Sermon on the Mount: Hard Truth, Tender Grace

I’m sure you’ve felt it—that pit in your stomach when you feel you’ve said or done something wrong. It sweeps across you instantly as you realize your insensitivity to someone’s circumstances, the harshness of your tone, or the anger furrowing your brow. Once again, you know you’ve missed the mark.

I was reading the Sermon on the Mount the other day and realized this old familiar feeling come creeping back with each line of Jesus describing what constituted sin or unrighteousness. To paraphrase: “Anger is just as bad as murder. Lusting is just as bad as adultery. (Divorce is like adultery, too.) Don’t make oaths. Give generously to those who want to take from you. Oh, and love the people who hate your guts.”

As I read through this sermon, it’s like I can feel the light leaving my eyes. My heart falls and my head hangs. Is this what I’ve signed up for? A deep discouragement that I will never be able to live up to God’s standards?

I’m overwhelmed by how much I can’t do that. Maybe if I’m really thinking about good behavior for a few minutes, I can pull it off… on the outside at least… Maybe if I am entirely focused on one of those things for a day, I could almost do it… But in the midst of toddlers spilling cheerios, racing to get my teeth brushed, and planning my grocery run in my head, my true tendencies slip right out as I observe bits of anger, envy, or self-interest seep into my thoughts and actions.

The thing about Jesus is that he came to us full of grace and truth. I’ll say that again: grace and truth. The truth is that what Jesus described here in his sermon— that unrighteousness runs deep in human bones—is all too evident. The truth is that avoiding “the big things” like murdering someone are not all it takes to be considered righteous by a Holy God. Think about it: if God was cool with a little bit of anger, or lust, or selfishness, or envy… would he really be infinitely pure and perfect? His standards for goodness are as glorious as he is. You can trust Jesus to tell you the truth. He isn’t going to sugarcoat it or lie to you. He also isn’t going to leave his people doomed in their reality.

More than the Sermon on the Mount gives us a prescription for daily living, it gives us a diagnosis of our need for a Savior. When we look at that list and ask ourselves, “how can I muster the strength to make this happen?,” we end up disheartened and discouraged. When we look at it and have the humility to say “I don’t have the strength to make that happen,” we can turn our hearts to Jesus. This is where the grace comes in.

Jesus died to give us that perfect righteousness we know is required of us when we read Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.” He paid the penalty for our sins, shortcomings, mark-missing, because he knew that us attaining righteousness on our own simply was not going to happen. He came to us telling the truth about our sin, and offering us the grace that covers our shortcomings by his death on our behalf.

So by the miracle of Jesus, we find ourselves able to approach God freely and righteously, and honestly. Not because we were able to abide by all the standards ourselves, but because we were honest enough with ourselves to admit that we desperately needed a savior.

We can read the high standard Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount and while we may be right to acknowledge that we are far from righteousness, our hearts can rest in the certainty of Christ’s atonement on our behalf. Grace can outshine shame, as Jesus outshines us.

**If this was encouraging to you, I’d love to hear about it in a comment below! Or if you think it would encourage a friend, feel free to share. :)