27 Feb 2011 “Consider These” Matthew 6:24-34

27 Feb 2011     “Consider These”       Matthew 6:24-34

 I read recently about a man named Anthony. Anthony was on the waiting list for a heart transplant. He awoke each morning with the knowledge that at any time, his cell phone could ring with the news that a donor heart had become available, and he would be whisked off to the hospital for transplant surgery.

 He also knew that at any time his seriously damaged heart might give out. Because his immune system was so fragile, Anthony was cautious about exposure to germs, since having even a mild infection would be enough to delay the transplant that he so desperately needed. Each day involved a carefully monitored routine of medication, diet, and limited exertion.

 For Anthony, life was a waiting game. He did what he could to follow his doctor’s orders and prolong his chances of staying alive until a heart became available. Anthony also lived with the gnawing awareness that his hopes for life would only come with the death of another person.

He certainly had much to be anxious about. Like anyone who faces a serious health issue, Anthony was concerned for the future. He worried about what would happen to him and what that would mean for his family. Only 48, Anthony had much to live for. He was looking forward to his son’s wedding and his daughter’s graduation from college. He was frustrated that he was unable to work, and longed for the day when he would have enough energy again to do the physical activities that he used to enjoy. He worried each day that he would receive a heart in time, yet he tried not to think about what kind of tragic accident might lead to someone losing their life for his.

 Anthony prayed, and he grounded his anxiousness in scripture. He kept an index card propped up against the napkin holder on his kitchen table. On it he had written these words from Matthew’s gospel: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

 Anthony found comfort and reassurance in those verses. He repeated them often, committing them to memory. Whenever the waves of fear or worry arose, Anthony recalled these words that he had come to know by heart. They reminded him that he was loved by God, and that no mater what happened, he could trust in God’s steady care for him. They reminded him that he was of infinite worth and value in God’s eyes, and that God would watch over him and be with him.

  Anthony also took comfort in Jesus’ teaching and promise, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

 The Reverend Julie Kanarr has written about this passage, to remind us, “In our living and in our dying, we belong to God; God will not abandon us to face our troubles alone. Indeed, our hopes for life do rest with the death of another. Jesus Christ. The suffering and death of Jesus on the cross brings life to us. Through his death and resurrection, Christ proclaims that death does not have the last word for our lives. Trusting in that promise, we can face our struggles with the confidence and hope that God stands with us, with grace sufficient for each day.”

  There are times when I wonder about the wisdom of this truth. I can certainly follow the line of thinking. I can agree with the reasoning behind not being anxious. But, I wonder, does Jesus not know about our modern world. Does he not know about our entire industry of helping drugs created because of our inability to avoid anxiety? Does Jesus not realize that Western economies depend on massive spending on things we do not actually need?

 Truthfully, aren’t some things worth being anxious about? Providing for ones’ family, securing a viable future for our children’s children, finding peace between nations, aren’t these things worth our anxiety?

 Jesus has a simple one word answer for us, NO. First, we must realize that this reading to “not worry” is not a suggestion, it is a command. Jesus really wants us to know, we are not to worry about our life. We are to fear nothing.

 I have read that this is the most often repeated command in the bible. When angels appear to announce the incarnation, they tell Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, “Fear not.” When the disciples see the majesty of Jesus’ grandeur, he has to follow up very quickly with a caution against fear. When Jesus is taken from them, whether in his death or when he ascends to heaven, he comforts his followers against fear.

  While the command to not be afraid is the most often repeated command in the bible, it is also the least obeyed. Verse 32 tells us, “Do not worry, that’s what Gentiles do.”

I must confess, being simply told NOT to worry is somewhat irksome and a bit patronizing. Don’t our feelings count for something? Does saying, “Therefore do not worry,” take away the worry? No, it doesn’t, does it.

 Jesus, it seems wants to bring this troubling command to us personally. Just when we feel good about how we have developed an unmovable and frantic look about ourselves and hone in on our worry fixation, Jesus heads us off from within a bible verse.

