image from risqfoundation.com
A pastor friend embarked on preaching through the entire book of Matthew. Usually, he handles a chapter at a time, hinting at over half a year just on this one admittedly fine book of 28 chapters. But one day he examined only six verses of chapter six, covering just one topic in the Sermon on the Mount, composed of chapters five through seven. I hopped on a rabbit trail, wondering how long the series would take at that rate.
Filled with curiosity and appreciating quantitative analysis, I then counted 28 topics in those three chapters. We’re looking at over half a year just to handle those issues, with 25 more chapters to explore. Jesus covered subjects such as humility vs. pride, a yearning for spiritual meaning, interpersonal strife vs. harmony, sexual temptation, marriage, honesty, paybacks, charity, worry, materialism, judgmentalism, and the tension of faith vs. obedience, for just some. And my attention switched from a mundane how long the series would be to discovering something impressive about Jesus.
Those topics showed how thoroughly Jesus understood human nature and what we struggle with. He both created us and shared in our humanity. He gets us, as the recent Super Bowl commercial proclaimed. He wants to give us purpose and a goal for growing our spiritual life.
But this brought another insight: the breadth of topics reveals that he wants his followers to experience a total transformation by including each aspect of our lives. Look for yourself at my list from above, or on your own, read those three chapters and see them all. Doesn’t that sound like what we as people struggle with?
So what did Jesus want to tell us? That the goal, the target, of following him encompasses all dimensions of our lives. Obviously, that isn’t total and instant and permanent. Salvation starts when we commit our lives to him; sanctification is the life-long process of becoming more like Jesus. Or, transformation. Like the classic example of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. I sometimes wonder if God designed the butterfly’s process just as a lesson for us!
I encourage you to read Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5-7, and let the extent of what he cares about sink into your soul. Take some time and don’t rush the process. If we are to follow him, we need to know what that entails.
Kick Starting the Application
How do you respond to the idea that Jesus wants the end goal of total transformation? What in you resists that? Why? What in you embraces that? Why?
Take a moment to look back on the areas you’ve already in the process of changing. What impact has that change had on your overall life?
Also, think about, maybe in the context of those issues in Matthew 5-7, which ones do you seem to most resist? Why?