Without a Pause
The journey we’ve undertaken into the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) has brought us face to face with our own misunderstanding of the concept of what it means to be #Blessed. Western culture has all of us assuming that we are truly #Blessed when we have it all together. When the world sees us, how could they then not see Jesus – the Jesus we want them to see who looks like us, dresses like us, talks like us, and really, really, really likes us the best?!
The problem comes to a head when we realize Jesus’ definition of #Blessed in the Beatitudes. Those dont sound anything like our modern worship services – they certainly dont look like us. And yet if we want to belong in the Kingdom of Heaven, we need to look like them. Period.
Following those character redefining traits of the Beatitudes is the Salt and Light discourse. This is a passage we like….. a lot. Because we assume Jesus is talking about us again. Of course we’re the salt of the earth and a light to the world! Who wouldnt want to be #Blessed just like us? We are not being persecuted. We are not poor. We support many missions. We live in relative (at least outward) peace with each other. Yep – we are Salt and Light.
Remove the pause that has been built into our modern Bibles – the one that lies between the Beatitudes and the Salt and Light discourse. What does that do to our interpretation of being salt and light? We are truly the salt of the earth ONLY when we live the character displayed in the Beatitudes. We are truly the light of the world when we display Christ in us.
Remove the pause, do not get distracted or change the line of thinking at the end of the Beatitudes. Do not shy away from the narrow gate that requires persecution and peacemaking and mercy. Its time to prove truly how #Blessed we are – as Children of God.