Of course it's impractical

The words of Jesus stand up on the page of the Bible we are reading. They stare at us in their rugged vision. The end of the Sermon makes it clear that Jesus expects his followers to take up his words and live them out regardless of the cost. I know of no alternative. Take them or leave them, is what I say to myself.

I’ve been asked time and time again these two questions: Do you think the entire country should demilitarize? (What the country does is the country’s business. As a citizen I advocate following Jesus.) What about a person who invades your home? (I’d use force to the point of not murdering him.) These two questions get wrapped up in this question: Isn’t this incredibly naïve or maddeningly impractical? No and Yes. No, this is not naïve. This is kingdom behavior in the here and now. Yes, this is impractical because Jesus doesn’t spell things out. Perhaps that is Jesus’ point.— Sermon on the Mount, page 133

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Maddening isn't it? Jesus drops these kingdom-based ideals in the midst of a fallen world. And he expects us to actually do them? How impossible could that be?

But that's exactly the point!

If it were possible without the power of the Holy Spirit, it wouldn't be a kingdom ideal. Does that mean we aren't called to obey them?

Of course not! We are called to obey—and we are empowered to obey by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The real question is "Are we willing to obey!"

That's as far as I am in the book right now, so no more excerpts for a bit. Once the cabins close (2 weeks) and we get back from vacation (another 2 weeks), I'll start excerpting from it again...

By the way, thanks to Zondervan for sending me a hard copy of the book to continue reading in!
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