The fella next to me at chorus rehearsal let go with a humongous sneeze. After the laughter, I politely said, “God Bless You!” To which he replied, “Name Dropper!” In our post-Christian age, many folks omit the “God”-part; yet I have a suspicion that lots of people still crave the notion of being blessed by God. Scriptures for the upcoming weekend address this desire for “pleasing” God and courting–and accepting–God’s blessing.
Micah 6:1-8 is a familiar passage, especially to us social-action types. God lists the saving acts of Hebrew holy-history, and wonders what more can be done to attract the people’s loyalty. God is disappointed that the faith-community hasn’t yet established a society which reflects liberty and justice for all. Well, what can I do about it? Appease an angry tribal deity with mountains of burnt offerings, with rivers of oil? NO! “[God] has told you, O mortal, what is good; what does the Lord require of you but (all together, now) to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Well?? Can we claim this blessing or not?
I Corinthians 1:18-31 is as most Pauline passages, a gold mine of preachable/liveable nuggets, blessings in themselves. The line that jumped out at me is v.30, “[God] is the source of your life…” Paul then maintains that Christ Jesus himself is holy wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. A study of these could coalesce into a weekend retreat or a series of mid-week messages. The challenge may well be to bring these blessings into current time as well as in antiquity. This is in the season after Epiphany because today’s recipient could well spring to her feet and shout “AHA!”
Look, when reading the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12, we’ve gotta come up with something deeper than “Happy”! These Blessings are not blandly saying, “Oh, well; things will be OK, bye-and -bye; buck up.” No, Jesus is calling us to acknowledge a Godly presence which even now is sparking divinity within us, even in the midst of mourning for righteousness and mercy, even though we know ourselves to be poor in spirit. This beatific presence allows us to live in the world calmly offering an alternative to despair and cynicism.
During the recent gift-giving season, we emulated the Magi in our better moments by bestowing on others some token of affirmation and worth. We read these lessons to publicly note that God has given and continues to give rich slabs of holiness with an echo of Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My diary of being challenged by scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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