And He Sat Down to Teach -- Matthew 5:11-20 (5th Sunday After Pentecost)

Scott Clark
3 days ago
11 min read

Photo credit: Element5 Digital, used by permission via Unsplash

To listen to the sermon, you can click here.

For this season of Epiphany, for 6 weeks now, we’ve been thinking of this theme “We Learn by Living.” It comes from a great Eleanor Roosevelt quote: We Learn by Living.^[1]

We’ve been thinking of Epiphany – how God comes to life in the midst of us – in terms of learning.

· We started with the Magi trying to find their way to Jesus –and we talked about how we learn as we go. When our old maps no longer work – we make new maps. We encounter things that don’t fit the way we think the world should be – and we have to figure out together – a worldview that makes sense of it all.

· We talked about how we learn who we are in our experience of Jesus Christ, specifically in our shared experience of baptism.

· We talked about how we learn from mistakes. Even Jesus did. Remember the woman who corrected Jesus when he tried to turn her away. And Jesus changed his mind.

· We talked about how we learn by asking questions. Jesus asked questions, and invites us to ask questions.

· And then last week, we immersed ourselves in the Beatitudes – the heart of Jesus’ teaching – a lens that draws us into a vision that comes to life in us.

Well, we can’t leave a worship series on learning without talking about... teachers. But before we dive into the Scripture. I want to pick up where we left off with the kids, and I want us to think and bring to mind teachers who have made a difference in our lives.

Go ahead – think of a teacher or two, bring them to mind. I mentioned my elementary school teachers. There was also Mrs. Oringel – who in high school civics class shared her love for our democracy. There was Mrs. Wagner who in high school band taught me an even deeper appreciation of music and life. Mr. Taylor who shared a love of language and literature.

Are you thinking of your teachers?

I can think of ministry mentors – David Warren, Deana Reed, Joanne Whitt, our Birmingham Pastor Eugenia Gamble. When I preach, there are things I do that Jana Childers and Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., taught me. And I know they have expectations. Read the footnotes to my sermons, and you’ll see the impact Herman Waetjen’s teaching continues to have in my life. And there’s Janie Spahr. When I tell someone I’m Janie Spahr’s lawyer, I am claiming full on that I come from the School of Jane Spahr.

OK, do you have some of your teachers in mind? The teachers who have made a difference in your life.

I want us to pray for them – for those living and those gone on ahead. We’re going to do our lovingkindness practice – do remember that?^[2] We bring someone to mind, and pray: “May they be healthy. May they be at peace. May they be free.” It’s the least we can do for these folks who’ve given us so much.

We’ve done that lovingkindess practice before as a way to pray for people we find difficult. But did you know that in the Buddhist tradition that practice begins with praying for someone who has been a benefactor (or benefactress)? You start out with the folks who are easiest for you to love – and you work your way to those who are more challenging. We pray good things – happiness, health, freedom – for people who have filled our lives with good things. We return the gift they have given us. So we’re praying for benefactors, praying for teachers.

So bring those teachers to mind. Hold them in your heart. Remember what you have learned from them. And let’s pray some lovingkindness on them: “May they be healthy... May they be at peace... May they be free.” And for those no longer with us: May their memory be a blessing.

Amen. Now, pause for a second and notice what you are feeling now. Out of this lovingkindess. Name it for yourself. Appreciation. Gratitude. Love.... That’s the impact teachers have.

Jesus was a teacher.^[3] We gather in this place every Sunday – and center our lives in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as a central way we make meaning in the world. The life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. That life part – in the life of Jesus – as we read that in the Gospels – there are three main things that Jesus does: (1) Jesus heals people. All through the gospels Jesus heals those whose bodies are hurting and those who are haunted by their demons. Word gets out, and they bring more people. One scholar says that Jesus’s main draw wasn’t what he said, it was the healthcare he provided.^[4] (2) Jesus fed people and gathered at table with them. He nourished folks, welcomed everyone, and created community.

