For our first series of 2026, we are studying the Sermon on the Mount.  We are calling this conversation “Rethinking Our Faith” because Jesus challenges everything we feel, think, and believe. He shows us how to live as a follower of His, and it changes everything we may have understood about what it means to be a Christian or to live out our faith.  That means we need open hearts and minds because we have so much to learn, and maybe even more importantly, unlearn about our faith.  We will need God’s help with this, especially with unlearning, because it’s harder to unlearn things that we have already accepted as right than it is to learn something new, and as we study this incredible teaching, we will be challenged, and we will have to unlearn some things along the way.  The Sermon on the Mount is filled with important teachings and lessons we can apply to our lives, and I’m thinking that, three weeks into the series, you are seeing just how impactful this can be.  But before we get into today’s section of Scripture, I thought it would be important to take a look back at where we have been, because we lost a few weeks due to winter weather there in January, and it felt like a really long time apart, and we don’t want you to lose sight of where we have been in the study.  Now, I’m not going to walk you through everything we have been through in detail, but I do want to look back on a few things that have really impacted me over the first few weeks of the series. 

So, way back before the snowstorms, Ken introduced us to the Sermon on the Mount, saying that Jesus is establishing God’s kingdom inside us, which transforms how we live our lives.  Now, that may sound a little abstract: God’s Kingdom is being established in our hearts. But Ken helped us see what that means to us and how the Kingdom within us impacts every day of our lives. As we allow God into our lives to establish His kingdom in our hearts, we wake up every day with the purpose of pleasing Jesus.  Can I ask you something? Is that how you wake up every day?  As I listened to that talk, I kept thinking about that statement and realized something.  I can remember days when that was absolutely my first thought every morning.  How can I please you today, Jesus?  But over the years, between my family, the two churches, and just life, my first thought for quite some time now isn’t, "How can I please you today, God?" but "What is wrong?"  I start with the fear that something needs my attention. I make sure I didn’t miss any emergency calls, texts, or emails overnight.  After I realize nothing horrific happened overnight to my family or the churches, no car breakdowns, sickness, no vicious cyber-attacks to our website or social media, no other emergencies, well, then I feel free to start my day with God.  That really challenged me and helped me see some areas of my heart and mind that God and I needed to work through, and while I can’t say I’m now the most peaceful person on the planet, over the last few weeks, I’ve been sleeping better and not been waking up with that fear.  I think this is a very important exercise and takeaway from week one.  Ask yourself, “What is my first thought when I wake up in the morning?”  Even if you don’t like the answer right now, it can help you see what needs to be addressed; it sure has for me, and it’s helped me see some ways life has pushed in hard and kept me from the peace I want in my own heart and mind.  So, think about that today.  When the kingdom of God is established in your heart, you will wake up every day with the purpose of pleasing Jesus.  Imagine that.  Imagine how it would feel to get up each day without fear, stress, or worrying about impressing anyone or doing anything but pleasing God?  It just feels like a different way to live, it feels so healthy and peaceful, doesn’t it?

The following week, we jumped into the sermon, and we walked through the Beatitudes, and we realized that God’s idea of a blessed life and our idea of a blessed life look very different.  And as we walked through those beautiful "you are blessed when" statements, we spoke about the reality of following Jesus: there is a cost.  Following Jesus will cost you, but as God’s Kingdom is established in our hearts and minds, we realize that what it costs us is not nearly as important as who we are following.   

Then, last week, Ken spoke to us about what it means to be salt and light in this dark world.  You know, with MRC turning 25 years old this year, it has me thinking back a lot lately.  In 25 years, a lot will happen in a church setting: many people come, and many people go.  And I will say it, I’m better at accepting one of those two things than the other.   But what has been the most fascinating and often painful to watch is how much tension Christians feel when we invite them to join us on the mission of Christ.  This is very personal to me because I’ve watched Christian’s struggle my whole life with this.  So many wonder and wrestle with a few things when we speak of Christ's mission.  First, does the church care about Christians if they say they are passionate, unapologetic, and relentless in pursuing the lost?  The quick answer is yes; we care so much that we want you to engage the mission Jesus invites us into.  I’ve watched so many Christians wonder if there are other missions they could jump into other than this one (the quick answer to that is no, there is one mission of Christ with many ways to engage it)  I’ve watched many wonder where MRC came up with this mission we are on, and it’s not unique, it’s not marketing or manipulation, it’s right from Scripture…and I’ve watched many Christian’s wrestle with their purpose, wondering why they are here on this Earth, and so often as I watch this unfold, it’s Jesus’ words in my heart and mind, because if we are listening, He is answering all those questions for us, and ironically we know this Scripture.

