Listen Anew

Sometimes when a beloved passage of scripture becomes overly familiar, we become so sure we know what it means that we fail to hear something new God might want to say to us through it. This is one of the reasons many people enjoy reading various translations of the Bible.

Today, I invite you to consider what God is saying to you, as you listen to a fresh translation of the Beatitudes as paraphrased by Presbyterian scholar Eugene Peterson’s, “The Message” version of the Bible. This is Matthew, chapter 5:

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what Jesus said:

You are blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God and his rule.

You are blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.

You are 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.

You are blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You are blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘careful,’ you find yourselves cared for.

You are blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You are blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

Let us pray: Loving God, It is amazing how Jesus so often turns our thinking upside down. It is amazing how in his life and teaching, and in his sacrifice and resurrection, he shows us a different reality – your reality, Lord, your kingdom. Through him, tune our hearts to your heart, assure us of your love, and then send us out again as instruments of your peace. Amen.