The Worst Pep Talk... ever.

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them." Matthew 5:1-2

Jesus was great at everything. His ministry was about to begin as the book of Matthew moves in to the life of "post-Christmas Jesus". He traded in Joseph's hand-me-down carpentry boots for some trendy traveling-Messiah-sandals that Mary found at the Salvation Army store. They were waterproof no doubt, as his cousin John would soon plunge him beneath the surface of the Jordan River... maybe the sandals were 'Rare Jordans'.... (Sorry, not sorry).

The Spirit of God washed over Him and filled with the power of God, Jesus sloshed onto the banks of the Jordan and into the dusty wilderness to go head to head with Satan. Armed with the Word of God, Jesus battled through the attack and His ministry was ready to begin.

He chose 12 disciples and they all answered the call. All of them said yes - 100% success rate. He must have had the best 'cold call conversion rate' in the history of cold calling. "Hey, I'm Jesus- come fish for people." Boom, Disciples.

Soon Jesus and his band of merry men... Well, Jesus, some men, and a couple of women named Mary, hit the countryside teaching, preaching and healing the sick.

You know what happened when Jesus healed tons of sick people? Big crowds followed him.

The crowds were huge, so Jesus went up on a mountain and he began to teach his disciples as the crowds soaked it all in. Most people know what happens next as 'The Sermon on the Mount', sometimes referred to as 'The Beatitudes'.

This would have been the ultimate time for Jesus to work the crowd into a frenzy. He could have had them do "the wave" or at least put Peter on the jumbo-tron doing the YMCA or the Cha-Cha Slide. Everybody loves to see a big guy break it down. He could have promised the people lower taxes and higher earnings- that always plays well with the crowd even though nobody really expects it to happen.

He could have painted his face and shouted out in a Scottish accent, "Freeeedoommm!" Everyone would have followed him straight into the teeth of the Roman Government- ready for battle.

(Please excuse the William Wallace lego-representation. We work on a tight budget.)

Jesus was great at everything... except pep talks. This could have been the beginning of a revolution. In reality, it was, but no one recognized it because it wasn't the revolution that they wanted. It wasn't the revolution that they wanted, because it wasn't the revolution that they thought they needed.

If I can be transparent and shallow for a moment, it's probably not the revolution that I want either. When preaching about The Beatitudes in his sermon, "A Christian Manifesto", Alistair Begg asks the following question:

Which would you rather be? You can choose between one of these two lists of four: either poor, hungry, sad and hated; or rich, well fed, happy and popular.

Not sure where you stand, but a a quick inventory of my life choices thus far points to the latter.

Here are some highlights of Jesus' revolutionary sermon:

• Poor people will inherit the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:3)

• If you are sad or upset, you are blessed. (Mt. 5:3)

• If you are persecuted for doing the right thing, you are blessed. (Mt. 5:10)

• You're on the right track when people hate you so much that they tell lies about you and they want to hurt you. (Mt. 5:11)

But wait... there's more:

• You should act better than the religious teachers. (Mt. 5:20) {Ok, maybe that one's not so outrageous.}

• If you think something bad about someone, you are guilty of murder. (Mt. 5:22)

• If you look at someone with lust in your heart, you are guilty of adultery. (Mt. 5:28)

• Make sure that people take advantage of you. (Mt. 5:39-41)

• Love those who hate you. (Mt. 5:43-47)

Oh yeah.. and there's this:

• Be perfect. (Mt. 5:48)

• In fact, be perfect in the same way that God is perfect. (Mt. 5:48)

So to sum it up, poor, persecuted, pathetic, prisoner and what was the last one... oh yeah, perfect. Anybody else psyched about following Jesus? Jesus lays out all of these really uplifting nuggets and then he says, "Hey don't worry so much!"(Mt. 6:25-34).

How in blue blazes am I not going to worry about that list? I don't want to be poor. I don't want to be persecuted, I don't want to be pathetic, I may go to prison for murder and I'm not even in the same universe as perfect. Be perfect? Only Jesus was perfect- and I'm not Jesus!

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How can I follow Jesus when the standard is so high? The answer to the question is found in the problem. I'm not Jesus, and I don't have to be, because He is. Or like God told Moses, "I AM."

When we really examine the Sermon on the Mount- when we're really honest about the standard that Jesus is setting up beside of the standard that we are able to attain, we are left with one painful and fragile conclusion: "We can't do it."

But as we read on in the Bible and as we grow in our faith in Christ, we begin to realize a remarkable truth: In our weakness, He is stronger. (2 Cor. 12:9-11) We begin to realize that Jesus' point in this sermon was that the standard was (and is) perfection because we serve a perfect and Holy God. Unfortunately, we are incapable of attaining that standard. (Romans 3:23) So Christ would go to the cross as the sacrifice for our sin so that we would be forgiven and free. (Romans 5:19) Here's the coolest part, when our hearts are wrapped up in Jesus- or to say it another way- when we have admitted that we are full of sin and we need Jesus to save us from the spiral of death that we are on- when we ask Jesus to come and take hold of our lives- we are seen as perfect in God's eyes. Seriously, check it out:

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isaiah 61:10

"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in Christ." Gal. 3:27

Our incapable, sinful self is clothed in righteousness, even more clearly, we are clothed in Christ! When we come to Christ, our old lives are gone- our sins are forgiven and forgotten and we are dead to sin. We are made righteous in Christ. When God looks at us, He loves us just as He loves His Son. More than that, we are now adopted into His family, we are sons and daughters of God. We are children of The King! (Romans 8:15-17)

Freeedoomm! It wasn't the revolution that anyone expected, but it is certainly the revolution that we need. The Sermon on the Mount, when seen through the eyes of a sinner who is saved by the love of my savior, sets my heart on fire. It makes me want to charge the hill and go into battle. It may even make me want to dance on the jumbo-tron. Turns out, Jesus is even great at pep talks.

For a deeper dive on the Sermon on the Mount, check out https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/a-christian-manifesto-pt1/