All Saints' Millington
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Clergy & Staff
    • 100 Years And Counting
    • Spiritual Connections
  • Worship
    • Becoming a Member
    • Sermons & Reflections
    • Words of Faith
    • Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Funerals
  • Music & Choirs
  • Outreach
  • Giving
  • Calendar
  • E-Letter

Jesus' Manifesto for Christian Living

11/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:3-4

We are gathered here this morning to mark our parish feast day, to remember our connection to the Communion of Saints and pray for those who have gone before us in the faith, to celebrate the Eucharist together for the first time in eight months. And in one of the synchronicities in life, the last time we were together for Communion on March 8 it was the start of daylight savings, and today is the day we return to standard time. Our experience of being apart in so many ways has been bounded by the time changes we observe.
And we hear these very familiar words of Jesus, those we call the Beatitudes, and we draw comfort from them – a recognizable touchstone in the sea of so much that is uncertain and unfamiliar, and feelings of frustration, sadness, confusion, anger, and just plain being fed up. It is good to have a safe and familiar rock upon which to stand. And yet, if we only hear these words as solace, we will have missed the fullness of what Jesus wants to say to us.

The Beatitudes are the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s presentation of much of Jesus’ core teaching, early on in his public ministry. But they are not just philosophical statements to consider, good advice for those who might like to ponder such things.

It helps to remember that just prior to this scene, Jesus has called two pairs of brothers to give up everything and follow him. They travel throughout Galilee and attract a huge following with people coming on foot from all over, even over a hundred miles away – hungry for the healing, deliverance, and wholeness that they have heard comes to those who were in Jesus presence. Jesus is gathering around him a new community, founded on a renewal of God’s purposes for humanity, a fresh understanding and experience of God’s presence and promise.

Just like God makes a covenant with the enslaved Hebrews after Moses frees them from oppression in Egypt; and just like God renews that covenant with the people as they are about to cross the Jordan River into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership; so now Jesus is calling God’s people into a new covenant of faith and love which will ultimately be ratified in his Body and Blood, his crucifixion and resurrection.

The Sermon on the Mount and the words of the Beatitudes, in particular, become the handbook, a manifesto almost, a rule of life for life in the community of the kingdom of heaven – not just a far away, eventual destination, but God’s kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. The word “blessed” here can just as well be translated as “wonderful news” an announcement of the life-giving things that God is doing for and through this new community.

Wonderful news for the poor in spirit! Wonderful news for the mourners! Wonderful news for the meek! Wonderful news for people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice; and for the merciful, and the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. And wonderful news for the people who are persecuted and slandered because of God’s way!

All of these are characteristics and hallmarks of living in and for Christ, and Jesus also lays out the results of this rule of life: The kingdom of heaven, the fullness of God, is yours; you’ll be comforted and given solace, but you’ll also be advocated for; and you’ll possess the truly important things in life. You will be filled up and satisfied with God’s justice; you will be on the receiving end of mercy and care; you will be able to see God at work in the world about you, as well as in your own heart. You will know your identity as God’s child and your place in God’s family. You will be living right at the heart of the kingdom of heaven, and you’ll be in very good company – that of the prophets and the saints who got into good trouble for God.

Those are the hallmarks of being a follower of Jesus, of living in God’s way, of being part of the Communion of Saints – that great cloud of faith and witnesses who surrounds us and pray with us.

I have no doubt that these past eight months may have tried and tested your faith in many different ways; and we know that we are not yet at the end of it. So it is really important, crucial actually, that we take time this morning as we are gathered to remember what we are about as Christians, to renew our commitment to following in God’s way, to live and move and have our being in the love and grace of God even as the world around us does not always recognize, or affirm, or accept the Truth and lives by a different reality of its own making.

In a few moments we will renew our baptismal vows, our baptismal covenant. And we will be fed and blessed by the Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven. That bread is enough – enough to feed us, to shape us, to give us strength for the continuing journey ahead of us. And we pray that we will become that which we receive – the Body of Christ in the world, living, serving, and loving God and all of God’s creation. Amen.

Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints’ Church, Millington, NJ
All Saints’ Day
November 1, 2020

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Sermons & Reflections

    Sermons and reflections from clergy and lay leadership at
    All Saints' Episcopal Church, Millington, NJ.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    September 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    12 Steps
    Aa
    Advent
    Arizona Shooting
    Art
    Ascension
    Authority
    Baptism
    Bread
    Church History
    Common Good
    Community
    Community Of Faith
    Commuting
    Death
    Demons
    Desert
    Diakonia
    Discipleship
    Distractions
    Doubt
    Easter
    Easter Eve
    Episcopalian
    Episcopal Vocation
    Eternal Life
    Evangelism
    Fans
    Ferguson
    Foot Washing
    Humility
    Independence Day
    Invitation
    Jesus Finds Us
    Justice
    Kingdom Of God
    Lazarus
    Lent
    Liberty
    Lordship
    Love
    Mark's Gospel
    Mark's Gospel
    Marriage
    Mary Magdalene
    Maundy Thursday
    Mercy
    Money
    Oppression
    Ordination
    Outreach
    Palm Sunday
    Parenting
    Patriotism
    Peace
    Prayer
    Questions
    Racism
    Reflection
    Religion
    Resurrection
    Samaritan Woman
    Seeds
    Selfsufficiency103ee8a392
    Sermons
    Service
    Spirituality
    Stewardship
    Surprise
    The Binding Of Isaac
    Trust
    Truth Telling
    Truthtelling00f726273f
    Violence
    Vocation
    Worry
    Worship

    RSS Feed

All Saints' Episcopal Church

 15 Basking Ridge Road, Millington NJ 07946    phone: (908) 647-0067    email: allstsmill@hotmail.com