Alexander the Great is credited for saying, “The more I get to know my neighbor, the more I love my dog.” Relationships are hard because they cause conflict and conflict is hard because it causes anxiety. As we know, God made us to experience people and peace. In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares God’s brilliant approach for sustaining relationships and tranquility. For this wisdom, we give thanks to God on this Sunday before Thanksgiving and every time we begin to feel the honest and painful emotions of Alexander the Great.
Sermons from November 2019
Jesus announced and demonstrated that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In other words, a tectonic shift in governance is taking place. How we respond determines the quality of our lives now and for eternity. For those who awaken (i.e. repent) there is, among other things, the potential to displace apprehension with exhilaration. Greater than any medical university or clinic can provide, Jesus’ wisdom transforms anxiety into sustained peace.
There is one true God. Don’t get tricked into any substitutes!
In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus reveals a crucial reality. As those with good eyes can observe the world beyond the capacity of those with impaired vision, so everyone with God has the privilege to see Him and His ways more clearly than those apart from Him. Beyond this revelation, Jesus also provides hope for those of us who long to know God and His ways more clearly in the form of activities we can do that enable us to do things that we can not do by our own direct effort (i.e. spiritual disciplines).