May 10, 2015

Lately we’ve experienced some wonderful weeks of worship. Thanks for all who coordinated the events of Easter, for Gibby Gibson for guest preaching (pray for him as he enters seminary this month), for beautiful music from bluegrass bands, to bells, to flautists, to bagpipes at Law Enforcement Sunday, and our very wonderful choirs, including the Children’s Choir who, under the direction of June Leech, participated in the world premiere of Kyle Jones’ musical, Soul Train, to the praise bands at contemporary worship and Praise and Pizza II. There is a lot of great talent used to glorify God in this place. As one who is spiritually affected by music, thanks be to God! Today we continue in our exploration of the Beatitudes, from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5-7. The focus text today is Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This text seems germane to me on many levels. One is the persecution of Christians worldwide. Many today are suffering and dying for their faith, even as we enjoy relative freedom to express ours. I remember speaking with Avo Bonerian who is president of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut Lebanon, when he was a Ph.D. student at Princeton Theological Seminary. Avo had just come to the United States. The fighting was so great and so constant in Beirut that he could not sleep for four nights in a row when he came to Princeton Seminary because the silence was so eerie. The lack of conflict was literally “disquieting” to him. Here is the USA our persecution is increasingly taking the form of “uncivil discourse.” From politics to homeowners’ associations to blogs and chat rooms people’s characters are assaulted and reputations are being ruined, often with absolutely no regard for the truth. In many cases there seems to be little regret in doing so. This is disquieting to me. In the face of persecution, issues of rightness, of justice and relationship come up. For many years I’ve questioned, “Is it better to be right or to be in relationship?” as I’ve dealt with others in conflict situations. Today we will go a step further and look at “Is it better to be right or righteous?” Jesus has a lot of practical wisdom to bear on this in the Sermon on the Mount! Finally, I want to give a shout out to women today, particularly mothers. One of the most groundbreaking aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry is how he valued and treated women. It was much more honoring than the society of his day and perhaps ours as well. May you always be respected and honored, and may that respect and honor encourage and inspire you as you give your best to the Lord and to others! Blessings, Tim