A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Six

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-20 (NRSVUE)

This is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount which goes through chapter seven.  Matthew provides this material of Jesus' teaching that isn't found in Mark (which Matthew is patterned after).  Luke has similar (but shorter) material in the Sermon on the Plain contained in 6:17-49. 

As we begin with the Beatitudes, we begin to see a teaching that varies from the common wisdom of the day.  

Common wisdom believed that God rewarded the faithful within this lifetime through easily identifiable blessings such as long-life, general good health, many children, and plenty of food and resources.  Accidents didn't just occur but were rather judgments on a person for something bad they had done.  

The Hebrew Bible has many verses from Proverbs and other places that seem to favor this view.  But it also contains other wisdom literature such as Ecclesiastes or Job as well as many of the prophets that challenge the simplicity of this theology.  Jesus seems to be shaped more by the latter than the former.

As Christians, we are called to a more complex faith.  We are called to humility and compassion through the Beatitudes.  And we understand that through the lens of Christ, we find the scriptures fulfilled.  

Which one is blessed?

We see the term righteousness used three times within today's reading.  As we remember from chapter one, the idea of being righteous would have referred to being a parent or advocate for the outsider or person in need.  To be righteous means that one doesn't observe a poor person and declare, "You must have done something awful to deserve this!  Who am I to go against God's judgment by helping you?"

This isn't meek, merciful or pure in heart.  

Rather, a righteous person would seek to help.  Evidently, Jesus observed scribes and Pharisees with the more simplistic theology because he says that our righteousness must exceed theirs.

To be blessed, we must hunger and thirst for things to be set right for all people.  We must be willing to endure persecution for it.  

Where do we see these values being exemplified today?  If they seem in short supply, how might we be called to live them out as an example of good news for the world?  Today, I would invite you to pick one of the Beatitudes and periodically pray on it that you might understand it for your life and reflect it in your actions.

Prayer for the day:

Vulnerable God,
you challenge the powers that rule this world
though the needy, the compassionate,
and those who are filled with longing.
Make us hunger and thirst to see right prevail,
and single-minded in seeking peace;
that we may see your face
and be satisfied in you,
through Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Prayer by Janet Morley, England, 20th Century

Photo by Thomas Ricker via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 4

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

                                               Matthew 5:6 (NRSVue)

The original Greek word translated as "righteousness" is dikaiosune, which can also be translated as God's approval or divine justice.  This expanded definition gives us a better sense that our human desire should be that for which God wants for the world.  

We have a sense of this when we pray in the Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." which Jesus will pick up later in the Sermon on the Mount.

This allows all of us to be theologians when we begin to ask, "What does righteousness and specifically, God's approval or justice, really look like?

Or in other words, if God's kingdom did come upon the earth like it is in heaven, what would that look like?

In Matthew's Gospel, we see this vision come to fruition in chapter 25 with the imagery of the sheep and the goats.  God's kingdom in this context looks like the hungry being fed, the thirsty being given something to drink, the strangers finding welcome, the naked clothed, the sick cared for and the prisoner visited.

When I think of this beatitude in the (relatively) modern era, I think of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  His work toward civil rights was a hunger and thirst for righteousness, was it not?

He saw this work as God's work.

His famous quote of "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" is sometimes critiqued as naive in that it could be interpreted that we'll get there without any work on our part.  I would say that those who hold this view are taking the quote completely out of the context of Dr. King's life and work.  In fact, he constantly called upon human beings of a wide range of cultures and resources to get on board with the needed changes in our country.  

Rather, I think this quote is a faith statement.  It says that God has an ultimate design for us.  It says that God does not abandon us to do it on our own.  It says that God will walk with us on this long, long road.

It also acknowledges that we may not see it come to fruition in our lifetimes.  

But when God is working with us, the work is fulfilling even if at times frustrating.

As we move through Lent, which piece of God's kingdom, do you hunger and thirst for most?

Prayer for the day:  God, help us to stand firm in our convictions for compassion and justice for all of your children in the world today.  May we find that as we seek to share the love of Jesus tangibly, that it flows through us naturally because of our relationship with you.  And at the end of the day, may we realize that as we gaze at the world around us, we are very full indeed.  We pray this in Jesus' name.  Amen.

 

Photo by National Park Service via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons License.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.