 It’s as if he stands before us and cautions, “Now just a minute”. There is then a pause, a smile comes to his face and he allows our breath to slow down a bit and all of our attentiveness to be on him. Then he tells us why we need not worry, we hear Jesus’ revelation of perhaps the greatest mystery of the universe as he says so simply, “Consider the lilies.”

 A pastor colleague tells a story of shopping on a Saturday morning at a local flea market where she bought a silver bracelet shaped like a ring of lilies. Though it was more expensive than she could really afford and a little to big for her wrist she bought it anyway.

  She wore it for years. It clanked by her side, it flashed in the light, it could not be ignored when worn. Twice a day it captured her complete attention, when she took it off at night and when she put it on in the morning. And during these times prayer was easier.” Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” There is no worry in God’s created lilies.

 One day her Dad was admiring her bracelet and noticed there was no safety chain. He worried a bit and asked her, “But what if the clasp comes undone? The bracelet will fall right off, and you’ll lose it.” Boys being boys, Dad took the bracelet to a jeweler to ‘fix it.’ That’s what men do. We fix things. Obsessive, perfectionist behavior?  Perhaps. A loving parents way to overcome worry? Surely.

 At some point in our worry filled life we can no longer avoid facing what it really is that is keeping us up at night. We can no longer avoid what truly, at the deepest level in our being, worries us. The unnamed source must be named.

 Jesus meets us at this place of discovery in this mornings teaching with these questions that redirect us from ourselves.  Do we want to live in a world in which God is in control, or a world in which we are?  Can we let God be God, or do we really think that we have to take over God’s job?

 But, we say, to worry is to be faithful to our humanity. Perhaps, but how disingenuous. If we come this morning seeking justification of our humanity as our excuse for unfaithful living, well, I bring no such justification. I am sorry if you thought I would have finely honed and deeply life changing theological advice for us this morning. Advice that would pick up the missing pieces and complete our life puzzle, advice that would take away all sorrow and pain and fear and yes, especially worry. Obviously, I cannot say or do anything that will make that happen. Just as obviously, God can!

 Worry is a part of life. What isn’t a part of life, or what need not be, is the conviction that it is all up to us to ‘fix it,’ that we are responsible and in control, that if we do not worry on behalf of everyone and everything, we are somehow shirking our responsibility.

God is God. We are not. There isn’t anything else so beautifully clarifying. Consider the lilies, how they grow. We didn’t make them, did we?! Of course not!  So let it go, take a deep breath! Let the lilies grow and bloom without our worry.

 I think God can probably handle this, if we can stand to step aside and make a little room in our lives for God. To let God be God, God can bring the deeply rich teaching we so desire. God can fix this!

 Or, would a new bracelet help, one that would remind us to consider the lilies of the field? Would we need a safety chain with our bracelet?

 Yes, of course, we would. But, we need not go to any jeweler.  Our lives have already been fixed with that safety chain. It is a special gift from God.   It is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ who is our safety chain.

 Jesus Christ is why we need not worry, why we need not try and fix anything. There, in that baptismal font, there on that communion table, and there, on that cross, that is where we have been fixed, where our worry has been taken away, where our safety has become grounded. Grounded in Jesus’ love, Jesus’ grace and Jesus’ blessed forgiveness.

 Our safety has been secured for all eternity. We need not worry one bit. For, consider the lilies, and how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet they thrive in the most unlikely of places, here with us, in the kingdom of God.

 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Additional helps:

“Christian Century”, Tom McGrath, May 20, 2008, pg. 20.

“The Minster’s Annual Manual”, Julie A. Kanarr, May 25, 2008, pgs. 372 – 374.

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20 February Matthew 5:38-48

20 February Matthew 5:38-48

My recent study at seminary has given me the wonderful assignment to hear your stories, your stories about your faith and this church. Though we have a ways to go, I’m hearing again and again your fascinating stories of a deep and rich faith in God and an unshakable love for Genesis Church, for our history, and an unwavering commitment to staying together.

