Sermon on the Mount
Journal
Matt Hohenberger
1. Sermon on the Mount Reflection
I was surprised when I read the Sermon on the Mount because I had heard all of those passages before and read the Beatitudes, but it struck me with even more significance to read them all compiled together. I guess it was a sign to for me that God really planned it this way, and that his moral teachings were in front of me all together. It helped me realize that I don’t have to go digging and searching for some secret code on how to live my life and address certain situations, but that it has always been there. One of the most striking passages for me was about not worrying about food, or clothing, or tomorrow. It helps me realize that life is more than how much money I make or what type of car I drive, but about true happiness. I admit that I constantly worry about everything, about college, schoolwork, and sports. But these passages helped me to relax and realize the importance of living in the moment. I will be taken care of, but that doesn’t mean I just sit back and relax. I want to live a life where I don’t worry about upcoming days because that only gets me stressed out. What I took from the Sermon on the Mount was that I should live my life slower and take in the world around me while helping those who are having difficulties doing that be the same way.
Second Sermon on the Mount Reflection
When we filled out that worksheet and marked them either moral or not moral, and Christian or not Christian, I realized that I react to a lot of situations the wrong way most of the times. I would just like to say that it was a shock to me and I think that I can be happier with myself if I evaluate each situation in that way, like the right speech experiment, and act accordingly.
2. One key idea that I got out of this chapter came not in any of the lesson plans or in the texts, but in the Storycorps of Julio Diaz. I have always been a fan of the Judgment of Nations after making a video of it in Sophomore Theology, and I have always had the same images of clothing the naked and feeding the hungry in my head. This story fulfills almost all of the lessons in the Judgment of Nations and more by showing love for his enemy who eventually becomes his friend. As described in Fr. Rogers book, Julio Diaz is a man of subsidiary because he saw that the man was in desperate need and worse off than himself, and so he tried to get the thief back to independence by giving him both food, money, and life lessons. He didn’t give a lavish amount of money to someone, but what he did do was take the time to show he cares, which is more than enough to get the man back on his feet. I want to take this story and try to model my life around it. If you would like to listen to it, here is the audio
3) One image that captures the chapter for me:
4) 4. One Key question from this section.
Can someone not know Jesus’ teachings and still be a Christian?
I believe that a person can be a Christian without knowing the majority of Jesus’ teachings because of our human nature and conscience, and the pattern of the nature of Christianity. I will use myself as an example.
A dictionary defines a Christian as “one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus,” and “one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.” From an early age I have been introduced to a variety of stories from Jesus’ life, but even before I knew his teachings, starting in around 3rd grade, I knew how a Christian was supposed to act because I felt inside of me, my conscience, how I should act. Throughout my childhood travels to Europe, my family and I would spend the day walking around the streets of London and Paris, encountering countless beggars. From my earliest memories I recall yearning to give up something of mine to these needy people because I felt like I had too much and they needed food or money or clothes more than I did. Before this I had never heard of the Parable of the Judgment of Nations, but nevertheless, I still knew that helping out the “least among” me was the natural thing to do. In this way, I believe that I was living in the life of Christ. There are a number of more examples that are effective in the same way, such as the natural inclination that murder or stealing is wrong and that I should honor my parents. I admit that without knowing some of the teachings, there are some Christian specifics that are lost, but the natural law guided me through my ignorance of Jesus’ teachings.
The nature of the fundamentals of Christianity is also fairly simple in that they are based off of Jesus. If I know the basics of how Jesus acted, gave his all to helping others, did the right thing, ect., I can figure out how to act in certain situations. I know it is clichéd, but many times someone can live a Christian life by asking themselves, “What would Jesus do?” The patterns of Christianity usually make it clear to figure out how to act like a Christian. It’s like the analogy Mr. Sciuto has been using throughout the course is that if we are true Seinfeld fans, we would hear, “Soup Nazi,” and a whole story comes to our mind. I enjoy watching Seinfeld and have become a fan of it, but I have never seen the Soup Nazi episode. I think that through the repetition of episodes and to come to know the nature of each character, I could come to know what the episode might be like if I knew the simple plot line. I would be able to understand how each character would react to the situation and how the comedic tragedy would play out. I think the same could be said for Jesus’ teaching. If we are given a situation, we can make a Christian response without having the bible out in front of us to guide us through.
To see the source of the picture, simply click on it.
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