Wiki Jesus: How to Everything
Epiphany means “showing” or “insight,” and in this post-Christmas season we’ll let Matthew’s Jesus show us “how to” all kinds of stuff, from his earliest actions and words. We’ll read the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount – long readings in certain weeks, so that accompanying readings will be quite short.
How to tell the truth. Christmas can be a sentimental season. There are no carols about the “slaughter of the innocents,” at least not in Protestant experience. But Matthew won’t leave us with a gauzy manger scene in a startlingly clean barn; he has an accompanying memory in mind that must have its say. We’re reminded of another Matthean warning, coming later: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). Matthew 2:13-23; Isaiah 63:7-9
How to get everyone’s attention. Say a public and plain “yes” to what God wants, as Jesus does in his baptism “to fulfill all righteousness,” and you’ll have the attention of the Enemy as well. We live in a world saturated with not-God possibilities, as Jesus did. It doesn’t get easier just because we’re with him. Matthew 3:13–4:11; Isaiah 42:1-9.
How to Start a Church. Jesus jumps into his ministry with (1) a declaration of gospel (the dawning of death-defying light!); (2) a clear call for help; and (3) the willingness to go where they need him most. That’s how we do it, folks. This is how we’re still doing it. Tyler is preaching. Matthew 4:12-25; Isaiah 9:1-4.
How to be #Blessed. The beatitudes, or “congratulations,” show us Jesus’s upside-down view of power, prestige, and comfort – he seems to prefer powerlessness, low status, and disadvantage. This is our antidote to any so-called “gospel” that promises material and spiritual ease. For Jesus, the low-down are the salty lights he’s looking for. Matthew 5:1-16; Psalm 15.
How to be Perfect. 5:48 is devastating – “Be perfect as your heavenly Parent is perfect” – unless we can get a handle on the Semitic idea of “leaning toward completion” (rather than the Western notion of the Platonic ideal). What would it mean for our faithful practice if we were honing and toning our intentions, our inner selves, like yoga for the spirit? Matthew 5:17-48; Psalm 119:1-8.
How to Do Religion. A continuation from last week – with specific instruction about religious practices: generosity, prayer, fasting, budgeting, looking, serving, (not) worrying… Matthew 6:1-34; Psalm 131.
How to Avoid Distractions Along the Way. Jesus here outlines pitfalls for the disciple who is traveling the path of faith – judgment, swine, bad fruit, self-deception, hearing-without-doing. How are we meant to hear his warnings today? Matthew 7:1-29; Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24.
How to Shine Like the Sun. What if the Transfiguration is Jesus’s check-in with the higher-ups, his mid-point meeting with mentors? What if he’s seeking a progress report, to know how he’s doing with this reign-of-God mission he took on back at his baptism? The voice from above speaks again, affirming that Jesus is exactly who God hoped he would be. We hope for nothing less, and God gives nothing less, to all who stay on the path of faith. Matthew 17:1-9; Psalm 99.