Matthew 5:1 – 7:29
All around the world there is one common denominator about foreigners … they are foreign. They may or may not look different but inevitably they act different, speak differently, and think differently. I feel quite qualified to discuss this topic because for nine years I was a foreigner.
Foreigners come from a different culture. They often speak a different language, eat different foods, have different values, and commonly have a different world-view.
The Bible tells us that as Christians, we are now citizens of Heaven. However, we are naturalized citizens not native born. We were born citizens of the world. When the foreigner wants to become a citizen of another country, they undergo training to teach them what is expected of them. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus lesson on how to live and act as a citizen of Heaven.
These three chapter contain some of the most challenging passages in the Bible. That is because they explain the culture of Heaven. When I used to teach a culture class in Asia, I defined culture as the way a society learns to live in and interact with its environment. It becomes a “natural” way to live. When we move into a new culture, things can seem wrong or “unnatural”. That is called culture shock.
Humans grow up in and adopt a diverse number of cultures, but they all have one thing in common. They were created by humans for humans. The culture of Heaven is different in that is was created by God for humans to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Therefore, it is unnatural to us. In truth, it is more than unnatural, because the culture of Heaven is supernatural. We cannot live it out on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to empower us to do it.
God’s ways are not our ways. He does not think like us. God values different things. That is why the culture of Heaven seems unnatural to us. We read things like “Blessed are you when others revile you” (5:11), “Turn the other cheek” (5:39), and “Do not lay up … treasures on earth,” (6:19) and they go against what makes sense to us.
Learning a new culture is not easy. It takes time and a strong desire to do so. But if we want to be a fully functioning citizen of Heaven, we need to make the effort. We need to let the Holy Spirit transform our hearts and renew our minds so that we will be molded into the image of Christ.
Lord God, You are the King of Heaven. I thank You for mercifully and graciously drawing me into Your Kingdom and allowing me to become a full citizen. Give me a new heart and a new mind that I will believe Your truth and conform to Your ways.