SOTM 12: Don't Ever Give Up?

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 5:17-21

If hell was your worse nightmare, then hell for me would be a graduation ceremony. I went to one recently where I had to listen to 4 different commencement addresses in a row. And it didn't seem that public speaking ability was one of the criteria for selection. What were they about? I brought a book. Anyway, I heard once about a speaker who stood up and before people like me had even gotten through the first paragraph of our read, he was done. He stood up and all he said was, "Don't ever, ever, ever, ever give up." And then he sat down. Honestly, that might be one of the best commencement addresses I've ever heard of. It's exactly what we need to hear as we move from the safe, dependable library to the frightening, chaotic world of real life. But it's a good thing that Jesus didn't say the same thing-- though v. 20 sure sounds like it. There are some things in life that we are good at, and some things that we aren't, and being good just isn't one of them. I'm 5'7 and no more than 125 pounds. When I was growing up if I'd told my parents I wanted to be a linebacker I think the stupidest think they could have told me is to never give up. Such advice would have left me in a lot of pain. It's the same thing when we try to be good people. We just aren't any good at it. This is really a bummer because Jesus tells us here that the fullness of life he desires for us both now and in eternity is inextricably linked with who we are as people. But the good news is found verse 17-- Jesus came to fulfill the law. What we can't do, Jesus came to do for us and through us.