I’m also beginning to learn more about you, intimately and personally, and how your compelling stories of steadfastness have woven you to be who you have become. Throughout these visits and in our informal conversations, I hear again and again the important stories that have formed your life, grounded your faith, and brought you to proudly say, we are this church, this is our home, we love one another and we wouldn’t be anywhere else.

As you speak your mind, I have heard you use distinct words and phrases. Though different, you all speak with your own unique and individual voice as you are describing, explaining and professing the facts, beliefs and the feelings in your lives. While there are common themes, there is no one voice, no single phrase or term you have all used.

That is not true of Jesus. In these weeks we’ve spent with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has often repeated the same familiar refrain when speaking with his followers. It is sort of a yes, but statement. Jesus uses it to draw us in, “You have heard that it was said,” and then to set us apart, “But I say to you…”

So often Jesus will acknowledge what this world is saying about life and faith and then stop us in our thinking with his, “But, I say to you.” Jesus sets us up to recognize ourselves, our stories, the way we view life, the way we find our lives to have unfolded in this time and space only to then say, yes, but, I say to you there is another truth, there is another way, there is another life for you to consider.

The Sermon on the Mount has grown to be larger than we can live. How often as our life unfolds has someone told us, yes, but. How often have we heard society tells us, in the all too familiar tapes, to look out for number one?

Then Jesus interferes, “Yes, but”, listen instead to my opposition teaching, the teaching we all learn when we come to church with phrases like; “Turn the other cheek.” “Go the second mile.” “Love your enemies.” “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

We understand the point, we know the teaching, we’ve been told again and again - difficult, yes, but, all things are possible with God. But, we aren’t God, and some days we don’t feel we are even with God. Far too many days, we feel utterly alone in this world.

Alone, yes, but not so alone. You see, we have our own yes, but, responses, don’t we. Love our enemies? But wait, surely not these ones. They are such enemies. Respond to body blows opening ourselves up to more blows? But wait, surely we are not to stand for abuse. Pray for our persecutors? But wait, they persecute, surely they are to be judged!

With these justifications on our lips we never quite hear Jesus’ final command. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Yes, but, wait, like the woman in the car insurance commercial claims, I was perfect all along!

Now it’s Jesus’ turn. He has heard it said, by us, how justified we have made ourselves. Yes, but, Jesus says, listen to my commands. And he means it.

We do listen to Jesus’ commands, we know them well. It’s just that we are surrounded by the reinforcement that in this world, in this time and place, it is all about me, or you. Yet, we know all too well that there is little perfect about us or our station in life or even our potential. We are inherently flawed, aren’t we? Yes, but, Jesus offers us an alternative. Jesus offers that today we can be perfect. Yet, we resist.

Barbara Essex, Minister for Higher Education and Theological Education for the United Church of Christ counters Jesus’ claim with her reminders, “it is easier to be mean, hold grudges, ignore those in need. If we give to everyone who begs, we will have nothing left for ourselves. If we turn the other cheek, we will get slapped again, if we get sued, we are hiring the best lawyer we can afford to find a loophole in our favor. If we love our enemies, we will be more persecuted or even killed. If we are too nice, we will be seen as weak, a pushover, a doormat.

Jesus doesn’t say what the payoff will be: to inherit the reign of God. What do we get for loving, forgiving, being kind and gracious, and offering generosity?

And what about the claim to perfection, anyway? How many of us have labored under the burden of the elusive quest for perfection, be it for grades, the right job, the right spouse, or house or kids, only to realize the folly, the vanity of it all. Then, being reduced to depression and feelings of unworthiness and failure, we dig ourselves deeper into despair. Yes, but, others will say, “I’m only human.”

Jesus will not let us get away with any of our excuses. Jesus has climbed to the top of the mountain to teach us. To teach us, in no uncertain terms, in God’s community there are people who think of others first. In God’s community decisions and actions are made for the common good. For in God’s place, all are sister and brother to one another and act out of love.
For Jesus, this love he preaches is possible due to the overpowering love of God, who is perfect love.

