Sermon on the Mount | Bright Eyes | Matthew 6:19-34 | Week 10

That was good worship, wasn't it?  But it stirred this question in me.  We're singing "This is My Father's World," right?  We see the sunrise, that he spoke into existence, that shouts for joy as it dances it's way across the sky.  This is my Father's world, and yet, I don't know about you, but there's time when I open my news app and think, "God, this is a weird world for you to own."  Sometimes You're way, way, way distant.  Sure, the mountains praise and declare your glory, but where are you when. . . .fill-in-the-blank?  Sometimes the darkness seems to hide His face, does it not?  There are times when the wrong seems oft so strong; one of the reasons we gather together is to say He is the ruler yet.  Amen?  So we gather today for a different vision of the world we live in, not one that's less real, but one that's more real.  Not one that's less observant, but one that's more observant.  To recognize that even in the midst of the darkness, our God is at work, and if we lose sight of that, it will dramatically shape the way that we live.  So all throughout the Scriptures, the God of heaven commands his people to live in such a way that they recognize that He's not distant, but that He's present.  He gives us commands and he gives us instruction that aligns with that reality.  

So all throughout the Sermon on the Mount, we've been talking about a different way of life.  We've been talking about a way of wisdom, Jesus's wisdom.  Sometimes Jesus's wisdom feels crazy, does it not?  Love your enemies.  Pray for those that persecute you.  Do good to those who wrong you.  Rid your life of anger.  I've been searching for an easy message in the Sermon on the Mount and I haven't found one yet.  Here's the reason why. . .when God presents his kingdom and his kingdom ethic, it flies in the face of our kingdom.  If we want to hold onto our kingdom, we're going to reject the Jesus kingdom.  In order to accept the Jesus kingdom, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the heavens, we've got to let go of our own kingdom and---look up at me for a second---that's hard for us!  It goes against the grain of everything inside of us that wants to hold on...