Matthew 5:1-16
Intro: The Good News of Jesus Christ is God’s redeeming grace to us. When Jesus Christ becomes our King/Lord & Savior we are welcomed into the Kingdom of God. This is to be “born again” (or “born from above”), receiving the new spiritual life that Jesus described in John 3. In this way the Kingdom of God is internal (spiritual) and it brings about external evidence.
Kingdom of God – the rule of God in the hearts of people
“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you (or within you or within your grasp).’” – Luke 17:20–21 ESV In Luke 14, Jesus teaches that God who “invited many” including the “poor and crippled and blind and lame” to the blessing of His “great banquet” of the Kingdom. Jesus followed this with the call to follow him, in sacrifice of the carnal flesh, and referring to the analogy of being good “salt”, in Luke 14. It is then seen in evidence, from the inside out, in our lives. “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 14:17
Context: Jesus teaches about the interaction between Father God and those he blesses, in Matthew 5:1-10. Jesus highlights the connection between the condition of our spiritual hearts and our actions. In our second look at Jesus’ use of the “salt and light” analogies, we return to Matthew 5:3-10 for instruction on how we can be “salt and light” to our circles of influence.
How do we bring salt and light? Focus on spiritual heart condition becoming actions.
1. Gracious Humility realizing our need for God, we receive more than enough grace and from God and relate to God and our world with humility, Matthew 5:3-5
2. Righteousness recognizing the value of the holiness and righteous justice of God, we desire that all humanity would come into alignment with God, Matthew 5:6
3. Mercy receiving mercy from God through faith in Jesus, we choose to be longsuffering, patient, slow to anger, and we freely give God-sourced forgiveness to others, Matthew 5:7
4. Spiritual Purity receiving spiritual cleansing from moral guilt, gracious forgiveness, and love from God, we choose to love God with wholehearted devotion and share love with others out of genuine pure motives, Matthew 5:8
5. Peacemaking having been reconciled to Father God through faith in Jesus, we extend forgiveness to others and make every effort possible to repair relationships and restore our communities through building relational bridges of peace, Matthew 5:9
6. Integrity having been made right through faith in Jesus, we choose a lifestyle of wholehearted devotion to God which includes living in alignment with God’s definition of what is right and what is wrong, Matthew 5:10
Circles of Influence – Matthew 5:13-16
We’re invited to wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ and lifting up his light of Good News for all to see. We do this through our heartfelt lifestyle of love and committed to God. Our interactions with other people have varying degrees of influence on them. This influence can happen through verbal and non-verbal communication. We may influence others with ideas we initiate. We may also influence others in how we respond to life’s circumstances.
Jesus is teaching, inviting his followers to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Using the analogies of salt and light, Jesus teaches an active role for us in bringing others into a relationship of being influenced by God. Where God has the most influence we find the Kingdom of God. Here and now, we are given opportunity to participate in the Kingdom of God, on this earth. Vin diagram analogy from the Bible Project. We pray and participate. We pray, “Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We participate by helping others take next steps in following Jesus, extending the Jesus’ Movement for the Kingdom of God through the local church. Here and now, anywhere that Jesus is recognized as King is an expansion (even in small circles) of God’s Kingdom.
We can lose less energy to stress and become more effective in applying Jesus’ teaching by learning about Stephen Covey’s 3 Circles. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes about a person’s circles of concern, influence, and control. “concern” – our lives, health, family, problems, current events “control” – how much we are able to direct, able to shape, manipulate “influence” – what we can do something about “Positive energy enlarges the circle of influence. Proactive people focus their efforts in the circle of influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their circle of influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the circle of concern. They focus on the weakness of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with the neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their circle of influence to shrink.” – Stephen Covey
What do we learn?
1. The teaching of Jesus is helpful for our understanding and perspective of our natural world and the Kingdom of God.
2. Jesus teaches that we’re invited to receive salvation and participate in the Kingdom of God. In this way we can participate in the positive redemptive changes God is making here and now.
What should we do about this?
1. Pray, asking God to help us see and repent of any impurity.
2. Pray, asking God to shape the condition of our spiritual hearts.
3. Pray, asking God what we should do to share his light of Jesus’ Good News.
4. Consider how we can bring the flavor of God’s blessed covenant to our circles of influence.