Matthew 5:13 "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. 14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand — shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. MSG

So just a couple of takeaways.  First, when we read Scripture and Jesus says something like, “Let me tell you why you are here…”  What he is doing is telling us why we are here, so pay attention. And why does He say you are here?  To share Jesus with those around you who need Him as much as you do!  We know this Scripture, but still struggle with this “unique” mission MRC is on, and you need to understand it isn’t unique; there isn’t a menu of missions that we grabbed it from, it is the singular mission of Christ.  Last thing that often fascinates me is that we know as Christians, we are to let our lights shine and not hide them, but then as we become Christians we seem to only want to take our light to the lightest places, and we think it’s odd that MRC would try to free us up to go out into the world full of people who don’t yet know Jesus and engage people there.  Volunteer and coach a team, get involved in the community…be a light in the darkness!  We know we aren’t to hide our light, but there is an easier way to hide your light than to take it to the lightest places.  This doesn’t mean there isn't a need for Christian fellowship and community, but it does mean that, as Christians who are to be light in the darkness, we can’t do that from the lightest places.  It’s fascinating, we know what Jesus says here, but we just seem confused when we come to a church that invites us to live it out. When God’s Kingdom is established in us, we will be salt and light.  As we step into that concept, we find our purpose, we grow spiritually and find deeper community than we ever thought possible. 

So that is where we have been, and after Jesus explains what a blessed life looks like and the purpose of the Christian life to live as salt and light, the subject turns to the law.  In many ways, Jesus turns the conversation to address the elephant in the room about how people see Him and how He treats God’s law.  They think He came to minimize it, but He actually came to fulfill it.

Matthew 5:17 "Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 "But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! NLT

So, here’s why this was the elephant in the room with people and Jesus.  Because these people have devoted their lives to a system of rules that God put in place long ago, Jesus seems to ignore and even disrespect it from their perspective.  At the very least, he seems to struggle to comply with the law, and Jesus now meets this head-on.  But remember what Jesus is doing, they have lived in a world of external laws and religious rule following, and Jesus is now establishing God’s Kingdom in us, so they view the law from the outside, it’s a checklist of external behaviors, but Jesus says no, you must see it from the inside out.  They feel like He is minimizing the law, because they don’t understand how God’s Kingdom works.  We, humans, see the law as a list of rules to follow, and Jesus is now explaining that it is deeper than that, it’s actually all about internal transformation, remember it’s how we now live.  So, before we jump into this and I show a few things from the section of the sermon, let’s think about the time when a religious leader asks Jesus to explain which laws are most important.  We talk about this often.

Matthew 22:35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. NIV

What do we see here?  Jesus explains to an expert in the law that the standard for interpreting the law is love.  Every command of God should be viewed this way: through love, which is different from a checklist of religious rule-following, and if you think about it, because Jesus views the law through this lens of love, the standards are actually higher (which Ken will really get into with you next week), they are more demanding than if we are simply doing the religious rule-following thing.  Let me explain what I mean, and to do it, I will tell a few stories today.  But let’s get back into our study of Matthew 5:17-20.

