Sermon on the Mount or should we say plain Luke 6
Sermon on the Mount Luke 6
As we approach this section of Holy Scripture I find this insight from Bishop Fitzsimons Allison , ret. Bishop Episcopal, now ACNA Diocese of S. Carolina worthy of our thought and note ( in the recent edition of the " Angican Way", magazine of the Prayer Book Society)---he introduces his thought on repentance and change of heart with this illustration from Mark Twain, " giving up smoking was the easiest thing in the world. ..I've done it a thousand times." We find repentance a very difficult thing as Twain notes.
But we need to see what Bishop Allison discovered , the greek word for repentance is mis-translated from the greek. It is not a change of mind as the greeks taught for they believe virtue was about education and knowledge and if you have that you can change. No, the greek word metanoien is not change of mind, but change of heart. " Repentance is not mere remorse and regret and wishing for more will-power. It is deeper than mind or will. We tend to blame our will power when we do what is wrong. Actually it is our heart that needs to change. Our wills are the tools of our hearts. What the heart desires, the will chooses and the mind justifies." in " Justification by Faith in Anglican History" p. 14 by Bishop FitzSimons Allison
So when our Lord says blessings and woes He is talking about our hearts where our actions come from. As we read the Scriptures in Luke and Matthew about being and doing certain things by Jesus, let's keep this in mind.
Blessed means making larger and life is larger when God is first. When He confers His benefits life is longer in His will and love. Those who recognize their poverty of spirit know they need God and this is what He is talking about mainly. Matthew adds hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Having our Lord at the center will cause others to not understand and they treated the prophets in the same way, excluding you and I sometimes. As William Gladstone the former prime minister of England used to say, " One with God is a majority."
Woes follow which are not in Matthew. It means how terrible...." It is an expression of regret and compassion, not a threat." Luke Leon Morris When others speak well of us, we are like the false prophets in Jeremiah . " A true prophet is too uncomfortable to be popular" Morris. Jeremiah 5:31 " the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?" ESV
" To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to desire to be from self in all its horrible manifestations, in all its forms. When we considered the man who is meek ( poor in spirit) , we saw that all that really means is that he is free from self in its every shape and form---self-concern, pride , boasting, self-protection, sensitiveness, always imagining people are against him, a desire to protect self and glorify self. That is what leads to quarrels between individuals, that is what leads to quarrels between nations; self-assertion. Now the man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is a man who longs to be free from all that; he wants to be emancipated from self-concern in every shape and form." Lloyd Jones
The Sermon on the Mount is who we are as Christians. And every day by God's grace through Christ and the Spirit we attempt to be what we are by faith and our hearts. As Bishop Allison said , " Our wills are the tools of our hearts." Amen.
As we approach this section of Holy Scripture I find this insight from Bishop Fitzsimons Allison , ret. Bishop Episcopal, now ACNA Diocese of S. Carolina worthy of our thought and note ( in the recent edition of the " Angican Way", magazine of the Prayer Book Society)---he introduces his thought on repentance and change of heart with this illustration from Mark Twain, " giving up smoking was the easiest thing in the world. ..I've done it a thousand times." We find repentance a very difficult thing as Twain notes.
But we need to see what Bishop Allison discovered , the greek word for repentance is mis-translated from the greek. It is not a change of mind as the greeks taught for they believe virtue was about education and knowledge and if you have that you can change. No, the greek word metanoien is not change of mind, but change of heart. " Repentance is not mere remorse and regret and wishing for more will-power. It is deeper than mind or will. We tend to blame our will power when we do what is wrong. Actually it is our heart that needs to change. Our wills are the tools of our hearts. What the heart desires, the will chooses and the mind justifies." in " Justification by Faith in Anglican History" p. 14 by Bishop FitzSimons Allison
So when our Lord says blessings and woes He is talking about our hearts where our actions come from. As we read the Scriptures in Luke and Matthew about being and doing certain things by Jesus, let's keep this in mind.
Blessed means making larger and life is larger when God is first. When He confers His benefits life is longer in His will and love. Those who recognize their poverty of spirit know they need God and this is what He is talking about mainly. Matthew adds hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Having our Lord at the center will cause others to not understand and they treated the prophets in the same way, excluding you and I sometimes. As William Gladstone the former prime minister of England used to say, " One with God is a majority."
Woes follow which are not in Matthew. It means how terrible...." It is an expression of regret and compassion, not a threat." Luke Leon Morris When others speak well of us, we are like the false prophets in Jeremiah . " A true prophet is too uncomfortable to be popular" Morris. Jeremiah 5:31 " the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?" ESV
" To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to desire to be from self in all its horrible manifestations, in all its forms. When we considered the man who is meek ( poor in spirit) , we saw that all that really means is that he is free from self in its every shape and form---self-concern, pride , boasting, self-protection, sensitiveness, always imagining people are against him, a desire to protect self and glorify self. That is what leads to quarrels between individuals, that is what leads to quarrels between nations; self-assertion. Now the man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is a man who longs to be free from all that; he wants to be emancipated from self-concern in every shape and form." Lloyd Jones
The Sermon on the Mount is who we are as Christians. And every day by God's grace through Christ and the Spirit we attempt to be what we are by faith and our hearts. As Bishop Allison said , " Our wills are the tools of our hearts." Amen.
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