[RCL] Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12 “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” Micah’s lament, placed in the mouth of God by the visionary prophet, echoes through the eons of humanity’s infidelity. The question is asked of every generation because we…

Today we commemorate, and celebrate, the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. Last Sunday, we heard in the fourth chapter of Matthew that Jesus has gathered disciples and gone throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing the sick. The Sermon on the Mount, which occurs early in…

It sounds so simple: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God. But on closer inspection, are these instructions really so simple after all? How can we be sure we are seeking God’s justice and not our own? How are we to love kindness and not merely like niceness? How do we walk in…

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the…

This passage from the Gospel of Matthew is known commonly as The Beatitudes. They are fondly heard by people of good will and treasured as words of comfort to the afflicted and distressed. But like many popular passages in Scripture, they need to be placed in the context of their original hearers and then brought…

This is a sermon about a sermon: the Sermon on the Mount. The church sometimes refers to it as The Beatitudes. One way of looking at the word beatitudes is to think of it as “Be-Attitudes” or “Attitudes for Being.” Just as the Preamble to the United States Constitution seeks to define the essence of…

Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What does it take to build an authentic Christian character? The answer is easy, though the process is not: submission to Christ and a resultant discipleship based upon the teachings of Christ and Holy Scripture. The Sermon on the Mount is the…

I am the eldest of three children. My sister is nine years younger than I. My brother was born only two and a half years after me. And I must confess that I experienced no little sibling rivalry with him. In my toddler’s view of the world, he was a usurper who was pushing me…