Armies for God or Armies for Good?

“A riot is an ugly thing. But I think it is just about time that we had one!” That’s just a line from a 1974 film by Mel Brooks. What on earth does it have to do with the Sermon on the Mount?

Nothing probably. But in a strange way of thinking, maybe the Galilean was suggesting a riot, not a violent mob-led wave of destruction, oh no. Perhaps what he had in mind was a “riot of righteousness.” Now wouldn’t that be a hoot, these days?

Notice how he uses some of his most sensory metaphors for urging his listeners, including his disciples, to follow him and do good things?

He evokes a sense taste when he says, in Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ah yes, without the salt of righteousness, we shall be stomped into the ground.” (KJV)

How about a sense of sight? “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (5:14-16)

Doesn’t he then extol the crowd to use their sense of hearing and gift of speech for righteousness sake? “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (5:19)

Surely the bit about the pearls and the pigs can stir our senses of touch and smell.

Oh yes. I don’t think he was merely preaching that day, as the scriptures present him. He was raising an army, an army of the righteous. Wouldn’t it be nice if Americans heeded his words today? We need them in a time in which our social-reward system is so heavily oriented toward greed, avarice, cruelty, force, power, hatred, falsehood, and disrespect of others.

Wow. What would Franklin Graham and the other harbingers of hate think if they say an army of Americans coming toward them with stone copies of the The Beatitudes in their hands?

The Galilean foresaw this when he said, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (5:20)

You know, that’s why “The Sermon” obsesses me so. Whether one is “born again,” a cultural Christion, a doubter, a disbeliever, or simply a “goodness-seeker,” the Galilean’s words serve as a universal guide to a good life and a powerful warning against a bad one.

We seem to be so divided these days in our country. Divisiveness and the reward system described above seem destined to destroy us. A powerful group thinks guns will save us. Another powerful group thinks that unbridled license is the answer. Another powerful group thinks that better access to drugs will serve as our salvation. Then comes the “Thought Control Police.” Of course, there are those who trust Twitter, cell phones, more cars, bigger houses, social insulation, racial purity, war, or wealth.

I think maybe reading the words ascribed to the Galilean from on that lonely Judean hill each morning before setting forth might be worth a try. At the very least, it would scare hell out of the pharisees.