The Ethics of God's World (1)

The Ethics of God's World (1)

Matthew 5:21-24; 27-28; 33-37   |   2/16/2014

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

         

          Rules. There are rules for everything.

          This morning we will see that Jesus has a different take on rules.

          We grow up with rules.

          We live with rules.

          Rules rule.

          They're at home,

                   they're at the office,

                             they're at school

                                      and they're on the road when driving a car.

          On this Presidents Day weekend it is appropriate to remember the rules of our country.  We like rules so much that we even elect people to do nothing but make up rules for us!

          The family that I was raised in had rules—lots of them. One was that I could not ride my bicycle on the street in the evening after the street lights came on.

          What were some rules that you were raised with? In just a moment I will give you an opportunity to share.

          Here are some rules of the House—
                   If you sleep on it -- make it up.
                   If you wear it -- hang it up.
                   If you drop it -- pick it up.
                   If you eat out of it -- wash it.
                   If you spill it -- wipe it up.
                   If you turn it on -- turn it off.
                   If you open it -- close it.
                   If you move it -- put it back.
                   If you receive it -- give thanks for it.
                   If you broke it -- repair it.
                   If you empty it -- fill it up.
                  

          Linda and I had a rule when our children were babies that whoever found the dirty diaper had the change it.

          What are some rules that you were raised with?

          Today’s Adult Forum just happens to be, “No Rules during Recess Makes Students More Engaged in Classroom.”

          When pupils at Swanson Primary School in Auckland, New Zealand, go out for recess, they can play as they wish, including climbing trees, riding skateboards and scooters, sliding in the mud, playing bullrush (a running and chasing game) and doing whatever other activity they dream up!

          That's because there are no longer any playground rules at the school.

          Since the rules have been eliminated, the school has seen a drop in bullying, vandalism and serious injuries, and an increase in concentration levels in the classrooms. The kids, in fact, were so engaged during playtime that fewer teachers were needed to be on patrol.

                            

          It's no surprise that in God's world we're going to find some rules.

          This is the third in a series of messages on the Sermon on the Mount. We've been looking at Jesus' character sketch of the kind of people whose lives reflect the kingdom of God.

          The Beatitudes, that I spoke about two weeks ago, give us a picture of the internal character of the people of God's world.

          Jesus' teaching about being salt and light from last Sunday describes the outward focus of God's people.

          One of the greatest compliments a pastor can get is to have someone comment about the sermon a day later. Judy Eichhorn did just that after last Sunday’s message. In it I talked about the importance and value of salt but she reminded me that too much salt is a bad thing and sometimes too much spirituality or miss directed religiosity is bad.

          This morning we ask, “How will the people of God's kingdom know when they're doing it right?”

          What are the ethical implications of living the life of God's new world?

           In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gets specific regarding some of the rules of conduct for those who would follow him.

          There will be rules
          We're all familiar with rules.  

          When we were still in onesies or doing a furniture walk, we knew, even then, that there were some things that were "no-no's."

          In fact, "no" is one of the first words a toddler learns. It's usually said by a parent whose child is painting the wall with strawberry jam or is on the floor eating the dog's food.

          "No" is a word that establishes boundaries.

          When the child goes to elementary school and learns how to read, the rules are usually posted on the classroom wall.

          Of course, the child soon learns that there are also exceptions and loopholes in the rules.

          A rule like "No chewing gum," for example, can be interpreted by a fifth grader to mean, "I can have gum in my mouth as long as I don't chew it."

          You have heard that one, haven’t you?!

          By the time children get to high school, they have the legal experience of lawyers who know the rules and all the ways to get around them.
          That doesn't mean the rules aren't important;

                   it's just that the rules alone aren't enough.

          Jesus knew that.

          An ethical person not only understands and obeys the rules,

                   he or she also knows—and embraces—

                             the purpose behind the rules.

          When Jesus wanted to lay out the ethical agenda for God's world,

                   he didn't ditch the rules that were handed to Moses.

          For Jesus, the rules were still important,

                   but the principles behind the rules were even more important.

          It wasn't just about what was written in stone; it was about the law of God written on the hearts of God's people.

          The scribes and Pharisees knew the law backward and forward, and, as the self-appointed legal conscience of Israel, they were bound and determined to make sure everyone obeyed the law to the letter.

