Becoming the Best Version of Ourselves by Living the Beatitudes

Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5

The word of God today, takes us to the ninth century before Jesus, to a holy man named Elisha. A wealthy childless woman welcomes this “holy person” into her home. This woman invites us to always be hospitable to one another; and Elisha challenges us to trust in God’s providence or care for us as we journey through life.

St. Paul’s letter describes how we have the triune life of God in us through the waters of baptism. Paul challenges us to remember who we really are: new creatures, sons and daughters of God our Father, called to live a God-like life.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus calls us to get our priorities straight.  Our first priority: to live in a relationship with God. Our second priority: to see the face of God in our fellow human beings, no matter how hidden or shabby that face of God is in them.

Jesus calls us to live a life of discipleship. Not tomorrow or some future day, but today, here and now! Then we will experience what joy and happiness are all about.
Everyone wants happiness.

Many think that if they get enough money, fame, or power, they’ll be happy. But if so, explain how so many celebrities who “had it all” sedated themselves with drugs or other addictions.

Happiness has to factor into life: work with its stresses; relationships with their tensions; disappointments versus dreams; guilt about what one did or didn’t do; health or lack thereof. And ultimately, happiness has to factor into death.

Let’s remember that at one point in his earthly ministry, many followers left Jesus. Jesus then turned to his inner circle and asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter replied, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Yes, we become happiest by mastering the basics: I suggest we easily find them in the Beatitudes. Then with God's grace, we become the best version of ourselves.

In the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the kind of moral character we should have, in our relationship with God and our relationships with one another.

First, disciples recognize that only God can fill their emptiness.  That’s what it means to be poor in spirit. We needn’t try to fill ourselves with earthly things. Disciples recognize who they are: fragile creatures whom an awesome Creator gifted with life. We realize our good fortune to be alive and are grateful and we owe this awesome Creator praise and worship
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Disciples yearn for healing from their brokenness and know only God can heal. They are gentle, considerate and unassuming. Disciples, above all, hunger for a right relationship with God.

The next beatitudes have to do with our relationships with one another.

Fortunate are they who forgive wrongs done to them and let go of their anger and resentment. God will be merciful to them. Fortunate are the pure in heart, who have integrity, openness, and authenticity in their relationships; they will see God face to face. Fortunate are they who are ready to suffer rather than betray their conscience, who try to do the right thing in all situations.
And finally, fortunate are they who don’t stir up conflict but try to be at peace with God, with themselves, and with others.

I pray that God will grace us to live the beatitudes so that we will become the best version of ourselves, disciples of the Master, always living in a right relationship with God and each other. Amen!

Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of Jesus by John

Sunday we celebrated the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. We began our liturgy with the rite of the sprinkling of water upon ourselves, a symbolic invitation to renew our own baptismal promises and be ever more enthusiastic missionary disciples of Jesus.

Our baptism began our journey to the eternal dwelling place of God, with Jesus as our guide and teacher. We not only experienced water, as Jesus did, but we became disciples of Jesus. That experience changed our lives. We became new creatures, alive with God's life.

The word of God takes us back in our imaginations to the sixth century before Jesus, to the Hebrew exile in Babylonia (what we know as Iraq). This passage is a poem, a song, about a future “servant” who will be a light to those who live in darkness.

The early Christian community saw in this “servant” Jesus: who proclaimed a transcendent purpose for us: eternal life with God beyond our earthly life. This word may challenge us to ask whether we have our priorities straight: always to be in a right relationship with God and one another.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptist invites people to live a God-centered, other-centered life. His focus was clearly to point to Jesus as the Messiah. John then baptizes Jesus. As Jesus arises from the waters, the power of God overwhelms him and fired up by the spirit of God, he begins his public ministry in Galilee.

Baptism is a rite of initiation into a world-wide community of Christian disciples. We baptize children to emphasize that baptism is a gift from God, like human life, not just something we choose to have.

To understand baptism, we recognize who we are in relationship to God. In the beginning, man and woman walked with God; they had friendship with God and with one another. But somehow they lost that friendship. They fell from grace. Genesis describes very powerfully their fall. They hid from God. Ever since, human beings have cried out for God’s friendship again.

That's why God became flesh – one with us -- in Jesus. God, through the dying/rising of Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit, re-establishes that friendship again.

This new relationship makes very straight-forward demands upon us. The so-called Ten Commandments are about freeing ourselves from attitudes and behaviors that undermine our relationship with God and one another. Put simply, God is an awesome creator God who loves us unconditionally; and our response always is gratitude.

As we celebrate Jesus’s baptism, I invite all of us to renew our baptismal promises now, to be missionary disciples of Jesus, gloriously alive especially in word and sacrament.

Christ As Our Model

Jesus Calling His Disciples

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus went into the deep waters of the Sea of Galilee with Peter and the other fishermen. Peter, while skeptical about fishing again after catching nothing all night, recognized something special in Jesus. So, at Jesus’s bidding, Peter cast the nets again and made a sensational catch. Peter experienced the awesome presence of God in Jesus. He cried out, “Lord.” Jesus calmed the fishermen, saying “Do not be afraid,” and called them into discipleship.
They left everything they had and followed Jesus.

Jesus, the master, accomplished much because he loved much: with an intense love of God and a compassionate love of fellow human beings, with a message of hope about the future.

Jesus has called us to discipleship through the life-giving waters of baptism. Baptism is God’s gift to you and me. And our basic response to God’s gift is gratitude.

Baptism defines us, transforms us at the very core of our being. Baptism, in other words, plunges us into the mystery of Jesus Christ. Paul captured this magnificently when he wrote to the Christian community in Galatia: “Christ lives in me.”

Yes, God has made us “new creatures.” The living Christ is our exemplar or blueprint. In fact, the universe reflects the presence of God in myriad forms. And baptized and confirmed in the Spirit, we celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at the table of the Lord. This celebration sends us out among others to live a Godlike life, to treat all God’s creatures with respect—for humans are made in the image of God.

What precisely does “sent out to others” mean?

Each one of us has gifts or talents. Football’s Tom Brady, or celebrities like Denzel Washington or Lady Gaga, are not the only people with talents. You and I have special gifts and talents, by virtue of baptism. Within our common Christian life, there are many splendid callings.

I love the image of “a thousand points of light.” God can shine through us with transcendent brilliance. And those who ask for the grace to draw closer to God glow with that radiance. They become a point of light. You have a specific vocation/calling to fire up people with God’s grace so that they will choose their better selves, share with others, and stand for what is right by being an example.

Let us rejoice as the Virgin Mary rejoiced, for God has done great things for us. Yes, always look for the good in ourselves, in others, and in the situations in life.

In the end, the purpose of our baptismal calling is to matter, to make a difference for the better by giving the best we have in service to one another! And then we will realize with God’s grace our authentic selves.