THE most important instructions ever given to mankind are those contained in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5—7). Mary Baker Eddy, in her book "Retrospection and Introspection," refers to it as "the diamond sermon," and goes on to state (p. 91): "No purer and more exalted teachings ever fell upon human ears than those contained in what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount,— though this name has been given it by compilers and translators of the Bible, and not by the Master himself or by the Scripture authors. Indeed, this title really indicates more the Master's mood, than the material locality."
In this sermon, Christ Jesus set forth in simple and direct language the way his disciples should think in connection with the vital details of everyday living. Nothing of importance is lacking, for in his message he covered such subjects as supply, food, raiment, success, marriage, charity, obedience, human relationships, guidance, brotherly love, prayer, and worship. Most important of all, he stressed man's relationship with God in his statement (Matt. 5:48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
At several points in his sermon, the Master stated exactly what the Mosaic law is in regard to a certain rule of conduct, and then he gave to the law a higher and more spiritual interpretation. In this way the disciples were able to see clearly that the spirit as well as the letter of the law must be fulfilled.
One such instance is recorded in verses 21 and 22 of Chapter 5: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
Throughout the entire sermon it would seem that Jesus was demanding a change of thought on the part of his hearers in order that they might have a better and more productive sense of existence as the perfect children of perfect God. In the part of the sermon known as the Beatitudes, Jesus pointed out the qualities of thought that bring sure rewards of blessedness, such as receptivity, meekness, purity, mercy, peacemaking, and longsuffering.
That the Sermon on the Mount was one of the great influences in the preparation of Mrs. Eddy's thought for the full revelation of divine Science is shown in her reference to it in her Message to The Mother Church for 1901. Speaking of some of the Protestant clergymen who were her early teachers, she says (p. 32), "Such churchmen and the Bible, especially the First Commandment of the Decalogue, and Ninety-first Psalm, the Sermon on the Mount, and St. John's Revelation, educated my thought many years, yea, all the way up to its preparation for and reception of the Science of Christianity."
As the pure metaphysics, or spiritual truth, of the Christ Science unfolded to our Leader, she fully tested it before giving it to the world in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." The Bible, she has informed us, was her sole textbook and guide. Woven through every page of Science and Health, and also through her extensive prose writings, is the basic Christianity given by Christ Jesus in his mountaintop message.
Moreover, on page 271 of the textbook, our Leader refers to the Sermon on the Mount as the essence of Christian Science. Some dictionary meanings of "essence" are "the reality underlying phenomena"; "that by which anything subsists"; "the most important indispensable quality or constituent element of anything." Since Christian Science presents the Science of true healing and salvation, the basic elements of this Science must be found in the Sermon on the Mount.
The writer once had a healing and uplifting experience while studying the Sermon on the Mount. He had reached a point of great discouragement because of his failure to demonstrate Christian Science to the degree that he thought he should.
Through years of diligent study of the Bible and of Mrs. Eddy's writings, he felt that he had obtained somewhat of the letter and a bit of the spirit, yet he felt that there was some element lacking—perhaps there were some important metaphysical points that had eluded him. It seemed, as far as he was concerned, that he did not understand the Christ.
After reading the Sermon on the Mount on this particular occasion, he continued reading on into Chapter 8, which tells of Jesus coming down from the mount and of the multitudes following him and of a leper coming to him, saying (Matt. 8:2), "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." And the account continues: "And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
In a flash of spiritual light came the inspiring thought that the kind of thinking and reasoning that Jesus had used in the Sermon on the Mount was the same kind of thinking that healed the leper. The pure consciousness that saw the unreality of leprosy was the same consciousness that had discerned the facts of being—the spiritual qualities of real manhood—and shared them with others in this sermon.
To the writer the conclusion was obvious. There were no mysterious elements of metaphysical reasoning that were needed in order to heal or to be healed. The fundamental facts, the indispensable qualities, were all closely set forth in our Master's great message and fully revealed and explained in the Science of Christianity— Christian Science.
The great need, then, for the full demonstration of Christian Science is the faithful application of Jesus' practical teachings of God's fatherhood and man's sonship with Him. Our Leader saw this clearly, for she writes (Message for 1901, p. 11), "To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice."
Practicing Christian Science is not merely healing the sick or the sinful, nor is it the restoring of prosperity. It is the constant expression of the divine qualities which comprise the true selfhood of each one of us as God's expressions. We are successful demonstrators of the Christ, Truth, as we consistently live the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount.
