Beatitudes

CBG: Persecution

June 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] open 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 satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, 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 others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:2-12

Blessed are those covered in God’s favor and protection.
Blessed are those praised and thanked.
Blessed are those who are sacred and radiant.

When you do the work of God and seek what is just and right, even when it feels scary and dangerous, know that you are covered and chosen. And please let me clarify. This is not an endorsement for people to hate, murder and protect themselves and their possessions through the name of God. Come back to Jesus. Who did he seek justice and righteousness for and whom did he take it from? He despised the self-righteous religious and people who gripped onto money, in the name of God! He stood by those, fought for those, who had nothing, who were outcasted and who majority culture didn’t consider. So if you are doing such work as Jesus has, then blessings on you.

When you are marred and wounded, humiliated for your integrity and battered among the marginalized, remember that you are radiant and sacred. This is the kingdom of heaven, where those in the dirt shine bright and build a steadfast community. When people are offended by your radical life of generosity, sacrifice and inclusion, know that at the same time, you are also inspiring others that may never thank you. When people gossip about you and attempt to ruin your reputation because you refuse to stoop down to that same level, remember the prophets and the heroes who live beyond their life on earth, went through the same.

You don’t need to fake happiness or conjure up comfort. No one was born to love humiliation and persecution. You don’t need to enjoy pain. But in the midst of pain and suffering, what if you know you’re not alone in it? What if you know God is there with you and is working overtime to make sure you feel that? What if you believe that hope and heaven are your end place? What if trust that your soul is safe and getting stronger even as the world falls apart? Can this make you braver and more vulnerable? Can you laugh and cry all at once? Can you be the godly paradox?

Prayer: God help me to focus on my purpose and my God especially when I feel the most inadequate, invisible and alone. God help me to be fully present in pain and persecution and have it lead to your intimate presence.

What is your prophetic message?

CBG: Peace

June 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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 satisfied.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew: 5-2-9

A peacemaker is one who makes peace. A peacemaker creates a place of undisturbed freedom and brings an end to war because peace is not yet the reality. Therefore, the journey of a peacemaker is in battlefields and tension-filled spaces. They exist in places of conflict digging tunnels towards peace. They recognize and call out the lines of division so that we can move towards a place of co-existence.

The job of a peacemaker is difficult and dangerous. It requires dropping yourself into the pits of despair and divide. It requires trust and faith. Imagine a hostage negotiator. Imagine a divorce lawyer. Imagine a baby boy dropped into an earth destined to hate him. But if you do this work of bridging those seemingly on opposite ends, you will experience most fully the freedom that follows conflict resolution. The relief. The release. The joy.

Prayer: God equip me to be a peacemaker in places of division and conflict.

Where have you conflated being peaceful with being a peacemaker?

CBG: Pure

June 28, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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 satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:2-8

Purity. How do we untether the word from the white supremacist, patriarchal and othering world it is often defined by in today’s church cultures?

Burn the idea of being a precious untouched flower.
Burn the idea of being white.
Burn the idea of being a certain kind of feminine that “upholds value” aka dogwhistle sexism.
Burn the idea that it is too late, too far gone for others aka shame.

Purity. Clean. Whole. Full integrity. Is purity a fable and a lie to keep the masses down while those at the pulpit hold onto their power to tell us how to attain? Who is pure among us? Jesus? I think, maybe, only, Jesus…Jesus certainly saw God.

What was his heart like? Full of emotions. Full of purpose. His heart was for his calling on earth — to close the gap between humans and God. His heart was to bring all to a state of worthiness and wholeness so that those in that experience know their forever place in the kingdom of God.

Purity in heart is a callback to the uninhibited connection to God in the garden. It requires a burning of the shame, the lie that we need to do it on our own and the distrust of a good creator. Purity in heart is how we are created — an innocence and full access to God — but the ways of this world fog up that truth. If we can believe that we are already pure in heart while simultaneously working to feel and exist pure in heart, we will become intimate with God and our purpose.

Prayer: God I pray for the courage to believe in my already purity while working towards experiencing it fully. God I pray for shames and lies to be burned away by your goodness.

How has the idea of purity made me small or judgmental?

CBG: Mercy

June 27, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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 satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Matthew 5:2-7

What is required in mercy?
A choice.
A sacrifice.
A forgiveness
An opportunity for reconciliation.
Mercy is the journey of being wronged, recognizing the wrong and not asking the person who committed the wrong to compensate for the pain and loss.
Mercy is the faith of taking a temporary self loss for the sake of relational hope.
Mercy is the belief that healing and justice spring from sacrifice and forgiveness.
Mercy is an ownership of one’s own change and growth over enforcing change on another.
Mercy is self-responsibility for making things better regardless if others will do the same.
Being merciful grows one’s capacity for love and forgiveness. Being merciful is radical and does not add up in human mathematics. Being merciful is seeing a greater battle beyond flesh and bones and defeating the evil spirits that seek to divide humanity. In being merciful for others, I see mercy is possible on earth and that will open me to receiving mercy myself. Being merciful helps me to see that I, too, am worthy and capable of the mercy of God. There is nothing so unforgivable that God’s mercy does not cover.

Prayer: God I pray to keep my eyes on the battle against evils. God eradicate any tit for tat sentiments in me. God help me seek justice through mercy.

How has the feeling of “being owed” affected my relationships and how I view my place in the betterment of this world?

If you haven’t read Bryan Stevenson’s memoir Just Mercy, I encourage you to do it now.

CBG: Hunger & Thirst

June 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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 satisfied.

