Sermon for July 12, 2026
A reflection on Matthew 5:20: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The scribes and Pharisees kept the law carefully, but they were missing the right heart behind it. Christianity is concerned not only with what we do but with why we do it, like the widow’s mite and the good Samaritan who gave without counting the cost. God loves us not because we deserve it but because He chooses to, and when the great theologian Karl Barth was asked to sum up his life’s work, he answered, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”