         
          The problem with that approach is that the Pharisee evaluated himself and others based on compliance to the rules, not on the basis of compassion toward others or the needs of the community.

          This is why Jesus drops the bombshell of a statement in the previous verse: "For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

          The law points to the way of living as the community of God's new world.

          So, Jesus establishes a pattern in the Sermon on the Mount that points to the stated Law of Moses

                   ("You have heard that it was said ...")

and the compassionate, community-building intention behind it

                   ("... but I say to you ...").

          The law of Moses was designed to show Israel how to live together in

                   a world of human authority;

          Jesus wants to discuss what it means to live in

                   a world of divine authority,

          the kingdom of God.

          Jesus takes the old law and radicalizes it,

                   shaking it down to the roots of the law's intent.

          Jesus is rooted in the law, but he calls his disciples to live a life with a much deeper rootedness than the legalism.

          The Pharisees were concerned with what people did (or did not do) with their hands.

          Jesus was more concerned about what people had in their hearts.

          Look at the first of these statements: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not murder'".

          "Do not murder" was one of the original Ten Commandments; a law set in stone.

          Murder is something to be avoided, which most of us are able to do.

          How many times have we heard people say something like, "Well, what I did was bad, but at least I didn't kill anyone?"

          And yet while it's clear that we should avoid murdering the body of another, Jesus radicalizes the old commandment and goes down to its root.

          "But I say to you, that if you are angry with a brother or sister you will be liable to judgment."

          Jesus understood that the dehumanizing act of murder has its roots in the dehumanizing of another person through our anger.

          And not only does anger dehumanize the other, it dehumanizes us, too.

          Every time we decide to allow anger to smolder inside of us, we become less than the people God created us to be.

          It's the difference between following the rule

                   and engaging a relationship—

          the difference between avoiding doing something with the hands and doing something with the heart.

          Anger is a useful diagnostic tool.

          When anger erupts in us, it is a signal that something is wrong.

          Something isn't working right.

          There is evil or incompetence or stupidity lurking about.

          Anger is our sixth sense for sniffing out wrong in the neighborhood.

          What anger fails to do, though, is tell us whether the wrong is

                   outside us or inside us!

          We usually begin by assuming that the wrong is outside us -- our spouse or our child or our God has done something wrong, and we are angry.

          But when we track the anger carefully, we often find it leads to a wrong within us—wrong information or inadequate understanding.

          The Bible says, "Be angry but do not sin."
          Sounds strange!

          The reason that statement sounds so strange is that most of us have been taught, from a very early age, that anger is always un-Christian.

          Most of us have been taught that the defining characteristic of a Christian is to be nice.

          Don't make waves, smile a lot, and be soft-spoken.

          Some take it to the furthest possible extreme: Be a doormat.

          Many of the great reforms in human history would never have happened, were it not for righteous anger.

          Think of where the descendants of African slaves might be, were it not for the righteous anger of William Wilberforce, who labored tirelessly for much of his life until the English Parliament finally abolished slavery.

          The second statement: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart".

          Lust dehumanizes people into objects that we use for our own pleasure.

          God's new world is characterized by faithfulness, and when we embrace fidelity in our hearts and in our relationships, we will learn how to embrace it forever.

          In these verses, the ethical pattern for the people of God's world emerges.

          It is a pattern that goes beyond the letter of the law, to the spirit of the law. It goes beyond what we do with our hands, to who we are in our hearts.

          The people of God's world follow an ethical program that requires a purity of intention beyond anything people had heretofore been taught.

          One's ethical deeds must come from clean hands and a pure heart.

          The scripture today calls us to look inward, not outward. It is there that we will come to the root of what it means to live as a follower of Jesus in the kingdom of God.

Children's Sermon

          Show the children a winter coat, hat and gloves, and ask them to tell you why it is important to dress properly on a cold winter day. Have them explain what would happen if they neglected to put on their coat or their hat or their gloves. Stress that we have to take care of little things, such as dressing properly, to avoid big problems such as frozen bodies, ears and fingers. Tell them that Jesus knew this, which is why he asked his followers to follow certain rules.

Prayer

          Here is a powerful prayer for President’s Day using the words of George Washington, the first President of the U.S.

