The sermon series during Lent is based on Matthew 5-7, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, some of the most difficult and daring words of the scriptures.... designed to show the disciples and the others gathered there exactly what it might mean to follow this path Jesus is suggesting.
The Beatitudes are the first words he utters... Blessed are the poor, those that mourn, the meek, etc.
Brian McLaren tells us that in this day, to say 'blessed are these..." would be to say "Pay attention: These are the people you should aspire to be like." Wow. I have never heard any pep-talk or motivational speaker tell me I should aspire to be poor and meek and crying. I am sure the people gathered that day were no different in their assessment of what he was suggesting. Sounds crazy, foolish even.
It is like looking in a fun house mirror and thinking you will see one thing, but seeing something entirely different instead. You think you are medium height, but the mirror suggests you are very short and squat or very tall and thin. Jesus suggests that the labels we and others have put on ourselves of how we want to be seen, or how others want to see us are false. They are not the reality that Jesus calls us to. We don't have to seek the society view, we can seek the gospel fun house view instead.
This is game-changing instruction in a world that rewards the rich and powerful and tells us to be out for our own happiness and independent and self-made. Jesus suggests that self-interest and self-promoting people are just not the kind of people needed to create this new Reign of God. He says we should turn the social and societal pyramids upside down. We shouldn't be climbing a ladder of success but embracing a world with care. He tells us there will be a price to pay for following this upside down, crazy, inverted way, but we will receive priceless rewards. McLaren calls it 'unconventional blessedness,' which can lead to 'true aliveness.'
From We Make the Road by Walking:
"That identity will give us a very important role in the world. As creative nonconformists, we will be difference makers, aliveness activists, catalysts for change. Like salt that brings out the best flavors in food, we will bring out the best in our community and society. Also like salt, we will have a preservative function--opposing corruption and decay. Like light that penetrates and eradicates darkness, we will radiate health, goodness, and well-being to warm and enlighten those around us. Simply by being who we are--living boldly and freely in this new identity as salt and light--we will make a difference, as long as we don't lose our 'saltiness' or try to hide our light."Jesus is trying to let the people gathered know that this is a whole different way of seeing God, of seeing yourself, and of seeing yourself in relationship with God. It is a whole new way of being religious, so to speak. Jesus isn't trying to restore the old religion, nor is he trying to start a new one. He is suggesting a movement, steeped in the traditions of the past, that is 'bigger, deeper, and more subversive: a global uprising that can spread to and through every religion and culture." It requires deep inner reflection about who we are, who we want to be, who we might become and what we will create of our lives.
This journey of Lent this year at NUMC is called "One Step Up and Two Steps Back." That is not to suggest that we aren't actually making any progress getting somewhere, but rather to suggest that the road sends us not forward, but in a kind of dance... that will take us not on a path of expected norms, but in a swirl of movement in chaotic, but life-filling directions.
What kind of person do you want to be right now? What kind of child of God do you want to be? How can the Beatitudes offer you instruction on how to reshape your identity this Lenten season?
Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below.
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