4 Epiphany A January 29, 2017 Youth Sunday Dialogue Sermon
Micah
6:1-8 Ps. 37:1-18 1 Cor. 1:18-31 Matt. 5:1-12
Alex: In
the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen. You may be seated. Today we’ve read a speech that is more
famous than Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.
Rylie: What’s that?
Alex: t’s
the Sermon on the Mount delivered by Jesus Christ. It is also called the Beatitudes. Do you know what Beatitude means?
Caroline: I do. A
Bee Attitude is how a bee behaves. For
example, collecting pollen is a Bee Attitude.
And buzzing is a Bee Attitude.
And making honey is a Bee Attitude.
And stinging people is also a Bee Attitude.
Rylie: Caroline, that does
sound correct, and it does make for an interesting pun. But beatitude means something else.
Caroline: Like what?
Alex: I
think the word comes from the Latin word “Beatus” BEE AT
US.
Caroline: And was does that
mean?
Alex:
Beatus means “Blessed.”
Rylie: That’s it! All of
the beatitudes begin with the words “Blessed.”
So that is why this speech of Jesus is called the Beatitudes.
Caroline: Now that we’ve got
that settled. Can we talk about some of
the meanings of the beatitudes? Some of
the meanings are kind of hard to understand.
Alex: What do you mean?
Caroline: Well like, “Blessed
are you when people persecute you and when they speak falsely about you.” How can that be happiness or good luck? How can we say that we would be lucky if someone
lied about us and how could we say that we are blessed and happy?
Rylie: I think that Jesus
was teaching his followers about what he valued in life. Jesus valued telling the truth. He said that anyone who lied would be living
in a cursed state. So it is much better
to be the one who lives in truth and who is lied about than the one who tells
lies to hurt other people.
Caroline: So we are happy and
blessed if we get to be the people who tell the truth; the people who tell lies
are cursed and they hurt other people when they lie.
Alex: It can really be hard to stand up for the
truth sometimes. And it is really
hurtful when people lie and hurt the reputations of other people. But Jesus said, if you want to follow him you
must be willing to stand up for what is true no matter what people say about
you.
Rylie: What about the so
called lucky conditions of life in beatitudes?
Like blessed are the meek, blessed are those who mourn? Why would being meek or mourning be good at
all?
Caroline: Meek means to be
humbly patient. This is the opposite of being proudly impatient. People who are proudly impatient are people
who trample all over the feelings and rights of other people. People who act that
way are living a cursed life. The people who are humbly patient are those who
have the Spirit within them giving them self-control. But how do humbly patient
people inherit the earth? It appears that proudly impatient people just go
ahead and take as much as they want.
Rylie: Inheriting the earth means we get something free from our
parents. And people who know God as their heavenly parent know that God has
given them the blessing of the created world. This does not mean having lots of
money and big houses. It means God has given us the world as a gift for us to
enjoy. It is much better to have the gift of enjoying the world than just to
own property. But why do you think mourning is a blessed condition of life?
Alex:
I
think that mourning can be a blessed condition of life not because we always
like to feel sad and cry. What Jesus probably means is that people who have
mourned in their lives will know how to comfort and be with people who are sad.
It is the gift of empathy. Empathy is knowing how other people feel and so you
know how to comfort them. When you know how to comfort other people you can
also know comfort for yourself and you can be thankful that you learned how to
mourn.
Rylie: That is a different kind of mourning than being a cry baby. Not
that I would ever call anyone that! But
what is good about being poor in spirit? Isn’t is better to be wealthy and rich
in Spirit.
Caroline: I think what that
means is that God’s Holy Spirit is the wealthiest Spirit of all. And if we
think our own little spirits are the greatest and wealthiest then we will not
make room for God’s Holy Spirit. So we have to learn how poor our spirits are
to find out how much we need to ask the Holy Spirit to be strong and rich at
the center of our lives. When we
discover the Holy Spirit within us, then we truly know that we are living in
the kingdom of heaven.
Alex: Quiz time! How can you and I know for certain that we
are children of God?
Rylie: If we are peacemakers then we will know that we are children of
God?
Caroline: I think that is
why we pass the peace every Sunday in church.
We practice the greeting of peace so that we take this as the way that
we’re supposed to live with all people.
I know that my mom and dad are happy with me as their child when I live
at peace with my dear sister. So God is
really happy with his children when they also live at peace with each other and
when they help to bring peace to everyone.
But there is something important needed to make peace happen.
Alex: What is that?
Caroline: Since we are not
perfect people and we have to live together, we need to practice forgiveness.
Rylie: Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive
mercy.” Everyone who is not perfect
needs mercy. And the best thing that an imperfect
person can do is to have mercy.
Alex: And it just so happens that people who
have mercy also receive mercy. When we
pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass against us.”
Caroline: Yes, we should
treat other people the way that we want to be treated. So if we want mercy for ourselves, we need to
practice forgiveness. Well, this
preaching makes me hungry. I hope we
have some good snacks in coffee hour.
Rylie: Hold it Caroline. Jesus
said you should hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Caroline: I’m sorry but my
growling stomach tells me that hunger is not a metaphor. It’s how I really
feel.
Alex: That’s the point Jesus is trying to
make. He is saying that we should have a
longing and a desire to do what is right.
And if we do what is right, then we will be filled. We will be satisfied and contented. But I think one of the hardest sayings of
Jesus is when he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Rylie: Doesn’t it say in other places in the Bible that no one can see
God? Isn’t this like saying if we were
birds then we would be able to fly; but since we’re not birds, we will never be
able to fly?
Caroline: It might mean that
when we learn to have the correct motives in life that we will begin to see how
God is involved in our lives. The Holy
Spirit is working to create in us a clean heart and as our heart become pure,
then we can better understand what God is doing in our lives and in our world.
Alex: So we’re never going to be perfect, but
we can always become “more perfect” today than we were yesterday.
Rylie: As we find the good and right reason for doing everything then
we will understand or see God more clearly.
Caroline: Well, these beatitudes
are not for the bees, they are for us.
And they are some very difficult habits of living for us to succeed at.
Alex: Yes, Jesus set a very high standard for
us, but this is good because it is better to have very high standards and fail
than to have very low standards and not achieve much.
Rylie: People of St. John’s, Jesus invites us and the entire world to
learn to live by the beatitudes.
Caroline: We are lucky, happy
and blessed people if we are learning to adjust our lives to the beatitudes.
Alex: Let us thank Jesus today for the high
standards that he gives to us. It means
that we need God’s mercy and help as we try to follow the high standards that
have been given to us.
Rylie: Jesus gave us the beatitudes.
And now all I’ve got to say is, “Let’s get to work and follow Jesus
towards the beatitudes.” Amen.
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