And, (3) Jesus taught. Jesus was a teacher. Have you noticed that the Sermon on the Mount isn’t really a sermon? It’s a collection of teachings.^[5] Matthew’s community over time remembered all the things that Jesus taught – and put them together and wrote them down. Matthew’s Gospel is actually structured around 5 big teaching collections. The Sermon on the Mount is the first. All the action kind of happens around his teaching.

Jesus is a teacher. In formal ways... Jesus sits down to teach.

And, Jesus teaches in parables that he tells along the way – in those puzzle-stories, where Jesus throws a story up against real life – something that seems ordinary, everyday – but there’s a twist that surprises us – and we have to puzzle it out: What could that mean?

And, Jesus and his disciples – well, as they travel across the countryside – it’s pretty much a moveable, tumultuous, open classroom. The disciples – they are active learners: They ask Jesus questions; he asks them; people come to Jesus with questions.

Jesus – Son of God, Son of Humanity, Healer, Savior, Christ –

and Teacher.

As we look at the teaching in this morning’s Scripture, I just want us to notice the move that Jesus makes. Jesus is teaching the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are those who thirst and hunger justice. All in the third person. Blessed are they. And then: Blessed are you.^[6]

Did you notice that? Blessed are they. Blessed are they. Blessed are you. Blessed are you when people come after you because of all this. Jesus knows that living out the fullness of our humanity necessarily challenges the powers. Blessed are you – when all this humanity – all this teaching – comes to life – in you. Blessed are you.

YOU are the salt of the earth.

YOU are the light of the world.

All the sudden this teaching becomes personal, that is to say, it comes alive in our person.

You are the salt of the earth. Salt is necessary for life (both as a matter of chemistry and practicality), and in their day, it was quite valuable.^[7] Salt was used for preserving foods, and for cleansing, and for seasoning.^[8] You are the salt of the earth. Jesus is saying to the disciples, “You are to season the world by enhancing the quality of living.”^[9]

You are the light of the world. Light was there in the beginning – the very beginning – God created the lights in the sky – sun and moon and stars.^[10] Jesus is the light that has come into the world. You are the light of the world. Reflect that light. Project that light.

Do you see the move there? Jesus is teaching the Beatitudes. Blessed are they. Blessed are they. And then... Blessed are you.

Those Beatitudes are coming to life in those listening to that teaching. They are listening and learning. They are engaging this learning, and then they are embodying it.

Learning, they become part of the teaching, as they live it out.

Notice that this teaching is not just for them – you are salt of the earth; you are light for the world.^[11] It’s like that lovely phrase in the Isaiah text: It is too small a thing... it’s too small a thing that this should be just for you. Live it out. This is for everyone.

And then Jesus pulls it all together. Look, I have come to fulfill all the law – all the teachings that have come before. If you walk away from these teachings, you couldn’t be farther from God’s good will for the world. BUT, whoever lives this out, whoever practices this and teaches it – blessed are they. They are already living in the kingdom of heaven. You’re already living and teaching God’s forever desire that the whole world be healthy, and loved, and free.

In these evil times that we are living, one of my greatest fears is that our children will look around and start to think that the world we see today is somehow the norm – that it’s OK to disrespect other human beings; that basic human decency is passé; that cruelty is the way to shape a world; that racism somehow isn’t wrong; and that honesty doesn’t matter.

How we live our lives teaches something. It makes a difference in the world not only through direct cause and effect – but it also ripples out in what people see, and what people hear; in how we convey, in our lived-out lives, what matters most and what it means to be human. How we live our lives makes a difference in how we all make meaning of the lived-out world all around us.

We learn by living – and our living teaches something too.

