“Big Mistake; that’s going to really cost him!”  The Olympic sports commentator sounded  like he was going to blow a gasket.  I hit the “go back” button on my remote and slow-mo’d through the “big mistake.”  The runners on the bobsled had wobbled slightly, coming out of turn 5.  They are hurtling down the ice at better than 80 mph and one little wobble takes the whole team out of medal contention – by a few hundredths of a second!  “Sorry…  no medal for you.”  If you want to get onto the Olympic medal platform, you have to be nearly perfect.

Same thing with getting into heaven, according to Jesus.  In His day, the Pharisees were nearly perfect in following all the religious rules.  For example, when it came to figuring up their ten percent tithe, these guys actually counted the number of cumin seeds in their spice rack!  On the Pharisee bobsled team, there was hardly ever a wobble.  And yet, Jesus said:

For 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. (Matthew 5:20)

That’s a quote from the Sermon on the Mount.  If that freaks you out, you might be interested to know that Jesus began that sermon by telling who can get in to the Kingdom of Heaven.  It’s not the ones most people expect…

Let’s cut a few slices off the Sermon on the Mount and munch on them for a few days.  Up for that?  It’s good bread, I promise.  If you want to read ahead, it’s in Matthew 5.

Stay tuned, I’ll pull it out of the oven…