Ongoing Opportunities for Christian Education and Spiritual Growth

Lansdale United Methodist Church provides Sunday School classes for infants through adults.  Curriculum resources for children and youth are carefully selected to teach about the Bible and God’s love so that children and youth can learn in developmentally appropriate ways.  We comply with a “Safe Sanctuary” program so that children and youth can learn about God in a safe, nurturing environment.  Our teachers model God’s love in creative ways and are deeply committed to the children and youth that they serve.

Ongoing children and youth ministry programs provide children and youth with additional opportunities for spiritual growth and fellowship.  Junior Church is offered during most 10:45 a.m. worship services on Sundays for children in kindergarten through 3^rd grade.  J.C. Kids is a junior youth group that meets twice a month for grades three through 6.  Vacation Bible School (see above for more information or to register!) is held each summer for children from age 4 through 6^th grade.  God’s Youth in Motion (G.Y.M.) is a dynamic youth group that meets on Sunday evenings; some of its activities include an annual youth musical, youth mission trip, youth lock-in, and other service projects.

Lansdale United Methodist Church offers three adult Sunday School classes.  Each class determines its topics of study using the Bible, Christian curriculum, and related resource guides and materials.  These classes include:

-The Wesleyan Class – recent class topics have included a study of the Gospel of John and discussions of the movie, Amazing Grace (featuring the life of William Wilberforce)

-New Horizons Fellowship – recent class topics have included “Army Lies about Tillman Death - Is it sometimes ok to lie?” and “Teaching the Bible in Public Schools.”

-Upper Room – recent class topics have included a study of the Middle East Conflict, Paul’s letter to the Romans, and “Why Does God Allow Evil?”

We also offer a number of Bible studies to meet different needs of our church family:

-Men’s Bible study (held Wednesday mornings at 6:30 a.m., every week)

-Woman’s Bible study (held each Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.)

-Sunday evening Bible study

-Covenant groups

Our church library is another great resource for Christian education and spiritual growth.  The library includes a children’s reading center, books for all ages, references for Bible studies, periodicals, videos, DVDs, and CDs.  We continually update our collections to provide excellent Christian reading materials for all ages.  The library also includes a computer with Bible software for research and study opportunities.

For questions or additional information, go to our Contacts page.

A Study of The Beatitudes
By Lonnie Turnipseed for The Lansdale United Methodist Church
Winter 2006

Chapter 1
Introduction

First Read the Beatitudes

As you begin this study, first read the Sermon on the Mount in both Luke (Luke 6:17 – 7:1) and Matthew (Matthew 5:1 – 7:29). Then read again the Beatitudes in both Luke (6:20-26) and Matthew (5:1-12). Note the verses where in your mind, you are saying “yes!” Also note the teachings that strike you, jar you or make you feel uncomfortable. Ask yourself why? 
Which of these do you practice or follow in your life?
Which do you ignore or reject? 
What questions come to mind?

Part of the Sermon on the Mount

The Beatitudes are the first part of what we call the Sermon on the Mount. It’s interesting how practical the teachings of this sermon are. They deal with matters of everyday life. While many may seem difficult to us, they are do-able! 

You will quickly note that Matthew’s account is longer than Luke’s; that Matthew has more beatitudes than Luke and Luke has some that Matthew does not have.  Whereas Matthew locates Jesus speaking on a mountain, Luke says Jesus is standing on a plain, or level place. Since this Scripture is best known as “Sermon on the Mount,” I will refer to it in that way in this study.

You may also note that the Sermon on the Mount is not a “sermon” at all. Matthew says “Jesus taught them, saying…”  Jesus is a teacher. What we call the “Sermon on the Mount” is really a series of instructions to those who came to him on this occasion.

The first question might be: who are these people who came out to hear Jesus? Why did they come? 

