the preaching life

on sunday, i preached on the setting of the beatitudes and was surprised what i found. i didn't look at my notes, once, but spoke from my heart and what the Spirit had prepared for me (i hope it was the spirit?)... and i wonder, because it was a short sermon, that missed some of the "points" i wanted to make, and it was without well crafted words, if this is what i should do, or if i should be preaching straight from polished transcripts...

thoughts?

here are the ntoes i constructed that i didn't use...

Having grown up in a fairly standard Presbyterian church, and going to Sunday school every week until middle school, there are few Sunday school lessons I remember. They all blur together. But, the Beatitudes I remember. We learned about them in second grade I think, and we each were assigned a Beatitude. Then we had to draw it. Using little symbols, we had to express the words of the Beatitude in picture. I had "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." So, obviously I drew a heart, and some eyes. I don't know how I got pure across, that is tough one. That little exercise burned those words onto my heart. Ever since then, the Beatitudes have been central to my understanding of God... and yet I am not sure I understand them at all.

These first two verses are the brief introduction to the Beatitudes, and the whole Sermon on the Mount, a defining teaching for many Christians. This is the Gospel within the Gospel, the Word within the Word. And it was taught on a mountain, not in a synagogue, not in a temple. Just before Jesus goes up the mountain, we hear that he had been teaching in the synagogues and healing people. The crowds that followed him grew and grew. And he went out to them.

The setting of the mountain is very important. As we see from the Old Testament readings today, God showed up on the mountain a lot. It is where God gave Moses the law. God called Elijah on a mountain. Micah encourages his people to go to the mountain to learn. Matthew was aware of this tradition, and so Matthew places Jesus firmly in the context, in the narrative of the great Jewish prophets. Luke tells this same story, but sets it in the valley. Luke's is a sermon of the plain not a sermon on the mount. Matthew deliberately places Jesus in this tradition that includes the giving of the law to Moses on the mountain. But, at the end of the Beatitudes, we hear that he didn't come to abolish the law, or to bring a new law, but to fulfill the law. He is not as second Moses, rather he is the very embodiment of the law of God that can teach us how to draw closer to the God who loves us.

During Lent, we renew, recommit, reflect, and repent. This can be a dark process. We remember the temptation of Jesus during this time. It is not pretty to face our failures, our weakness and even our inner ugliness. Ash Wednesday can be painful. But, Jesus offers hope.

This is the very story of the incarnation. Jesus went to the people where they were, as they were. When he saw the crowds, when he saw the multitudes, he went to them. He did not invite them into his house, into his temple, or into his church, he went to them. He did not invite them into a space that had limits, that would fill up, cutting off people from his message. In the tradition of Moses, of Elijah, he went to encounter God and teach about God on the mountain where everyone could here and see him, and encounter God for themselves.

In the same way, God, in the very incarnation of Jesus Christ, comes to us, meeting us where we are—even if it isn’t on the mountain—reaching out a hand, teaching us from wherever we stand. God continues to come to us, again and again and again by the movement of the Holy Spirit among us. God loves us too much to let us remain as we are, where we are. God comes to us to help us grow.

Whenever we recognize the presence of God teaching us, we have been to the mountaintop and sat at the feet of Jesus.

At the end of his life, at the end of his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed this reality of faith better than I can express it now. He said:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter to me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop... I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

Think about those times when you have encountered God, and that encounter taught you something. Reflect on the places where God has come to you and taught you something new. What are you mountaintop experiences? But don't let it stop there.

During this season of Lent as we seek to learn from the Beatitudes, let us travel to the mountaintop, sit and the feet of Jesus, see our promised land and open ourselves up to his teaching that will get us there.