i'll laugh instead
i'm leaving tomorrow, babe / i'll come back from the dead
Today Christ brings the Sermon on the Mount HOME. However, Christ refuses to end this sermon with a rousing finale. Instead of ending on a high note, Christ ends on a disheartening one. Instead of telling us sunny days are ahead, he speaks of the storms of life. Storms with the power to flood and beat us into pieces…
Tuesday was the State of the Union Address.
I remember that night when I lived in Washington, D.C. It’s a big to-do. And I’m sure Tuesday was no exception. Truthfully, though, I don’t miss those days much.
Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that these aren’t the most unpredictable events. Although the rancor is something new. Truthfully, though, whether you watched the State of the Union or not, you know how it ended. You know how it ended because they all end the same way, with a crescendo!
President Biden’s speech ended with assurances and pronouncements that we, as a country, won’t just meet the challenges of our day. No, we will prevail over them! In other words, President Biden’s speech ended with a note of optimism.
Just like Donald Trump’s State of the Union Addresses. And Barack Obama’s. And George Bush’s. And Bill Clinton’s, too.
You get the picture. Apparently, it doesn’t matter what political party you put on your voter registration. Every party is of the same mind when it comes to success; we’re in favor of it. JESUS, however, sounds an off-note to all that folderol.
And on that note, thinking of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as a sort of State of the Union of the address isn’t a bad analogy. Here’s the difference, though, the union Christ speaks of is union with him. And the path he intends to cut is one in the shape of his cross…
I don’t know about you, but between the two addresses, my preference is for the one that ends with promises of brighter days. Not storms. Jesus, though, instead of promising us a way out, digs in.
It’s as we like to say around here, isn’t it? TRUE spirituality is life; where? That’s right! Reality! TRUE spirituality is life in reality.
And as I’ve been studying on Matthew, I’ve been struck by just how straightforward Jesus is on the matter. Matthew is often described as the most moralistic or legalistic Gospel. However, Jesus is always clear that what HE’S speaking about is Life. Jesus isn’t preaching morality. No, he’s describing mortality!
And if you think I’m playing fast and loose here, just listen again to Jesus. Where does he say his narrow gate leads? Because it’s not flights of mystical ecstasy. And neither is it a higher plane of consciousness via some religious trek. No, Christ’s way leads to Life! Life.
…The very first heresy Christianity had to grapple with was Gnosticism. Gnosticism was the notion that Jesus had hidden clues to a truer perception of the cosmos. And through this secret knowledge, a person could ascend to a more refined existence.
From the beginning, though, the church insistently proclaimed that Christ is for Life. Real life. Real people living real lives! And as such, Christ doesn’t merely offer advice about how to escape existence. No, he promises that, by his cross, he has descended DEEP within it. As deep as Death, in fact.
Christianity has always concerned itself with reality because Christ, by his cross, has made reality the staging ground for HIS redemption!
Like all unhappy heresies, though, Gnosticism is persistent. Gnosticism didn’t disappear so much as it disguised itself. Now Gnosticism turns up in schemes that package religion as a key to improving your health, mentality, relationships, career, country, and the like. In other words, you know you’re dealing with Gnosticism when Christianity is merely a jumping-off point to some other, better, agenda.
As Paul quipped long ago, though, Christianity knows nothing but the cross! And the cross is the flag CHRIST planted IN the rocky ground of reality itself! Christianity is not a strategy to improve reality. Rather, it’s the shocking proclamation that Christ has fastened HIMSELF to this sinking ship of history. And even more incredible, that through that dual demise, God has worked Life. TRUE Life. ETERNAL Life!
…Now, let’s be clear, Gnosticism holds on for a reason. And frankly, the reason is that it’s appealing! If you or I were going to come up with a plan for salvation, like Gnosticism, we’d try and circumnavigate Death. Wouldn’t we? Salvation wouldn’t go through Death so much as it’d go around it.
