Friends,
How are you doing?
How is your day going?
How has your week been?
How would you describe the season that you are currently in?
Maybe one of the words that comes to mind when you think of this particular season is noisy.
It's been a noisy season.
And by noise I am referring to the thoughts that we think and the feelings that we feel to the point of the dial being so loud that we are stuck.
That we are unable to give attention to the things that matter.
Whatever the noise is and has been in this season,
Whether it's feelings of doubt and fear and insecurity or thoughts about the future and the uncertainty of it,
Whatever it is my invitation to you is this.
Open yourself up to the God who is able to transcend the noise.
And my prayer is that as you open yourself up to the source of love and life that you would rediscover what you need in your life to help turn down the noise.
And so for the next 60 seconds may we attend to ourselves as we open ourselves up to God's work within.
Amen.
Our scripture reading for today is found in the Gospel According to Matthew.
But before we begin to read and reflect I think it would be helpful for us to have a little bit of background information.
And so the scene is this Jesus has a large crowd of people,
Everyday people,
Following him and wanting to hear what he has to say and so he sits down on a hillside and begins to speak.
And he starts off by doing something that was very common for religious teachers to do.
He pronounces a list of blessings.
Now what are blessings?
Well they are a list that says if you find yourselves in these categories you have found favor with God.
God is giving you a special type of attention.
People believe that if you were in these categories you were the creme de la creme of a religious follower.
It's as if being in these categories proves that God is looking down on high and saying those are my people.
For instance a common blessing that religious teachers proclaimed would be this.
Blessed is the man who lives to see the downfall of his enemies.
Or blessed is the man who never had to serve someone inferior to them.
Or blessed is the one who when they speak people listen.
If I were to ask you to summarize those blessings with some common denominators what words would you use?
What comes to mind for me would be status and authority.
According to these people those who have God's attention God's favor are the ones who have status and authority.
The ones who can command a room.
The ones who have power to make change.
And here comes Jesus with a list of his blessings that sound very different.
Blessed are those who are poor.
Those who struggle to get by are in and are in a difficult and desperate situation.
And blessed are the meek.
Those who are humble and who would rather elevate the status of others than elevate themselves.
And blessed are those who mourn.
Those who are struggling with the weight of life.
Jesus turns this whole system of blessings on its head and proclaims that those who are the most marginalized,
The most looked down upon in society,
The most vulnerable,
Those are the people who have found favor with God.
Those are the people who have God's attention.
This is certainly a different perspective on things.
And so now as we turn to the scripture reading I invite you to use your imagination to picture the setting and to do your best to enter into the shoes of those everyday people who were there to hear from Jesus.
What do you think was going through their mind?
What do you think they were feeling as Jesus was sharing these words?
Let's read and reflect together now.
Jesus is the King of Heaven.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him and he began to teach them.
He said blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you,
Persecute you,
And falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
For the next few moments continue to consider the passage welcoming any insights that may come your way.
You you you as the hand is made for holding and the eye for seeing you have fashioned us for joy share with us the vision that shall find it everywhere and when our song of joy dies down to silence come hold our powerlessness with love then shall our fear be gone and our feet set on a radiant path this concludes our time of directed reflection I hope that it was meaningful for you however if you would like to continue to contemplate and be mindful of what has been spoken to you in this moment I invite you to do so the music will play for a few more minutes grace and peace to you you you you you you you you you you
