Man on a Mission: Re-establishing Priorities
Matthew 5:13-20 • As we begin the year, we are getting on the same page in a unified manner to officially launch our church in the next several months!
• As we will see in Jesus' teaching, any Christian ministry begins with our own dedication to modeling Jesus' life and commands. Jesus is never more clear than when he speaks of grudges, sex, marriage, divorce, keeping promises, revenge, how we treat our enemies, generosity, sacrifice, money, prayer, faith, judgments, forgiveness, holiness and personal disciplines. All of these are covered in the Sermon on the Mount, and in effect, give us the tools to both love and be on mission with Jesus.
The Nature of Salt: • Salt was used as a preservative, flavoring agent and fertilizer. As such, we are called as the people of God to add to the flourishing of individuals, cities and nations.
• The salt that was used in Jerusalem mostly came from the Dead Sea and was full of impurities. It therefore lost some of its flavor and was thereafter thrown out. This is the net result of the church that does not maintain its adherence to the unadulterated, unchanging wisdom of God found in His Word.
• From the outset, discipleship, which means intentionally creating growing communities of those who love, fear and honor God, is on Jesus' mind.
The Dynamics of a City:
• (The habitual reference to cities in the Scripture imply God's love and purpose for the urban environment where ideas, values and cultures are formed, exchanged and exported)
• The very nature of Jesus' first analogies makes things much less ethereal and more tangible than one would expect. It points to the outward influence that your life is to have on others as salt, the environmental effect you are to have as light and the impact that you are to have as a part of a city, an alternate city within your present city, known as the city of God.
“The Heavenly City outshines Rome beyond comparison. There, instead of victory, is truth; instead of high rank, holiness; instead of peace, felicity; instead of life, eternity,” ― Augustine of Hippo, City of God
It immediately speaks of the community to which He's called you. The you is plural as no man or woman is a city by themself. Nor can a single grain of salt flavor or preserve an entire stock of meat on its own. To be a city set on a hill, it has to be about what we do outside of our Sunday morning gatherings. Sunday, within the walls, we rationally understand that we are in a place where God's Word is honored, his name is exalted and His people are built up even as they are built together. This is imperative for our development and spiritual health as we live and work in environments that deny Jesus' identity, much less reject His commands.
Following Christ means that you always have two sets of people in mind - Jesus, whom you serve, and others, through whom you serve him and with whom you make up this alternate city on a hill. The challenge is that you don't choose with whom you are living in the city and are therefore dependent - i.e. - bus drivers.
In the city that works, how do I build such relationships?
The Purpose of the Law: • In any city, there is a law that governs it as a representation of its ruling Kingdom.
• The challenge in our generation when everyone is able to share their opinion and deem themselves an authority on the Internet, is how to avoid the Word of God being lumped into the category of white noise. The city gives a visual image of why things are better in His community and His Word explains how we get there.
“We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.” ― John R.W. Stott
The fulfillment of the Law meant: 1) Jesus would fulfill the sacrificial system's requirements by becoming our Passover lamb 2) Jesus would fulfill Messianic prophecies begun in his first coming, to be completed in his return 3) The term pleroe (fulfilled) in Greek speaks to his completion of the interpratation and application of the prophets words, clarifying God's full intent and meaning behind them. Therefore, when Mohammad comes 500+ years later, acknowledging Jesus as a prophet, but claiming to be "the seal", that role had already been taken by the one who showed his authority by his life, miracles, death, burial and resurrection.
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19, 20 NIV84)
The Pharisees were legendary in Israel for their external righteousness, supported by the oral law which they added to stay several paces away from the ledge. However, Jesus is pointing to a righteousness that can only come from him. It is because, as we we see in the six examples that follow, it is about the heart. Jesus brought us to a point of complete helplessness in our own efforts, with the only option being the redemption that He would ultimately provide through His death, burial and resurrection.
2nd City Church - Man On A Mission Sermon Series 2013