03/20/2023
I enjoyed Pastor Jessica’s sermon Sunday in which she looks at the Sermon on the Mount, and specifically the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 as “a map of where we can find Jesus.” Listening to her exploration of where and how we might best discover Jesus, Jessica did point out his unique identification with the poor and hurting of our world. It reminded me of the following from a Catholic theologian and churchwoman.
Author Monika Hellwig suggests that there may be a reason that the Hebrew and Christian God consistently goes out of His way to lift up the poor and their plight. She offers a variety of “advantages” that she’s put into the beatitude format famously used by Jesus. After all, those beatitudes—both in Luke and Matthew begin with “Blessed are the poor….”
Blessed are the poor for they rest their security not on things but on people.
Blessed are the poor because they do not have an exaggerated sense of their own importance, nor an exaggerated need for privacy.
Blessed are the poor because they expect little from competition and much from cooperation.
Blessed are the poor because they can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
Blessed are the poor because they already know that with God’s help it is possible to survive great suffering and want.
Blessed are the poor because when the gospel is preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a scolding.
Blessed are the poor because they are free to respond to the call of Jesus with abandon. The poor are especially blessed because they have so little to lose and almost everything to gain.
I think if Jesus were speaking to us today, in person, he’d close this list of blessings with: “Blessed are the well-off who come to the aid of the poor and blessed are the poor who aid the well-off in seeing the good news in a new light.”
*I excerpted and ‘beatitudized’ this from Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew
Archived Posts
Such A Rich Passage (Luke 19:1-10)
I reflected a lot on the passage about Zacchaeus because it has been written off as “been there, read that, little guy in a tree.” But it is so rich in getting to the heart of what it means to be saved by grace through faith—to live our lives out of gratitude rather than obligation.
The Power of Presence
This last Sunday I had so much more to share than time to share it. The last Emotional Management Technique was to stay present in the process. Just as Jesus stayed with the woman who was judged and found guilty by the angry crowd, we stay by our children and our friends, especially when they need us the most. Here a couple of examples...
What’s In A Benediction?
Last Sunday I used one of my favorite benedictions.
It was inspired by a saying from about ten years ago:
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
There are several powerful and evocative artworks that depict the scene from Mark 9:14–29, where Jesus heals a boy possessed by an unclean spirit... Some of the following have internet links, the others are worth googling. Enjoy!
The Gift of Ourselves As A Gift of Love
The more the giving of myself costs me something, the greater the power of the gift. You know I love quotes, so after a little research, let me share a few of my favorites on this very subject:
The Loss of a Great Christian Leader
The death today of Pope Francis was particularly poignant, falling as it did on the day after Easter. As Protestant Christians we have a once removed interest in the leader of the Roman Catholic church. Yet the pope is the authoritative leader of 1.4 billion women and men around the world. It is worth our time to pause and consider what kind of man and what kind of legacy Pope Francis left behind.
Everything You Wanted To Know About Judas Iscariot
(Drawn from online sources)