'Blessed are...' - Neil Jones

Let us be encouraged in our walk with God.
When we are faced with challenges,
when the way before us is dark,
when we are not sure what to do,
let us be assured that God is ready to bless us,
and to bring us through it all.
So come now to praise and to pray.

StF 83 Praise my soul

​Creator God,
source of all life and all wisdom:
we adore you and boast in your love.

Christ crucified,
who walked humbly on this earth:
we adore you and boast in your love.

Holy Spirit,
who leads and guides our steps:
we adore you and boast in your love.

We praise you for your guidance to your people down the ages.  You are our God, ahead of us, leading us, guiding us and calling us.  For all the gifts you have given us we offer our praise and thanksgiving.

In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen

StF 331 King of kings, majesty

​The first reading is from the prophet Micah about 700 years before the birth of Jesus.  Then we read from the account in Matthew of part of the teaching of Jesus we often call the sermon on the mount.

Readings Micah 6:1-8 and Matthew 5:1-12

StF 466 Have faith in God my heart

Message
What does it mean to say someone is blessed?  Words are not always easy to translate from one language to another.  Jesus spoke in Aramaic the version of Hebrew commonly spoken  and the Gospel was written in Greek.  If you were to read these passages in different English versions of the Bible they could be very different.  The Good News, for example, used the word happy.  The Latin translation gives us the commonly used title of the Beatitudes.  

There is a lot to say about these sayings of Jesus and we just have time to look at a few.  As in the Old Testament reading from Micah Jesus is teaching about our relationship with God and our fellow human beings.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit
There are two words in Greek that could be translated as poor.  One can refer to someone who is just about managing but the word used here is one for someone who is destitute.  Part of the Jewish understanding of poverty was someone who has no resources and puts their trust in God.  This beatitude refers to someone who realises their own spiritual weakness and realises we need the Spirit of God to move in our lives and transform us.

Blessed are the meek
Meek is not complement in English - it implies someone spineless, submissive and ineffective.  However, one meaning of the Greek word is for a domesticated animal under control.  In our days we could think of a sheepdog or a race horse which gives a different picture to that of spinelessness.  The calling for us is to be someone who is God controlled.

The Good News translates this 'Happy are the humble for they will receive what God has promised'.  Humility may not be viewed as negatively as meekness although we could think of the false humility of Uriah Heep in Dickens.  But is not the quality of someone who will inherit the earth.  The old testament book of Numbers is one of those that tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt under Moses.  In Numbers 12:3 we read 'Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth' (some versions translate as meek).  We do not read of a weak man but someone submitting to God and doing his will and acting strongly.

In the Micah reading the people are urged to walk humbly with your God.  It is the relationship with God that is at the heart of our faith.  In January the church is looking at 'Learning more about our faith' on the Methodist Way of Life.  Do we seek a daily walk with God, reading the Bible, spending time in prayer and seeking to learn and do God's will.

Blessed are the merciful
 In the Micah reading the people are urged to act justly and love mercy.  So often the prophets in the Old Testament speak of the denial of justice to the poor in Israel.  However, the people are urged to go beyond justice and be merciful.  Mercy forgives where justice does not require.  In the Old Testament God shows mercy to his people, bringing them out of Egypt and in other ways.  In Jesus God shows love and grace in the death of Jesus on the cross.   We are called to follow Jesus and be like him.  

Blessed are the peacemakers
This phrase we may instinctively find easier than some of the others.  We can see the conflicts in the world and long for peace to come.  We must remember that this phrase is about peacemaking not peace loving.  The Aramaic word for peace is more than the absence of war - it means everything is as it should be and there are right relationships between human beings.  You cannot have peace in this sense without justice.  There are times when we need to stir things to make true peace - standing against slavery and apartheid in South Africa.  Whilst these are not controversial sometimes it is - Christians can come to different views on issues such as asylum or tax and benefit issues.  We are called to bring true peace.

Summary
Blessed are those who ...’, says Jesus to his disciples – and to us. How are we blessed? Blessing in the Beatitudes is  something present, something ‘now’ – blessed are, not blessed will be. We are blessed by God's presence in our difficulties.  We are blessed as we live with each other, in and through all of  life’s challenges, striving always to be a blessing to others.

StF 507 O for a heart to praise my God

Prayers
Lord God we come to you knowing our dependence on you, seeking your renewal and transforming power that we would indeed have a heart like yours.  Forgive us for the times we have failed to bless others.
We bring to you in the quiet those things where we need to change

Silence

Praying that we may be a blessing to others we turn to bring our concerns for the world - for neighbours across the street and neighbours far away.  In all this we pray for ourselves, for our own difficulties and for times we can be an answer to our own prayers.
We pray for
- areas of conflict between nations and neighbours and all seeking to bring peace
- for those who are driven to seek asylum and governments across the world as they respond.
- for all struggling financially and those who seek to help.  We pray for the work of foodbanks
- for justice for those who are denied justice

Lord’s prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen

​StF 713 Show me how to stand for justice

Closing prayer
Lord, you bless us in so many ways.
You love us just as we are.
And you also want us to grow closer to you.
Show us how we can bless others
by putting them and you before ourselves.
May we walk humbly with you every day.
Amen.

This act of worship, prayers and message prepared and shared with you by Neil Jones.