Almighty God,

          We make our earnest prayer

          - that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection,

          - that thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government;

          - and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States of America at large.

          And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all

          - to do justice,

          - to love mercy and

          - to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of The Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.

          Grant our supplication, we beseech thee, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen

George Washington, First President of the United States

April 30, 1789

Please bless our country's Presidents,
Of the past, future And with he who leads the nation today.

Citius, Altius, Fortius

"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

"Faster, Higher, Stronger"

Matthew 5:13-16   |   2/9/2014

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

          The 22nd Winter Olympics has begun.

          Wasn’t the opening ceremony amazing as it portrayed the history of Russia?

          The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius,"

                   which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger".

         

          The five interlocking rings represent the five main regions of the world brought together by the Olympic Movement:

                   Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

          The "ring" motif  suggests what the Olympics are all about.

                    The ring of justice.

                   The ring of mercy.

                   The ring of faithfulness.

                   The ring of truth.

                   The ring of love.

       

    

          As I think about the Olympics I think of our scripture today with its two simple metaphors:

Salt and Light

          In our scripture Jesus said,

                    “You are the salt of the earth.

                   You are the light of the world.”

          Salt.

          My favorite candy in the whole world is Lula’s sea salt caramels.  I just thought you would like to know. By the way there is a Lula’s store up the street!

There is something about just a little bit of salt on top of the caramel that makes all the difference.

          Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.”

          That is why when we wish to stress someone’s solid worth and usefulness, we say, “People like that are the salt of the earth.”

         

          In Jesus day,

                   Salt was connected with purity.

                   Salt was the commonest of all preservatives.

                   Salt was used to lend flavor to food.

          Boston had its Tea Party.

          India had its Salt March.
          In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led over 100,000 people on a walk of over 200 miles. The reason for the march was to avoid a costly salt "tax" imposed by the British colonial authorities.

          Gandhi shrewdly realized that salt symbolized the unity of all Indians, from Brahmins to Untouchables, because everyone needs it.

          Jesus used it in his parable for much the same reason.

          I believe that the ideals of the Olympic Games are like the salt of the Christian Life—Justice, mercy, faithfulness, truth and love.

          These are the ideals that Jesus lifted up in the Sermon on the Mount.

          This is the second in a series of four messages based on Matthew Chapter 5 which is the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  

          Those who seek to follow the spiritual life of Jesus are like salt in the world.

          Salt crystals cannot give flavor to food unless they dissolve.

          If we dissolve the salt in a pot, it disappears but it does not cease to exist. It can then give flavor to thousands of grains of rice.

          It is the same with us.

          If we are not melted with justice, mercy, faithfulness, truth and love we cannot be effective as spiritual salt and light in our world.

          Today it's getting easier and easier to transform salt water into fresh water—that we need so badly.

          The process is called "desalination," and it's being used locally and around the world.

          Take Singapore, for example.

          Just a few years ago the country opened a desalination plant that can produce more than 10 percent of the country's supply of fresh water. Desalination is a good thing when it comes to water, Jesus tells us that it's a really bad thing when it comes to his people.

          In the middle of his Sermon on the Mount Jesus looks out over his followers and proclaims, "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.”

          Those are tough words, but in order to understand them, we need to grasp them from a first-century perspective. While salt in water is largely a pain salt minus the water has long been a blessing.

          It's proved so valuable because of its many uses. Salt could be used to cure and store meats, disinfect wounds and make food, pottery and more.

          That's why salt caravans—hauling sacks of the stuff from mine to marketplace—were among the earliest commercial enterprises. Armies have marched to secure supplies of it for their countries. Sometimes it has even been used as an alternate currency.

          From Jesus’ perspective, "You are the salt of the earth" refers to a valuable commodity indeed.

          Salt, in general, was loved because it had so many uses.

          Jesus' point is that those who belong to him, those who live under his reign and rule in this world, are just like salt.

          When it's out of the water, it's incredibly useful and surprisingly valuable.

          We have the ability to be the salt of the earth—to bring flavor to our world.          

          We are the salt of for the world

                   through the way we admit our faults,

                             the way we cling to Christ,

                                      the way we love our enemies,

                                                the way we feed the needy,

                                                         the way we strive to keep our promises

                                                                   and so much more—

          which Jesus goes on to outline later in his "sermon on the mount."

