"YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE." VOL. XXXVII KANSAS CITY, MO., NOVEMBER, 1912 No. 5 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT EW scenes in the life of Jesus are more deeply impressive than the one in which the Master is given opportunity to defend himself, but instead holds his peace, calmly and courageously meeting the fate which his enemies were preparing for him. There had been occasions on which he had refrained from visiting certain towns because of their unbelief, and he had gone apart even from his disciples that he might pray in solitude and prepare for the greater events to come. On occasion, too, his ministry among the people implied a forward look with a purpose other than that of the acceptance of events as they came. But on this occasion, although he had declared that he could summon greater powers to his aid, he meets his adversaries with few words and without attempting to secure his freedom. Consistently with this acceptance of civil authority, he goes forward to meet his death on the cross, and to the last moment is faithful to the principles which as teacher he had enunciated. Surely there never was a more splendid example of constancy and courage. The principle implied in this fidelity to an ideal lies at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Master's teaching as a whole. It has often been misinterpreted alike by so-called Christians and by critics outside the faith. The time is opportune for fresh consideration of it, in order that we may gain clearer insight into the essence of Christianity. Without regard to the ultimate nature of Christ, one may consider the discourses and works by which Jesus sought to establish the kingdom of the Spirit. These principles are good in their own right as parts of an ethical sytsem, and they hold whether or not we deem the Master an example whom all can follow. The important consideration is that we regard these teachings in a spirit which gives the clue to the life of Jesus, and indicates possibilities that lie open to the devotee of the highest moral ideals. Without this spirit we are likely to disregard his teachings. as impractical, assailing them because of their departure from the Mosaic law. Clothed by this spirit we may make our way where many readers of the gospel have never trod. We open the pages of the gospel narrative and find "the man of peace" moving among the spiritually hungry and assuring them that the kingdom is “at hand." Whatever this kingdom may appear to mean from the point of view of various Messianic expectations, it signifies that the Master comes in an attitude of authority born of experience and conviction, calling on men to forego their allegiance to external things and customs, and look to the inmost world of instincts, habits, motives and love. Without regard to interpretations of the atonement, and independently of any view concerning the resurrection, one may insist that Jesus summons each man to look to himself, change his attitude, purify his heart, so that he may live a genuinely righteous life. It is in this sense, as an appeal to the moral heart or will, that I ask the reader to regard the discourse anew as if it were a fresh utterance in modern psychological terms. The Sermon on the Mount may not have been spoken in precisely the connected form in which we have it in one of the gospels, not the earliest, and imperfections may have marred the text. However that may be, we may estimate it as representative of the life and teaching of Jesus as a whole, taking care not to single out passages for approval or disapproval to the exclusion of the rest. It comes fresh from the lips of the Master, who lived by it and proved it by his works. To read it with open eye one needs to attain an interior vision of the purity of the ideal inculcated, a vision out of the unity of which the various precepts may be seen to spring. Taking Jesus at his word, let us say that his mission. was to bring the life of the Spirit to men, that they might know and live that life in fullness. First and last he attributed all power and wisdom to God, humbly maintaining that he was obedient to the Father's will. Hence he made no claim in behalf of his mere self, not even from the point of view of goodness, but spoke ever of the central source from which all men might receive power according to their needs. He invited men to come to him as giver of peace, as the way, the truth, and the life, but always as to the center within all men where the Christ is revealed, not as if he wished men to deem him, the son of man, the same as God. The Father, invisible in the heavens, yet revealed to each man in the holy places of the heart, is ever his object of appeal. There is indeed a way which leads to the secret place of the soul, and the Master fully believes that he it is who makes that way known. But the essential is the goal-the infinitely tender and loving Father whose care is over all his works, and the kingdom of righteousness which those enter who acknowledge the source of all goodness and efficiency. In vain shall we try to interpret the darker passages of the Sermon on the Mount unless we approach them in the light of this interior illumination. Turning to the great discourse with this clue in mind, we find it not only a guide to the inmost life, but see that it is in this intimately interior sense that the law of love comes "not to destroy but to fulfill." Jesus begins by praising those who have been touched by the life of the Spirit and are therefore merciful, humble, pure in heart, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, seeking to establish peace among their fellows, faithful even under accusation and persecution. When he promises recompense it is of the interior sort. If we are about to fulfill a vow, if we would reform our brothers, he bids us remember that we should first adjust whatever is not right in our spiritual attitude, that we may clearly see how to take the lead. So in regard to sin-it is the inmost consciousness that is of moment; the fact of sin is driven home with the pronouncement that even to lust in thought is to break the law. It follows that purity begins within, and involves cleanness of heart, thought and action. Hence great emphasis is put on the honesty or sincerity of the one whose righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Prayer, too, is genuine only in the light of openness and purity of heart; it begins with the soul's inmost receptivity and is rather an act of adjustment than of petition, since our wants are already known by the Father. All our judgments or condemnatory utterances emanate from within, and inevitably bring their like upon us. The possibility of righteous judgment is held up as a standard for the attainment of those who exercise their moral powers to the full. In so far as an external rule may be required, it is given in the declaration that men may be estimated in accordance with the fruits of their conduct, and there are warnings for those who might perchance mistake the false for the true Christ. But the center of interest and of conduct is still the realm of motives. In place of the anxiety and distrust which so often characterize the inner life, one should first and last substitute love and longing for the kingdom, the pursuit of God and the life of righteousness, from which shall follow what is requisite for the external life. The inner emphasis is also seen in the counsel to seek treasures that are eternal in the heavens, in contrast with things that perish. The difference turns on the fact that no man can fully give his consciousness to two objects at the same time, and the fact that to love the one is to despise the other. Hence concentration, the single eye, is absolutely requisite. Whatever our pretensions, it is where the heart is that shows what really rules. Hence the special meaning attached to all that is said about purity of heart, constancy in the pursuit of the kingdom of righteousness, even in the face of practical needs that apparently call for anxious consideration. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil or trouble, that is, the problem of the hour. To believe in all sincerity in the ethics of the heart is to give entire allegiance to the task, the opportunity for service just now at hand. Our part is to concentrate on the activities that are within our power, trusting the results as in the keeping of the moral spirit, the providence of God. One cannot give to the genuinely worthy, instead of casting pearls before swine, without first raising the question, Who is worthy? This leads to an estimate of the springs of moral action. to begin with ourselves. Hence we are again compelled We cannot seriously we would be done by, we are constrained to consider what we would really wish done unto us. reflect upon this question unless we possess a moral ideal But to be moral is to know the self, know what is worthy of realization. The self is not an isolated entity, but is intimately related to all men. Thus the golden rule implies the law of service or love. Or, again, if assured that by asking we shall receive answer, if by seeking we shall find, everything will depend upon what we ask for and seek in accordance with our ideal. Rightly to ask, one must obviously possess a moral standard. But this again implies the law of prayer already inculcated, since the soul's sincerest need has been provided for. Thus each phase of the principle leads back to its center in the heart or attitude of the soul. The Father's all-foreseeing care pertains first to the inner life, the spiritual essentials, then to the outer things that are needed or are in correspondence. Spiritual joy above all centers about the results of fidelity and righteousness, including the knowledge of the fruits that follow when one is persecuted or opposed. These results, hard to bear as they may be, are sure signs along the highway of the moral life. Straight and narrow indeed is that way, yet it is the one that leadeth unto life. To let the inner light |