2 Blessings from the Beatitudes

Today as I was reading the beatitudes, I had two interesting thoughts... hopefully they were guided by the Word himself (referred to as the Verb in Spanish).

¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

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 be shown 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 because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (Matthew 5:1-11)

1) 'Blessed' is very different from 'righteous'.

Just imagine how it would've been different if Jesus had said, "Righteous are the poor in spirit... Righteous are those who mourn." No, righteous suggests right, and right suggests earning something. Instead, to be blessed, there must be one who blesses. And the content of the beatitudes shows that we are not blessed because of what we have done. (Imagine a crying competition to earn a blessing. No one would win, because the competitors would be splitting their mourning with their competing.) We are blessed because of the one who blesses.

'Blessed' literally means 'held as holy'. Only the One who is Holy is able to make us holy... set us apart from this world. And who is set apart as holy? Not only the righteous, the kings, the disciples... those who are sad, those who are persecuted, those who show mercy, the meek. I wonder who of us does not find him/herself in there somewhere.

And that leads me to...

2) What if we treated everyone everyday as if they were truly 'blessed' by God?

That bus driver, the cashier at the supermarket, the student whose cell phone went off (again!), the advisor who keeps giving you more work, the daughter who won't stop asking why.

Just take a moment to stop and think... wow, _____ is blessed by God! This person is really special, and treat them just that way.

With His disciples at His side, I can't help but think that Jesus was teaching them to be true disciples just as much as He was teaching those gathered there. After all, this is the way we see Jesus treat people - women, children, tax collectors alike - he treats them as though they are blessed... and He should know, since He is the holy one who blesses and makes us holy.

I pray today that God allow me to see each person as blessed, set apart as holy by the Lord... so that I may be His disciple, more able to show His love to all I see.

Bearing Good Fruit - Integration of our Inner & Outer Life

As I continue to reflect on true discipleship this week, it seems clear that integration of our inner and outer lives would be a goal- that we would receive the Holy Spirit and then give that to others. Although I never thought of the 'fruits of the spirit' in this way before, the image now becomes more powerful to me. Many of us are probably familiar with the faith/works debate... and we seek to find the middle ground where our faith is present in our actions but also deep in our souls. [Enter fruit tree]

Consider the mango tree. No one could miss its fruit when it's in season... the fruit high in the trees, the bright oranges and yellows against the greens of the leaves. You can certainly see it. But, there was something that had to happen beforehand in order for the tree to bear that fruit. The inside of the tree prepared itself to bear fruit, through the right water, soil and sunshine.

So, Galatians 5:22-26 becomes all the more meaningful to me....

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

When thinking about the image of a fruit tree, this fruit of the spirit similarly is something that begins deep within our souls. We need living water; we need to be grounded in the word; and we need communion with the Son (our Lord and savior) to bear beautiful, nourishing fruit. So, the fruit of the Spirit is from the Spirit (inner), but it is something which shows on our branches... offering the Truth to others.

Mother Teresa said it this way in "Words to Love By":

Just allow people to see Jesus in you

to see how you pray

to see how you lead a pure life

to see how you deal with your family

to see how much peace there is in your family.

Then you can look straight into their eyes and say, "This is the way."

You speak from life, you speak from experience.

This suggests that we must first have an active prayer life, purity of thought, a peaceful family... and all of those come from the fruits of the Spirit. And if we are running a little dry, we only need to seek. For "when you seek, you will find when you seek with all your heart".

I'm so thankful today for the many people who are 'bearing their fruit' to all the people who are still without power or with flooded streets on the east coast. I pray that everyone who was affected by Irene may feel the many prayers lifted up on their behalf and find the outstretched arms that they need in this difficult time.

You Must Receive in Order to Give

I realize that the title of this reflection may be somewhat shocking on this page. We often hear the saying, "It is better to give than to receive." But is it always? Perhaps it depends what and from whom we are receiving.

This week's theme is 'true discipleship', and the opening invocation reads:

"Good Teacher, help me in this hour to hear your clear call to discipleship. By the power of your Spirit grant me wisdom, courage and strength to live as your disciple all day long. Amen.

This prayer clearly shows the relationship between receiving and giving. In order to give ourselves to others in discipleship (following & spreading God's teachings), we must first receive the wisdom, courage and strength that God has to give us. In fact, if we think about it... receiving is a beautiful and important part of the story which allows us to truly recognize God's power in our lives- "I can do nothing apart from Christ who gives me strength." If we attempt to give without Christ's love, courage, wisdom, and strength, we are certainly headed for burnout. We're trying to give water from an empty well... which will leave both ourselves and others thirsty.

In order to give good spiritual gifts, we must receive God's wonderful spiritual gifts that He longs to give to us in our quiet devotional times with Him.

As disciples, we are asked to imitate and follow our teacher, as is described below:

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Phillipians 2:1-8)

The first verse above is filled with the conditional "if", suggesting that in order to be like-minded and truly imitate Christ, there are certain requirements. And how can we feel encouragement in Christ, comfort from His love, sharing in His Spirit, tenderness and compassion? We must first receive all these beautiful gifts from God... coming before God in prayer, reading His word, opening our hearts and time to Him... only then can we have the same selfless love of Jesus, when He works in our lives and grants us those "good and perfect gifts".

This morning I pray especially for all the graduate students in GCF, especially the new graduate students. Confronted with many new jobs and pressures, it's often hard to set time apart for the Lord. But I pray that each morning, these students are able to find even 15 minutes to read, to pray, to receive God's Holy Spirit, so that He may walk with them each through the day... enabling them to live each day as Christ's disciples on campus.

Similarly, I pray each day for my marriage. Marriage is our opportunity to live out Christ's love for us to each other... this love in which we put the other person first, before our own desires. But we can only do this truly with God's love. So, I pray that God would grant me the wisdom, kindness, compassion, and selflessness of His Spirit to teach me how to love my husband more and more in the way that Christ loves us.

Are You Going?

This week I've been reading about and reflecting on the centrality of Christ in my life. My prayer for this week is more than anything that God would teach me how to let Christ be the biggest and most important center of my life, letting all other things be small ways in which I can glorify the Lord.

Interestingly, today I read a scripture about 'going'... in which Jesus asks them if they will go with Him.

To Whom Shall We Go?

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-71)

Following Jesus and going where He went was certainly not for the faint of heart. In fact, following Jesus and going where He calls us to go is still challenging. Sometimes we may wander from the path without even realizing it. We may turn back without noticing that is what we have done.

But that's why it's so important to pray that God guide our lives, to commit our lives anew to Him each and every day. Because we may just as well ask the same question as Simon Peter asked, "To whom shall we go?" Perhaps we're not often tempted to go to a 'whom', following another person or religion. But, we might be tempted to go after a 'what' - a better job position, a bigger house, a higher degree. Of course none of these things are bad in themselves, but they should not be the center of our lives. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

After all, as Simon Peter said, when we know Christ and His words of eternal life, we know that only Christ is worth following.

As many on the East coast are leaving their homes/their possession not knowing what will happen with Hurricane Irene, I pray that they may seek God at this time... remembering that He is the one we seek and the one we go to. And that cannot be taken away from us. Many prayers for all those facing the storm. May the one who calms the storm calm your hearts and protect you.