          Members of God's world, God’s Kingdom, have an amazing usefulness in this hurting world when we respond by living in love.

          We can cheer the process of "desalination" for seawater but we should fight against that same process when it comes to us, God's "salty" people.

          Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth.

          We do not want to be de-salted Christians.

          How can salt lose its saltiness?
          There are three things that can make salt lose its saltines.

          First, be careful with the chemicals.

          The first step in becoming salt-less is a brush with some nasty chemicals that latch on to the salty minerals.

          A similar, chemical onslaught happens for Christians, coming in the form of cultural distractions that cloud our minds and confuse our focus.

          Second, watch for osmosis.

          The second step in the desalination process is osmosis, a stage in which water is run through a series of membranes and filters and the minerals are now easily trapped.

          For the follower of Jesus Christ, this is what we'd call temptation. With our mind clouded and our heart divided, we're much more susceptible to getting snagged by something stupid.
         
          Third, don't lose your cool.

          The one-step, thermal process of removing salt involves bringing the salty water to a boil. The boiling water produces steam, which condenses as pure water.

          A very common way for followers of Jesus Christ to lose their salt is by quickly losing their cool. When the pressure mounts in life, when the crises emerge out of nowhere or tempers flare, it's far too easy to flip out.

          Blindsided by brokenness, we react with brokenness, and before we know it, rather than being the people of God's world—we're just like everyone else.

          Desalination happens.      
          Jesus knew that.
          And what's good for the water is bad for us Christians.

         

          Let's answer the question at the heart of Jesus' when he asks, "... if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?"  

          The truth is that none of us ever truly stays salty.

          The point of the Sermon on the Mount—

                   with its high call to be salt and light,

                   to be a blessed peacemaker,

                   to be slow to anger—

          was twofold.

          It was to show us the pattern for living in God's world

                   and to demonstrate how to live in Christ Jesus.

          It is the Faster, Higher, Stronger—

                   Justice, mercy, faithfulness, truth and love of the Olympics.

          So, what is the re-salination process?

          For those who are feeling particularly un-salty today, the good news is that there is a "re-salination process.”

          Through Christ we can be restored into someone who can beautifully bring the kingdom to a world that is in short supply of salt.  
         
          Personal transformation can happen.

          No one is too old to change.

          Sometimes the solution to moral and spiritual improvement is not all that complicated. For example:

          An auto mechanic received a repair order that said to check a clunking noise when going around corners.
          So he took the car out for a test drive and made two right turns, and each time - sure enough - he heard a loud clunking noise.
          Back at the shop, he returned the car to the service manager with this note: "Removed bowling ball from trunk."

          Light

          Jesus said that we are the salt but he also said that we are the light of the world. Think of it! YOU are the light of the world.

          A light is meant to be seen.

          A light is a guide.

          A light can be a warning light.

          The light which can be seen,

                   the light which warns,

                             the light which guides,

                                      these are the lights which the Christian must be.

          About once a month on my day off I volunteer as a docent at the Point Sur Light Station. I love it. It is a magical place for me. I love to tell the stories to the tourists of how four families lived on that isolated ‘rock’ for one reason. That was to keep the light burning so that lives of sailors can be saved.

          That is my mission as a pastor.

          That is our purpose as a church.

          Once there was a young reporter who was writing an article about President Lyndon Johnson. He traveled around the hill country of Texas interviewing the rural residents of Texas that Johnson represented as a young congressman.

          Over and over people said about Johnson that, “He brought the light.”

          Finally one day the reporter inquired, “What do you mean, ‘He brought the light?’”

          An old rural farmer responded, “When Johnson was a congressman he fought to have electricity brought to the hill country of Texas—he brought the light!”

          I hope that that can be said of us!

          Let’s be the salt and bring the light.
         

     "Citius, Altius, Fortius,"

     "Faster, Higher, Stronger"

     Justice, mercy, faithfulness, truth and love.

Children's Sermon

          Sprinkle a little salt on your hand, and say that salt is small but powerful, just like everyone who follows Jesus as a Christian.

John and Ulli Carley

Ursula Meidenbauer

Lucy Fillmore

Safety at the Olympics 

                                                          Prayer
          Gracious God, we thank you for the high calling in Christ Jesus to be your people.

