A Sermon for the News

What would Jesus say if He turned on the news today? Probably He would repeat what He has already said to those who have ears to hear at the "Sermon on the Mount". The subject matter of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7, Luke 6) is neither righteousness under the law, or under a new covenant. It is about people belonging to the Kingdom of God and united with their Creator in Spirit. It is about people being children of God in addition to being mere creatures of God. It contains no detailed systematic doctrine, nor any teaching of rituals or forms of outward observances. Christ came to found a Heavenly Kingdom, not a school of thought or a political party. He came to institute a fellowship of love and camaraderie and not to propound a system of government. By grace we are saved through faith and not by our level of education, skin color, gender, ancestry, point of origin, or point of view. Through faith and the inclusion of all human beings we learn humility, tolerance, and the sacrifice of charity that is "brotherly love". Through our faith we receive God's forgiveness and mercy and we become forgiving and merciful. Jesus Christ stands between our present and our future and He opens the Kingdom of Heaven to all sincere believers in God who can be identified not only by what they say but what they do. The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are the New Testament counterpart to the Ten Commandments. They represent not the laws written on stone tablets but the realization of the laws as they are written by the Holy Spirit on the human heart. This is the basis of morality and the altruism which is at the heart of all religions.