Moral Will

Living in Covenant

A Heart-felt Covenant

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

Jesus Teaches about Right Attitudes

Luke 6:17-23 The Message

You’re Blessed

17-21 Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:
You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.
God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.
Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.
You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.
22-23 “Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.

For Reflection

If Jesus mission was not to replace Mosiac Law, how did he extend it? Perhaps the answer lies in the Sermon on the Mount where he explains the paradox of living the law. Here, Jesus explains the moral will and the natural outcomes of a compassionate life.

Those, so desperately encumbered by the burdens of life find Christ's overture to escape from their hopelessness in a new life freed from past transgressions.
Those who thirst for righteousness will find it in the revelations of the Gospel.
Those who trust in the Lord will emerge from their sufferings with joyous renewal.
Those who possess the moral courage to face injustice and suffer for it will find comfort in the peace that passes all understanding.

Pray

Pray for those who are desperate. Pray for those who doubt and find sustaining faith in the witness of all the saints who have preceded them. Pray for those who seek justice in an unjust world and suffer for it.

Note: Dyed silk banner by students at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, Montreat, NC, 2019
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