          We praise you for the privilege of embodying your life of love, forgiveness and justice to the world.

          We gladly receive the responsibility to be salt and light, knowing that we will often fail to live up to who you have called us to be, but thankful nonetheless for the opportunity to respond to your mercy in our lives.

          Arouse within us, we pray, such joy in serving you and others, such compassion for the friendless and downcast, and such empathic indignation at the plight of the abused, exploited and stigmatized that we cannot remain silent, will not remain uninvolved and will not accept life as usual.

          Convict us in our comfort, and inspire us to a new vision of what it means to bear witness to your kingdom and to salt this world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

          Amen.

The People of God's World (1)

The People of God's World (1)

Matthew 5:1-12   |   2/2/2014

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

          On Monday I made several mistakes.

                   I went hiking in Big Sur alone.

                   I left my trail map in the car.

                   I didn’t take enough water on the hike.

                    I missed the correct trail, twice.

          But… I had one of the most wonderful days of my life alone in the mountains.

          Here are some pictures that I took.

           I hiked the Tan Bark Trail (picture of sign) to the Tin House near the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It is a most beautiful trail along a stream with water falls (picture of water falls) and many redwood trees (picture of redwood trees). All the while there are views of the ocean in the distance (picture of ocean).

          At the top there are ruins of a most interesting house. It is called the Tin House (picture of house). It was built at a time when tin was very scarce.

          The Tin House sits high on a Big Sur mountain top. The locals say that President Franklin Roosevelt vacationed there. The owner who built the house was a childhood friend of President Roosevelt.  They roomed together in prep school and at Harvard. They were each other's best man in their weddings. So they maintained a lifelong friendship.

          By 1944 in the middle of the war building material was not available. The Brown’s solution was to acquire two gas station buildings that they had disassembled and hauled up to the site.

          I share all this because as I hiked on Monday I had fun and I thought a lot about Jesus’s time alone in the mountains. This series of messages taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Matthew Chapter 5.

          In this chapter Jesus reveals that the people of God's new world will be identified more by their character than their culture.

          In this discourse, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what he called the kingdom of God.

          As I think of the people of God’s Kingdom (or God’s world) I ask?

                    What do the people of God's kingdom look like?

                    How do they live?

                    What do they believe?

                    What can we expect from them?

                   How are they different from the rest of the world.

          It's no secret that American culture is one of the most diverse tapestries of humanity of any country in the world.

          We value diversity because our country consists of people who literally come from every tribe and nation.

          In many areas of our country you're as likely to hear someone speaking Spanish in the grocery store as you would the local American English dialect, for example (be it "Y'all" or "You'ns" or "Yous guys").

          Our cities are populated by a patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods, and walking down the street can often seem like a tour of the world and its peoples.

          But not every country is as diverse.

          Even nations that would seem to be traditionally homogenous are changing as the world becomes "flatter" and we become more technologically linked by computers and travel.

          Many people in South Korea, for example, would still see themselves as ethnically homogenous. At the same time, however, the country hosts immigrants from 126 different countries and races.

          As one South Korean professor I know points out,

"We are the Han race and Han means sky,

sky embraces everything,

                                      so the term 'Han race' is inclusive."

          There's a truth to that statement.

          No matter where we live or what ethnic tribe we're from, we all live under the same blue sky in God's good creation.

          While we pay attention to differences in culture, language and race, God tends to evaluate us based on characteristics that are more than skin deep.

           In Matthew's gospel, Jesus reveals that God defines the world much differently than we do. God views the world in a way that defines God's people by their character and conduct more than their heritage.

          In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus redefines what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom of God.

          Who are the people of God's world?

          While we all may look different on the surface and speak a different language, Jesus reveals that there are certain traits that will be common to all of those who are a part of God's kingdom. These traits are revealed in what we call the Beatitudes.
          Look closely at the Beatitudes.

          They build on one another. 

          You can divide the nine Beatitudes into three sets of three.

          When you look at them in this way, you begin to see that Jesus is laying the foundation for citizenship in God's new world.

          The first set of three begins with the thesis:

          "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".

          Plenty of people have debated what "poor in spirit" means, but here's where the context can help us.

          Remember that Matthew's gospel is written to a Jewish audience and is aimed at making the connection with the Old Testament Prophets.

