Day 4: Sermon on the mountain

I am not sure where this scripture will lead me, but here we go. This particular teaching is know as the Sermon on the Mount -

Matthew 5: 1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. 

What Jesus taught them were the Beatitudes and here they are

  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

I always found the Beatitudes hard to teach to Sunday School Children.  Jesus is trying to teach us a transformation of our inner self.  Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life that will lead to a reward, not so much in this lifetime but in eternity. Someone once described them as Be - attitudes,  positive traits for our life.  They breakdown more simply as --be humble, mourning not only in the passing of others, but mourning our own regrets of our sins.  Meekness, which follows along with humility, meekness can also mean kindness and gentleness.  Justice, mercy, love and peace all wonderful traits the can build off from one another.  Of course, all this might come with a price, others might not understand you and insult you, and even persecute you.  This still happens today.  But in the end, you got heaven to look forward to.


Maybe these are some attitudes I need to build on more. Maybe that's why I was led to this mountain and had such a hard time with it.   Today's sermon at church  reflected on letting God's Love flow in and out of us.  Love for one another is sometimes hard to maintain.  As much as you love someone, it can also be easy to get mad at them.  But to love unconditionally is the gift that God gave us in Jesus and His teachings are trying to show us the way to love everyone unconditionally to.  Not an easy thing to do, but who said this was going to be easy.