In my experience, when talking with others about the Sermon on the Mount, certain questions always seem to come up, such as, “Do you think Jesus really expects us to live that way? We’re only human, you know. All that ‘turning the other cheek’ and ‘love your enemies’ stuff sounds good, but I live in the real world.” It’s true, we live in a real world, but there’s a world that is just as real as this terra firma that we walk on. It is called the kingdom of heaven. It is the place Jesus speaks from and he has invited us into it with him right now.
The question then, is not “how can I make Jesus’ message fit into my world?” But rather, “how can I begin to see from his perspective?” I’d like to share with you three things that have helped me to begin to see from the kingdom perspective:
- Repentance. It is more than just being sorry for your sin. It involves the process of changing the way you think. When Jesus came on the scene and said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:23), in essence he was saying, “your old way of thinking and doing things must be replaced with God’s ways.”
About two-and-a-half years ago, I reached a point where I knew I needed to make a drastic change in the way I was thinking. Some ways of thinking that had entrenched in my brain were actually toxic thoughts that were contrary to the kingdom of heaven. I learned a process by which I could begin eliminating those thoughts and replacing them with good ones. If you would like to learn more about how this process works, you can read my blog post “It’s All in Your Head” from February 11, 2016, where I explain it in more detail. True transformation only comes when our minds are truly renewed. (Rom.12:2)
- Study the life of Jesus. Not just his birth and death, which is what we tend to place most of our emphasis. We must look at everything, his teaching, his miracles, his compassion, and his way of doing things that was so contrary to the religious establishment of the day. Realizing that so much of my thinking was in opposition to the Jesus way, I began to immerse myself in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So much of what I had read most of my life came alive to me in a new way. All the time I’m reading it, I’m hearing his call to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven of heaven is at hand.”
- Re-learn prayer. This may well be one of the most neglected practices of the modern church. It was for me. It’s not that I never prayed. I prayed, but I was very undisciplined in prayer. I’ve had what you would call a regular morning “devotion” time for well over 30 years, but it was relegated mainly to a little reading from Psalms or Proverbs and sometimes a devotional book. There’s nothing wrong with these things. They’re all good, have their place, and can be life-giving. I was looking for something more robust, prayer that had more substance than my puny prayers. I have a prayer liturgy that I go through every morning now. It consists of some prayers from the Psalms, the New Testament, and some prayers that were composed by some of the early church. It has brought a richness into my prayer life that words fail to describe. The most important thing I’ve learned is this: Prayer is ultimately not about us getting all we ask form God, but more about us becoming conformed to the image of his Son. Prayer forms us.
Jesus was a man of prayer. There are multiple references to the Son of God going somewhere by himself to pray. If it’s good for Jesus, it’s good for me.
I challenge you to take these things to heart if your desire is to be like Jesus. All of creation is eagerly waiting for the true sons of God to come forth and live like sons.
It’s the Jesus way.
Kevin