Point of beginning

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. He had a reason to begin at this point. The basic message in the Beatitudes is that we can be something significant in this life. We can be gentle; we can be peacemakers. We can be significant; we can be significantly good.

But our "Christianity" is usually passive; we do not seek to be significant. We do not expect to do anything significantly good. We did not get this from Jesus; He was never passive. But what we accept as normal is a passive approach to life. Our theology reflects this; our mindset reflects this even more. We take the same Scriptures that Jesus held, and come away with our theology, but not His life. We have mega-churches, and mega-ministries, but we still live passive lives. We are fans, going to church to watch our favorite team play. We would rather watch professionals play than try to play ourselves.

We have reduced the work of the Son of God to forgiveness, and eternal life to a distant future. Our "correct" theology is mostly correct, but it is only a part of what He taught. Forgiveness is not the main issue in the first three Gospels; neither is eternal life. The main issue is the kingdom of God is near. But most of us are not looking for deliverance in this life, only for assurance. We want to be assured that we have eternal life without necessarily seeing that we have eternal life.

The Beatitudes have a message for a world like ours; they are in contrast to what we actually think.

The poor are blessed. We can find the provision of God in this life apart from money.

Those who mourn are blessed. We can find profound comfort in loss.

The gentle are blessed. We can deal with others moderately; we can find grace to do this.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed. We can realize righteousness in this life; we can see the workmanship of God in us.

The merciful are blessed. We can share His feelings for man.

The pure in heart are blessed. We can be cleansed in fact not just in theory.

The peacemakers are blessed. We can find His wisdom in this life.

Those who are persecuted are blessed. We can share in the sufferings of Christ for good reason.

We need the message of the Beatitudes. Everything is not just imputed righteousness; everything is not just positional salvation. He is big enough to not only deal with our sins, but also to deal with our sin. He can work in us in this life. We can actually be sons of God in this life; those who have been nurtured by our Father in heaven. He can give what is actually good to weak men; He can give what can actually help them.

This is the point of beginning in the message of the kingdom of God. The working authority of God can come near to us in this life; the good news is that He can actually help us.

Therefore we can choose to act, trusting that the kingdom of God is near. Christianity is meant to be actively expressed; we were meant to look like Christ. But we need to be taught how to do this.

The good news of the kingdom is the point of beginning in the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching is where we find that the kingdom of God is near; we will find no other rock to build on. We can all build something in this life, but only a disciple's house will stand when the floods and winds burst against what he has built.

Passive "Christianity" is right, partially. "Christians" shouldn't try to do big things; they will just fail.

But disciples can build enduring houses.