pulpit on the mount by Pastor Erling Shultz

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain;

Then he began to speak…

                                                                                                             Matt 5:1,2

pulpit on the mount                                                                            Erling Shultz, January 2020

first sermons can chill one to the bone,

          pressure of expectations setting ministry tone;

     this is pretty good for the initial sermon out,

          the crowd is ready at this pulpit on the mount;

they’re primed to listen to this new preaching

          from tales of healing, curing, and His teaching;

     He seems to have them in the palm of his hand,

          yet the question remains, will they understand?

the site, this mountain is just ideal,

          way up high….where God is real;

     the place of transfiguration and perplexion,

          the place of meeting after the resurrection;

a connection to Moses’ time up on a hill,

          coming down with new a covenant will;

     and where he got a glimpse of the promised end,

          before he succumbed to the time he was on lend.

so the place and people could be no better

          for one to offer this initial scriptural letter;

     the content needs to match the circumstance

           or the hordes will bolt on any following chance;

will His chosen words convince and inspire,

          or lead to yawns and beds on which to retire;

     or will He confuse, addle, stun or rattle,

          or some form of monotone chatter and babble?

it’s been recorded the crowds were astounded

          by the blessing list in which he abounded;

     the sing song verse was poetic beaut

          which left it hard for them to refute;

while they left admiring His educations,

          they wondered and feared the implications;

     being poor and meek will get you nowhere

          but that’s who they are from here to there.

an impossible challenge to ordinary living,

          leaving only the Saints able to do the giving;

     now they could debate each line and saying,

          but they did leave feeling closer to saving;

He invited them to a new way of being,

          of perspective, sensibility and seeing;

     He left them with simplicity, compassion and hope,

          to get them through this bitter world and better cope.

we tend to prefer preachers who are easy to read

          ‘cause it makes it easier to grasp what they mean;

     Jesus is not one through which we can predict

          nor our efforts succeed when we attempt to restrict;

He comes right at us with these Beatitudes,

          confronting our comfortable, proven attitudes;

     His thoughts upend the world we had learn

          and brings us to a new kingdom to yearn.

every good preacher explicitly knows His context

          and brings forth meaningful/purposeful content;

     this is spot on for the initial sermon out,

          here at the pulpit on the mount.