Become Who You Already Are: A Sermon for 6 Epiphany

 Today marks the end of our three-week journey through the Sermon on the Mount. It’s unfortunate that we only hear from the Sermon on the Mount seven or eight times over the course of a three-year cycle. There is just so much to explore and unpack in this sermon that lays out the very core values of this alternative kingdom that Jesus had come to proclaim.

But one thing that we must avoid is seeing the Sermon on the Mount as a listing of moral, ethical values required for becoming a Christian. Nor are they a listing of requirements for Christians to observe in order to remain in good standing with God. Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas notes that the Sermon on the Mount is descriptive rather than prescriptive. “[It is], therefore, not a list of requirements, but rather a description of the life of a people gathered by and around Jesus. To be saved is to be so gathered.”

So, what does it mean for us to live our lives as a people gathered by and around Jesus?

We must remember where we are in the Gospel story. Not long before Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by John, after which he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days of trial and temptation. After his time in the wilderness, he returned home to Galilee where he proclaimed that “the kingdom of heaven has come near.” He then called his disciples, went on a brief preaching, teaching, and healing tour, and from there ascended the mountain to deliver his sermon.

So, all that Jesus has said and done since his baptism and temptation in the wilderness has been grounded in his claim that the kingdom of heaven is near. The Sermon on the Mount is a kingdom message; it is a kingdom proclamation. Another New Testament term for this new kingdom is a new aeon, or a new age. In the incarnation, God ushered in an entirely new aeon of salvation history. Once God became human to live and die as one of us, not only the world, but the entire cosmos was forever changed. And the Sermon on the Mount was one means Jesus used to communicate the character of this new aeon that he was ushering in. The Sermon on the Mount was describing this vision of an alternative reality that his disciples had been invited to join and follow.

Again, this sermon wasn’t a list of requirements for Jesus’ followers. Rather, it was Jesus telling them about the kingdom that was upon them. It was a kingdom where the poor in spirit, pure in heart, the mourners, and the persecuted were among those who were blessed. It was a kingdom where the law that God delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai would finally be realized and fulfilled. It was a kingdom with an entirely new and radical understanding of power, ethics, and righteousness… an entirely new and radical understanding of blessedness.

Now, if Jesus’ disciples dutifully followed these principles Jesus wasn’t going to love them more. If they failed to follow them, Jesus was not going to love them less. That’s not the way that Jesus loves. The abundant economy of love in the kingdom of heaven is not like the scarce economy of love that resides outside the kingdom. The bottom line is that Jesus knew that until this aeon was fully realized, his disciples would never live up to the principles outlined in this sermon. And neither will we. But he still calls us to be his Body in the world today. He is willing to let you and me - in all of our sinfulness, brokenness, and imperfection - be his very own Body in the world. Think about that for a second. Jesus Christ is ok with you and me standing in for him while he is with his Father in heaven. How absurdly graceful is that?

I think that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was describing for his disciples and for us who we already are by virtue of our being created in God’s very own image. At Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him and God’s voice from heaven declared that Jesus was his beloved Son, with whom he was well-pleased, Jesus hadn’t done anything remarkable that we know of. He hadn’t performed any miracles. He hadn’t preached a sermon or healed anyone. He hadn’t died on the cross. He was God’s beloved child before he did any of that. And so were his disciples. And so are we.

As God’s beloved children who have been gathered by Jesus through the ministry of his body, the Church, how might we respond to this calling? How might we be a people that reflect the values of this new aeon that Christ has brought upon us?  How might what we hear from the Sermon on the Mount actually describe who we already are rather than prescribe how we should try to act? What might the world look like if Christians just rested in our blessedness as God’s beloved children instead of trying so hard to behave our way into blessedness? What if God’s grace was enough for us? What if our blessedness and belovedness didn’t depend on our piety, or good works, or social justice efforts? What if all those things were simply the fruit of being rooted and grounded in our identity as followers of Christ as opposed to a checklist for discipleship? What if Jesus was telling his disciples who they were as children of God rather than how he wanted them to start behaving?

Yesterday I just finished reading the biography of legendary blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn. His story is an incredible one on so many levels, and I am still trying to unpack it. Stevie Ray was one of the greatest guitarists – one of the greatest musicians – to ever live. But at the ripe age of 31, his long-time addiction to drugs and alcohol nearly killed him. In spite of his talent, success, and worldwide acclaim, he finally hit what addicts oftentimes call their “rock-bottom,” and he – along with his bass player and best friend Tommy Shannon - entered into a residential rehab program and was able to get sober. Like so many addicts, he just rechanneled his passion for getting high into his passion for sobriety and the spiritual growth that accompanies it.

He said that one of his biggest fears about getting sober was how it might affect his playing and singing. He admitted that he couldn’t ever recall time when he hadn’t played high, dating back to his teenage years. Would he still be able to access the passion, energy, and creativity that he had before? Would he still be able to perform at such a high level? Would his bandmates. Friends, and fans still like him if he was a totally different person?

Everyone in his organization was curious about how things would go with the band with Stevie having gone through such a profound transformation in his life. Well, as it turns out, sober Stevie Ray was even better than drunk and high Stevie Ray. He played better, he sang better, and he was better in the studio. The first album he recorded after his sobriety was his most successful-selling record to date, and his career took a giant step forward.

When reflecting back on this transformation, Stevie Ray’s longtime drummer and friend Chris Layton had a profound observation, and one that I think connects directly to what I’m trying to glean from the Sermon on the Mount. Layton said that sober Stevie Ray wasn’t a new-and-improved Stevie Ray Vaughn. He said the musical and personal brilliance and genius that emerged from his sobriety was who he really was to his core. The drunk Stevie Ray – the only Stevie Ray Chris Layton ever knew - was really just a distortion of who God created Stevie Ray Vaughn to be. Layton marveled at the joy of discovering who Stevie Ray Vaughn truly was for the first time. To use my own words, Layton was marveling at the blessedness and belovedness of Stevie Ray Vaughn, a child created in God’s very own image, and one who, at age 32, finally was able to reflect that image to the world.

One of the world’s greatest-ever blues guitarist most likely isn’t residing deep within any of us here. I have a good hunch that nobody that notable or remarkable is sitting in these pews today. But all of us here are God’s very own beloved children, created in God’s very own image. That perfect image resides within each and every one of us. We hopefully haven’t abused that image to the level that Stevie Ray Vaughn did, but we all have in some way or another. That goes back to the very first human beings, and that sin has been handed down to us. But the rehab program for that is not a list of ways to behave better. The rehab program is for us to remember who we are, and to remember whose we are. We are God’s beloved children, chosen by God to follow his son Jesus Christ. Let us simply rest in that Good News. Let us rest in the unearned, unmerited gift of that scandalous, abundant grace. And when we – and all of God’s children around the world – do that, I believe that the Sermon on the Mount will indeed be an accurate description of how Christians behave.