Matt 5:1-2

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.  And he opened his mouth and taught them saying:"

Every sermon starts with people who want to hear something.  People who are yearning, craving, words, wisdom.  Most people looking for a sermon are those that want to hear.

Sometimes they want to hear words that will make them feel better.

They want to hear words that prove them right.

They want to hear words that fill the hunger.

Then there are those that didn't really want to hear the sermon but they came because the person who did want to hear it made them.  I was one of those for a very long time.  All the words floated right over my head.  They entered the hearts that were soft and open.  Mine was closed and distant.  Mine was self-absorbed.  Ironic, as the very words I let drift by would have ministered to ME, the person I was so consumed with.

I imagine the crowds, my New King James Version, the one that reminds me of Shakespeare, says multitudes.  It's been a while since I went through this passage with a commentary but I wonder right now, with no intention of using a commentary, just how many people that was.

Was it Disneyland on New Year's Eve or the 4th of July?  That's a lot of people.

As I type, the Bug is watching Veggie Tales and the Little Man is desperately trying to crawl.  So close.

Silly Faces

Outside is a taste of our winter season, a rainy day sandwiched between So Cal's sun and fun days.

The clouds frame the mountains.  The mountains that the Bug enthusiastically discovers every time we go outside.

The view on one of those Fun in the Sun days.

"Mommy!  The mountains!"

"That's right.  Who made those mountains?"

"God.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1"

(This was one of my proudest moments thus far.)

With tears burning, "That's right! Bug.  That's right!"


I look at those mountains today and imagine Jesus, my Savior, going to the top of the mountain, through the droves, the multitudes, of those coming to hear.  Would I have been there too?  I hope so.


Then he sat down.  What?  Again, trying so hard not to go to a commentary just yet, why did he sit?  Most sermons are given from the standing position.  Were the words so decadent and rich that the standing dynamic didn't even matter?  Were the mountains situated in a way that would cause his voice to carry so they could all hear without him having to breathe with his diaphragm?

His disciples came to him.  His community.  They surrounded him.  They supported him.  They listened.  This is why community is so important.


He opened his mouth and taught them saying...

For the first time in a long time my heart is craving the next verse.

Jesus, teach me.  Tell me through your Word.  I come this time as one who wants to be here.  I am on the mountain.   Listening.  Waiting for the next word.