A Little Bit More than an Average Pep Talk
What started out as a way to provide some thoughts and encouragement for the folks of our congregation (and beyond, thanks to online distribution) for what was expected to be simply a couple of weeks of ‘circling the wagons’ while we attempted to ‘flatten the curve’ with respect to hospitalizations resulting from the spread of COVID-19 has grown just a little bit. What was originally a series of a couple of installments per week has grown to be a little bit more than was expected as our time of social distancing and public health guidelines has gone much farther than we dreamed.
In reflecting upon this as we headed to the end of four and a half months of all this with, realistically speaking, understanding we may not be out of the woods anytime soon, with today’s installment of Let’s Do Lunch we are going to move a bit of a different way. Rather than ‘one-off’ stuff four days a week, we are starting today a season wherein we will eavesdrop on one of Jesus’ most famous discourses of all - what is known as the Sermon on the Mount as found in chapters five, six, and seven, of Matthew’s Gospel. There will be within this series a few ‘mini-series’ such as relates to what are known as the ‘Beatitudes.’
The hope and prayer for this series is that we take advantage of our season to sit down and spend some time listening and reflecting upon the eternal wisdom that our savior shared in these words that have been so transformational in the lives of the faithful for all these years. Maybe by being intentional about exploring these words we can find a bit of redemption in this season where it seems so much is just out of sorts.
We will start with the first two verses from Matthew 5, which are as follows:
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying…
Just a few things of note as we get rolling along in this journey:
We see the disciples came to Jesus. When was the last time we intentionally ‘came to Jesus?’
The phraseology is important - “Then he began to speak…” What might happen if, when we are intentionally seeking Christ, we made room for Christ to speak to us rather than trying to remember everything we might want to tell him?
“And taught them…” As you will see over the next couple of months, there is a lot in the Sermon on the Mount that is not easy for any of us to hear or accept. There is a lot in there that challenges some of our basic behaviors and outlooks on life - our overt and covert prejudices and biases. However, when we but allow ourselves to be in the position of a student learning from the master, there is no telling what transformation might be waiting to occur in our lives - transformation that might just lead to the transformation of others, which might lead to transformation of the world.
Oh, and let us never forget this core truth about our savior - we worship a God who specializes in telling us not what we want to hear, but need to hear. One way to more faithfully hear ALL God has to say to us, through whatever channel, is to always be mindful that God will not waste our time on the unimportant. So, as we walk this journey, be ready for whatever we might encounter.
This ought to be fun! Be with us tomorrow at this time as we begin THE BEATITUDES: A Journey of the Blessed in the Midst of a Pandemic.
Grace & Peace,
Lamar