Monday, September 25, 2023

Monday Meditation

I was reading in the Bible -- Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount -- and I have some questions.

First of all -- a disclaimer or warning:
I am a follower of Jesus. Much of my life's philosophy and perspective is taken from the teachings of Jesus. I also read other perspectives and I am sure that those thoughts (and philosophical truths) will find their way into my Monday Meditations, but most thoughts will be based on my philosophies of life that were formed in my Christian upbringing.

Back to the Sermon on the Mount --
Towards the end of this story, Jesus says that not everyone that calls him Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one that does the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Later, in the 21st chapter, Matthew records Jesus's teaching of The Parable of Two Sons. Here, a father tells one son to go work in the vineyard and the son says, "No," but later goes and does his work. The father tells a second son to go work in the vineyard and the son agrees to do that, but never shows up.
Which one does the will of his father? 

What is Jesus teaching in these two lessons?
I would think that evangelicals would wrestle greatly with these passages. A simple, bare bones explanation of their teaching is to pray this magic prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, and be saved. But don't these teachings of Jesus contradict that?
What about that person that never walks an aisle, responds to an invitation, or prays the magic prayer yet does the things that Jesus teaches (the second son)?
What about the person that goes to church and professes to be a Christian, but doesn't take care of the oppressed, poor, sick, imprisoned, etc.?

I think these things are worth understanding -- but not to apply to others. We need to understand these things for ourselves.
Another teaching from the end of the Sermon on the Mount is that we don't judge others. Jesus says that the way we judge others is the way we will be judged, and the measure we use is the same that will be used for us.
It seems that most religious people want to use the Bible as a standard for others to measure up to, rather than as a guide to live by for themselves.

These are my thoughts in self examination today.
Am I living according to what I claim to believe?
Or do my actions show that I truly believe something other than the faith I profess?

What about you?
Are you who you claim to be?
What do your actions say about your true beliefs?

John

2 comments:

Mike said...

"a standard for others to measure up to"
Exactly!

Cloudia said...

I think you are definitely looking deep and finding gems. God bless you my friend! I think it's what you do and how you treat other people and the caring of your heart that God cares about not your name on some contract and then go ahead and do whatever you think best. Too much of that going on today. Bless you friend. Aloha