I was a
little bewildered when the Holy Spirit chose to alert me to a deeper meaning of
the Sermon on the Mount. Do you ever
have those moments when you read something in the scripture that causes you to
want to shut the book and not read further?
As I read this familiar passage, God pointed out that I was guilty of
the sins Jesus exposed in His sermon. I thought to myself: Surely this is not what the Holy Spirit is saying to me. I even read back through it, looking for
something else I could focus on. But no,
it was clear God was guiding me to reflect on how this sermon exposed my
personal sin in ways I would rather not consider.
I didn’t like the feeling of reading a sermon
that exposed my sin. I wanted my Bible
reading to point out how I could do better, or even how much better I am than
the average sinner. Why would God draw
my attention to these sins at this time?
I
couldn’t figure it out, so I looked up commentaries to make me feel more
comfortable about my sin. I was
determined to justify myself. It was
there that I discovered that I am not alone in my desire to justify sin. I found several commentators who were willing
to give me rationale for not fully facing the sinner that I am. It felt good for a moment, but I knew that
wasn’t the reason God pointed my sin out to me.
It was in
a discussion with my husband that my theology lesson was made clear. As I read from The Sermon on the Mount, his
response was: So what Jesus is really trying to say here on the Sermon on the Mount
is that we are all screwed—excuse my language—he used a more forceful
word. Then he went on to explain: Jesus is really telling us here that our
sin is far worse than we can ever imagine.
That’s the reality. So what our
Contrarian God is also implying in this sermon is that His forgiveness and
grace expands far deeper than we could ever have conceived.
My sin is
far beyond my own knowledge. I needed the
Holy Spirit to gently nudge me to be willing to look at my sin. Jesus knows every ounce of unholiness about
me and He is willing to forgive so great a sin.
This is a monumental lesson that my mind does not really take in fully. If I’m unwilling to face my sin, I miss out on
the realization of the deep, deep grace of God.
The other lesson I learned is that
I have no place to judge my brother, for I am a sinner too. This is a lesson I find difficult to
remember. Suddenly the realization of my
sin was truly a gift from God. I became
grateful to open my soul more deeply to the grace He offers.
If you are having trouble judging
others, perhaps a quick read of the Sermon on the Mount might be good for your
soul.
Copyright © 2017.
Deborah R Newman
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