Good Morning Friends,
Being a Christian means being different than all the rest of the eggs. We have been set apart for a purpose full of the Holy Spirit and fortunate in ways that baffle the world. Embracing this mindset frees us to do amazing things even to certify today’s question in the affirmative even in the face of opposition. So, Have You Been Blessed By God’s Grace To Succeed With A Christian Attitude Of Being?
Scripture: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
2 Corinthians 1:1-7 (NRSV)
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)
Message: The world may not see it this way but, you are blessed to be a Christian. That is not what the original term conveyed. It was meant as a derision. The qualities outlined in the Beatitudes, though not a rite of entry into the Christian church, are elements of being a follower and fruit bearer of Jesus as surely as love, joy, and peace, shared the Spirit. But if we are honest, we must admit that the picture is not of an easy ride and might well involve some degree of suffering. For if we lack these Beatitude graces in our lives, we must seriously examine our own hearts, and see whether we are truly building our lives on the rock of our salvation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation is Jesus, and that standard is better than gold. It is the highest ideal of life that we attain in Christ and it is very different from the world’s standards. What I am referring to is the very grace of God having our back in the process of our collective transformation. Thankfully all the Beatitudes belong to all of Christ’s people, not just to an elite few. These words are for the church of Jesus Christ, built upon the rock. These words are for the redeemed, for those who are salt and light. However, if we willingly accept the blessings, we must also embrace the responsibilities. Friends, the followers of Jesus are the poor in spirit, who mourn for their sins. We are to be the meek, who hunger and thirst after righteousness. We are to be merciful, and pure-hearted. Yes Christians, we are to be peaceful, yet persecuted. We are to possess the kingdom of heaven and receive comfort. Friends, Christians are the true heirs of the earth, and shall be satisfied. Christians shall obtain mercy and meet with God face to face. Christians shall be revealed as the true sons of God, and possessors of heaven itself. Indeed, if we are really Christians, we will be sanctified in all these blessings. We will be backed up by God and approved for a holy purpose. We will have an attitude that rejoice in all things.
And So, we can count on grace because God is faithful and trustworthy, but we also must realize that being filled with the Spirit is not enough and that the world might not see our lives as grace at all. We must work at being successful in the community of the faithful beyond personal success. In fact, we are not called to be successful at all, but faithful. Still, we are to work, using our talents to glorify God, serve the common good, and further God’s kingdom in a way that brings us joy and, in a way, the greatest of successes. Yet, because we will be held accountable for following God’s purposes and not our own, we must stay focused realizing that God gives us what we need to accomplish the tasks we have been assigned. This is why we need to build up God’s house from the inside as a house of grace. But know this, if were not living in God’s growing, transforming, liberating, sustaining, restoring, and amazing grace, and then extending the same grace to others, then we are living outside the will and way of God. We are to understand and apply and be a witness to God’s mercy as essential to this purpose and that it was intended to upgrade our collective existence and save us for an even greater blessing of the love and promise of Jesus. Friends, we do not deserve any blessing especially one from God, but it is God’s love and grace offers the gift to us anyway. So be thankful for the offer of grace and the power of the promise.
Pray we are blessed to be endowed with fullness of divine favor. Pray we are sanctified and console each other so we might be effectively deployed for a purpose glorifying God. Pray we realize that the Lord is faithful, and shall establish us, and keep us from evil. Pray we realize that only God is going to care more about us and our souls than we do. Pray therefor that we are merciful as God is merciful. Pray we are pure of heart, worthy of being called disciples of Christ. Pray we are peacemakers even in the face of persecution. Pray we are thankful for the challenges of life and the spiritual resources provided by God to help us to deal with them. Pray we keep our eyes on the goal and persevere in the faith. Pray we not put our purposes above God’s purposes. Pray that even though we fail to keep all the morality found in the Beatitudes that God still has our backs so we too might grow in love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 
Good morning Brother John, always a good way to start my morning with the Scripture and your blog. Today you used a passage that I have come to see as critical for Christian thinking and living. I even delivered a sermon on that passage this past year. With your permission, I will piggy-back on your blog and share it here. If you don’t want to give that permission…. just delete it. Blessings my friend.
