Living in the Sermon on the Mount, Maybe..

   I have heard people, when asked what they lived by as a guide for their life, would answer with the Sermon on the Mount, as found in Matthew 5,6 and 7. That all sounds well and good, but just the verses in the reading for today were enough for me to know that following those words of Jesus in those 3 chapters would be terribly hard. Take for example:

"Give to the one who begs from you"

   or:

"do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

   or:

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

   I read those in plain English and look for meanings other than the simple rendition that is right in front of my face. Let's take that first one above.

   Jesus says to give to the one who begs from you. Is the man on the corner with a sign that says hungry, is he begging from me personally? If so, what do I do? Do I question if he is really needy? Do I give him money? Do I offer to take him to lunch? Do I take some of my time, my valuable time, to interact with him? Is this a safe thing to do? Do I write him off as a professional panhandler?

   So, what do I usually do? Give him a dollar or two and then worry if I did the right thing in doing even that? That seems the least I can do, and maybe that is a correct assessment. I did the convenient thing, and the one that might make me feel good without being threatened or taking my time.

   I have struggled with this over the years, but don't come close to following the commandment that Jesus puts forth here, much less the ones that follow.

   If I just stay here on my couch, with my Bible in my hand, and read and agree, is that good enough?

   James talks about being hearers of the Word and not doers, and it is not good. I want to do more, but it is hard sometimes.

   Maybe I should just stay home...