March 12, 2015
Matthew 5:1-16
Now
when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountain and He sat down. His disciples
gathered around Him. And He began to teach them.
Blessed are the spiritually
poor—the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who
mourn—they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek and gentle—they will inherit the
earth.
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness—they will be filled.
Blessed are the
merciful—they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are those who are
pure in heart—they will see God.
Blessed are the
peacemakers—they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are
persecuted because of righteousness—the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
And blessed are you, blessed are all of you, when people
persecute you or denigrate you or despise you or tell lies about you on My
account. But when this happens,
rejoice. Be glad. Remember that God’s prophets have been persecuted in the
past. And know that in heaven, you have a great reward.
You, beloved, are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes bland
and loses its saltiness, can anything make it salty again? No. It is useless. It is tossed out,
thrown away, or trampled.
And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop
cannot be hidden. Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it
under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a
chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light.
Let your light shine everywhere you go, that
you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good
actions, may see creation at its
fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your
Father in heaven because of it.
This is
the beginning of the teaching of Jesus recorded in the gospel of Matthew. Two chapters before we have the words
of John the Baptist calling the people to repent of their sins. It is interesting that instead of
cursing people or behaviors, Jesus told his followers how to live a blessed
life, and began his teaching by lifting up values of the new kingdom,
challenging the followers to look for people who are living like this, and be
like them.
These
are the people that Jesus lifted up as examples: the
poor, those who feel grief and loss, those who are gentle, merciful, and
compassionate, those who work for the common good, those who are open and
sincere, those who work for peace and reconciliation, and those who keep
seeking justice and refuse to back down.
These
aren’t the values of the world we live in! The world tells us to do everything we can to be rich and
powerful, spend as much time as we can thinking about ourselves and our
happiness, do whatever it takes to move up to a higher status, be aggressive to
get everything we want, strike back to get even, and guard our image so you’ll
always be popular.
Jesus
began his ministry by upsetting the status quo – and he calls us to follow that
example today. We can’t be
concerned with the norms of society; we must choose a different identity with
kingdom values. Jesus warns that when we live "inside-out" in an "upside-down" world, we will pay the price for that choice. People will lie about us, persecute us, and despise us. But
the price we pay will bring abundant life in God’s kingdom. That
new identity is to define who we are in the world.
We are to be the salt – like the salt that brings out the
best flavor in food, we should bring out the best in our community. Like salt, we will preserve the best,
and keep the world from "going bad".
We are
also to be the light – to destroy darkness by radiating health, goodness, and
well-being.
Let’s
prayerfully consider the kingdom values lifted up by Jesus as the ways we are
truly blessed. How can we be
salt? And how can we be light? If we accept this new identity offered
us, everything will change for us.
Everything will change!
Reflection by Brian McLaren. We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long
Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation. Jericho Books. 2014.
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