The Sermon on the Mount – and the Beatitudes – come immediately after the call of the first disciples (Mt. 4:18 – 22, Lk. 6:12-16) and during Jesus’ first mission in Galilee. The “call” is very simple, “follow me.”  And these fishermen did!

Jesus then went throughout Galilee with these new disciples, teaching in the synagogues,  preaching the good news of the kingdom and  healing every disease and sickness among the people.  He was followed by large crowds.

“(Jesus) came down (from the mountain) with (his disciples) and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him; for power came out from him and healed all of them.”  (Lk 6:17)

This is a remarkable description of the gathered “congregation” that day. The came “to hear (Jesus) and to be healed of their diseases.” Luke says that people “with unclean spirits were cured” and “power came out of him and healed all of them.” Sweeping words – all of them! Apparently, these healings took place before the sermon.

Matthew places these healings in the context of his travel through Galilee with his new disciples. He  describes Jesus “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom” and  twice declares that he was “curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” Hyperbole? Perhaps! But something happened so that Jesus became famous. Great crowds of people came to him for help from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and  beyond the Jordan” (4:25)  .

The news about Jesus, his teaching and healing, had obviously spread widely through the region.  Those present on the occasion of the Sermon on the Mount included the twelve and other disciples, and crowds of people, about whom we know very little other than that they came from many places. From Jesus’

 teachings, it appears that some were poor and some rich. I suspect there also were young and old, educated and uneducated, men and women, from cities and the countryside – all hoping Jesus would do something for them. And Jesus spoke to them, he “taught” them.

What do you think Jesus intended by these teachings?
What was their purpose?

The Sermon on the Mount – The Norm of  Discipleship

 The fact that the Sermon on the Mount is not often the subject of a sermon or Bible study in many if not most of our churches, or that it is not usually included in membership (or discipleship) training classes suggests that many Christians don’t take it’s teachings very  seriously. It’s even more interesting that various efforts have been made to interpret them in ways that “let us off the hook.” David Bosch, a South African scholar, outlines four ways in which the Sermon on the Mount has been that misinterpreted:

First, some say the Sermon on the Mount was not for all Christians, that not all Christians need obey the injunctions of Matt. 5 – 7.  Rather they were intended for a special category, the clergy.

Second, it has been asserted that it is impossible to obey the demands of Jesus in these chapters, that this was not their purpose. Rather they were designed to make us see our inadequacy and sinfulness and cause us to put our trust in Christ rather than in our own ability to do God’s will. 

A third mis-interpretation arises out of the 19^th century emphasis on individualism. It said that what counts is not the concrete obedience of these demands, but the correct disposition of the heart. Individual attitudes are more important than deeds. What counts is not what you do but your attitude toward these teachings.

  Finally, some say these teachings only applied if you believed the world would end soon. They were an “interim ethic” – since people could live up to them only for a short period.

 Today few scholars would accept any of these mis-representations. Rather most agree that in Matthew’s and Luke’s view, Jesus actually expected his followers to live according to these norms in their daily routines. This perspective is evident in the text itself.  Note the emphasis on “bearing fruit” – “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit… every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. Thus, you will know them by their fruits.” (Mt. 7:19,20)

Again, in 7:21, Jesus reminds the crowd that  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” (7:21)  And that “ everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on  them will be like a  wise man who built his house on the rock.” (7:24)

The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount then represent characteristics of life for those who would follow Jesus. It challenges ordinary life in the world by calling for a life lived in accord with the standards of God’s kingdom (we will explore this further at a later point). It is not surprising then that life lived according to these teachings seems out of step with modern society and challenge it. We are unsure how to respond to their counter-cultural nature, to their challenge. 

Two Presentations of the Beatitudes - Matthew and Luke

I noted earlier that there are differences in the way Matthew and Luke present the Sermon on the Mount in general and the Beatitudes in particular.  Some of these differences are quite significant. Matthew’s sermon is much longer, although some of the teachings that are not included in Luke’s version of the sermon are included elsewhere in the Luke’s gospel. 

