After learning things in Sunday School and worship, our series on the things you can learn in church in just one day marches on through Confirmation class. We meet every other Sunday following worship.
The first lesson in last Sunday's class was how fun and tasty church could be. Following our Latin American themed service we had south of the border snacks for fellowship. Our Confirmation students got to sample fresh-made chips, salsas, and various dips and nachos. They saw plenty of people gathering and laughing and lining up to eat...a powerful lesson about the joy being together brings us! We had plenty of fun in the classroom seeing who could stand the super-hot salsa.
After that it was time to get down to work. After going through the Old Testament last year, this year we're talking about Jesus and the effect he had on the world. This Sunday we discussed his early ministry, the temptations in the wilderness and the Sermon on the Mount.
We learned how Satan tempted Jesus at his weakest point, after 40 days and nights of fasting in devotion to God. We heard about the three temptations: making bread from stones, bowing down to receive control over the world, leaping from the temple roof to prove God would save you. We heard Jesus reject all three, renouncing the devil three times just as we do at our baptism. We also covered the positive affirmations that Jesus showed us by his resistance: God will provide for us. We do not have to use our power selfishly, to feed our own desires or in slavery to our needs. We already have the gifts we need to live and prosper. We don't have to bow down to other powers to try and gain more. Those powers only bring us more emptiness and a longing that will never be filled. We do not have to prove God to ourselves or anyone. We can't. All we can do is trust him and live our lives accordingly, knowing that we are his.
We learned that after Jesus emerged from the wilderness he began doing four important things: preaching the Word of God, teaching people what it meant, healing their illnesses, and forgiving their sins. We still do those four things in his name when we gather together, especially in church!
In the section on the Sermon on the Mount we first learned that the story was told twice, in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew has Jesus preaching from a hilltop. Luke has him speaking from the bottom of a dell, like an amphitheater. It's probably called the "Sermon on the Mount" because that sounds better than "Sermon in the Dip".
In this sermon Jesus shared with his followers the basic things they'd need to know in order to live out God's Word.
1. The world considers certain people "blessed", or favored by God. God doesn't see things on the world's terms. He doesn't favor the rich more because they're rich or the powerful because of their influence. God reaches out to and takes care of the poor, the humble, those who cry and mourn, those who are picked on and reviled because they do good. His heart goes out to people in need.
2. We are to love our brothers and sisters. If we do not care about them we are not doing our best to serve God, for they are his children too. We are to love even our enemies, not with a mushy feeling but in Christ's name.
3. If someone does evil to us we are not to respond in kind, as if evil were powerful. Instead we are to respond to evil with good in order to show its power.
4. We are not to pray or live out our Christian lives with arrogance to show the world how good we are. Instead we are to talk to God humbly and pray that he will show the world how good he is.
5. We do not have to worry. God knows our needs and will provide, even as he provides for the lilys of the field and the birds of the air. God will uphold and comfort us.
6. In everything we are to do unto others as we'd want them to do unto us, not living by our selfish, base instincts and fears but living in God's mercy.
7. Those who hear these words and base their lives on them are building their house on a solid foundation. What they do will endure. Those who base their lives on anything else are building on sand. Whatever they construct will eventually fall apart.
We talked about the last moments of life, hearing people talk on their death bed. In all my years of sitting with people at their moment of passing, I have never heard anyone say, "I'm so proud I had that fancy car and made tons of money." The only thing people look back on--the only thing that matters--is whether they loved and were loved...whether they built grace-filled relationships and felt they did good in the world. The Sermon on the Mount shows us how to do that.
Confirmation class is always profound, but this session in particular always gets me. Jesus' words here are so heartfelt, simple yet far-reaching. It's a good reminder for us in a world that seems to pull us in a hundred different directions and gives us a million commitments to cement us to each. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, only one thing really matters: living out a godly life.
It's amazing how your life can change in just one day at church.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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