Houston Memorial PCUSA
November 8, 2020
Jeremiah 1.4-8
Matthew 5.1-20
Rev. Malcolm King
All eyes were on Jesus… looking up the mountain they could see him patiently waiting for everyone to get settled… and slowly, but surely, the crowd quieted. One by one the voices hushed, in anticipation of learning more about this Rabbi who seems not only to know such much, but to care even more for people who feel lonely, outcast, and hopeless. Eventually the only thing that could be heard was the whispering of the wind rolling down the mountain and out over the water.
Then, without any warning… he began to speak…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Heads nodded in affirmation. This is what the Scriptures have said, and this is what rabbis have taught for centuries. The Jews are God’s chosen people… a unique people whom God has called to be holy as He is holy. For generations their families have read (and meditated on) the Torah and the Prophets… and they can sing the Psalms without hymnbooks.
But the people also know how hard it is to really be “poor in spirit”… to walk humbly and not feel superior to others. It is not a path easy to walk… at least not if one is honest with oneself. Then he offers another teaching from the Scriptures…
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Again heads nod, and perhaps, because they are Jews and not Presbyterians, there is an Amen or two. However, most of those gathered know what it is to mourn… to feel a sense of loss because of their illness, or the poor health of a friend or a loved one. But in the back of their minds was this question… How long O Lord? How long do we have to mourn, to cry seemingly in vain, until we are comforted?
But before they can ask for clarification he continues on… and on… and on… until he has offered a list of sayings that, years later, are named the Beatitudes. Some people call these sayings, the Christian 10 Commandments… but those gathered on that mountainside know they are but examples of what living might be like for someone who takes the 10 Commandments seriously.
When he gets to the end of this list, the crowd is almost electric. With each saying, with each pronouncement about what we can have, if we only work for it… the crowd becomes more excited. Along with the amens, and Hallelujahs here and there, some of them are ready to charge up that mountain and make him their King (as if the Romans or the Jewish authorities would allow it).
Like Jesus, the crowd knows that to be blessed means more than getting a gift from God… it means being happy and content in one’s current situation… it also means being joyful in life, no matter what the circumstance. But there is also more to these observations that this unusual Rabbi has shared with them.
If-then clauses, which are what these Beatitudes are in reality, suggest that we can gain whatever we want in life, if only we follow the rules. If we do this, then we will gain that. If we don’t do this, then all gifts are forfeited. It seems simple enough, and it promises some sense of control in a world we know (from experience) is totally out of our control. If-then living allows us to validate those whom we think are good, and judge those whom we think are not good. If-then living keeps us in camps that love some and push others away.
Jesus has this crowd right where he wants them… he has hooked them by showing them that he knows how they think… how they have been taught to live, generation after generation. They are totally locked into what he is saying, so he moves on to part 2 of his sermon.
“You are the salt of the earth…”
“You are the light of the world…”
No matter where anyone was sitting on that mountain… whether it was the 12 sitting close by… the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees who had gotten the next best seats… or if it was the sickest of the sick or the poorest of the poor… everyone turned and looked at one another as if it say…
“What… did you hear what I heard? Did he really say what I think he said?”
Where is the if-then? Who is he talking about when he says “You?” Surely he can’t be talking about all of us?
I think they knew what he was suggesting, but it was too preposterous for them to take in. Surely he doesn’t mean all of us. Surely he is only talking about those who want to be salt and light. And what might it take to be that?
But Jesus was dead serious.
What he was suggesting is that each of us is just like the prophet Jeremiah. Before God ever began forming us in our mother’s belly, He knew us… and He still knows us. And before we were born, He sanctified us and drew up a plan for our lives… and we are still seeing that plan unfold… one day at a time.
