Mission: Possible (Part 2)

From the Archives - Dec. 2008

(If you have not read Part 1 I would suggest you skip to the post just prior to this.)

Let's continue examining the Sermon on the Mount and see if our mission truly is possible.

I will have to admit Chapter 5 of Matthew was really rough. Is Chapter 6 any better?

Verse 1 doesn't sound so bad. Not doing things for public praise isn't a bad idea. In the next verse it says, "So when you give to the poor, don't announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward."

Wait did that say "So when you give?" Why it sure does. Verses 3 and 4 talk about giving to the poor as well. Oh...this is something He actually wants us to do! Not announcing our actions is a key part of these 2 verses. That's not too impossible....is it?

Jesus then talks a bit about prayer and even gives us an example that we affectionately call the Lord's Prayer. It's a beautiful prayer. However there is that one potential stumbling block. That line that says: "Forgive us as we forgive others." How come God keeps throwing in all these things on forgiveness, helping the poor, etc? This is looking like Ch. 5 all over again.

Wait here's a piece on fasting. No problem there. Wait...what's that in verse 19-21....oh no....it says we shouldn't store up treasures on earth, that our heart is where our treasure is and it should not be here but in Heaven. (I will not look around my room, I will not look around my room....oh dang...where did all this stuff come from!)

The rest of chapter 6 talks about not worrying. Reminds me of the old Mad Magazine slogan, "What! Me worry?" I will admit I have been a worrier from time to time. It's been a hard one for me, yet Jesus clearly talks about not doing it.

Where will this all end? Things look even more impossible then before. What does Jesus want from us?

Come back for the 3rd and final part of Mission: Possible?