MESSAGE BEARER MEMO

By Ryan Shaw

These bi-weekly memos are to provide encouragement, exhortation, and spiritual nourishment in the lives of those who have signed the Message Bearer Creed as you prepare to serve the Lord globally, and are influencing your peers with this vision.

The Sermon on the Mount – A Series on Kingdom Living

Incredible Nuggets of Truth

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most direct discourses that Jesus gives throughout the Scripture related to how His followers are called to live. It is often seen, however, as an ideal of what we should aspire for and not as a real way to live day to day and within the society that we find ourselves. It has often been overlooked because of this and yet it is critical that we become students of this discourse of Jesus as there are multitudes of spiritual nuggets to be gleaned for our lives.

A Sermon on the Mount Series

Over the next several writings of these Message Bearer Memos, I will take us through the discourse breaking several sections down and bringing to the surface some key ideas. My intention is to give us new eyes and new perspective on the lifestyle that Jesus is calling us to live as children of His kingdom. In today’s writing I will lay some foundation to the passage as a whole, offer some introductory remarks, and some key ideas to keep in mind as we journey through these pivotal sayings of Jesus. In following Memos we will work through the passage itself gleaning critical concepts to living in the Kingdom.

Why Study the Sermon on the Mount?

Why am I highlighting the Sermon on the Mount in this series? As those who are responding to God’s call to involvement in serving the nations and reaching the unreached in our lifetime, a thorough understanding and embracing of the ways of God’s Kingdom are central. We will not be successful as cross-cultural message bearers apart from making a firm and committed act of our will to live the lifestyle which He has ordained for those who are children of the King. Nothing better communicates Jesus’ view of life in the Kingdom then this passage. The overarching theme of the entire Sermon on the Mount is life in the Kingdom. It is Jesus’ discipleship course for His followers which He puts before all those who call upon His name. It is the standard which He has set for what it means to live in His Kingdom. The audience is His disciples, not the crowds that gathered to hear Him. This passage is given very purposefully to those who have chosen to follow Him and want to understand and walk in the principles of Kingdom living.

The entire Sermon on the Mount spans from Matthew 5:1 all the way to Matthew 7:29. It is given in a shorter version in Luke 6, but much is left out of that passage that is central to Jesus’ purpose in communicating this message. Remember that there is no portion of scripture whatsoever that is needless or which should be overlooked. The Holy Spirit has some purpose behind every bit to reveal to us, if we will wait upon Him as we ask for spiritual understanding and knowledge.

A Supernatural Invitation

His Kingdom is a supernatural Kingdom. Everything about Christianity involves the miraculous and to extract a belief in supernatural power in God is to completely make of Christianity something it can never be or was never meant to be. One only has to observe the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus (the centerpiece of Christianity) to grasp this truth. This is absolutely critical in relation to the Sermon on the Mount as the life Jesus is advocating is only attained through supernatural means. We know our own extreme deficiencies and shortcomings as well as Jesus does, and yet He calls us to this standard anyway, longing for us to receive His strength, power, ability, help, and aid through the inner work of the Holy Spirit to attain this lifestyle of the Kingdom.

Worldly Values Versus Kingdom Values

God is calling us to turn from the worldly systems and ways that we are bombarded with consistently. In the digital age in which we live where we are stimulated in so many ways and information can be obtained in moments, the systems of the world are always seeking to influence us. They are successful in doing this to varying degrees with each one of us. Because of this we find many outlooks, perspectives, and opinions which the world espouses that have seeped into the lives of sincere and genuine followers of Jesus Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus completely turns every worldly outlook and system on its head calling us into a new way of living, free from the systems of the world and its ways. The Kingdom’s values and principles of living are always in direct opposition to those of the world. This is why so many question the validity of actually living fully according to the Sermon on the Mount. The ideas communicated by Jesus seem so out there and unattainable because many of us are so thoroughly encompassed with worldly systems instead of His blueprint for life in Him.

A Dangerous Trend

One of the most dangerous systems that has infiltrated western Christianity is the way we view and teach others about discipleship. This is very important to recognize as message bearers due to the fact that we don’t want to export a Biblically inaccurate view of discipleship. In our modern segmented and compartmentalized lives following Jesus is often seen as another part of the whole. We buy into a dualistic idea of discipleship. I go to my classes, do homework, work at my job for a few hours, hang out with friends, plan my life and with whatever time is left, I fit in Jesus. We mostly don’t act like we believe or teach that Jesus is wholeheartedly committed to ruling every aspect of our lives and that His purpose and mission in my community, my city, and the world is to become my purpose and mission in life as soon as I become His follower. The Sermon on the Mount view and thus Jesus’ view of discipleship is all inclusive as well as all or nothing. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:20 that we have been bought at a price. We are no longer our own to live life as we please, but are being conformed into the image of Jesus so that He can use us to help accomplish His Kingdom purposes and mission in every arena of society. We should view every portion of our lives in this fashion: Work, fellowship, ministry, relationships, and the list goes on. Remember when Peter and John were called by the Master while fishing. Immediately they gave up their vocation, replacing their agenda with His own, knowing the treasure they had found in Jesus. This is not a blueprint for everyone to follow, but an example of whole life discipleship in action.

Jesus’ Authority

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus debunks many of these cultural norms that are not conducive to His Kingdom. He also sets out for His disciples an overview of the privileges and demands of their new situation as His followers. A key aspect to understanding the Sermon on the Mount is that it is not simply a code of conduct that Jesus is espousing. More then this it gives us a fresh revelation of why this is possible and why we should buy into this lifestyle of privilege and demand with all of our energies: Because of Jesus’ authority that we see at the end of the passage in Chapter 7:28-29. Because of who Jesus is and His power to transform a life, He is the source of this Kingdom lifestyle. Until we have a right view and relationship to the authority that Jesus possesses as the one who now sits at the right hand of the Father, our lives will continue to live below the standard He intends for us. This takes time as we dwell in His presence and seek His face in prayer and worship and through studying and meditation of the Bible. 

Closing

Are there areas in life that you have neglected giving Jesus complete ownership of? Have you seen discipleship as individually following Jesus but not necessarily taking up His Kingdom purposes as your own? Do you see some worldly values that have seeped into your outlook and perspective spiritually? Have you had a lower view of life in God then the high standard Jesus is calling you to? If yes, cry out to God in repentance of these things. Repentance is not merely confessing your sin, but making a willful decision to amend your way and go the right way, doing whatever is necessary to make this happen. Repentance must bring action and a change or it is not repentance at all.

To check out previous Message Bearer Memos and other resources for your journey, click here: http://www.svm2.citymaker.com/messagebearermemoarchive.html

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Ryan Shaw