Matthew 5:17 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures — either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. 18 God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working. 19 "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. 20 Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom. MSG

I really like the way this reads in the Message version.  Jesus says I’m not demolishing the law, I’m actually here to complete it.  He warns us not to trivialize the law, and then says you have to be better with the law than the experts of the law, which would have been hard to process.  For me, when I hear this, I think about Christians today, and how we view the Christian life, and just how often we seem to have learned to ask all the wrong spiritual questions.  Let me explain that.  Remember, we have some things to learn and unlearn along the way. Well, this concept of the law is one of those things that we must rethink in our faith.  Here’s what I mean: when it comes to the spiritual questions, we tend to ask things like this.  “What am I allowed to do?  Is this or that a sin?  Where is the line that I’m not supposed to cross?”  But if you think about it, no matter how we ask the question, here’s what it typically means.  What is the least I can do and still be okay with God?  That instinct isn’t new; people were asking those kinds of questions in Jesus day, too. 

It’s funny: years ago, I had a young man I would meet with often. He was bright, loved God, and served in the church, but when we met, he always seemed to have a question about what he was allowed to do.  He would ask me, is it ok for me to drink alcohol?  Is it ok to get tattoos or piercings?  Is it ok to smoke?  And on and on he would go, now I probably shouldn’t tell you this as a Pastor, but when he would ask those questions, no matter what it was he was asking, I enjoyed messing with him, and I would simply answer NO! LOL, he would get so upset, then start explaining what he thought and why it was okay for him to do those things, and I would just smile until he said something like, "Man, I can’t stand asking you things like this."  Ha!  Here’s why I messed with him.  Because he knew what he wanted to do, he was just trying to figure out what the literally legal least he could do was and still be ok with God.  He was looking at the law all wrong.  Remember, when God’s Kingdom is established in us, we get up every day with the purpose of pleasing God, and we view all God's commands through that lens.  His issue was that he was getting up each day and still trying to figure out how to please himself rather than God. 

Jesus says something surprising here, something that should make us think: “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them!”

You see, these people He is addressing have been watching Jesus, and He seems to be way too relaxed with the law, but he didn’t come to lower the bar; he actually came to invite us into a whole new way of living that actually raises the bar when it comes to the law. So, I’m going to ask you the question of the day. It's simple, but it is challenging, and I’d like you to think this through honestly today.

Do I treat God’s law as the least I have to do, or am I embracing it the way Jesus does?   

Years ago, I was preaching one Sunday at MRC on grace.  This is something Ken and I love to preach on because it’s so freeing and amazing. It is literally the good news message, and it is an area we are so passionate about sharing with our spiritual families.  But what was fascinating was that after the talk, I had two longtime Christians pull me aside at different times the following week because they were worried about Ken and me talking about grace and freedom, and both said something similar.  You guys need to be careful, because you know, there are rules.  Which was wild to me, both had grown up in church, and both loved God.  Both lived as best they could by the rules, but neither had ever truly experienced and understood God’s grace, because when you do, it isn’t something you would ever abuse or try to work around.  They didn’t view the law through the lens of love, but through the lens of religious obligation, and we made those well-meaning men nervous because to them, we were inviting people into a lawless life worse than the wild west…why?  Well, they were unable to embrace the law as Jesus did; to them, it was the legal least we could do and stay in God's favor.  If you experience God’s Kingdom inside you, and wake up every day to please Him, you aren’t looking to abuse grace, and you aren’t struggling to follow rules; you want to, it’s a joy, not a burden, it’s freeing, not restrictive.    

When Jesus says He came to fulfill the law, He is not saying, “relax, none of that matters anymore.”  He is saying that all of it points to Him and finds its meaning in Him.  The law was never about the rules; it was about forming a people who reflect God well, and it drove home the truth that we need Jesus to do it!  Jesus actually completes and fulfills the law; he is not rebelling, he is obeying it perfectly, revealing its deepest intent, and living it out in love!  I wish I could help everyone rethink their view of the law and grace.  Grace doesn’t erase God’s commands; it changes how we view and relate to them!  Instead of asking what the legal least I can do and get away with is, we begin to ask: what kind of person is God shaping me to be?   One of my favorite scriptures on the challenges we face with rule-following is found here…

1 John 5:3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG

This is massive, so many people, including the people in my stories today, would tell you they love God, but also really felt like God’s law was a heavy burden to work through each day, and Jesus is trying to help us understand that  it isn’t what we have to do, it’s what we get to do as we wake up each day with the purpose of pleasing Him!  So, Jesus tells us He came to fulfill the law, then warns us against minimizing it.

