Lisa Thornton continued the Summer on the Mount series with the scripture passage Matthew 5:21-26 — which begins with the reminder of the injunction against murder historically given to the Jews, and continues with instruction on the importance of relationship.
Lisa unpacks the passage with a reference to conversations we at PMC have had as members of a pacifist denomination, and at Jesus’ time was likely equally significant. The passage is preceded by the statement that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So how are we being invited to think about what might lie behind murder? How does this play out in the kingdom of God? It’s an outward symptom of an inner brokenness.
The Kingdom of God is about relationships between people. Murder is the symptom of the underlying disease of hate, anger, and brokenness. If we are people who want to spend time contributing to the work of making the world right, we can’t just think about symptoms without doing the hard work of righting relationships. If we miss this, we miss the ultimate victory: a world where people truly and deeply believe that they belong to one another, and look into the hearts of those in community and respond as if we belong to one another. But also that we look into the hearts and faces of those that we feel oppose us — and believe that we belong to each other. It is only then that the Kingdom is achieved.
Hear these words and more as Lisa fleshes out these truths, follows with an exercise of questions about belonging, and then is followed by Donna Sider sharing for two minutes about the Belong groups that are being formed locally. And finally, hear the lovely benediction quote from Father Greg Boyle — which was too good to leave out!
Pasadena Mennonite Church 