Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

If I were to ask you what are your most basic needs, how would you answer?  Food, oxygen, water, shelter?  What about relationships?  I have said many times, we as human beings have been created to be in relationships.  Back in the Garden, God said it was not good for man to be alone, so God created a helpmate.  Adam and Eve walked in the Garden with God!  We were created for companionship.

In fact, Relationships are the third level in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  You remember the triangle that has five sets of basic needs – starting at the bottom: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. In order to progress to the higher-levels one must first satisfy the lower-level needs. 

“How good is life for those who hunger and thirst for right relationships (righteousness), because they will be satisfied” 

(BibleProject Translation)

In thinking about this week’s Beatitude, it is helpful to think about righteousness as more than our own personal desire for holiness. Instead, righteousness, according to Jesus and the rest of the Bible, is about right relating in the ways of love. Jesus is suggesting that loving others is a basic human need like eating food or drinking water.

I find this Beatitude is a great reminder of where our focus should be, and what our priorities should reflect.  Jesus calls us to push aside our craving for personal gain and become like him. He promises that our hunger for his way of life will not leave us wanting. And over time if we become hungry for right relating with others, we will eventually be satisfied.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  (Matt 6:33)

Think again about the triangle of needs, are your basic needs being met?  What is it that you are seeking?  What are you hungering and thirsting for?  What are you craving?  Friends, may our most basic needs to met as we hunger for righteousness.

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Blessed are the meek

So imagine you are in a room with 80 elementary school kids.  You are dressed as a knight along with a few of your summer camp co-workers.  You are teaching about the third Beatitude…blessed are the meek.  You begin your dialogue – as the not-so-meek knight – every time un-meek statements come out of your mouth, all those 80 campers plus the other 12 counselors in the room make the loudest “buzz” sound possible! This continues on for a few more minutes as my wonderful, brilliant and amazing monologue keeps being interrupted every few words.  Getting more and more frustrated I finally look to the crowd and realize the error of my words. My final line as I run from the stage…”Eek!  I am not meek!”

There is really nothing more humbling than teaching kids…they are brutally honest!  It only took one time for the counselors to “buzz” me before the kids caught on to their task (and continued for the rest of the day to catch me in my boasting).  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have that reminder, though a gentler version, when my words or actions are not so meek.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less.
That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”

I think there is a misunderstanding when it comes to the word meek.  It is defined as being quiet or gentle.  And I think we often associate meekness with someone who is easily imposed upon or submissive.  But, meekness is not weakness.  Meekness is having controlled strength and humility, being willing to put others needs before our own. 

This week we look at this third Beatitude and what Jesus meant when he said, “blessed are the meek.”  It is a great reminder of the posture we are to have as followers of Jesus.  See you Sunday…oh, and you can leave your buzzers at home!

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who mourn

Of all the Beatitudes, this one is my favorite!  You see we live in a culture that doesn’t know how to mourn.  We don’t know how to process our grief.  We shove our pain down and put on a happy face, but when we are alone our sorrow overwhelms us.

Maybe that is not your experience…but it is mine!  When my dad died my world was shattered.  I was constantly on the verge of tears and little things opened the flood gates.  I was grieving.  I was heartbroken.  I felt lost.  A few months went by and I was better, or at least I told myself that, until one day tears rolled for no apparent reason.  Someone asked, “When are you going to get over this?  It has been months already.”  That day I tucked my grief away (or so I tried.)

I had never lost someone who I deeply loved before.  I was trying to navigate my grief without a map.  But here is the thing about grief…THERE IS NO MAP!  Everyone grieves differently.  Everyone processes (or doesn’t) their sorrow in their own way, on their own time.  There is no right or wrong way…well, accept to not mourn our losses and ignore our grief completely (that never ends well!)

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

This is why I love this second Beatitude.  Jesus gives us permission to grieve, to have all the feelings so that we can be comforted and continue living in our altered world.  The thing about grief is that we never really move beyond it, it becomes a part of our lives.  I love this saying, “We grieve because we love. How lucky we are to have experienced that love.”  I don’t know who said it first, but I say it all the time.  I live it every day.

Friends, we were created to feel…joy, anger, sorrow.  Our emotions are powerful and necessary for they are what makes us human.  Mourning is a deep emotion we need to experience.  Jesus mourned the death of John the Baptist, and his friend Lazarus.  He grieved over the city of Jerusalem.  Here’s to learning how to grieve better!

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Poor in Spirit 

When I was in college I worked at a Christian family camp for the summers as a day camp counselor.  One summer our theme was “the Beatitudes” and we were “Knights of the Beatitudes” as we taught the kids about the different attitudes.

This first Beatitude – Blessed are the poor in spirit - was the hardest to grasp for my 1st & 2nd graders…why would anyone want to be poor?   Wouldn’t we want to be “capable in spirit” or “competent in spirit…” if anything, at least “middle class in spirit!”

But as we worked through our lesson those kiddos began to understand being poor in spirit is more about our attitude than anything else.

·   Being poor in spirit means we have no merit by which we can claim God’s blessing.  When we come to God, there’s literally nothing about us that we can bring to God as a way of compelling God to bless us. 

·    Being poor in spirit means we are to empty ourselves and trust God completely.  We must realize that we have no means of obtaining God’s blessing.  God only fills empty hands.

So how is your attitude?  Are you humble of spirit, fully dependent upon God?  Or are you trying to hard and holding on to tightly to the controls?  Maybe it is time for a little attitude adjustment…

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.
With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
Matthew 5:3 (The Message)

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you as we walk through the Beatitudes this summer.  See you on Sunday!

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.