Sermon for August 2nd, 2026

Matthew 5:1-12 (New Testament p. 4)

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Higher Education Part I: Beatitudes

It was the first day of school, and the teacher getting to know her students. She pointed to one child and asked, "So what do your parents do for a living?" The student replied, "They're both magicians, and they have a brand new act this year--for the grand finale, they put someone in a box and saw them in half." "That's very interesting," said the teacher, genuinely impressed. "And do you have any siblings?" "Yes Ma'am," said the student. "Two half-brothers and one half-sister."

For the next several Sundays, we are going "back to school" with our half-brothers and half-sisters at First Christian Church, through a joint sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount--which is the most fundamental and challenging collection of Jesus' teachings in the gospel of Matthew. For three of those Sermons, we'll be worshiping together, and for the other three, Pastor Nick and I will be preaching to our respective congregations, but using the same texts and themes. Each week, we'll also provide you with some extra scripture readings that are part of the Sermon on the Mount, but not included in the sermons, along with some discussion questions to guide you through those readings. I think it will be a fun and challenging experience, and a great way to celebrate both of our churches' commitment to education and life-long learning.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with Jesus' famous collection of sayings traditionally called the Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor, Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the peacemakers...). No doubt you've heard of those, and I'll get to them later in the sermon. But since I've preached on the Beatitudes several times--including an entire series just a few years ago--this time I want to take a bit more time to focus on what happens right before the Sermon on the Mount, and also the first two verses of our passage today, verses that usually get skipped over to get to the good part, the familiar part. I think there's a lot in those two verses, especially for students, teachers, and life-long learners.

I'll start, though, like any good teacher would: By setting the stage.

The first two chapters of Matthew describe the birth of Jesus and his childhood, and the third chapter relates the story of his Baptism. Then in Matthew chapter four, Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights alone in the wilderness. This means that his summer break was even shorter than yours. Right after that, he calls his first four students, the disciples Peter, Andrew, James and John. If you have read the gospels much, you know that Peter, Andrew, James and John are not exactly in the gifted and talented program. They are poor, uneducated fishermen, all a bit stubborn, and they often challenge the notion that there's no such thing as a stupid question. But spoiler alert--if you skip to the end of the story--few people have ever changed the world and the course of human history as much as Saint Peter, Saint James, Saint John, and Saint Andrew (who also happens to be the Patron Saint of Scotland). In other words, they must have had a really, really, good teacher. And they did. That's where we pick up the story in Matthew chapter five. The first day of school.

I say the "first" day of school, but the truth is that Jesus had been traveling around Galilee for some time, preaching, healing sick people, and amassing quite a following. But here in Matthew chapter five is where Jesus first begins... to teach. Verse 1:

"When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him."

Twenty-six years ago, when I first stepped into a classroom as Mr. Locke, high school English teacher, (25 years old) I immediately amassed a captive audience of 180 devoted followers. Of course they were spread out across seven periods, and when I say "captive audience" I mean that quite literally. My freshman students were required by the state of Texas to be there. Some were genuinely excited about that, and some were not.

• Spend more time on vss. 1-2 (the educational approach)
• Makarios: Blessed but really "bigger, happier"
• The difficult teachings at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount
• Countercultural nature of the beatitudes and the rest of the sermon
• Prelude (Matt. Chapter 4): Temptation, Calling of first Disciples, teaching and healing

Kid going to his first day of school, he looks worried, his dad asks him "What's wrong?" Nervous, the kid asks, "How long do I have to go to school for?" "Until you're 18" says the father. The kid nods, and thinks about this quietly. When they get to the front gates of the school, the kid says "Dad, you will remember to come and get me when I'm 18, won't you?"