This week's preaching Scripture is from the Gospel of St. Matthew, the 5th chapter -- a familiar text, to be sure: the Beautitudes (5:1-12).
These are the "Blessed are the _____________, for _________________ . . . you can fill in the blanks.
Jesus was in teaching mode here, according to Matthew. There were lots of people hungry to hear him, and ready to listen. These are, according to the Evangelist, the first words of Christian teaching. Real disciples follow them. Divine commandments, as it were, calling for a higher kind of right-living that sets those who follow apart from others who do not.
Proposition: Jesus sets a really, really high standard of behavior for his disciples.
Question: Is it too high for us to follow, even too high to aim for?
Here's what I think:
Christian discipleship is not easy. It never was meant to be. Look what happened to Jesus the Christ himself? Things didn't exactly turn out so well for him in human terms.
If we don't aim for this standard of behavior, we are not truly his disciples. That seems pretty clear. Yet we are pulled constantly away from this kind of "blessedness". It is very, very hard.
The only example we have of how it is done, truly, is with Jesus himself.
Blessed are -- the poor in spirit . . . if your heart hurts, there is hope, he said;
Blessed are -- those who mourn . . . in loss there will be healing, he promised;
Blessed are -- the meek . . . but meek does not equal doormat, he lived;
Blessed are -- those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . you are the real agents of change, and he was;
Blessed are -- the merciful . . . it costs us nothing, he said;
Blessed are the pure in heart . . . for God has a soft spot for optimists, he believed;
Blessed are the peacemakers . . . because sometimes real peace means division, he knew;
And so on . . . .
Do we even have a shot of fulfilling his charge in these powerful, ancient, popular words?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
"Talk amongst yourselves . . . ".
Welcome to this blog. It is a new venture for me as I come kicking and screaming into the technology now available to us in the 21st century. I realize it is one more very useful tool in widening the conversation about life together in light of the Word of God and our faith journey. But, I thank you in advance for your patience. My purpose herein is listening. I want to hear and really LISTEN to what you have to say about and for the sermons I hope we share. To this end, I would simply like to offer two things each week:
1.)A proposition -- based on the Scriptural text for the upcoming Sunday;
and
2.) An observation -- based on same.
From there, it is up to you to respond and I hope you do. No word from you will go unnoticed or unappreciated, I promise as well. For we are all bound by the Living Word that is the grounding of our faith, Word that breathes and challenges, cajoles and perplexes, amuses and confounds us because it is grounded in God and LIFE -- and God's own abundant life.
I hope this adventure is both informative and creative. I thank you for your time and your interest. I look so forward to hearing your 'word' as well.
So, week one -- here goes:
In Matthew's text this week, 4:12-23, Jesus calls his first disciples.
Proposition: He meets them exactly where they are -- fishing, working, sweating, LIVING.
Obviously, he sees something in them that they don't see or are unaware of, and what he sees in them he likes, no -- loves, and he knows they can be useful to his own work and the Kingdom of God. They follow "immediately" and seemingly without question. So, one might draw the conclusion that they in turn, meet him where he is -- and see something in him that pulls them in his direction without the slightest reservation.
How did he know to do that, to call those men at that time? (And don't cop out by saying "he was God." He was human, too.) And, how did they know to trust enough to respond?
Finally, what is it that keeps us from doing the same in our relationships with one another -- meeting others where they are and accepting, seeing beyond the obvious to the deeper promise of the possibilities of relationship they may possess?
What's your observation?
a.
1.)A proposition -- based on the Scriptural text for the upcoming Sunday;
and
2.) An observation -- based on same.
From there, it is up to you to respond and I hope you do. No word from you will go unnoticed or unappreciated, I promise as well. For we are all bound by the Living Word that is the grounding of our faith, Word that breathes and challenges, cajoles and perplexes, amuses and confounds us because it is grounded in God and LIFE -- and God's own abundant life.
I hope this adventure is both informative and creative. I thank you for your time and your interest. I look so forward to hearing your 'word' as well.
So, week one -- here goes:
In Matthew's text this week, 4:12-23, Jesus calls his first disciples.
Proposition: He meets them exactly where they are -- fishing, working, sweating, LIVING.
Obviously, he sees something in them that they don't see or are unaware of, and what he sees in them he likes, no -- loves, and he knows they can be useful to his own work and the Kingdom of God. They follow "immediately" and seemingly without question. So, one might draw the conclusion that they in turn, meet him where he is -- and see something in him that pulls them in his direction without the slightest reservation.
How did he know to do that, to call those men at that time? (And don't cop out by saying "he was God." He was human, too.) And, how did they know to trust enough to respond?
Finally, what is it that keeps us from doing the same in our relationships with one another -- meeting others where they are and accepting, seeing beyond the obvious to the deeper promise of the possibilities of relationship they may possess?
What's your observation?
a.
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