated, so they can be lived out and proclaimed in a way that people understand not just in their minds or in their hearts, but in their skin and bones and senses and soul. It’s the most relevant book with the most relevant story ever, it just needs to be explored and proclaimed in the proper way and in community, so we can live it out as the people of God.

So, what was the cultural and religious background to the days of Jesus? Well, Israel was a highly religious community, so we could expect that every conversation had a religious component to it. The way they lived, and the way they experience culture and politics and the every day life was marked by their religious perspectives. And the ones that set up the conversations were the rabbis, the teachers of scripture, that had the power and influence to set up the agenda and the priorities through their teachings. Imagine a culture without radio and tv and the internet, where books were rare and expensive and the privilege of the rich and powerful- in that context the rabbis had a platform through their teachings every week to present an agenda, to introduce topics of conversations, to set up the priorities through their ideas expressed in sermons and stories. What contributed to that dynamic was that the rabbinic system wasn’t set up in order to keep a man on the top teaching to the people “down there”, but it invited discussion and debate and the presentation of different perspectives in community. So, the conversations continued beyond the worship system and invaded the marketplace, the talk around dinner, the chat of the elders at the public square… It would be expected from young rabbis like Jesus to present his perspective on the topics of the day as he introduces his ministry. Does he have anything original, important, compelling to say?

Every Rabbi had a list of things that, according to their interpretation, was allowed by the scriptures. They also had a list of things that, again according to their interpretation, were forbidden. The combination of those two elements, the allowed and the forbidden, formed the “yoke of the rabbi”. In the year 30 BC, an 80-year-old Rabbi gained prominence in Israel. His name was Hillel, and he spent 40 years in his native Babylon, then 40 years learning scriptures and then he led the Sanhedrin for 40 years (does it remind you of Moses?). His teaching was so influential that it created the House of Hillel and his yoke was very popular in Israel. But there was another Rabbi, 60 years younger, that was also very popular and influential: Shamaii. He succeeded Hillel as leader of the Sanhedrin from 10 BC to 30 AC. He also founded the House of Shamaii. These two great leaders and teachers had very different personalities and takes on scripture. Hillel was calm and patient, Shamaii was passionate and strict. Their disagreements and discussions became a central part of the life of Israel and their cultural discussion, which was in full flight as it was continued by their disciples when Jesus appears as a young Rabbi. People were wondering where he came from and which school he was following- the death of those two leaders had left a vacuum of power and influence- but Jesus refused to follow them, even if he agreed with one of them most of the times (which one? That’s for another day!) But in any case, there was an understanding that those debates had to happen for the greater good: “A disagreement which is for the sake of Heaven will be preserved, and one which is not for the sake of Heaven will not be preserved” was an interpretation of the day, encouraging a healthy debate. In most cases, though not always, Hillel's opinion is the more lenient and tolerant of the two. In nearly all cases, Hillel's opinion has been accepted as normative and is the opinion followed by modern Jews.

When Jesus speaks at the mount, his sermon touches the main points of this cultural and religious discussion. He will present his take on the topics of the day: what does it mean to follow God? How do we fulfil the law? How are we supposed to pray? And what about fasting? What about presenting offerings? Is it ok to make vows? What are the laws about murder, and revenge, and our enemies? And what about forgiveness? Is it ok to divorce someone? And when does adultery happen? What about judgement? Those were important topics with huge repercussions. Jesus presented his teaching about them in such a way that when he finished people were amazed at his authority- he wasn’t just repeating what others were saying, but he was presenting something original, deep, real, honest. A yoke like no other, one that he even said that was light and easy…

What are the topics that demand our attention today? What is the cultural discussion in your circles and where are people receiving influence from? Who is determining the cultural, political, religious and social agendas of our day? And does the Bible say anything about all of it that is relevant for us?  I would say that there is no other book more relevant today than the Bible, and there is no other teaching as important today that those of Jesus. But when we stop discussing, debating, exploring, questioning and embodying the teachings of Jesus, all that we do is to repeat what someone else said without interpreting its meaning and important and significance for our world today. The word of God doesn’t change, but the culture around us does; we cannot fall in the mistake of adapting the Bible to our days, but we also must avoid the mistake of not interpreting the word of God for our days!

What does the Bible say about poverty and richness? About love of country and nationalism? About refugees and immigrants? About the role of family? How do we live in a strange culture? Or in a culture that opposes those principles? What does the Bible say about relationships? What does Jesus say about how to treat enemies and how to relate to strangers? Is there a place for forgiveness and mercy in our culture? We can go on and on and on and we will find at the end that we need to continue to ask questions and explore the answers because our world demands of us a faith that is alive today and for the world we are living in today. Some of the answers don’t change… some find a new perspective. How do we love our neighbours in the 21^st Century in this new Australia? The answer to that question will not be found at the end of this sermon, but it needs to be explored as we talk, as we share a cuppa, as we share life… it needs to be expressed in new ways, or maybe it needs to recover some old expressions that were left behind… but it is by seating at the feet of our Rabbi, as we read his words and explore his teachings, in the company of our brothers and sisters, that we will find the answers that we need to continue to be the people of God today.

It is said that when the Second World War was starting for England, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was in the early stages of his ministry at Westminster Chapel. It was obvious that the war in Europe was going to reach England sooner or later, and therefore he decided to prepare his congregation for the upcoming war, without leaving the expository program that he was using in his preaching. He called his people to repent from their sins and to be ready for the conflict, asking them to surrender their lives to Jesus. He touched the issues of the day without losing sight of eternity. He spoke from Scriptures, he held to tradition, but brought a message for the people considering what they were going through, and what was in their future. For the many years that the conflict took place he continued to preach at the Chapel, regardless of the risk. One story says that during a prayer time a bomb fell close to the Chapel but didn’t explode. Lloyd-Jones stopped for a moment, and then calmly went back to finish his prayer.

The urgencies of this time may have stopped us for a while, but it’s time to return to finish what we started, what is still waiting to be fulfilled. Let’s make the next verse of our song the best one yet: let the poem be about the time in which the church went back to the heart of the Gospel, committed to love people in the same way that Jesus has loved us, and invited the new generations to lead us into the future, knowing that they are going with our prayers, our support, our cheers and our encouragement. The Gospel is the same, but it will be brought forward in new and creative ways- because the calling of the reformed church is to continue to reform without losing our sense of identity and vocation. Is the world today more challenging for Christians that what it was in the 40’s or 50’s? maybe so. But it isn’t as challenging as it was when the early Christians were facing persecution and death because of their faith- or what many of our family as suffering today in other parts of the world. So we need to reimagine our future based on the teaching of Jesus, the same teaching that shook the world over and over again through the ages and that still has the power to transform a life, a family, a community, still has the power to transform nations.

May the words of Jesus inspire us to look at this world through his eyes, to preach the Gospel to our communities at this time understanding our realities and discerning God’s ways, and live lives that will invite others to see Jesus anew in the time that approaches. Let’s continue to celebrate our heritage, and let’s continue to build a legacy for the next 100 years. Amen???

May God’s peace and grace be with you all!