Matthew 5:2-6

Sometimes, alright if we’re being honest, often, when I’m hungry, I want a delicious vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. When I’m thirsty, I dream of a whiskey cocktail, ideally a Manhattan or a Sazarec. What would be most ideal is an ice cream & whiskey combo meal. And even those things are beautiful creations, I’m left desiring something else to eat or drink very soon after, or I feel sick and sit in regret. Even though it can feel farfetched, there is a way to train my body to desire vegetables and water. There is a way to train my body to long and love vegetables. When my body is in the practice of wanting vegetables, when I receive them, I’m excited. I’m not simply reluctantly eating a plant-based diet because “it’s good for me.” I want it. I see the variety and the possibility in vegetables. I feel physically good. I can be full and not harbor secret desires for cupcakes. It doesn’t mean that I won’t ever eat a cookie. I can still indulge in chips & cookies, but those are no longer the things I run after for satisfaction; they are things I get to have because I am already satisfied. This is hard. I naturally, or have been brought up, to love junk food and carbs. Broccoli currently doesn’t make me skip in joy. It takes discipline, practice and community to retrain the body and mind to center vegetables and see that they, too, can be colorful.

Thus is righteousness. To long, to love, to desire, to know the depths of good for you and others of, righteousness. To see righteousness as worthy to be sought after. To see righteousness as fun as all the other vices. Because righteousness feels close to how we were created to exist; an alignment with the goodness of God. If we can hunger and thirst for righteousness, we can experience an integrity that leads to well-deserved rest.

Prayer: God may I seek what actually satisfies and leads to rest.

What feels unsatisfied and lacking right now?

CBG: Meek

June 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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.

Matthew 5:2-5

Meek. Who do you see when you envision someone who is meek?

In a capitalistic, patriarchal, white supremacist world, meek isn’t the quality taught to those who want to succeed. Meek gets overpowered. Meek falls to the background. Meek isn’t heard or seen. Meek doesn’t interject. Meek doesn’t shout. Meek isn’t recognized on social media or seeks to go viral. Meek doesn’t vie with its competitors.

Because meek isn’t in competition to be more seen or to get head. Meek roots in worth and visibility. Meek works from the inside. Meek speaks when needed and that clear, wise softness cuts through the jargon and noise. Meek doesn’t need to prove their worth in crowds doing that because the crowd wouldn’t even understand. Meek is on its own race, center and purpose. Meek sees the results and product oriented attitude in capitalism as trivial and creates instead things that feed the soul. Meek sees the fear and ego built into patriarchy and feeds itself love and faith instead. Meek calls out the self-hatred and false set of rules in white supremacy, so lives life from possibility and presence. THIS is the earth they get to live in, and those who know, know.

Prayer: God help me to be fully present to all beings and to see their infinite possibility. Help me to create to expand and to give, and not to horde or lord over others. Help me to love and take risks rather than self-protect.

Where in your life would it be radical to be meek?

CBG: Mourning

June 23, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] 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.

Matthew 5:2-4

When do we mourn? What fills us in times of mourning?

We mourn when we had and now we have lost. We mourn what was and are approaching what is. We mourn what could have been while waiting for what’s next. Mourning is an expression of care. Mourning involves emptying and letting go. Mourning is painful because it feels like the only thing that matters in the moment isn’t making the situation any better. It can overtake you. It can fog everything. It has its own timeline and reminds us again we are not in control. Yet this act can be a blessing because it reveals our capacity to love, dream and hold. Mourning reflects the depth of our connection and care. Mourning demonstrates that this present moment cannot be the end. In mourning, it is healthy and right to feel the heartbreak and hopelessness. In the void and hole is its corresponding space to be filled. It is a space ready to be with newness, unimaginable pivots and an intimacy with God that otherwise cannot be accessed. Comfort is the closeness of another.

Prayer: God make me brave to fully grieve the things I have lost and desired. Help me feel your presence in that grief.

What scares you about comfort in mourning?

CBG: Poor

June 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:1-3

What is the purpose of the Beatitudes? Who is the audience? What does this teach us about the goal of sermons?

Jesus speaks to his disciples, those that already follow him. He is telling this to those who are already open to hear. The Beatitudes are not done to convince an audience of God’s power; they are blessings for those who are in the community to feel connected to their leader, to each other and to their now purpose. This is a teaching on identity and a call to action to keep pressing into those identities. Sermons are reminders of our identity in Christ and the corresponding promptings for action once we are sent out into the community. How can people who don’t believe in Christ still be moved by the Beatitudes and sermons? Because in hearing these identities, they see themselves; and to keep pushing into growth and discomfort in these identities requires a faith of promises. For those in Christ, we believe God will provide.

How does being “poor in spirit” make one a recipient of “kingdom of heaven?” What is the reality of one who is “poor in spirit?”

Poor requires sacrifice and wisdom. Limits and priorities are at the forefront. There is more a presence to the current situation and its needs. In poor, there is the balance of what one has and what one does not have. In poor, one can see most fully the power of faith and gratitude, resilience and perseverance, of what can be! These are the characteristics of kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is a perspective and reality of all that can be. It is the faith that abundance and fulfillment lie in sacrifice, wisdom, boundaries, priorities and presence. In one’s surrender and trust that tomorrow God will yet again provide, one lives in a realm void of fear and lack and full of joy and peace.

Prayer: God I pray for a trust in your abundance and provision, that all the areas that the world paints as poor, weak and lacking are the exact places I have my strengths and answers.

How does lack feel? How is that feeling a call to faith and community?