Sunday 29 January 2017

Psalm: Psalm 15

Background

The Beatitudes - the sayings of Jesus recorded here in theseverses - signal the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, andcontain some of the most famous and challenging words of Jesus.That the Sermon was delivered up a mountain may suggest parallelswith Moses (eg Exodus 19) and by sitting down Jesus wasadopting a typical Jewish position for teaching. Jesus developsthemes of integrity and authenticity, stressing the importance of aconsistency between words and deeds, attitudes and behaviour.

In many ways the Beatitudes are a manifesto of counter-culturaldispositions which will be rewarded with God's blessing. Theyundermine a wisdom which often prevails that identifies divineblessing with worldly well-being and material success. So, "thepoor in spirit", "those who mourn", "the meek", "the merciful" and"the pure in heart" are the far from obvious recipients of God'sfavour. These are all important attitudes which will set peoplefree to live and work to God's praise and glory, and help realisethe kingdom of heaven here on earth.

Maybe there is a contrast here with some of those around Jesuswho were behaving in an apparently righteous manner, but whoseinner dispositions were neither life-giving nor generous. It is notenough to be pious and live within the letter of the law if thisbreeds a mean spirit, injustice and hypocrisy. What inspires andmotivates our actions will ultimately be exposed, and indeed willshape not just our deeds but our souls as well.

Apparently if one visited the famous tea clipper ship, the CuttySark, before she was damaged by fire in recent years, there wasbelow deck a very noticeable aroma of tea. Years of transportingthis precious commodity had ingrained the vessel with the smell. Itgave her away and there was no denying what her cargo had been. Shedidn't just look like a tea clipper - she smelt of it! Likewisewith those who are 'blessed' - they won't just have the appearanceof following Jesus, their very lives will be infused with hisSpirit and there'll be no denying it!

To Ponder

• In what ways are the Beatitudes 'counter cultural' in yourcontext?

• Having read through the Beatitudes choose just one and spendtime reflecting on it and praying with it

• Using the analogy of the Cutty Sark, what do people 'smell'when they encounter you?