This radical sermon of Jesus proposes that we don’t have to do this or that to become salt and light in this world. God has placed us where we are to preserve and protect and to give taste to everyone and every situation where we find ourselves. God has breathed life into each of us so that we can shine a light into the dark corners of the world… even the deepest reaches of the universe, if we follow the Greek of Matthew’s text closely.
The truth then, that afternoon on the mountainside… and the truth now in this small Church in East Tennessee… is that we would really rather bow out, instead of jumping into what we think is the frying pan. If-then thinking allows us to say… well, I don’t have the money, or the time… or I’m too old and not educated enough… or, like Jeremiah, I’m too young… don’t expect too much of me.
“You don’t have a choice,” says Jesus, “you are salt… you are light. Deal with it”
Now, I believe Jesus meant that this is true for each and every one of us… but the grammar does give us a small way out, if we want to take it. Unlike English, Greek has different words for “you” when it is meant to be singular or plural. In this case, when Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” he is using the plural form of you… better said in Tennessee… y’all.
However, let me also note that the if-then clauses of the Beatitudes are also all plural. What all this suggests to me, is that what Jesus is sharing in this sermon is not just a template for holy living, but a reminder that none of us is ever alone… nor can we ever be what God has created us to be on our own.
Together, we can help one another keep our flavor… we can help one another be what God intends us to be. I happen to know for a fact that it is hard to really see ourselves and our potential unless someone else points it out to us. We can help one another be a light that doesn’t burn out, or get hidden. We can help one another shine as never before, especially if we combine our lights and let them shine together in the dark.
This would be a good place to stop a sermon… but Jesus doesn’t… so I can’t… so… bear with me just a bit longer.
In the event you think I have made a mistake about the Beatitudes being the “hook” in this sermon, and that the salt and light statement is his true message… let me point you to the last part of the passage we read a few minutes ago.
Jesus knows he has shocked everyone on the mountain… the twelve disciples included. He knows that some will think that he has stopped preaching and gone to meddling… others, like the religious gurus there, will think he is simply a heretic and this teaching needs to be put out before it becomes a wild fire. So he offers this disclaimer…
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (better yet… to complete!)
Jesus knows that we think we must live in either an if-then reality or… in a reality where we are just what God intends us to be, and we are just where God intends us to be. Jesus says we are wrong. It is a both-and situation… not an either-or choice. Like Jeremiah, if (or when) we go where God is sending us, we will experience conflict, doubt, perhaps even be persecuted for standing up for our Lord and Savior.
If-then thinking tricks us into thinking we can control the world around us, even when we know we cannot even control ourselves. But… if-then thinking is how we are wired. Salt-light thinking allows us to see that we are holy as God is holy… if only for brief moments in time. Both are a part of who we are… to think we can choose one and ignore the other only interferes with our joy and happiness as God’s children.
There is a reason Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet (or as I like to call him, the reluctant prophet). Even when he says what God has told him to say, and even when he does what God tells him to do, he gets into trouble. At times he wants out… he wants to be something other than salt or light… but God won’t let him off the hook… neither will God let us go.
There is more to this mountain top sermon that Jesus preaches… but the rest of his sermon is made up of examples he offers as to what if-then living looks like, and how salt and light living takes us beyond that. I encourage you to go home and read the rest of chapters 5-7 for yourself and see if I am on target. In fact, check out the rest of Matthew’s Gospel in light of this sermon… I think you will see that his entire message is built around what salt and light living might look like. Check it out… you might like it.
May God’s Spirit help us all discover that we have been blessed, so that we might be a blessing.
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Great Read Malcolm! Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Daily DevotionalsSent: Monday, June 7, 2021 7:34 AMTo: johnlawsonjohnfl@gmail.comSubject: [Daily Devotionals] Comment: "Have You Been Blessed By Godâs Grace To Succeed With A Christian Attitude Of Being?"
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