          If we want to know what being poor in spirit looks like, we turn to Jesus as the first example.

          I like to change the wording like this: "Blessed are those who have the spirit of the poor."

          To be "poor in spirit" combines these three traits of Jesus:

                   servant hood,

                   obedience and

                   self-denial.

          The one who is poor in spirit recognizes that he or she has nothing to offer God on his or her own, that his or her life has no purpose apart from God.

          The poor in spirit are those who voluntarily empty themselves so that they can be filled by God.

          This leads to the second beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

          Disciples who are poor in spirit turn their attention to the world and begin to see it as it currently is—

                    a world in pain,

                    a world that dehumanizes people,

                    a world full of violence,

                    a world that has given up hope.

          Those who mourn are blessed because they are able to enter into the world's pain and grief and are not afraid of it.

          Synthesize those two beatitudes together and you get the third: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

          We tend to think of meekness as wimpiness, as though our lives could be written as a "Diary of a Wimpy Christian."

          But here meekness is a combination of the power of self-denial in the poor in spirit,

                   and the passion for the pain of the world in those who mourn.

          Those who both want nothing from the world

          and, at the same time, is willing to share everything with it are the meek.

          Here we see that the spirit of self-denial and the spirit of service come together to make a new person.

          Jesus then turns to another set of three beatitudes that follow the same pattern:

          "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness";

          "Blessed are the merciful"; and

          "Blessed are the pure in heart".

          Whereas the first three beatitudes gave us a pattern for emptying ourselves, these next three teach us with what we are to be filled.

          Another way of translating the Greek word for righteousness is "justice." Justice takes the meaning of righteousness out of the realm of the individual and into the realm of the whole world.

          The people of God's world aren't just those who do good; they do good for a purpose -- to bring God's justice into the world.

          Those who have hungered and thirsted for God's justice

                   must begin to show mercy to those who need that justice the most.          When you put the passion for justice and the compassion of mercy together, you become the "pure in heart.”

          The third set of three.

          "Blessed are the peacemakers";

          "Blessed are those who are persecuted"; and

          "Blessed are you when people insult you".

          Take the meek who want nothing from the world,

                   and the pure in heart who want nothing but God.

          Put them together and you get peacemakers!

          The peacemakers are the ones who are resolute in their pursuit of reconciliation between humans in conflict with each other,

          whether the conflict is between families, races, cultures or countries.
         
          History tells us that anyone who acts as a peacemaker will usually become one of the persecuted.

          Jesus is the ultimate example of that truth. As E. Stanley Jones once put it, "Peacemakers must get used to the sight of their own blood."

          The fruit of living a peacemaking life is JOY.     

          Peacemakers can rejoice because their peacemaking, even if it costs them their own blood, is making change possible.
          The poor in spirit.

          The mourning.

          The meek.

          Those who hunger for righteousness.

          The pure in heart.

           The merciful.

          The peacemakers.

           The persecuted peacemakers.

          The slandered, insulted and persecuted peacemakers.

          These are the people of God's world. The church is where we begin to develop this kind of character as we work and minister with each other.

          Next week, we will continue to look at the "People of God's World" in the passage following the Beatitudes where Jesus talks about how we're salt and light.

                                                          Prayer

          God of grace, we come together in prayer with thanksgiving for our health and this day of life.

          That we are able to hear the wind whistling through the trees ...

                   see the rain which brings new growth ...

                    and feel the warmth of the sun on our faces,

                   we offer you our thanks and praise.

          Let us use the gifts you have given us wisely that we might see the needs of our neighbor

          and that we might feel the pain of another's loss.

          Free us from the temptations that confront us in the busyness of our every day.
          When we are tempted to respond in anger,

                   grant us the patience to return anger with kindness;
          When we want to insist on our own way,

                   grant us the grace to replace self-indulgence with unselfishness;
          When we are tempted to allow our families to be secondary to everything else we do,

                   help us to rearrange our priorities;
          When we are tempted to live out our lives at a hectic pace following our own agenda,

                   grant us the wisdom to take time to hear what you would have us do;
          When we are tempted to take the easy way out ...

                   to put desire over discipline ...

                   to let someone else take a stand for peace and justice,

                   remind us that the easy way is not always the right way.
          We offer our prayer through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns now and forever, and who taught us to say when we pray ...