Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Jan. 29, 2017
Jesus Proclaiming the Beatitudes. Mural, 1912, in St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Savannah, Georgia.
How does God want us to live? Our Sunday readings speak to us clearly about how we are called to walk in God’s way and to follow Jesus. The beloved verse from the prophet Micah tells us to respond to God’s love by sharing it with others, simply by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God. Micah, as prophets do, warns that we stand before God as a defendant in a trial, pleading our case to a divine Judge who “has a controversy with us.” God has done so much for us. How are we to respond? It’s not burnt offerings and sacrifices but our good actions for others that count.
Who among us can claim the high honor of living in God’s sanctuary? The Psalmist’s instructions bear a marked resemblance to Micah’s prophecy: Those who do right, speak truth, don’t slander or reproach and do no evil may dwell in God’s tabernacle and abide on God’s holy hill. Honesty, kindness, and love of neighbor all make a difference. The way we live matters to God.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Continuing his stern lecture to his congregation at Corinth, Paul reminds us that Jesus’ death on the Roman cross – a gory, horrifically painful execution that Rome reserved for the worst criminals – is “foolishness” to those who don’t understand, but it shows believers God’s power to save, even from death. Paul tells us that God chose this way to celebrate the weak, the poor and the despised and to shame the powerful and the strong through Jesus, who gives us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes, the beloved verses in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, have become so familiar that we sometimes don’t pause to give them the deep reflection that they deserve. In eight quick statements, Jesus turns the world upside down: It is not the rich who are blessed, but the poor. It is not the successful and the proud who win God’s blessing, but mourners, the meek, the hungry; the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the oppressed. This is good news for the poor, and it is earth-shattering. It is also a theme that Jesus repeats again and again until it is difficult to understand why we have such a hard time getting it.