As we are reminded, we are able to be gracious, forgiving, hospitable, and generous because we are children of the God who showers us with abundant grace, mercy, love, and protection. Once we know God’s love in these ways, we can love our enemies; once we experience God’s forgiveness, we can forgive those who persecute us; once we realize God’s gift of generosity, we can give back to those who have little or nothing. We become able to do these things because in Jesus Christ, we live in God’s community of believers.

Even here, Jesus has a yes, but, teaching for us. Yes, these things are true, “but I say to you”. You no longer have to rely on hearsay, the written word alone, what your elders teach you, or what your preachers preach to you. To understand God and God’s will for us and for all people and for all creation we simply have to look and listen to Jesus. Jesus alone.

Yes, but, we want to say. We have to stay up on our current events, we have to listen to the experts or we will lose everything. We are present here and now. Jesus, well, Jesus has been silent for so long.

Dear ones. God’s word was made flesh. God’s word, made flesh, continues to live in our midst. Here. Now. God’s word is Jesus Christ. Alive, in us, here with us, for us, present and moving us toward our fulfillment as a Christian community. Within us are the marks of those fully embraced by God and empowered by God’s will. We have that mark upon us, received at our baptism, nourished as we come to table to receive the body and blood of our savior, empowered, energized and directed by God’s will.

There, I see it, in each of you. You wear your mark, your story, on your face, you tell your story by your blessing, you live your story by your duty, your calling to faithful discipleship, you wear it in your Christian maturity that results in more and more Godlike behaviors and motivations. It is there, you told me of it, you have shown it to me in your love for God, for one another and this church. Sorry, you cannot play your “yes, but,” card here.

We who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior cannot play a “yes, but” card because Jesus does not seek to set impossible goals for us. Jesus does not seek to shame folk who cannot reach perfection. No, instead, Jesus sets forth God’s vision of God’s world, where love, genuine and unconditional love, reigns. Jesus set forth God’s vision of God’s world, where to be perfect is not to add pressure to already overwhelmed lives; no, it is to assure us that we are not alone in the world and that God continues to work in and through us.

Barbara Essex reminds us, “Perfection is less about getting things right and more about living as God loves, and Jesus is God’s concrete example of that love.” And we are God’s concrete example of that love to one another and to those desperate for this Good News.

The world has seen us be that example. The stories we have heard: the survivor of a violent crime who is able to forgive her tormenter; black South Africans who work with their former oppressors to rebuild their country; the Mother Teresa’s of the world who give selfless service to outcasts; those who live modestly so they can contribute to the well-being of the less fortunate; and those who make a choice to commit random acts of kindness. And this church, rising like a phoenix to serve others.

Missionaries, who have grown up in the poorest of slums in Brazil, have been asked how they could live among the poorest of the world’s poor without danger of being robbed. They have said, “Simple. You can’t own anything anyone would want to steal. Lend to anyone who asks, give to all who want to borrow. Then you can live among God’s poor and receive the blessing of possessing nothing. For Jesus, God incarnate, possesses nothing, except our hearts.”

We are surrounded by our own stories from our upbringing, from our formative years through our adult life, random acts of love where we’ve experienced God’s realm as already alive and active and filled with grace.

Jesus’ teaching this morning is not an indictment; it is a voice of promise, a good news story to the world that offers the real possibility that we may love the world as God has loved us – fully, richly, abundantly, and completely.

A good news story, not to seek the perfection this world may allude to, but to seek the perfection of God’s pure love, a perfection God offers to us, a perfect love so powerfully available to us, that when we embrace it, I say to you, we become filled with God’s perfect son, our loving Lord and savior, Jesus, our Christ. This is the one story card God wants us to play.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Additional resources:
“Feasting on the Word”, Year A, Volume 1, D. Bartlett and B. Taylor, eds., pgs. 380 – 385.



