The Sermon on the Mount: Finding Happiness in the Flood
The Sermon on the Mount : Finding Happiness in the Flood As a kid, maybe 10 or 12, I was leafing through my red-letter edition of the Bible and I noticed that there was one section of unbroken red text that was longer than any other. It was Matthew 5–7. I thought that was kind of cool, and if my memory serves me (sometimes it refuses), that’s why I read this sermon as a young pre-teen. I actually got to know it somewhat well, and I credit Jesus’ words with giving me a firm foundation in difficult times. That’s a vague way of saying it, but I have very definite instances in mind. Truly, the Sermon on the Mount became a rock for me to build my life on before the rains descended and the floods came. Like all residents of my town, built around the Skagit River, I know it’s best to build your house before the rainy flood season. But even if you are in the middle of the floodwaters, you can reach out for the rock of Jesus’ words, clamber onto it, and find solidity in a world of diff...