WATCHWORD:
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth 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 shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:2-12
Meditation:
Who or What Do You Worship?
Sometime ago I was digging into commentaries on the Sermon on the Mount, and came across counter-values to the Beatitudes that I found interesting and I think something that we can, to a degree, relate to. Try these few out and see what you think:
- Blessed are those who are poor in spirit. CV –self-confident, competent, self-reliant.
- Blessed are those who mourn. CV – pleasure-seekers, “the beautiful people”, the hedonistic.
- Blessed are those who are meek. CV – proud, powerful, important.
- Blessed are those who are merciful. CV – self-righteous, able to take care of themselves.
- Blessed are those who are peacemakers. CV – competitive, aggressive, ambitious.
On the ‘Blessed’ side of the equation we have those who follow the Lord’s admonition to love others and to love God. While the Counter-Value (CV) side suggests that the tangibles that the world worships are idols of wealth, achievement, and self-confidence. I realize it is not black and white, one or the other, but still, there is much truth here. Where are we in that array?Do we vacillate between the two poles? How do we accommodate the one in our Christian walk? Do we live in the one and wink toward the other? Let’s be honest with ourselves, do we truly follow our Lord and Savior and count ourselves blessed?
Some of the blessings are easier to understand and process than others. The rich young ruler, and many of us, have a hard time understanding what Jesus was asking him to do when he answered him: “Sell all you have and give to the poor“. We understand the part about following Jesus, but how does making ourselves poverty stricken bring honor and glory to the Lord?
Or, are we missing the point. Who do you love, who do you worship? We on this side of the resurrection we may have a better understanding of the point that Jesus is making. When we lift up our bank account, our herds of animals, our property, the stock market, whatever the focus of our life happens to be, and worship these, we aren’t fit to worship the Lord. Offer all you have in prayer to the Lord. Make everything a lower priority to following the Lord. ‘Follow me’, means look around you, reach out, use your resources to help others. Are you looking for a ticket to paradise? Well, here it is; love God and love others as you love yourself. So be it..
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly father, help me to worship you and only you in all that I do. I surrender my love for writing, my love for the stock market, my love for the accumulation of wealth, for my love of my car, my love and affection for anything that distracts my focus from you Lord. For you are the center of my life, give it meaning and value. I pray all of this in the Name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
