Rev. Zach

Isaiah 58:1-9a ; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 ; Matthew 5:13-20 Over the last few weeks, we have talked a lot about calling and discernment. We began with the baptism of Jesus and the call of the disciples and the invitation we are offered time and time again to follow in the way of Jesus and live in the Kingdom of Heaven that has come near. Last week we heard the beginning of the sermon on the mount, as Matthew’s gospel calls it, and today that sermon continues with a plea – and an expectation – that we are who we have been called to be! The good news about all of this is what? [Pause for an answer.] Yes! Jesus is the good news, and the way all of what we have been talking about proclaims the good news of Jesus is that all of it – the invitation to discipleship that begins with repentance, the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven that is found in the kin-dom or family of faith-full fellowship, God’s calling to justice and righteousness tempered by compassion and humility – all of it is a team sp...

Isaiah 58:1-9a     1 Corinthians 2:1-12     Matthew 5:13-20 Our reading from Matthew’s gospel follows the beatitudes – Jesus’s recounting of those who are blessed though they seem everything but – and as it continues Jesus goes straight from preachin’ down into meddlin’, as my grandmother used to say. Remember He was on a low rolling hill opposite the construction of Tiberias, so named for the Roman Emperor and built from unfair taxation, conscripted labor, and standing as a challenge to Jerusalem as a center of power for the people of Judea. You should also consider that just before preaching from the hills, Jesus had been preaching in various synagogues and healing the sick. That means the sermon on the mount was preceded by demonstrations of God’s grace and mercy and the constant call for repentance so that the people might enter the kingdom of God. Now he is describing what the social and political realities look like when we live in the Kingdom of God. ...