Why are we memorizing all of Matthew chapter 5 in the elementary, in our mom’s Bible study, with the CCS staff, and with CCC women? In last month’s blog, I made the case for memorizing in general and encouraged you to grab a friend and do it! This month, I want to tell you WHY we’re doing a deep dive into Matthew 5 and to invite you to join us via a texting group (more on that below).
Also, for full disclosure, this is a 5-year endeavor for me—for us—to memorize Matthew 5, 6, and 7! In these power packed chapters, we have Jesus himself telling us what the living out of our faith should look like—peaceful, not angry and judgmental, but pure, forgiving, prayerful, generous…
If we read Matthew 5 and think, “There’s no way we can live like that,” we’re right! Jesus is raising the bar on things like murder and revenge, oaths and loving our enemies. This is not easy stuff.
Let’s just take his teachings on the 6th commandment: Thou shalt not murder. In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus is basically admonishing us—we THINK we’re in the clear because we’ve never physically murdered anyone--but he’s saying that unrighteous anger, insults ,and name-calling all fall within the category of murder. We murder people (those we know and love AND strangers at Wal-Mart) all the time with our thoughts and words. And this is NOT what our faith calls us to do. (In my opinion, murder begins in our hearts and heads and slowly—or quickly—makes its way to our lips in word form.)
I don’t know about you, but when I’m “losing it” word-wise, it’s usually because I’m:
A) Not getting what I think I deserve
B) Feel taken advantage of
C) Annoyed at the fact that someone is not doing things my way
(And sadly, it’s usually a come-apart on the people who share my last name.)
I will be working on “not murdering” until I die. This is a heart matter. And Matthew 5 and Jesus’ words reveal how far short I fall every day. If I only focused on that, I would live in despair, but the Bible, its narrative, the BIG story it’s telling—gives me hope because it teaches me that I am in need of a rescue. Daily. Sometimes, minute by minute.
The GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is not as good unless we really, truly understand the bad news; that I am a sinner through and through and need a rescue. But then, in light of Jesus’ perfect life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we realize that ALL of HIS righteousness, his perfection, his “all A’s report card” has replaced mine—full of F’s (from my always imperfect keeping of the law). I can’t even love the people I love THE MOST without getting annoyed and angry sometimes. (Also, as an aside, working in a school really helps in the example category: I know that none of us taught our kids how to lie or hit or blame-shift or be selfish….but we ALL tend that way: we want what we want when we want it. That is human nature. Our sinful nature! Just think about slow drivers in the fast lane on the interstate or driving away with an incorrectly fulfilled order at Starbucks!)
These truths in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 show us what sonship looks like, what a lived faith is. They are spoken to us who have already received forgiveness and adoption and have been made right with God through Jesus. They are not a “Christian ethic” or “Christian morals.” These chapters give us a picture of what the Kingdom of God looks like in real life, in a world still influenced by sin, death, and the devil. THIS is what LIVED FAITH looks like.
That’s why we’re committing these chapters to memory. Inch by inch, little by little. So our lives are conformed to Scripture—when it’s down inside us and easily accessible, we use it to comfort others (and ourselves) and LEAN on it when our hearts are wanting to run in a different direction.
The overwhelming victory of the Kingdom of God, and the grace and mercy of God, SHOULD be evident in our lives. We are forgiven. We are children of God and belong to His kingdom. We belong to Him. Forever. Our LIVED FAITH draws others to the kingdom as well!
(To distinguish between lived faith and livid faith, we all know Christians who seem angry, up in arms about everything, not content, not joyful…this is what I mean by livid faith. And I don’t think livid faith is bringing God much glory. Livid faith is loud and self-promoting; it's not listening for His still, small voice in the quiet and doing the next right thing in love. Our lives as Christians should be growing in love for God and love for neighbor.)
If you’re interested in joining us as we memorize Matthew chapters 5,6, and 7, simply text me: 318.416.3768 with your name! You’ll get a video 4x a week (approximately!) that walks you through the verses.