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Kingdom of Heaven

30 January 11 What Jesus Did Say” Matthew 5:1-12

My question from last week lingers. What is a church to do? With the radical changes to our church these past few years still fresh on our minds, with the fear and uncertainty settling in from the newest changes on our campus, we have pause. Yet, realizing God’s amazing grace as seen in our renewed church leadership, the complete reversal of our financial picture and many other loving blessings, we have joy and elation. In the mix, what is Genesis Church to do?

What we dare not do, is try and figure it out by ourselves. As Christians, we know we walk this walk with God. So, we turn to prayer, to reflection in scripture, and to vital and healthy discussion and discernment.

If this morning’s scripture will help us know God’s will for our church we may have some work to do. These Beatitudes - at first we may be struck by what seems to be their sheer impracticality for the world we live in. We live in a time when the blessings given are to those who succeed, often at the expense of others. To be poor in spirit, peaceful, merciful and meek will get us nowhere in a culture grounded in competition and fear. Who can possibly survive in attempting to live into the spirit of the Beatitudes? More importantly, when Jesus turns the values of the world upside down, like he’s done in these Beatitudes, what does that mean for us as church?

What exactly are we as church to do when faced with an upside down world? Well, we are good Presbyterians, so we have a meeting! We held our Annual Session retreat yesterday. Knowing full well how upside down our world has been and may still seem to be we took the time to read and remind ourselves of our Mission and Vision statements. That’s a good place to start when trying to make sense of what seems to make no sense. Turn to God. Invite God into the conversation. That’s what our session did yesterday.

Listen again to our Mission Statement: In the name of Christ, we welcome and serve all of God’s people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.

And our Vision Statement: Rooted in Worship – we are here to participate in worship that affects the way we live every day. Growing in Christ – We are here to learn how following Christ can change our lives. Reaching to Neighbors – we are here to love our neighbors. Everyone is our neighbor. We embrace diversity.

Our session has begun what should be a long journey. To prayerfully consider the world of our church and to try to live into the will of God is no easy task. None the less, if we be faith full followers of Jesus Christ, it is a task we must all prayerfully join. Our session needs each and every one of you, we need your collective wisdom. Our future depends on it.

The Beatitudes are the opening phrases to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his first major sermon and teaching in Matthew’s gospel. From the first, lets be clear about what Jesus did and did not say. The author James Howell reminds us, Jesus did not say, Blessed are those who invest shrewdly; they will own a second home. Or, Blessed are those who shop, for they will own neat things. Or, Blessed are the good-looking, for they will find plenty of friends. Jesus certainly did not lift up to blessed status those who succeed in life at the expense of others, or those rooted in the life of competition and fear.

But neither is Jesus a stick in the mud. Jesus does want us to know pleasure, to find enjoyment and happiness. While we may struggle to not go to far in these areas, we may, ironically, fall short of God’s expectations.
C. S. Lewis, in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” challenges us to know God’s expectations for our lives as Christians and as church.

He offers that, “indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with life and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

No one would argue that Genesis church is far too easily pleased. We have lived in a real world of fear and concern for our very existence. And for some, that fear persists. Might infinite joy be on our horizon?

Archbishop Oscar Romero understood our struggles as Christians and as a struggling church in a difficult world when he challenged his congregation with these words: “The world does not say: blessed are the poor. The world says: blessed are the rich. You are worth as much as you have. But Christ says: wrong. Blessed are the poor…because they do not put their trust in what is so transitory. Blessed are the poor, for they know their riches are in the One who being rich made himself poor in order to enrich us with his poverty, teaching us the Christian’s true wisdom.”

Blessed is Genesis Presbyterian Church because you did not put your trust in what is so transitory. We know our riches are in Jesus, the one who though rich, made himself poor in order to enrich us through his poverty, teaching us true Christian wisdom. Jesus Christ has made the way for Genesis Church to follow. Come and follow me, he has told us. Our life mission is to discover that way as people and as church.

