Issue 226
The Christian path is not difficult, it is impossible. The Sermon on the Mount does not represent a code of ethics to which noble, high-minded philanthropists should aspire. Jesus did not set out a rule of life and then say “Have a go”. The call is to go through a narrow gate – called the Good Shepherd, to dine with the right Companion – called the Son of God, and to build on the words of the Living Word himself.
This is not the world of the tangible and seen, but the interplay of Earth and Heaven. Anyone who thinks the Sermon on the Mount is a code should try it sometime.
The question is, where do you get the strength, resources and energy to live this impossible life? How can you keep these commandments? Jesus tells us to keep on seeking, asking and knocking for the solutions, the power and the openings. The answer is not in elitism or joining the spiritual SAS, it is in the gift of a Father who knows how to give, and the gift he gives is himself, or to beprecise, his Spirit.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a blueprint, it is a description of what life is like when energised by the force of the Spirit of God who takes the things of Jesus and makes them real in our souls. It is not a formula, it is a gift. But it is not a gift that absolves us of effort; it does require constant work to capture its power. Such is the narrow path.
Matthew 7:7-12
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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Geoff Shattock
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