Since my conversion, I have become more aware of the resentment that so many people seem to harbor towards God and true Christianity. There are yard signs here in our neighborhood that are meant to show the homeowner’s absolute belief in science, choice, and diversity of everything—all things except a belief in God. As I walk in my neighborhood and see these signs, I find myself getting upset, but I know that I’ve got to rely only on God to deal with such matters; it is not my place to confront my neighbors. Still, it is frustrating because people don’t seem to learn. From Covid lockdown lies to riots that some still characterize as peaceful demonstrations; people become comfortable with their positions, speaking points and deception. It also seems that people are more interested in celebrating what humans can accomplish, rather than repenting and turning to God. 

To this point, on September 5, 1977, from a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida, a spacecraft named Voyager 1, lifted off on the start of a mission to deep space. I had just turned 20 at the time of launch, and was in the middle of college and fascinated by the space race that was initiated by the Soviet Union and President Kennedy’s challenge to take the US to the moon. Weighing just 1800 pounds, far less than most cars, and having only 470 watts of on-board power, this spacecraft has been on the job each day for nearly 50 years.

A 1960s proposal for a space tour to study the outer planets led NASA to begin work on a mission during the early 1970s. Initially, Voyager 1 was planned as Mariner 11 of the Mariner program. Due to budget cuts, the mission was reduced to a flyby of Jupiter and Saturn and renamed the Mariner Jupiter-Saturn probes. The name was changed to Voyager when the probe designs began to differ substantially from the Mariner mission. Currently, it is roughly 16 billion miles away from Earth, and while its mission was initially intended to last only about five years, it will continue to send data for at least a few more years.

In 2012, Voyager 1 entered Interstellar Space—the distant zones of cold and deep space between the stars. On March 31, 2006, amateur radio operators in Germany tracked and received radio waves from Voyager 1 using the 20-meter (66 ft) dish at Bochum with a long integration technique. Retrieved data was checked and verified against data from the Deep Space Network station at Madrid, Spain. This seems to be the first such amateur tracking of Voyager.

It is interesting how much interest there is in wanting to reach out to deep space and somehow connect with the unknown. To this end, Voyager 1 included a gold-plated record that held music and speeches from notable people of the day. The record was curated by the astronomer, Carl Sagan. Mr. Sagan was famous for his belief only in science, rather than God—The Creator of the universe. 

The point of the golden record sent on Voyager was intended to be a message from Earth’s scientific and political establishment into deep space. The point being that mankind exists and is in control here on Earth. Humankind desires power and to control. This is of course rather than making a connection with the Creator of the universe. Consider the contrast with this worldview in David’s writings in Psalm 19:1-2: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge” (New International Version throughout). 

Voyager 1 has been collecting interesting data that has helped science better understand our own planet. It has also recorded similar information from the planets and deep space. However, remember, when we receive this information back on Earth, it is already in the past. As true Christians, we are focused on the promise of the coming Kingdom of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. We know that ultimately science and technology, no matter how impressive, pales in the face of God and His majesty. Consider just how this will unfold, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Those who have been called by God need not rely on Voyager 1 “to touch the face of God,” as Ronald Reagan spoke, following the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. In Psalm 29:3-4, we read that “The Voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.” This is reinforced for us in Job 37:5: “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.”

If we, as true Christians wish to develop deeper wisdom, we simply need to ask God. We see this in James 1:5-6: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

It is not my intention to demean the work of NASA and many independent scientists and academics. Clearly, they did impressive work in keeping Voyager 1 in orbit for nearly 50 years when its mission was designed to conclude decades ago. This has been inspired work indeed; however, it is not the voice of God that will be heard in any of the data.

We need only turn to God to unlock the majesty of the universe that God created—we need only to believe and trust in God and as we read in Psalm 46:10 where He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Our Bibles contain a wealth of information and are the only structure that can make a positive and lasting difference in our lives. In my Pentecost Offertory message, I referenced the Sermon on the Mount as presented by our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a brief mention and I knew that I needed to delve far deeper into the Sermon and the intention that Jesus had in presenting this groundbreaking message. Jesus used roughly only 2300 words to deliver the lesson of a lifetime for His followers and ultimately the whole world.  

