(Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28)

As some of you know, I have a personal project going on the Sermon on the Mount which I’ve been developing off and on for the last twelve years or so.  It first saw life as a sermon series, but I had quite a bit more I wanted to do with it; the manuscript has been on pause for some time now near the end of Matthew 5, but if God is merciful, I’ll get it finished at some point and perhaps it will find its audience.  Even with the writing on hiatus, though, it continues to shape how I interact with Scripture on a daily and weekly basis.

That’s why I bring it up this morning.  As you know if you’ve been here the last few weeks, last Sunday we began a season focusing on discipleship, and I greatly appreciated where Emily began this journey; she’s teased me once or twice for my focus on defining our terms, but last Sunday she did that where I might not have thought to, and wisely so.  I don’t think it had ever occurred to me that the word “discipleship” might be loaded with negative connotations for a lot of people, as it’s far too near and dear to my heart; but I can see it, and it’s clearly important to deal with that issue before spending any time on the subject.

For my part, I don’t think I had much of a definition for the word “discipleship” at all beyond “following Jesus” until I started digging into the Sermon on the Mount.  I noticed something at that time which had never really registered with me before—something not from the Sermon itself, but from the verses immediately before it.  Matthew 4 clearly shows us two different groups following Jesus, both with energy and determination.  There are the crowds, who are following Jesus for their sake—for the miracles, the entertainment value, and the like; and then there are the disciples, who are following Jesus for Jesus’ sake.  Then you also have the Jewish authorities, who aren’t exactly following Jesus but are keeping a close eye on him, with growing suspicion and concern.  I came to believe one of the purposes of the Sermon on the Mount was to encourage the crowds to pick a lane:  follow Jesus for Jesus, or go home.

You see, on my read, the Sermon on the Mount is a carefully-constructed exposition of the way of the disciple—what it looks like and feels like and means to follow Jesus for the sake of being with Jesus, learning from him, and being shaped by him.  One of the things Jesus makes clear in the Sermon is that if you’re his disciple, you are not in control of the ride.  It’s not going to follow your plot, you’re not going to see the twists coming—or the challenges—and it’s not going to defer to your comfort zone.  I won’t say Jesus didn’t care about creating safe spaces, because he did—but for the broken, the hurting, the repentant, and the shamed.  Protecting you from the things you don’t want to hear, or don’t want to face?  Not on the agenda.

Our story this morning is a prime example of that.  Read more→