Discernment and discovery of the presence of God and the will of God and our future path with God takes tremendous energy, faith and staying power.
Jesus found help with such staying power in the Jewish daily prayer. It is called the Shema; Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Jesus was also disciplined to find his energy, faith, and staying power in the command that follows. “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

For us to be faithful to Jesus’ teaching these disciplines should become our habits too. We might treat these Beatitudes the same way we treat the Lord’s Prayer. Memorize them, sing them, find a magnet at the Cokesbury Bookstore and put them on the refrigerator. It takes time for teaching and discipline to translate into living.

Oh yes, living, who are we as Genesis Church to become?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The “poor in spirit” are those who recognize their need for God in all things. Like the poor and destitute who depend on others, the poor in spirit know that only God can save and protect them. Every time we take our primary self out of the life equation and make room for God in our hearts and in our lives, the poor will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn. “Those who mourn” refers to people wishing God would send his Messiah, hoping God will restore his kingdom and set the world right. In Isaiah we learn of the Messiah who will “comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion”. These are people who understand the mess the world is in and wish for God’s redemption. Every time we place our fear and the future of this church with Jesus, those who mourn will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the meek. This beatitude alludes to Psalm 37, “But the meek will inherit the land…” The Psalm is comparing the “evil” and “wicked” with the meek. “Trust in the Lord and do good… Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him…” Every time we remember to trust that God knows what God is doing, the meek will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just as poverty leads to hunger, the recognition of one’s spiritual poverty leads to a hunger for right living. Jesus is talking to people who desire God’s rule. It is a rule that brings justice for all. It is a reign in which God will satisfy the hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Every time we insist on living in God’s right way, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the merciful. Mercy is part of God’s own nature. “The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” God expects mercy from his people: “he has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Every time we risk our own comfort for the good of another, the merciful will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the pure in heart. Seeing God is one of our greatest hopes as believers. But only the pure in heart may receive this blessing. Purity of heart, the heart that desires only what God wants, is not the result of personal effort, God works in and through us. Every time we faithfully seek God’s way, pray and act on what God wants, the pure in heart will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the peacemakers. This Beatitude brings together two important Old Testament concepts: peace and the son of God. Peace is a central characteristic of the kingdom of heaven. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them.” Those who would normally be at war with each other will be in harmony. All things are made right and peace prevails. The Old Testament applies the title of “son of God” to the Messiah. However, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul explains that when we are in Christ, we “receive the full rights of sons;” in other words, we are made adopted children of God. Every time we invite the others into our lives, the peacemakers will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Just as the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, it also belongs to the ones persecuted because of righteousness. Every time we take up the cause for doing the right thing, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Through these Beatitudes, and our own Mission and Vision statements we hear from God, our calling as church is to help God bring about the kingdom of heaven here on earth. We will realize God’s kingdom when we recognize these blessings. Every time we are church, the Kingdom of heaven is near. Every time we are church, this blessedness will be the result of the coming of this kingdom.

It is important to remember, the Beatitudes are not calls to action. They are not commands. They are descriptions of the way things are to be. They do not call us personally to be poor in spirit, to mourn, or to be meek. No, these Beatitudes are promises of how the kingdom of heaven will be.

As such, these promises define our faith and assure us, “Christianity is not a scheme to reduce stress, lose weight, advance in one’s career, or preserve one from illness. Christian faith, instead, is a way of living based on the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way of God, that righteousness and peace will finally prevail, and that God’s future will be a time of mercy and not cruelty. So, blessed are those who live this life now, even when such a life seems foolish, for we will, in the end…” , have our fear taken away by God.

Is this the church we are to be? I believe so. It’s where our mission and vision statements will lead us. It’s where God will lead us, if we but dare to follow.


In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen


Additional resource:
“Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary”, Year A, volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara B. Taylor, Editors, pgs. 308-313.