The Sermon on the Mount, covered in Matthew 5-7, comprises the most compelling and foundational teachings that we as true Christians can rely on as our life’s compass. Why is that? The Sermon is indeed foundational and builds on the structure established by God the Father when He, through Jesus Christ, directed Moses to accept and share the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 19:20 (New International Version throughout), we read: “The LORD [that is, Jesus Christ] descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, ‘Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish.” Then, in Chapter 20:1-17, God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, delivers the ten simple but vital commandments for His chosen people to adhere to. 

When Jesus ascended the Horns of Hattin, west of the Sea of Galilee, and roughly 1,000 feet above the Town of Capernaum where He had been building His ministry, He began by defining the qualities that characterize how true followers of Christ should conduct themselves. This portion of the Sermon is referred to as the Beatitudes. In Matthew 5:3-16, Jesus specifically established the standards such as being a peacemaker, being humble, thirsting for righteousness, and being merciful. He went on to clarify that His followers would never hide their faith from the world, but shine forth as a lamp, and as a brilliant and righteous city on a hill. Jesus taught the people assembled on that mountainside about the appropriate love one must have towards one another, as well as a moral underpinning that was lacking not just in the Roman government of the day, but also with the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders in power, whose focus on their own wealth and position was antithetical to God’s commandments. Jesus was also illustrating that obedience to God’s Law would be impossible without total reliance and obedience to God, and the intercession and sacrifice that only He could make.

However, having made His opening remarks, Jesus made an interesting point by establishing the connection between His teaching and that moment on Mt. Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments from Him. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus is quite clear: “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Here, Jesus was reinforcing His connection with the Father and the Law. He was doing all that He was sent by the Father to do; He was illustrating that the Commandments of God are grounded in the purest sense of agape love. This is the unconditional love and care for another’s well-being, regardless of their backgrounds. This is difficult for us as human beings, and yet it is required that we work towards the perfection of Jesus and the Father as true Christians. Again, unless we rely on the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Father, this would not be possible for us.

In Matthew 5:9, we see Jesus specifically mentioning the importance of seeking peace in this world: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” We cannot seek peace and pursue it if we are focused on and aiding the wars of this world. We must not be involved with the political and economic structures that directly and indirectly breed hatred, mistrust and fuel war. 

Jesus stood on that mountainside and without the trappings of power and authority, He established a new world order, and, just as He dealt with the money changers in the Temple, the so-called religious leaders of the day would learn that this Man of peace would not accept the hypocrisy of their world. Jesus’ disciples understood that this was a Man of peace and justice, but also the Messiah who would not compromise to get along in this world. 

Jesus taught selflessness, empathy, and humility, and He cautioned that even the mere thought of the actions that were prohibited by the Ten Commandments were equal in the eyes of God to the act itself. Murderous and adulterous thoughts, wickedness of mind and spirit, and taking no action to help when others are in need are indeed sinful. Therefore, obeying the Father could not be reduced to self-righteous adherence to rules, rituals, and regulations. Jesus Christ, on behalf of God the Father, gave the fleeing Israelites the Ten Commandments so His people could draw closer to Him. God the Father then sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to intercede on our behalf and bear our sins so that we can have a relationship with Him forever in the Kingdom.

Jesus showed that the spirit of the Law would now be equally important with adherence to the Law. This then established a new longitudinal and spiritual meridian extending from Mt. Sinai, to the mountain west of Galilee upon which Jesus presented His Sermon. The connection between the Old Testament books such as Exodus were brought right to that hillside, and Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, just as He said in Matthew 5:17. 

Jesus also made clear the importance of establishing the daily need for prayer to the Father. Jesus intercedes with the Father on our behalf, and in Matthew 6:9-13, He established the Lord’s Prayer as an outline and as a way for us to connect with God the Father with sincerity, humility, and shows us the way to live our daily lives in a God-centered, rather than worldly manner.

