And seeing the multitude, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek,for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heave, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)
Spiritual Champions live toward "Christian perfection." John Wesley, who is most noted as the founder of Methodism, visualized as a mark of being Christian the willingness and ability of humans to perfect the love of God in response to the love of God, expressedly seen in the self giving love of Jesus. Christian live to love God with their total being and to love others with the desire for others to love them.
There can be no greater calling than for men and women to live out the nature of love as experienced in the characteristic of the nature of God. It is a righteous love. Compassionate in the sense of caring and sharing with others empathic ears and pure hearts. It is the love desirable by people of God throughout the world. And, most assuredly, is it the kind of love called for among Christians, who have come to be United Methodists in Huntington Cold Spring Harbor. Spiritual champions are "living the righteous life." What are the ways and means of living the righteous life in Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and beyond?
Deeply rooted in the teachings of Jesus, which are theologically known as "The Beatitudes",the daily deportment of the people called Methodists should be grounded in "righteousness of faith" having to do with a right relationship with God. Through a right relationship with God people of faith merge into human righteousness, which is living right with one another not to earn favor or merit or even "brownie points" with God, but for the sake of doing right.
Therefore, in "Living the Righteous Life", Christians are to recall the teachings of Jesus and live in accord with them. In our text is a primary teaching on the life and disposition of followers of Jesus:
- The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are seeking to be blessed spiritually and economically. The church should be a spiritual fitness center and economical development institution. Spiritual champions live to strengthen the weak in spirit with manna from the Spirit and human resources. In this kingdom, God reigns supreme over all the earth. Spiritual champions understand that for the minds to digest the spiritual, the stomach needs to digest solid food or the sounds of noise from the stomach may even drown out the sounds of music in worship.
- Spiritual champions are sinners saved by grace. Having been saved by the grace of God, spiritual champions mentor persons, who are mournful and crying in brokenness as a result of personal sin. Certain pews in Methodist churches were once designated as the "mourners' bench", where persons seeking forgiveness would pray for the blessed assurance of salvation. Spiritual champions understand that there is more to life than personal holiness, because there are tears over social ills as well. In a real sense, Wesley had it right in saying there is no sure personal holiness without social holiness. The people of God seek not to possess God, but to be possess by God and led by the Spirit of God to transform society into a world of peace. The Methodist church should not have to designate pews for mourners now. All children of God for personal and social reasons should be crying for divine intervention in the midst of the world ethical crisis in any and all aspects of life.
- Spiritual champions seek not to bring drama. Rather, as champions of spiritual being, people of God rejoice in loving others by not getting high on self love. Humility is a virtue all must strive for and uphold in living the righteous life.
- Hungering and thirsting to do the things right in life, spiritual champions live to obtain mercy with purity of heart participating in the makings of peace throughout the world.
Living the righteous life is the goal of Spiritual champions against all adversity, including those who would persecute or seek the destruction of the Church as the body of Christ. In personal testimony, I have come to understand that life is not about me or my having life. For years I have had only a portion of the understanding, in that I understood having faith in God, but I lacked faith in God. Faith, righteous faith, is more than believing that God is, it is living because God is. I now live for the higher level of the calling to which I have been prepared to live. I seek His face in living the righteous life not that I earn the right to see Him, but because it is right living to see Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy of my sinful soul, and grant that I may see you and walk with you, and talk with you daily. Amen
2 comments:
Reverend,
Thank you for proclaiming Good News to the captives that can free us from the self-derived prisons of materialism and self-centeredness.
I have discovered that the flesh in most cases is not weak. On the contrary, it is strong, far stronger than The Spirit of Christ that should dominate our being.
The flesh feels the pangs of hunger and thirst as we lay on the cold streets of NYC with cardboard boxes and tattered discarded blankets as our only barrier from the cold elements and concrete. Our flesh feels the pains of discrimination and racism when we are denied basic freedoms and inalienable rights granted to us by God and government alike. Our flesh feels the disenfranchisement from life when our families are torn apart in divorce. Our humanity cries out for human justice and vengeance when we are brutally raped and beaten and left in the woods to die. Our physical hearts explode as our lives implode when we are betrayed, abandoned by those we loved and trusted most. The flesh speaks so loudly that the Spirit is drowned in silence!
It is no wonder that we as Christians can barely fast and pray! It is not our flesh, but our Spirit is so weak. Perhaps that is why some homeless people on the streets are far more spiritual than are we in the church who are blessed enormously. Because of their unfortunate plights,they have fortunately learned to conquer the flesh and survive on the Spirit alone by placing their lives each minute and each day in the hands of The Omnipotent Creator.
Instead of food, they live on "manna from heaven."
Until we are able to do the same, we shall always have eternal warring within our souls and the flesh will assuredly always win. If we do not let go of all we think we are and humble ourselves, repent even if we can't see what we have done wrong, open ourselves up to the will of God and seek Him in all we do, then we shall forever be in battle. If we give up the flesh and all the materialistic things it encompasses, then evil has lost its power because there is no longer anything the flesh yearns for. It has given it all up for the sake of Christ. The Spirit can then dominate and bring us back into right relations with Christ as evidenced in how we treat each other and keep His commands.
When we hunger for righteousness more than food, blessed shall we be. When we thirst for justice and equality more than water, then we shall be blessed. When our hearts are pure from bigotry and envy, we shall be blessed. When we are meek enough to turn the other cheek and allow God to usher judgment, we shall be blessed. When someone hurts us and denies us mercy but we show them mercy still, we will be blessed. When we live in the Beloved Community Martin Luther King advocated where love is unconditional and we pray for those who despitefully curse us, we will be blessed! Then we all shall be free to be His and live under His commandments, not as slaves but as willing subjects with the full knowledge that without God's love, we are but clanging symbols or noisy gongs, making a lot of noise but saying nothing.
I want my life to say something, Rev. I want it to mean something. When I come to die, give me Jesus and His grace is sufficient for me!
May God be with us all as we become winners in The Spirit!
Profoundly written. Thank you!
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