Christian Counter-Culture: The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (John Stott) Part 1

This book was published in 1978, by Inter-Varsity Press. Having read it over the past few weeks, I can say that it clearly applies to us today and probably will always apply. John Stott is a great writer, who both understands God's word and is able to share and explain it clearly. Hopefully I am able to summarize his message through my notes.

I'll do one chapter per post, sharing my notes and then any further thoughts I have now, and when I'm finished with all of the book I'll do another post with some more pondering and whatnot. It's important to synthesize what we learn, and processing for me is always easier when I write about it.

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When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

Matthew 5.1,2 (NRSV)

Notes from my HarperCollins Study Bible

• The first of Jesus' five great discourses.
• Jesus reinterprets the old law and offers a new law.
• Crowds in Matthew are either neutral or sympathetic.
• Mountains in Matthew are a sacred place of revelation.
• Rabbis teach while sitting.
• Disciples are learners.

Introduction: what is this sermon?

• A description of Christian counter-culture.
• Disillusion with what is feeds the idealism of what could be.
• Disaffectation with the culture we grow up in is the norm for each successive generation.

Eventually we hit nihilism[1]. Then what?

• Holy Spirit is the disturber before the comforter.
• The church is failing the world. People are seeking meaning, peace, love, and reality but the church brings only conformism and basically the same thing as the world.
• Christians should be shamed by the opinion that we are just like everyone else.
• Historically, God calls people to himself and sets us apart. We're supposed to be true to our identity: holy, different in all things.
• Israel kept assimilating to the culture around them, which is absolutely not what we're supposed to do.

The Sermon on the Mount… describes what human life and community look like when they come under the gracious rule of God. (p.18)

• We are called to be different from the rest of society.
• Be light in the darkness; the most righteous; the most ethical; the most devoted. Have the greatest love and the noblest ambition.
• The whole Sermon is compare and contrast.
• Casuistry (p.19) of scribes (educated theological teachers) = clever but unsound reasoning re: morals.
• We are to be different from the nominal church and the secular world, the religious and the irreligious.
• Christian value-system, ethical standard, religious devotion, attitude to money, ambition, lifestyle, and relationship networks.

On to the text itself:

• Jesus was already famous, so he went up mountains to get some quiet and privacy and to teach particular things to the disciples.

Lots of parallels with Moses, I expect because of the new covenant.

Three Questions

Is the Sermon authentic?

• There is a similar, if shorter, sermon in Luke.
• Both Matthew and Luke present their versions as singular sermons rather than collections of Jesus' teachings.
• Lots of possible ways to understand this.
• Likely both are summaries of an extended period of teaching, which explains the differences and similarities.

Is the Sermon relevant?

• A Christian's character (5.3-12) - Beatitudes
• A Christian's influence (5.13-16) - Salt & Light.
• A Christian's righteousness (5.17-48) - the law and the prophets.
• A Christian's piety (6.1-18) - reality & sincerity.
• A Christian's ambition (6.19-34) - the glory of God above all else.
• A Christian's relationships (7.1-20) - serve others; don't push the gospel on people who have rejected it; pray; watch out for false prophets.
• A Christian's commitment (7.21-27) - mean what we say and do what we hear (p.26).
  Obey Jesus = wise.

Is the Sermon practical?

I think this is about the Becoming.

• Tolstoy believed the Sermon could be followed. He knew he sucked at it, but Prince Nekhlyudov (self-insert) in Resurrection even said it.
• Not easily attainable by anyone but also not completely unattainable, either.
• We must be born again or we can't do it.
• Righteousness is an inner state that is expressed outwardly. What we think and desire are what truly matter.
• The Sermon is for Christians, not the secular world. It is a description of the Becoming.

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As noted, this book is for Christians. Its claim is that the Sermon on the Mount is teaching by Jesus for His followers, not for the whole world. It (both the Sermon and the book) challenges us to examine our lives in light of Jesus' teachings, to shed light on that which we might prefer to keep hidden, and to reject our former selves, our former behaviour, so we can come closer to God and continue the work of our Becoming.

Of course, the Becoming is my term, not one Stott uses in the book at all, but I do think my term is appropriate here; we were created to be all of the things described in the Sermon, and the process of achieving that state is encompassed by "the Becoming".

There is a lot here, and it all correlates with what I see in the world around me, both secular society and Christian society. It's not easy to accept that we're messing up so badly, but we are. I'm still processing everything from the book, but I'm also trying to apply what I've learned to my life in general. I hope that other Christians will join me in this quest.

Peace & Blessings.

[1] I have also read Fr Seraphim Rose's book Nihilism and could perhaps share some of the ideas there, if people are interested. I think he is mistaken in some cases but correct in others.