Matthew 5:38-48 • Leviticus 19: 9-18
Psalm 119:33-40 • 1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23
The Christian’s Silver Bullet
Christianity is an attractive religion in that it centers on love more than deeds. God is our loving Father. We are his cute-as-a-button children.
This relationship comes with challenges. There is always the danger that God’s faithful will enjoy the protection of their Father to the point that they seek to have Him wrapped around their little fingers. Get as much of God’s love for ourselves as possible.
All children have a knack for drawing attention to our own needs—real and imagined.
Jesus addresses this temptation in his Sermon on the Mount.
We’ve been reading Jesus’s sermon in ten-verse segments for the last few weeks. Now might be a good time to piece together all of Matthew 5.
Lone Ranger Christianity
Today’s object is a bullet—a silver bullet.
As you talk to you adult learners channel their memories back to the Saturday matinée or Saturday morning television.
The Lone Ranger’s mission was to help the individually oppressed. He and Tonto rode about the West looking for damsels, ranchers, bankers, and children in distress. They would rescue them in as peaceful a way possible and ride off into the sunset, leaving behind a memento. An unspent silver bullet. “Who was that masked man? I didn’t have time to thank him.”
In today’s section of the Sermon on the Mount (verses 38 to 48), Jesus illustrates the Sermon’s opening list of “blessed” people. Remember that strange list?
Jesus probably gave this same sermon over and over again—the better that Matthew might record it years later. Imagine him delivering it to you!
Jesus is opening the church doors and letting the faithful out into the world. Our relationship can grow only so far within our own circle. The Father is telling His children it is time to grow up.
As God’s children, we will leave “home” and face a gauntlet of challenges. We will become “Rangers” of sorts.
We will face unpleasantness.
- People will argue with us and ridicule us.
- We will be tired and feel like failures.
- People will seek to take advantage of us.
- People will turn to us for help when we are feeling needy ourselves.
We will be tempted to point them toward the church door. “Here’s where I found peace. You are welcome. Sunday morning. 10 am. See you there.”
We will ask: When did it become our job to solve everyone’s problems?
We know the theory. It became our job the day we were baptized and accepted as Children of God.
How do we put that theory into action?
And so Jesus gives us a list of behaviors that are in keeping with God’s wishes for his people.
Talk about the scenarios in today’s lesson. Compare worldy advice with the advice Jesus gives.
Display the bullet (you can use a picture) and talk about Silver Bullet or godly advice.
The Christian’s silver bullet is in godly behavior.
- Somebody is giving you a rough time.
Turn the other cheek. - Are you working hard and feeling like you are getting nowhere?
Go the extra mile. - Are the needy begging for help? Don’t they know how you worked for what you have?
Give them the shirt off your back.
Our earthly parents would caution us. “Learn to fight back.” “Tough time? Find a way to move on.” “Walk around the beggar.” “Don’t lend money.”
But that’s not God’s way. If it were, where would we be!
How often when we watched the Lone Ranger, was the focus on the needs of the hero? The focus of the serial stories is always on the people in distress.
God’s silver bullet is in putting other peoples’ needs ahead of our own—which brings us back to the Beatitudes. Take another look at the people who are blessed in God’s eyes.
As we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is taking us out of our comfort zones.
What are Jesus’ final words in Matthew’s Chapter 5?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Tall order. It’s all right to take baby steps.
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