What Jesus Did Say”

30 January 11                  What Jesus Did Say”                               Matthew 5:1-12

   My question from last week lingers. What is a church to do? With the radical changes to our church these past few years still fresh on our minds, with the fear and uncertainty settling in from the newest changes on our campus, we have pause. Yet, realizing God’s amazing grace as seen in our renewed church leadership, the complete reversal of our financial picture and many other loving blessings, we have joy and elation. In the mix, what is Genesis Church to do?

 What we dare not do, is try and figure it out by ourselves. As Christians, we know we walk this walk with God. So, we turn to prayer, to reflection in scripture, and to vital and healthy discussion and discernment.

 If this morning’s scripture will help us know God’s will for our church we may have some work to do. These Beatitudes - at first we may be struck by what seems to be their sheer impracticality for the world we live in. We live in a time when the blessings given are to those who succeed, often at the expense of others. To be poor in spirit, peaceful, merciful and meek will get us nowhere in a culture grounded in competition and fear. Who can possibly survive in attempting to live into the spirit of the Beatitudes?  More importantly, when Jesus turns the values of the world upside down, like he’s done in these Beatitudes, what does that mean for us as church?

 What exactly are we as church to do when faced with an upside down world? Well, we are good Presbyterians, so we have a meeting!  We held our Annual Session retreat yesterday. Knowing full well how upside down our world has been and may still seem to be we took the time to read and remind ourselves of our Mission and Vision statements. That’s a good place to start when trying to make sense of what seems to make no sense. Turn to God. Invite God into the conversation. That’s what our session did yesterday.

  Listen again to our Mission Statement: In the name of Christ, we welcome and serve all of God’s people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.

  And our Vision Statement: Rooted in Worship – we are here to participate in worship that affects the way we live every day. Growing in Christ – We are here to learn how following Christ can change our lives. Reaching to Neighbors – we are here to love our neighbors. Everyone is our neighbor. We embrace diversity.

 Our session has begun what should be a long journey.  To prayerfully consider the world of our church and to try to live into the will of God is no easy task. None the less, if we be faith full followers of Jesus Christ, it is a task we must all prayerfully join. Our session needs each and every one of you, we need your collective wisdom. Our future depends on it.

 The Beatitudes are the opening phrases to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his first major sermon and teaching in Matthew’s gospel. From the first, lets be clear about what Jesus did and did not say. The author James Howell reminds us, Jesus did not say, Blessed are those who invest shrewdly; they will own a second home. Or, Blessed are those who shop, for they will own neat things. Or, Blessed are the good-looking, for they will find plenty of friends. Jesus certainly did not lift up to blessed status those who succeed in life at the expense of others, or those rooted in the life of competition and fear.

 But neither is Jesus a stick in the mud. Jesus does want us to know pleasure, to find enjoyment and happiness. While we may struggle to not go to far in these areas, we may, ironically, fall short of God’s expectations.

 C. S. Lewis, in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” challenges us to know God’s expectations for our lives as Christians and as church.

 He offers that, “indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with life and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

 No one would argue that Genesis church is far too easily pleased. We have lived in a real world of fear and concern for our very existence. And for some, that fear persists. Might infinite joy be on our horizon?

Archbishop Oscar Romero understood our struggles as Christians and as a struggling church in a difficult world when he challenged his congregation with these words: “The world does not say: blessed are the poor. The world says: blessed are the rich. You are worth as much as you have. But Christ says: wrong. Blessed are the poor…because they do not put their trust in what is so transitory. Blessed are the poor, for they know their riches are in the One who being rich made himself poor in order to enrich us with his poverty, teaching us the Christian’s true wisdom.”

 Blessed is Genesis Presbyterian Church because you did not put your trust in what is so transitory. We know our riches are in Jesus, the one who though rich, made himself poor in order to enrich us through his poverty, teaching us true Christian wisdom. Jesus Christ has made the way for Genesis Church to follow. Come and follow me, he has told us. Our life mission is to discover that way as people and as church.

 Discernment and discovery of the presence of God and the will of God and our future path with God takes tremendous energy, faith and staying power.