Matthew 5:19 "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. 20 Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom. MSG

Jesus warns that we should not minimize God’s commands, which takes us back to trying to figure out the legal least we can do.  So many of us think to ourselves, “Well, I didn’t technically lie,” or “Well, at least I didn’t really hurt anyone,” or “At least I’m not as bad as this person or that person.”  It’s a faith that doesn't wake up every day looking to please God, but a faith life that spends its time and energy looking for loopholes and focusing on exterior rule-following.  Jesus says that even the religious leaders, the experts in rule-keeping, missed the point of the law because they kept it externally while resisting it internally.  They were great at enforcing rules and holding people accountable.  They would look at their lives and ask, “Am I breaking rules?” While Jesus keeps pointing to their inner world and asking, “What is happening in your heart?” Here’s the danger of doing the legal least or minimizing the law.  It pushes us into religious obligation; it’s obedience without love and joy.  It’s religion without transformation and life change.  It’s living a life where nothing changes, we just keep doing the least possible to stay in good with God, and if we are honest, if we don’t rethink our faith, it’s easy to settle into that life.

Key thought to personalize here: So many of us struggle with our relationship with God; it feels stale, boring, or just flat.  But if we wake up each day thinking, "What's the least I can do," and still have God be okay with us, how could it not feel flat or boring?  I mean, think about this idea in a relationship or marriage.  How would it feel to be with someone who wakes up every day and thinks, "What is the least I can get away with and still keep my friend or spouse happy... that wouldn't be a lot of fun at all, would it?"  Well, it's the same thing with our walk with God!

So, next week Ken will take us through the rest of Matthew 5, where Jesus shows us what it truly looks like to see and live out the law as He does, and I’m just going to tell you, it will challenge you.  Jesus will take those external laws and show you how they apply to our lives as we live with God’s Kingdom inside us.  He will tell us that we know we should not murder, but when we have anger in our hearts, we have already committed murder.  He tells us that we know we shouldn’t commit adultery, but when we look at someone lustfully, we have already committed adultery.  God’s kingdom is from the inside out, not from the outside in, and Jesus embraces the law as a life shaped by love, love for God and love for other people, which leads us to the key to all of this.  

We don’t embrace the law to earn God’s love.  We embrace the law because we already have God’s love.  Grace doesn’t ask, “What can I get away with?”  Grace asks, “As one loved by God, how can my life reflect Jesus more each day?”  When God’s Kingdom is inside you, you wake up every day with the purpose of pleasing Him. 

So, here are a few questions to personalize today.  Am I treating God’s commands as the legal least I have to do, or do I see them as an invitation to become more like Jesus?  Why do I need to follow God’s commands?  Is it to earn God’s love, or is it because He loves me?  

So, think this all through today: in these 4 verses, Jesus takes something that has been a burden and a source of guilt and condemnation and turns it into an invitation.  Jesus fulfilled the law for us, and now, by His Spirit, with His Kingdom in us, we get to live a new life, a life being shaped, slowly and faithfully, into new people, who see and view life and how to live it in a whole new way.

Remember, Jesus came to provide you with abundant life, and that life isn’t lived by asking ourselves what is the least I can do and still have God be ok with me, no,  it’s a life that is being shaped, slowly and faithfully into new people, who live, love, and reflect God as we become more and more like Jesus.  

So how do you view the Christian life?  If the point is to follow rules, you are missing it. And by the way, good luck following the rules.  If you view it as what you can get away with and still be okay with God, well, that doesn’t sound like much fun either.  But if we can hear Jesus and accept what He is saying as truth, viewing life, the law, and our faith from the inside out, through the lens of love, well, everything changes, and what used to be hard or a burden, that felt so heavy and harsh, now becomes part of our new mindset.  The rules and laws of our faith aren’t the things we are stuck doing; now we see them as Christ does, as a gift that we get to do each day to please God.