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!

Trusting Always in God

"Do not be afraid; I am with you always."  Rembrandt's Storm at Sea

The word of God takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. Jeremiah contrasts those who trust in God against those who simply trust in their own resources, e.g., money or power. The author says we have a choice: either trust in God's unconditional love for us and flourish; or trust in your own resources and become like a barren bush in the wasteland.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth speaks about our future. Jesus Christ, once crucified, is now alive. And just as God transfigured the earthly Jesus into a new kind of spiritual embodiment,  so too will God transfigure us in a life beyond this earthly life.

 In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus tells us of blessings and woes. Blessed are they who acknowledge with gratitude their total dependency upon God; who seek God in their daily lives; who endure hardships for the sake of Christ. Rejoice! The kingdom of heaven will be theirs. And then the woes? Woe to those who have "so much" and yet do nothing for the needy, the hungry, the sick and dying.

It’s not always easy to trust in God's unconditional love for us, especially when what's happening to us is the opposite of what we want to happen. Sometimes our prayers are answered. Other times, you and I may pray and find silence. We may even feel like giving up on God; or thinking negatively about ourselves.

I invite us not to get “bogged down” in negative feelings but to rise above them by reflecting on certain faith themes:
1. Let’s re-examine our image of God. Some think of God as a judge. Maybe we copy that sometimes. However, the bible, holding the religious experiences of so many, offers a collage. God is depicted as a walking companion in Genesis. A debater in Job. An anxious parent and a comforting mother in Isaiah. A father of a prodigal son in the Gospels. What is our image? God is our ever-faithful companion.

2. Remember God’s providence. Like a skilled pickpocket, God is present to us in many ways and we don’t always know it, except by evidence afterward. He may seem absent, but our faith says he’s in our midst.

3. Be angry but don’t stay angry. Yes, to demand an answer is to take God seriously, to acknowledge God’s care. But we ultimately have to let go of our anger and move forward; otherwise anger will poison our relationships.

4. Know that you are in good company. Even prophets and saints have argued with God. The point is this: keep praying. God is the best solution. God’s ultimate purpose is to satisfy our deepest needs.

The great 16th century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila, gives this perspective:
Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing dismay you;
all things pass;
God never changes;
they who have God find they lack nothing:
God alone suffices for us.

Service and Sacrifice

Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God

This Sunday is Veterans Day. One hundred years ago, at the 11^th hour on the 11^th day of the 11^th month, the first World War ended. Irving Berlin, a Russian immigrant, became a U.S. citizen that year and composed the great hymn/prayer God Bless America in 1918.

Today we honor all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifice.

The word of God today coincidentally challenges us to trust God and to be generous. A non-Jew or so-called Gentile is down to her last handful of flour and a tiny bit of oil. Then Elijah asks for a bit of bread. Elijah asks her: trust in God. The woman has a dilemma. Trust and hospitality win; the widow gives all she has to Elijah. And miraculously, she has a never-ending supply. That truly was a great act of faith in God's providence.

In the Gospel, we hear of a widow who put her last two coins, a small sum, into the Temple treasury. Jesus comments that, in contrast to those who gave from their surplus, she gave “all she had to live on.” A great act of faith in God's providence.

The author of Hebrews speaks about the superiority of Jesus’s sacrifice to the many sacrifices in the Temple. Jesus through his death and resurrection opens up to humankind eternal life.

I remembered a newspaper photographer sharing a scene after a devastating earthquake. A long line of people waited for food. Finally, only one banana was left. A girl divided it into three parts for three other children, and she licked the inside of that banana peel. “In that moment I swear I saw the face of God!” wrote the photographer.

Yes, the word of God challenges us to ask ourselves: do we reveal the face of God to one another? As missionary disciples of Jesus, we ought to show the face of God every day, especially living the beatitudes that Matthew sums up so splendidly in Chapter 5 of his Gospel. I would like to think Jesus would say this about us.

If you’re working to pay the bills but making time to be with your children, blessed are you. You may never own a big vacation home, but heaven will be yours.

If you happily give your time to serve, and befriend the unpopular, the lost, blessed are you. Count God among your friends.

If you are overwhelmed caring for an ill relative, blessed are you. One day your sorrow will be transformed into joy.

If you refuse to compromise your integrity and ethics, refuse to rationalize that “everyone does it,” blessed are you – you will triumph.

If you try to understand others and make things work for the good, if you listen and console, if you manage to heal wounds and build bridges; if you can see the good in everyone and seek the good for everyone: rejoice and be glad. Jesus says you are the blessed of God. In the end, heaven is yours.