For many years now I have thought of the Beatitudes as steps in discipleship. As we walk the path to holiness the road doesn't get easier it gets tougher.
ORIGINAL BEATITUDES REWORDED (from Sermon based on Matthew 5:1-15)
1. If you are dispirited, impoverished of the spirit, disconnected, feeling left and bereft of the presence of God, God awaits you.
2. If you are filled with sorrow, if you are sad, grieving, mournful, even bitter, God waits to comfort you.
3. If you are meek, timid, even weak and afraid of your own shadow, God waits to empower you.
4. If you hunger for justice, to see good triumph over evil, for right to triumph over wrong, for equality and fairness to reign, God will satisfy your hunger.
Notice the change that happens as these blessings evolve, from what one feels to what one does. These are steps taken on the path of discipleship toward holiness.5. If you are one who chooses to forgive, to show mercy to those who disagree with you, or who hurt you, God will be merciful to you.
6. If your heart is pure, if you do all with a loving heart, say all from a loving heart, and live in the world as one who embraces God’s love, God will be delighted to see you.The challenge is ever greater and the path is rougher, steeper the steps more difficult and demanding.
7. If you have the courage to stand in the midst of turmoil and work for peace, to take it on the chin to accomplish peace, indeed you are born of God.
8. If you find yourself being criticized, ostracized, rejected for standing up and doing what is right, God awaits you.
9. If you find yourself being ostracized, rejected, reviled by friends or enemies who speak all kinds of evil against you because you are a disciple of mine, be ecstatic, sing and rejoice and be glad; God has something wonderful to give you in heaven.
If Jesus had preached this same Sermon on the Mount again after three years of recruiting disciples, spending time debating with recalcitrant Pharisees, suffering Pompous politicians, and contentious priests, or trying to help those who cannot and will not help themselves, I dare say these beatitudes might very well have reflected his experiences. I have written some new beatitudes that Jesus might have added to the list had he been out there in the trenches for 20 years instead of 3. I put the word “Blessed” back into the list. You haven’t heard the new ones before, but remember even these new beatitudes are invitations and an opportunity to praise God.
NEW BEATITUDES
1. Blessed are the cranky, the unpleasant, the disappointed and dissatisfied; God has an attitude adjustment for you.
2. Blessed are the victims of substance abuse; God waits to release you.
3. Blessed are those who are wronged; God sees to it that what goes around comes around.
4. Blessed are the obsessed, who seek to control every aspect of their life, the lives of people around them and the world in which they live; God will liberate you.
5. Blessed are those who work, who are diligent everyday, whose ethic is to offer the best of themselves no matter what, who never cheat or seek to get something for nothing, who will not resent the system or those who have more than they do; they are the pillars of the earth and the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
6. Blessed are the set-in-their-ways-resistant-to-change-we-have-always-done-it-this-way folks. God has a surprise for you.
7. Blessed are the speaker-uppers, the movers and shakers, the squeaky wheelers; God has a job for you.
8. Blessed are the care-givers who soothe fevered and frightened brows, who pray, who whisper gently, who touch the untouchable, and comfort the uncomfortable. God will comfort you.
No comments:
Post a Comment