And while that may sound desirable, and it does, it only leads away from Christ every time! These schemes lead away from Christ because they point us away from where he’s promised to turn up, reality! Reality as it actually is, Death and all!
Listen up! Reality is the meeting place of mercy! Whatever it is you think you’ve got to improve BEFORE you can get serious about following Christ is really just Christ’s cup of tea! Including, but not limited to, your very mortality!
It turns out, while sidestepping Death may sound nice, it’s really just a bunch of bad news! It’s bad news because you and I can’t skirt Death. Can we? No, we have to face it.
What Christianity proclaims, though, is that CHRIST, at the cross, faced down Death once and for all! And now, when you see your death, you don’t see your demise! NO, instead, you see CHRIST’S coup de grâce! Literally, his strike of grace!
Christ, by his cross, has not gone around Death. No, he’s gone right through it! AND in the process, he has transformed Death!
Now Death, by the power of Christ’s Life eternal, is no longer capital-d Death! No, NOW Death is merely a harbinger to Christ himself!
Death is no longer the end! No, now, Death is just the beginning. NOW, Death is the gateway to life eternal!
…To be a Christian is to Live IN Christ! And to Live IN Christ ISN’T to live with Death AHEAD of you. No, it’s to Live with Death BEHIND you! And yes, I mean, you!
You NOW Live with Death behind you because that’s precisely where you’ve been wrenched by your baptism! In your baptism, you were buried therefore WITH Christ by baptism INTO Death, SO THAT as CHRIST was raised FROM the Dead by the glory of the Father, YOU too might Live a new life! For if you have been united WITH Christ in a death like his, YOU shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection LIKE his!
In Christ, you now Live on the far side of Death! In Christ, you NOW Live, not East of Eden. No, in Christ, you now Live East of Easter! Or, to say it another way, Death has lost its sting for you!
You now Live on the other side of Life’s futility. The threat of Death is forever BEHIND you! And the worst Life can do to you is securely in your rearview mirror!
Now, with that grisly sight abaft, you can begin to Live! Really LIVE! You are no longer doomed to some sort of imaginary existence. Some imaginary existence where you must always evade Death.
No, now, instead of pretending otherwise, you can actually face up to reality as it actually is, Death and all! And you can do all this because CHRIST has stared down Death for you!
And guess what? Death blinked! In that twinkling of an eye, everything changed! In that instant, Christ finished off Death forever! Christ is the Death of Death itself!
…Christ ends his Sermon on the Mount with a curious parable. A parable of two houses, one that stands tall and one that falls to pieces. And the only difference between these two houses is what, or rather, whom they’re built on.
Now, I know that doesn’t sound curious. But it is. It’s strange because Christ doesn’t say the building material or even the building quality makes any difference. And neither does he say one will be spared the storms of Life, either!
No, the only difference between the two houses, as you might expect, is Christ. One house is built on His word, and the other isn’t. And this little difference makes all the difference!
In Christ, Life can finally be as it actually is. Life can be as it actually is because Christ has something to say about it! And what he says is, he’s the rock of it that not even the gates of hell can prevail against!
Christ is your rock! And he’s your rock, not just when Life is sunny and sturdy. No, he’s your rock when the rains fall and the floods come. Christ is your rock when the winds blow and beat upon you.
Christ has sunk himself deep into your Life! All the way even! And when he hit bottom, he didn’t stop! No, he just poured himself out the rest of the way!
When you find yourself at rock bottom, and we all will, you will find, of all things, a firm foundation! Your life is not a bottomless pit. No, at its lowest is the one who humbled himself, Jesus the Christ!
And by his humiliation, God also highly exalted him! And gave him the name that is above every name! And so, when your knee bends under the weight of Life, you can rest assured you’re standing right where Christ promises to meet you!
At the depth of your life, and death, is the one who’s your Life out of Death, Jesus Christ himself! Jesus, your firm foundation! Jesus, the sum and substance of your life!
And that’s a promise you can build on!
And so, standing at the footing of all that, let’s sing!
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