A Year-Long Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount: Week 2

Chapter 2 – Good News

 

Often when people talk about the Kingdom of God, they are referring to what happens to us after death. The Pearly Gates in the clouds, the hopeful entrance into Heaven where God sits on a throne waiting for us to join the crowds of people who died before us.

 

But when Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God, especially through the Sermon on the Mount, he is talking about what the Heaven on Earth is supposed to look like. As it says in the Lord’s Prayer, “on Earth as it in in Heaven.” When we worry too much about trying to make it into the better afterlife, we forget about what it means to follow Jesus while we’re still alive. The Sermon on the Mount tells us exactly how we are to live in God’s Kingdom while we’re on this side of those Pearly Gates.

 

As we witness throughout the whole bible, God is the God of the poor, afflicted, and the marginalized. For those who experience rejection because of their social-political identities, excommunication due to their gender identities, or marginalization and discrimination of any form, God promises that they have a place in God’s plan and that God will never abandon them but, rather, will find delight in them, seek them out, and call them “holy people.”

 

The author of this week’s chapter is Christoph Blumhardt, and he says, “Today God wants to rule, and God is already making a beginning.” (12) Sometimes it’s hard to see the Kingdom of God around us, so how do we know that God has made a beginning? Watch for the kindness that is happening around you. Despite all of the bad news that is easily found on social media, on television, and in the newspaper, good news can be found if you take time to notice the world around you.

 

And it doesn’t help that we are always so busy. The world has become fast-paced and people are always on the go. We fill our time up because we have forgotten how to be still and be with God. Slow down. Take time to notice the world around you. That is how you will notice that God’s Kingdom has indeed arrived and surrounds us. Look for the mourners, the hungry, the meek, the merciful, the persecuted, and the peacemakers. These are the people who can lead you to the kingdom. If only you’ll take a moment to notice them.