They teach preachers to present their congregations with a choice in each sermon and to make that choice so powerful that no one can ignore it. An effective sermon is one out of which the congregation makes a decision to change; i.e. they've been confronted with a decision that would be too painful to avoid. And they teach preachers to keep those choices simple - either/or if at all possible (the application then comes out of that decision). Make such that the congregation cannot help but see the truth and what they need to do about it.
Most people recognize that Jesus has done just that in what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). But they go to the very end of the Sermon for validation - "choose between the narrow gate and the wide gate" - as if that's where Jesus presents us with His "invitation." What I'm going to suggest is that we look at the entire Sermon on the Mount as one long presentation of a choice (the same choice). This approach will help us understand some of the harder teachings in the Sermon, and it will keep us from missing Jesus' point. But first, a little context. Matthew organized his Gospel in masterful form. Matthew begins his story of Jesus' ministry with a Sermon that would establish His entire teaching ministry (we know from Mark and Luke that Jesus repeated elements from this Sermon in many different settings; yes, this means I believe that this is a real sermon that really happened). Matthew then follows the Sermon with a tour de force of proof of Jesus' authority so say such monumental things (Matthew 8-9, power over diseases, power over nature, power over demons, power over sin, power over the law, power over death itself). Matthew was a sharp man. With help from the Spirit, he saw the grand patterns in what Jesus was doing and so made certain to put all of that into his Gospel. Likewise, he realized that Jesus' words were organized equally carefully, so he made certain to keep them all together as Jesus delivered them (it's possible, but not necessary, that Matthew heard Jesus give this Sermon). As a result, we cannot take the organization and wording of this Sermon too seriously. Let's start with a very simplified outline of the Sermon (I'm grouping the teachings by form and wording):
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AuthorIf I ever say something in here that doesn't make sense, please ask me to clarify. It always makes sense in my head, but that doesn't necessary mean anything to you . . . Categories
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