Scripture/Sermon of the Day.  November 5, 2023

Matthew 5:1-12

The Beatitudes

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Reflection/Sermon:

I.      Remember the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama who was fired in 2003 because he disobeyed a federal order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse? It was a 5,280 pound block of granite — three feet by three feet by four feet tall where on the top would be two plates side by side with the Ten Commandments carved into them.  Earlier in his career as a circuit judge he hung a homemade wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of his courtroom behind his bench.

His name is Roy Moore.  Remember him?   He’s a fundamentalist Christian from northern Alabama who wanted SCHOOL PRAYER and OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE AND WANTED LAWS PUNISHING HOMOSEXUALITY), WANTED CREATIONISM-NOT- EVOLUTION TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS. 

II.     I thought of this man to begin today’s sermon because of his 10 Commandments controversy that made national news.

III.    What fascinates me when this issue keeps coming up — THESE KINDS OF ISSUES THAT ARISE AROUND PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY ARE CHRISTIAN —they rarely talk about Jesus.  THERE’S LITTLE MENTION OF JESUS.   They are passionate about issues like prayer in schools — restricting immigration — lowering taxes — the Ten Commandments — ISSUES NOT IMPORTANT TO JESUS!

IV.     JESUS SAID DON’T PRAY IN PUBLIC — IN SCHOOL OR ON FOOTBALL FIELDS OR IN GOVERNMENT!!!  JESUS SAID   “Take the prayer out of the schools and the football fields and the courtrooms and take it to the closet!  Pray in secret!"

And EVOLUTION!  Believe what you want — but don’t make a big deal out of it.  Believing we evolve from jellyfish or a guy named Adam isn’t going to make us better or worse human beings.  IT WON’T SAVE US.  It’s the spirit of Jesus Christ in our hearts right now hearts right now that changes us our hate and anger to compassion and kindness.  NOT WHAT WE THINK ABOUT WHERE WE CAME FROM!

V.      Why didn’t this “Christian” judge make such a fuss about   THE BEATITUDES??!!  Blessed are the Meek — those who mourn — the peacemakers — the merciful?
BECAUSE we’re following Jesus, not Moses. 

VI.     And about the beatitudes — why are we blessed — some translations say “happy” — when we mourn?  Isn’t that a contradiction?  Why would you think Jesus said this?  We discussed this last Wednesday night in our zoom Bible study.
One of the reasons is — when we mourn for a person or an animal or something — even like a tree that’s been cut down or the flowers that were alive a week ago and now after the frost last week they’re not — it means we’re connected to that person or that life.  And Jesus said when we feel connected to others, and to nature, and to the ocean and every part of God’s creation that has life — when we’re connected, THEN WE ARE ALIVE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE CREATOR — OF GOD, OF JESUS — IN US.  When we mourn it means our heart is alive with Jesus.

VII.    Having a heart that mourns for the suffering of others means we don’t have to take sides any more.  We can mourn for the Israelis and the Palestinins.  We can mourn for the Ukrainians and for the poor, misguided Russian soldiers. 
We can mourn the divisions in our own country, the growing antisemitism and Islamophobia and intolerance of people who are different from “us.”

VIII.   We don’t have to take sides, but like Jesus, embrace all.

A Jewish woman, Maya Alper, was enjoying herself a few weeks ago at the Tribe of Noah music festival in Israel near the Gaza border.  260 of her fellow concertgoers were killed and she barely escaped death by hiding in a thick bush.  She was rescued by a group of people driving a pickup truck — Palestinian citizens who lived in Israel.  They saved her life — drove her to safety, as they helped to rescue other concert survivors.  They drove her to the police station where her father was waiting for her.
Afterward she said:  “This is not just war.  This is hell.  But in that hell I still feel that somehow we can choose to act out of love, and not just fear.”

That’s the sermon on the mount.  That’s God speaking through the mouth of Maya Alper.  That’s Jesus who  seeks to love and heal and make peace through each of us.