Matthew Nash - Kardia Community
The Message.
In the passage below, Jesus wants people to know the beats of the Kingdom of God These are the nine beats for you soul. Read these words slowly.
Matthew 5.1-11…
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
Not only that— count yourself blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
There are several things that stand out from this that I want us to contemplate. I love how at the start of the reading, the people with Jesus are referred to as “climbing companions".”
Who are the people in your life that are helping you on your journey?
Do you see them as climbing companions when life is good and when it is not?
I also love at the end, Jesus reminds us that sometimes when we live this way, we will get into what John Lewis called “good trouble.”
What “good trouble” have you been in that connects to the way of Jesus?
These nine statements Jesus makes here, where each one begins with “you’re blessed when…” can be seen as the Ninefold path of Jesus. My friend Mark Scandrette came up with that description and I think it is really beautiful. He says, “these are nine beats of the way of Jesus that cause us to flourish if we order our lives around them.”
They could be summed up in these words below…
Take some time and sit with these questions. Rainer Marie Rilke encourages us to “live the questions.” Maybe journal about these words from Jesus and these questions here:
Which word of this list most stands out to you?
Which one do you more naturally practice in your life?
Which one is most difficult for you to live out?
What do you think God is saying to you through these words from Matthew 5?
No comments:
Post a Comment