Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

Here we are.  I started this series thinking about how to reflect upon this verse, and that was before certain world events. 

I pray for peace in our world.  There are far more armed conflicts than we normally lift up in a Sunday morning prayer than most of us realize.  There are horrific things happening in every corner of the world.  Peace seems elusive.

Yet Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, and blesses those who are.  If we truly are the children of God, we need to strive for peace, or as one of my favorite hymns says “and let it begin with me.”

What can you do today for peace?  Not just pray for peace in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and all the others, but in your corner of the world.  How can you be a peacemaker?

I truly believe that if we all strive for peace in our own little places, in our communities, perhaps that will begin to spread.  If we accept our call to be light in the places of darkness, if we truly spread the good news of God’s love, we can begin to see small peaceful movements.

Let it begin with us.

Peace (and I mean this),

Pastor Bill

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

This one is hard for who among us are truly pure in heart?  Paul reminds us that we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  On the other hand, sometimes we tend to think of purity with acting a certain way, following a bunch of rules, almost to a ritualistic way.  This sounds like the Pharisees Jesus often argued with during His earthly ministry.

Being pure in heart is more about a clean heart of devotion to God.  It is hard, but it is worth striving to achieve.  It is not found in the number of prayers we say in a day, or how much we give the church, or how many good deeds we do.  Purity in our hearts is allowing God to cleans us, change us, transform us into the new creation.

This is a key to the Lenten season, a time to allow God to change us, making us closer to the pure in heart.  As you continue this journey, pray for the Holy Spirit to purify your heart.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Mercy.  It’s one of those words we use a lot in church.  We quote scriptures about God’s mercy, we speak together a common prayer of confession and celebrate our forgiveness, an act of God’s mercy.  Yet, are we showing mercy to others, or even ourselves?

Jesus tells us directly that the merciful will be shown mercy.  He also says “forgive us as we forgive others.”  These are not just miscellaneous scripture verses, they all connect to Jesus’ ministry – one of love, forgiveness, restoration and mercy, and He calls us to the same ministry.

During this Lenten season, look within and see if you are showing mercy to others – to the one who cut you off in traffic, or the one who said something questionable, or someone who just needs extra grace.  And see if you are showing yourself mercy as well.

Be blessed this week,

Pastor Bill