A single day in your courts is better than
A thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
Than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
Psalms 84:10
Reading : Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus started his ministry he was widely popular. His ministry had started gathering a large following. Jesus had healed many people from all kinds of sicknesses. Sick people came to him from all over the country side. Large crowds were following him wherever he went. He traveled throughout Galilee spreading the good news. His message was pretty clear and simple - he was asking the people to repent - turn away from their sins and to turn to God. He told them to have a complete change in their attitude to life.
This message is still equally applicable today. Christ wants us to not pursue a lifestyle that will eventually destroy us, but to pursue one that will eventually draw us closer to the heart of God and give us hope, joy and peace with God. He was showing us how to find true happiness through faithful obedience of the heart. Those who draw near to God, God will draw near to them.
In the midst of this potentially large ministry where Jesus could have become a prosperous and prominent leader, he called his disciples aside and expounded the beatitudes to them. (Mathew 5:1-12) He told them not to be carried away by the ways of the world but as his followers they had a different path to follow. He wants them to be beacons of light in word and deed to his followers. The Beatitudes were Christ’s rules of life to live by for his disciples. He told them that those who were closest to the heart of God were those who were most dependent on God’s will in their lives.
The word blessed means to be happy. Where do we derive our happiness? Jesus ascribed happiness to people who faced hunger, mourning, rejection, ridicule, falsel accusations, and death because they remained faithful to God and stood for truth, equality and justice. The blessings can also be our attitudes. Paul describes it as our mindset (Be- Attitudes - Philippians 2:5). Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Mahatma Gandhi are some of the world leaders in our recent past who greatly admired the beatitudes expounded by Jesus and fought for the rights of the poor and downtrodden.They had to pay a heavy price.
Jesus’s views were in many ways countercultural. They challenged the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He exalted those who were poor in the eyes of the world. The disciples had proved their faith and dependence on Jesus, when they dropped everything they were doing to follow him. They really owned nothing in the world, but had access to everything that God could offer them through Jesus.
Some of the early fathers of our faith saw the beatitudes as a ladder. We start with the first beatitude as the lowest rung and start climbing upwards. The beatitudes can be seen as a journey taken step by step. We cannot stake claim to one spiritual attribute here and reject another one there. It is to be viewed as a whole and not dissected into different parts. Initially most of the teachings of Christ did not make sense to the disciples. But after the brutal crucifixion and death of Christ, they started seeing his teachings in the light of his life as a suffering servant and son of God.
As Christ’s disciples what are the things we aspire for? What is our hearts desire? What are the comforts that we can’t go without? Do we aspire for wealth, power and prestige more than we do to draw near to the heart of God?
Hymn :
- There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.- Refrain:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God;
Hold us, who wait before Thee,
Near to the heart of God.
- Refrain:
- There is a place of comfort sweet,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where we our Savior meet,
Near to the heart of God. - There is a place of full release,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God.
Author of the Hymn - Cleland B. McAfee, 1903
3 comments:
Everyone is happy with a faith ministry that brings healing and helping. Problems start when you ask people to change.It is easy to believe when our faith lead us to prosperity not poverty. As we tend to equate commitment to the road of success and prosperity.
Sermon on the mt is a good ladder but for many it is unrealistic?
For that reason one great scholar called the Sermon on the Mount "The Ordination Address to the Twelve." Just as a young minister has his task set out before him, when he is called to his first charge, so the Twelve received from Jesus their ordination address before they. went out to their task. It is for that reason that other scholars have given other titles to the Sermon on the Mount. It has been called "The Compendium of Christ's Doctrine," "The Magna Charta of the Kingdom," "The Manifesto of the King." All are agreed that in the Sermon on the Mount we have the essence of the teaching of Jesus to the inner circle of his chosen men.
The only consolation which mitigates and even sweetens the bitterness of the cross and of all afflictions, is the conviction, that we are happy in the midst of miseries: for our patience is blessed by the Lord, and will soon be followed by a happy result.
Christ prove that they are in the wrong, who measure the happiness of man by the present state, because the distresses of the godly will soon be changed for the better; but Christ also exhorts his own people to patience, by holding out the hope of a reward.
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