 The Sermon on the Mount – Unique to Matthew and Luke

Here it is helpful to remind ourselves how the gospels came to be.  Mark was the first gospel written, and both Matthew and Luke draw on Mark. That is, most of Mark’s gospel is also included in Luke and Mathew. Matthew and Luke also apparently had another source of material which they have included in their gospels, a source known among biblical scholars as “Q.” This material is not in Mark or John, but is unique to Luke and Matthew.  In addition, Matthew and Luke each add his own unique source material, not found in any of the other gospels.  The Sermon on Mount and Beatitudes appear only in Luke and Matthew, apparently a part of the “Q” source.

 Distinctive portrayals of Jesus

Each of the Gospel writers present the story of Jesus in a different way, each with its own unique portrayal of Jesus. We need to be open to the challenge of each and not try to harmonize them. The significance of this will become clear as we study particular beatitudes.

Matthew – writing for a community in crisis

Matthew’s gospel was written to provide “guidance to a community in crisis on how it should understand its calling and mission” (Bosch, p. 57).   The nature of the crisis is two-fold: first, there is tension between Judaism and the new Christian community. Christians struggled to understand how they should relate to Judaism, and especially to the Law. Second, there was a need to provide ethical guidance and discipline for the new Christian community, many of whom felt that since salvation came through faith alone, they were no longer bound by any law and could do as they pleased.  

 Matthew, therefore, puts a primary emphasis on discipleship.  Being a disciple for him means hearing Jesus words and keeping his teachings. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is not in the first instance a call to go and make new converts, but rather a call to make disciples  who know and follow Jesus’ teachings:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Jesus’ teachings form the basis for disciple formation. This concern shapes Matthew’s gospel.

 Luke – writing for the Gentiles

 Luke, on the other hand, presents Jesus as a compassionate, friend of outcasts. Written primarily for Gentiles, the Lukan Jesus has a universal quality, and is presented as the Savior of the lost. He also emphasizes the demands of discipleship for those who respond and become Jesus’ followers.

Both Matthew and Luke have edited and pulled together a narrative written for the emerging Christian community to strengthen their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and to call them to discipleship by following the teachings of Jesus.  Most scholars feel that Luke has the more original form. Matthew has edited the material for his own purposes.

What is a “beatitude”?

 How would you answer that question?

The word “beatitude” has become so closely associated with the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, that it is not easy to think of it in another context. The Greek word, “makarios”  means “blessed by God,“ or literally, “How fortunate you are!” (Lp.145) It is best translated “blessed,” although some translators say, “How happy you are” or “Happy are those…”  Beatitudes occur in the Old Testament and in both Jewish and pagan literature. In Jewish literature it usually occurs in wisdom literature and prophecy.

Beatitudes declare an objective reality which is the result of a divine act, not subjective feeling. Therefore, it is probably better to translate the Greek word as  “blessed. ”  The opposite of makarios  is not “unhappy) but cursed. The beatitudes are not a new law, not a new Ten Commandments. Rather, their expression as indicative brings reality into being, it makes it happen.  It declares this is the way it is now in the present!

There is also a future dimension to the beatitudes, they will be completely fulfilled in the future when God’s kingdom (reign) is fully present on earth. They include a call to decision: this is the way it is in the kingdom of God; begin now to live in this way.  They have an indirect ethical imperative (Boring).

“The community that hears itself pronounced blessed by its Lord does not remain passive, but acts in accord with the coming kingdom.”

 The Beatitudes are true on the basis of the authority of the one who speaks.  Your response to them depends on your attitude to the speaker, what you think of Jesus and his claims to be God’s messenger?

Next, we will study the beatitudes as presented first by Luke and then by Matthew. 

_______________

Notes:
David Bosch, Transforming Mission, Orbis Books, 1991
Eugene Boring, Matthew, The New Interpreter’s Bible, 1995