In our Gospel today, we hear of our Lord’s teaching of the beatitudes, or His Sermon on the Mount. We hear of the meek, the lowly, and those who mourn – but we also hear of those who show mercy, who seek justice and righteousness, and who are the architects of peace. Finally, we hear that in seeking all these things, we will likely be persecuted for the sake of Christ, and when we are, we should indeed be glad because our reward in heaven will be great.
At first glance when we hear our Lords preaching, it sounds very pacifist, and perhaps to some degree it is, because we are not called to show aggression toward others, but instead compassion and love. When we hear the usual descriptions of meekness and lowliness, it can be easy to fall into a way of thinking that depicts someone who is perhaps moping about, or is otherwise quite subdued in their behavior, but this is not at all what is being taught in the Gospel. When our Lord speaks of the meek and the lowly, He is illustrating for us a way of viewing ourselves so as not to place too much emphasis on our own abilities, but rather to rely on the strength that comes from God. To avoid becoming too infatuated with self, and to truly realize where strength and grace is sourced.
We are also called to be those who seek justice, righteousness, and peace, and to be clean of heart, and merciful toward others. These are all attributes of one who possesses true strength and is unafraid to exercise it for the benefit of his brothers and sisters. One who is in fact bold, and is placing his faith in God’s grace to help them through their pursuits because they also possess the humility of spirit to know that the source of true strength is not within them, but is actually granted by their Lord, this is the spirit of the humble strength we are each called to exercise in promoting God’s teachings for the betterment of others. There is a catch though, we must understand that what we seek to do for the good of others, will often meet with rejection, sometimes even violently. We will be rebuffed; we will be persecuted by others who seek the temporal pursuits of this life and would rather dwell in darkness so that their deeds are not clearly seen. Even those in authority will seek to silence us through persecution for these same reasons – they serve a people who would rather pursue evil than live for God. We need only look at the examples within our own government of those who seek to silence anyone who maintains a belief in Christ and adheres to His teachings, rather than succumb to the moral relativism that they seek to promote, so that anything can then be justified as acceptable behavior. The people who adhere to God’s word are seen as a threat to the way of doing things that has led us to this place in history where Christians are being persecuted again at a personal and governmental level. That is good, because this is what we are called to do, and to continue with even when (perhaps especially when) we are being deeply persecuted for our belief in our Lord, and our unwillingness to compromise His teachings. This is when we must decide if we are to be those who will endure distress and persevere in our adherence to our beliefs. To be insulted, and persecuted, and called many evils, and to remain unintimidated, and undeterred in our actions and words. To be those who will seek to bring true peace and brotherly love, that can only come through Christ, and a life lived in light of His words and teaching. By doing this, all will know us as His followers, and in turn, will come to know Him as the only means of true salvation. This is the bold mission that the Sermon on the Mount is intended to inspire within each of us, the question is, will we allow God’s strength to guide us into successfully participating in this?
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The Deacons Bench 