The Beatitudes Sermon Series Part 2

Sermon on the Mount by Cosimo Rosselli

scroll down to listen to sermons.  click on the highlighted link.

The beatitudes are sayings that introduce a sermon preached by Jesus recorded in Matthew's Gospel.  They are part of a larger sermon, eight sayings that begin with the phrase "Blessed".  Two book ends, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" sets the tone: the blessed are those that are the citizen's of God's kingdom, those that are seeking God's kingdom.  This is a key teaching in Jesus' preaching.  The word for "Blessed" is the word meaning happy or fortunate, but carry the connotation that these people are happy not because their circumstances are good or bad but because they have been blessed by God, divine favor has been bestowed on them, God's divine approval.  What comes as a surprise is that they are complete opposites of what we normally value as humans.  Happy and blessed are not the powerful, the wealthy, the strong, and the armed.  Rather the poor, those that mourn, the meek, the peacemakers, those that hunger for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the persecuted.  This is the last installment of a sermon series looks at each of these beatitudes as we seek to understand what it means to live under God's heavenly kingdom, the gracious and loving rule of God.

Conclusion: Blessed are the Persecuted

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Blessed are the Merciful

Inner Compass: Archbishop Elias Chacour

From the Campus of Calvin College, Inner Compass is a program that provides important interviews exploring how people use faith and ethics to guide them through critical questions in life.  In this interview, Inner Compass interviews Elias Chacour, Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.  He recounts a story of how he locked his warring parishioners in the church on Palm Sunday and confronted them with a choice, reconcile together or die as a community.

Archbishop Elias Chacour originally recounted this amazing transformation of his small parish of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the Holy Land in the book "Blood Brothers".  In this interview, he also tells of his passion and work towards reconciling Jewish, Muslim and Christians in the Holy Land and the many issues of civil and human rights facing the Palestinian citizens living there today.  He is an advocate not a two-state solution, but a one-state solution, that is a nation that is democratic and secular (in that it protects the religious freedom of all its citizens).  He ends his interview with this statement regarding the conviction that both Palestinians and Israelis often hold that the land belongs exclusively to one group, "we have to stop believing that the land belongs only to them (whichever group claims it) it belongs to God, and they have to belong to the land, not make the land belong to them."  He recalls a time when Jewish, Christian, and Muslim lived together in harmony and believes that respect for the rights of all is the only way forward today.

His story stands as a beacon of hope for all Christians as well as the struggle for civil rights of Palestinians in the Holy Land.

Inner Compass Calvin College (off site)

Melkite Greek Orthodox Catholic Information Page (off site)

Melkite Greek Catholic Church information site (off site)

Book Recommendation: "Blood Brothers" by Elias Chacour

In my reading experience, "Blood Brothers" stands out in its exceptionality on multiple levels.  A gripping personal account of a Palestinian Christian's journey stemming from the birth of the modern state of Israel.  The author, Elias Chacour tells the harrowing story of how that decision would impact his family, church, village and community.  He recounts his journey into Christian ministry, his reflection on the Beatitudes and the significant challenges facing Muslims, Christians, and Jews living in the Holy Land today.

As I have been preparing a series of sermon's on the Beatitudes, I have struggled with their meaning. This teaching of Jesus is clearly an attitude that we as Christians are called to adopt. Yet in honesty, how can we really live like this?  Is it really possible to exhibit the qualities of the Sermon on the Mount?  Elias Chacour faced this very question.  This gripping first hand account of Elias to come to terms with the application of the Beatitudes to a real life crisis and tragedy is a must read for all Christians.  Furthermore, it recounts an important and often neglected perspective in the current Middle Eastern crisis facing our world.  This book is significant for the geo-political considerations alone, but at its root, it provides so much more!  At its core it explores what it means for us to live according to the Beatitudes.  It also holds out the hope that religions of the world like Christianity, Islam and Judaism can all coexist peacefully, in fact, it is essential that people of faith learn to live with each other. 

This book is available from Amazon or other on-line and retail book sellers.

Amazon Book Seller Blood Brothers Chacour

 

The Beatitude Sermon Series Part 1

The Sermon on the Mount by Rosselli, Cosimo. 

click here to listen to sermon Beatitudes 1 Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

click here to listen to sermon Beatitudes 2 Blessed are those that Mourn

click here to listen to sermon Beatitude 3 Blessed are the Meek

click here to listen to sermon Beatitude 4 Blessed are those that Hunger for Justice

The beatitudes are sayings that introduce a sermon preached by Jesus recorded in Matthew's Gospel.  They are part of a larger sermon, eight sayings that begin with the phrase "Blessed".  Two book ends, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" sets the tone: the blessed are those that are the citizen's of God's kingdom, those that are seeking God's kingdom.  This is a key teaching in Jesus' preaching.  The word for "Blessed" is the word meaning happy or fortunate, but carry the connotation that these people are happy not because their circumstances are good or bad but because they have been blessed by God, divine favor has been bestowed on them, God's divine approval.  What comes as a surprise is that they are complete opposites of what we normally value as humans.  Happy and blessed are not the powerful, the wealthy, the strong, and the armed.  Rather the poor, those that mourn, the meek, the peacemakers, those that hunger for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the persecuted.  This sermon series looks at each of these beatitudes as we seek to understand what it means to live under God's heavenly kingdom, the gracious and loving rule of God.