We take the first step in the direction of the kind of righteousness that outshines and outstrips its faux versions when we decline to pigeonhole people in conveniently labeled boxes and begin to love them based on our commonality. “The opposite of Othering is not saming,’” says John A. Powell, “it is belonging. And belonging does not insist that we are all the same. It means we recognize and celebrate our differences, in a society where ‘we the people’ includes all the people.”
“The Rule” sums up this Sermon and possibly all of Jesus’ sermons. It is the mantra for God’s new society, the oft-repeated refrain in the Christian anthem. It reveals the way that Jesus’ kingship burrows itself into how we do relationships, manage our resources, formulate our politics, and resist the temptation to exploit one another for our own gain.
Maybe we call it “Golden” (or Rhodium) because of how much it costs us to obey it. Only those ravenous for righteousness, those who are dying to be like Jesus, will make discernible progress in its direction!
This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
As such, I’d appreciate your feedback on this post and others to come in order to make the final copy publish-worthy.
barney wiget 