Did you hear that there is a community of about 24 Buddhist monks who are walking from Texas to Washington, DC in what they are calling a Walk for Peace? I had heard about it, but I was so glad that Lorna brought our attention to this in Deacons this week.^[12]

These monks set out October 26, and they’re expected to arrive Tuesday. Their intention is to raise "awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.” They start at about 6:30 every morning, and walk about 20 miles a day; three monks are doing the walk without shoes. The monks have “sharing talks” in the communities they travel through. Along the way, crowds have gathered to greet them (20,000 people in Columbia, South Carolina). Communities, churches, universities have put them up for the night and hosted meals. The monks hand out peace bracelets that they’ve made as they go. One woman in Virigina said, quietly, of the experience: “It doesn't matter where you're from, you can come stand here and just witness a peaceful experience. There's nobody dragging anybody out of cars, nobody's yelling, nobody's angry. Everybody is just here in the moment."^[13]

These monks are walking through the chaos of our world embodying peace – teaching with their walk – a better way.

As I’ve been reading about that this week, and thinking about learning and teaching, I also did my final edit on the Annual Report. We’ll talk more about this at our Congregational Meeting, but the Annual Report describes and tells the story of the life we have lived out here together over the past year. So I took some time to read through it looking for the learning and teaching and how that has come to life here.

· We learn and teach in the traditional ways that you’d think of. We have children’s time, and then the kids go out for Sunday School. We have Sunday Seminars – where we teach and learn. We host events for the broader community, as I mentioned last week, church and society hosted Sandra Killen – and also Baha Hilo – to share word of the suffering in Gaza, in the whole of Palestine, so that folks could learn what is going on and what we could do to help.

· We teach and learn other ways, too. We support and participate in Come to the Table. That grew out of our learning that white folks in Marin – white clergy in Marin – didn’t know a whole lot about the issues facing the folks in Marin City. And so we support the table teaching that Come to the Table does at St Andrew Presbyterian – we gather together to learn by experiencing each other.

· The Community Fridge team is always hard at work, getting food to those who need it. And, a big part of what they do is invite the broader community in to share the experience. Kids at Wade Thomas have thought up ways of helping – remember the kid who brought over the leftover milks at the end of the school day. All that is a teaching and a learning, back and forth. Teaching by sharing.

· I sit with the annual giving team – and I’ve watched what they – what we have learned from the generosity of this congregation. Your giving/our giving has pointed us to abundance and possibility beyond what we had first imagined. Teaching and learning in our giving.

· And then there are the Deacons – the steady heartbeat of this community. Giving rides when folks need to get to the doctor. Bringing meals when we are sick. Present in our times of grieving with presence and comfort and food to nourish weary souls. Reminding us what it is, in ordinary moments, what it is to be human.

I watched one video of the monk’s Walk for Peace, where this little kid was standing along the route, with a box of Chapstick to give to the monks – to these folks walking 20 miles a day. Chapstick. Brilliant. The monks walked by single file. The kid held out the box. Each of them took a stick of Chapstick. Some put a hand on the kid’s head in blessing; one handed him one of the peace bracelets they had made. Another kid was handing out snacks. A monk took that gift, and gave the kid a flower. The kid turns and looks up at the camera – his mom or dad I assume – and he just beams.

This is a hard world. Blessed are you, Jesus says, when you engage it with the fullness of your humanity. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Go be salt. Go be light. For in doing this, and in teaching this, you are living out God’s good and loving will for the world.

May this world be healthy.

May this world be at peace.

May this world be free.

^[1] See Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life (New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1960 (EPub. ed. 2011)).

^[2] See Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (Boulder, CO: Shambala Publications, 1995 (2020 ed.). The practice presented here is grounded in practices learned through Salzberg’s meditations and teaching on the Ten Percent Happier podcast and platform.

^[3] For general background on this Sermon on the Mount and the Gospel of Matthew, see M. Eugene Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew,” New Interpreters’ Bible Commentary, vol. viii (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995); Michael Joseph Brown, “The Gospel of Matthew” in True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008), p.91; Amy-Jill Levine, Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2020); Herman C. Waetjen, Matthew’s Theology of Fulfillment, Its Universality and It’s Ethnicity (London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).