For those of you who use Scripture verses to castigate yourself, as a flog and a whip, here are some words of comfort from my pastor's sermon yesterday.
He preached on the Sermon on the Mount, those old familiar Beatitudes. Many of us look at them and despair of ever being good enough to be included.
But our pastor reminded us that these behaviors are not entrance requirements for God's Kingdom. We don't have to learn how to be meek, how to be merciful, how to be pure in heart, how to be peacemakers before God will love us and let us into Heaven (which is a fairly traditional interpretation of this Gospel).
No, in Matthew 5: 3-12, Jesus describes the Kingdom, which we could interpret as God's rule in the future, the time when God fully redeems creation, when all is set right. What a comforting vision that is!
but bestows favor on the humble
7 months ago
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