The way everybody lives life is mostly wrong. There is a better way to live. It is costly, difficult, and sometimes bizarre. Through this way of life, God brings his kingdom to earth. This is the way of life described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus's first address to the crowd lays out a whole new mindset for life. It clearly defies common sense. Love your enemies? Give an oppressor more than he demands? Be more righteous than the most holy people we know?
This year the Bible Project, with its podcasts and videos, is slowly working through this sermon. The sermon, found in Matthew 5-7, is the marching orders for Jesus followers, a reality that I have somehow missed for most of my life. If this way of living is that important, then we ought to dig deeply into its meaning, and work sincerely to put it into practice. I want to do that this year.
Here's one bit of insight I have already gained. Jesus tells the crowd that they need to be even more righteous than the most religious people of the day. That seems discouraging and impossible, even to us today.
But I think we misunderstand "righteousness." We think it means meticulous rule keeping, never making a false move. But righteousness actually means being in right relationship. If you look at Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5:17-48, he talks about interpersonal relationships. He gives all kinds of examples, about dealing with anger, lust, adultery, oaths. All these lessons point to humility and caring about others. It is a selfless mode of living. And it feels like it is impossible. But when we do live this way, it changes us, it changes those we encounter, and it ultimately will change the world. That's what Jesus is after.
