Despite the fact that I am an oldie, I am not particularly a ‘hymns’ kinda guy. The Lutheran church I grew up in sang every verse of every hymn. If it had six, we sang all six. But when I was asked the question as to just what being a part of the Kingdom of God meant to me as seen through the words of the Sermon on the Mount, my mind went immediately to the hymn in the title.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood
If there is a major misunderstanding in the world in general as regards Jesus, it is the idea that being a Christian is all about being good. The truth is, Christianity is all about understanding that we can never be good enough. When Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that even harboring angry thoughts about someone else is comparable to murder, he makes it very clear that we can never earn God’s favor based on our goodness. Ain’t gonna happen. That’s why Jesus had to come and die in our place. We can’t get there on our own. Most of the Sermon makes that very clear. And I am grateful for that knowledge. Paul makes it abundantly transparent here:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
But there is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount that is particularly dear to me.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:25-27
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:31-34
Boy do I need the truth of these passages! I am a worrier. If there were an All Star team for worrying, I would be the MVP. My Worry button has been well oiled by Satan, and it seems that he never stops pushing it. He does not want me to rest alone in the Blessed Assurance of the hymn, or the truth in the two passages above. That truth is reiterated in the Book of Matthew just a few chapters forward.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
It is not about me; it is about Jesus in me, the hope of glory.
What, me worry? I’m gonna be okay! (-B
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