Jesus also establishes what many of us learned from parents and grandparents as the Golden Rule. Simply stated: Do unto others as we would have done to us. He covered this perfectly in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Again, Jesus here reinforces His connection to the Laws of God, and therefore fulfills the words of the Prophets.

True Christians will recognize the Sermon on the Mount as the most consequential message, from the most significant Being that ever existed on this earth. Roughly 2300 words contained in 109 verses (NIV) and as Jesus said: “…it sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

The Sermon on the Mount was a direct gift and lesson from God through His Son, Jesus Christ. We must honor this gift by studying it and living by these lessons.

As members of the Church of the Eternal God, we each have a commission to obey God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and also to honor our calling by protecting ourselves from sin. We can do this by living faithfully and avoiding evil in our lives. We cannot however lock ourselves away; we live in this world that Satan controls, and therefore we must protect ourselves through prayer and obedience to God. We must distance ourselves from the enemy.

I recently read an account as to how the young Continental Militia sought to protect the new American nation from the British forces. They could not avoid the British presence as the colonies had been governed by England and the King. The new nation had declared independence from Britain in 1776, but the British were unrelenting in their efforts to quell this uprising. The ill-equipped American force realized that fighting such a powerful enemy was often not as effective as avoiding them in the first place. When we are baptized into God’s true Church we recognize that we are joining a spiritual battle against evil, and yet the only way to win such a battle is to rely wholeheartedly on God and never impede Him.

Much as we must protect our hearts and minds by avoiding Satan, it is interesting that the new American militia sought to protect their strategic fortress of West Point, NY, by avoiding the enemy, rather than being desirous of engaging in battle. As the first buds of springtime of 1778 began to emerge, and the ice on the Hudson River in New York State began to break up, the under-powered continental troops of the new republic sought to defend against the British Navy and land forces. The historic West Point Military Academy was constructed at a strategic, yet vulnerable point along the Hudson River. The river provided a barrier between the New England territory and the rest of the Middle Atlantic region of the young nation. The military academy sits atop the cliffs on the west bank of the Hudson, and although the site was defensible to a degree, it was impossible to stop the British from making their way up-river, leaving most of New York and New England susceptible to attacks and sabotage.

A British engineer, aiding the continental forces, designed a 650-yard linked chain that would be laid across the Hudson from West Point to a small island, now known as Constitution Island. Imagine a necklace of iron, but then consider that each link weighed in at 114 pounds and was 2 feet in length. Some 750 separate links comprised the 65-ton chain that would be lowered and raised much as a ship’s anchor, to admit friendly vessels or repel the British warships. The fledgling American force installed the chain each spring/summer from 1778, until it ceased to be needed in 1782. This was referred to as Washington’s Watch Chain, euphemistically nodding to the new president’s pocket watch. The chain’s sole purpose was avoidance and protection rather than engagement.

Washington and his men stood watch and protected the new nation, and as true Christians, we must also protect our hearts and spiritual lives from the enemy. We know that we can all too easily become ensnared in sinful ways, including relying on our own abilities, as we see in Jude 6: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…”

Additionally, consider  2 Peter 2:4-6: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly…”

When we repent and rely on God, we are released from the bondage of sin. We understand that our freedom and safety was purchased by God through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and so we read in Romans 6:18: “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” We know that sin can be like a bear trap that we stumble into; we did not intend to place ourselves in that position, but we must ask ourselves how we might have avoided the situation and similarly, sin. Consider the wisdom contained in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We must be proactive and work, but also never place ourselves in that bear trap of sin. Again, we should guard our spiritual lives as aggressively as we protect our bodies from illness and injury. We recall the words of Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The message is straightforward; in order to protect ourselves from sin, we need to be mindful of our actions and intentions and always guard against and avoid evil.

Being aware of the progression of sin is another good way to protect oneself. We see this clearly in James 1:15: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” As true Christians, we pray consistently for strength to remain faithful to God the Father and to Jesus Christ and to do as we read in Ephesians 6:10-11: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

We do not need a massive iron chain to avoid sin; we simply need the power and majesty of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and to follow the commandments to lead us to safety and eternal Life in the Kingdom.