Imagine Being There…

SUN., OCT. 15, 1995, 5:57 AM
FARM, STUDY

As you prepare for this morning’s Forum I want you to imagine that you were there, in the midst of that crowd of people, those to whom I, as Jesus, preached this Sermon on the Mount. For this Teaching don’t consider the scholarly criticism. Did I really say all of this at one time? Was it on a mountain-side… or on a flat place? Was it said in a gentle, friendly way, or was it a rather fiery oration? Did it happen at all, or is this presentation by Matthew just a literary device?

I want you to imagine that it did occur, and that the crowd of listeners would be comparable to those at the conference you and Lenore attended last weekend, something over 500, at least. It is outside, of course, and let’s assume the weather was fine, more like yesterday than like the previous Saturday, up north. Now where am I if this is a mountain slope? The text suggests I went up and spoke to the people who were below Me. This would be better for sound carrying, but a bit uncomfortable for the crowd, sitting or standing on an uphill slope… kind of a reverse of the stadium in which you watched the game yesterday.

For your imagining I’ll say this is the way it was, and I had to invoke one supernatural “trick”. I had to amplify My voice, for this Sermon was not one to be shouted. You don’t consider that I would be shouting, “…give us this day, our daily bread…” as part of the prayer I was recommending. So just imagine that I spoke gently, even sometimes quietly, but all could hear. No P.A. system was necessary, (why wasn’t this reported as a miracle, comparable to feeding the 5,000? It could have been so identified, but I made it seem so natural.)

You are hearing some combination of positive admonitions for living and negative comparisons with hypocrites, Pharisees, and other “non-Christians”. This is a brief blue-print of the Christian life, a simple life of trust and lack of motivation to be a worldly success. There was no substantial admission fee to hear Me and thereafter to charge others for telling with you heard Me say. I was a “motivational speaker”, but in a different mode than the successful ones of this time.

I emphasized repeatedly that I, as Father in heaven, (and also here among you on earth, for there is no “place” that I am not) know what you need, and I will provide it to those who do trust Me. Does this work perfectly? Obviously not, for there are poor, homeless, and abandoned folk. I obviously don’t call on the government to provide for those in need, for government didn’t function in such a way at that time. What would I say now? Would I be in favor of entitlement programs? Would I applaud increases in Social Security benefits? Would I speak out against cuts in Medicare and Medicaid… or would your Father in heaven be sufficient as a source of healing?

Thus, I also am having you imagine transforming that Sermon scene from nearly 2,000 years back to a contemporary hillside. I would still be calling for simplicity, trust, and “right behavior”. I am not a popular political figure, for I’m promising mostly rewards when earth life is past. I am not talking about a strong military, and all the tax money that requires. I am not talking about the need for more prisons as a way of making life safer. I call on you to pray, to fast, to be as satisfied as the birds and the flowers.