 Jesus found help with such staying power in the Jewish daily prayer. It is called the Shema; Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

 Jesus was also disciplined to find his energy, faith, and staying power in the command that follows. “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

  For us to be faithful to Jesus’ teaching these disciplines should become our habits too. We might treat these Beatitudes the same way we treat the Lord’s Prayer. Memorize them, sing them, find a magnet at the Cokesbury Bookstore and put them on the refrigerator. It takes time for teaching and discipline to translate into living.

  Oh yes, living, who are we as Genesis Church to become?

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The “poor in spirit” are those who recognize their need for God in all things. Like the poor and destitute who depend on others, the poor in spirit know that only God can save and protect them.  Every time we take our primary self out of the life equation and make room for God in our hearts and in our lives, the poor will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are those who mourn.  “Those who mourn” refers to people wishing God would send his Messiah, hoping God will restore his kingdom and set the world right. In Isaiah we learn of the Messiah who will “comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion”. These are people who understand the mess the world is in and wish for God’s redemption. Every time we place our fear and the future of this church with Jesus, those who mourn will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are the meek.  This beatitude alludes to Psalm 37, “But the meek will inherit the land…” The Psalm is comparing the “evil” and “wicked” with the meek. “Trust in the Lord and do good… Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him…” Every time we remember to trust that God knows what God is doing, the meek will be blessed and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just as poverty leads to hunger, the recognition of one’s spiritual poverty leads to a hunger for right living. Jesus is talking to people who desire God’s rule. It is a rule that brings justice for all. It is a reign in which God will satisfy the hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Every time we insist on living in God’s right way, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are the merciful.  Mercy is part of God’s own nature. “The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” God expects mercy from his people: “he has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Every time we risk our own comfort for the good of another, the merciful will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are the pure in heart.  Seeing God is one of our greatest hopes as believers. But only the pure in heart may receive this blessing. Purity of heart, the heart that desires only what God wants, is not the result of personal effort, God works in and through us.  Every time we faithfully seek God’s way, pray and act on what God wants, the pure in heart will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are the peacemakers. This Beatitude brings together two important Old Testament concepts: peace and the son of God. Peace is a central characteristic of the kingdom of heaven. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them.” Those who would normally be at war with each other will be in harmony. All things are made right and peace prevails. The Old Testament applies the title of “son of God” to the Messiah. However, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul explains that when we are in Christ, we “receive the full rights of sons;” in other words, we are made adopted children of God.  Every time we invite the others into our lives, the peacemakers will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Just as the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, it also belongs to the ones persecuted because of righteousness. Every time we take up the cause for doing the right thing, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake will be blessed, and our church will come closer to the kingdom of heaven.

 Through these Beatitudes, and our own Mission and Vision statements we hear from God, our calling as church is to help God bring about the kingdom of heaven here on earth. We will realize God’s kingdom when we recognize these blessings.  Every time we are church, the Kingdom of heaven is near. Every time we are church, this blessedness will be the result of the coming of this kingdom.

 It is important to remember, the Beatitudes are not calls to action. They are not commands. They are descriptions of the way things are to be. They do not call us personally to be poor in spirit, to mourn, or to be meek. No, these Beatitudes are promises of how the kingdom of heaven will be.

 As such, these promises define our faith and assure us, “Christianity is not a scheme to reduce stress, lose weight, advance in one’s career, or preserve one from illness. Christian faith, instead, is a way of living based on the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way of God, that righteousness and peace will finally prevail, and that God’s future will be a time of mercy and not cruelty. So, blessed are those who live this life now, even when such a life seems foolish, for we will, in the end…” [1], have our fear taken away by God.

 Is this the church we are to be? I believe so. It’s where our mission and vision statements will lead us. It’s where God will lead us, if we but dare to follow.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Additional resource:

“Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary”, Year A, volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara B. Taylor, Editors, pgs. 308-313.

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII, pg. 180.