{"id":2279,"date":"2011-01-25T06:58:14","date_gmt":"2011-01-25T11:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=2279"},"modified":"2011-01-18T17:46:42","modified_gmt":"2011-01-18T22:46:42","slug":"january-26-february-1-2011-more-than-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/january-26-february-1-2011-more-than-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"January 26-February 1, 2011&#8211;More than Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by David Delaney, Salem, VA<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>If we move away from the word \u201cblessed\u201d for a minute and think of the word \u201chappy\u201d instead, what kinds of things come to mind when you imagine yourself as happy?\u00a0 Think about experiences right now rather than a definition of the word.\u00a0 Are you more likely to think of something you already occasionally do or experience or are you more likely to think of your future, a vision or goal for the good life?\u00a0 If you and your group write all of these things down, do you see things in common or are you all over the map?\u00a0 Do they tend to be things that give you immediate pleasure, recreation, and thrill, or things that turn you outward, relate to deeper meanings, or reorient your attitudes in a way that have longer value?\u00a0 Do any of your experiences sound like anything in Matthew 5:1-12?<\/p>\n<p>As we start to build an understanding of the meaning of the word \u201cblessing\u201d or \u201cblessed,\u201d what other words besides \u201chappiness\u201d and \u201chappy\u201d can you associate with those ideas?<\/p>\n<h3>More Than Happy<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/01\/shutterstock_59964940web1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2300\" style=\"margin: 5px;border: 1px solid black\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/01\/shutterstock_59964940web1-300x288.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/01\/shutterstock_59964940web1-300x288.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/01\/shutterstock_59964940web1.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>In mid-January an elderly couple won more than 300 million dollars in the Mega-Millions lottery, which they took in a lump sum rather than annual payments.\u00a0\u00a0 In an interview, they said they are determined not to go the way of so many other large lottery winners who have ended up on welfare after a few years because of reckless spending.\u00a0 In spite of the plans they\u2019ve announced to give a lot of their winnings away to charities and other major gifts, they have still already been inundated with hundreds requests for money and the simple task of responding to those requests has required a huge amount of time.<\/p>\n<p>Not too many days after that lottery win, a woman in Tucson named Patricia Maisch probably saved more than a dozen lives by grabbing the extra gun clip from deranged killer Jared Lee Loughner in the middle of his January 8<sup>th<\/sup> shooting spree.\u00a0\u00a0 She has since been interviewed by more than two dozen news\u00a0 organizations from around the world, including live television interviews.\u00a0 She insists that she is not a hero, but this event has allowed her to speak out about gun violence, extreme political rhetoric, and the courage of those around her during the shooting.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you think that any of these people would describe themselves as \u201cblessed\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>One couple had a dream come true \u2013 a huge amount of money dropped in their lap.\u00a0 The other woman was unhurt in an incident in which 19 were shot and helped prevent the shooting of many others.\u00a0 How does that help our emerging understanding of the being \u201cblessed\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>What other examples can we think of where something that looks at first like a \u201cblessing\u201d might have another side to it, or on the other hand, something that sounds difficult and disruptive ends up providing a blessing we didn\u2019t expect?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, January 30, 2011 (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=162312579\">Micah 6:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=162312617\">1 Corinthians 1:18-31<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=162312654\">Matthew 5:1-12<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Growing-In-Faith\/Worship\/Lectionary.aspx\">Lectionary Readings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p>Even though verse one of Matthew 5 suggests that Jesus is to be seen as the new Moses, the content of this set of teachings does not really parallel Exodus 19 and 20 very closely.\u00a0 The commandment words in this chapter consist of things like \u201cRejoice and be glad!\u201d and \u201cLet your light so shine!\u201d\u00a0 As these chapters progress through what is called \u201cthe Sermon on the Mount,\u201d they are more *descriptive* of what life following Jesus is like rather than *prescriptive* in the sense of dictating a set of do\u2019s and don\u2019t\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 The call in 5:20 that the Christian\u2019s righteousness must exceed that of the hyper-law-keeping Scribes and Pharisees is a strong clue that this righteousness of which Jesus speaks can only come as a gift from God and not from one\u2019s own hard work and good behavior.<\/p>\n<p>This attitude of receptivity and dependence on God\u2019s grace that serves as the key to the entire Sermon on the Mount points back to our passage, where one wonders how it could ever be possible that the \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d would be the very ones destined for heaven, or the meek would inherit the earth.\u00a0 We are naturally suspicious of claims that showing mercy will elicit mercy from others, because our world does not appear to work that way.<\/p>\n<p>This is what makes being a follower of Christ both the joy and the challenge that is described here.\u00a0 To trust God for the fulfillment all of these promises is both our greatest unburdening (because it doesn\u2019t depend on us!) and our greatest test (because such trust is an enormous risk!).<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In verse one, Jesus goes up on a mountain to teach and invite his followers to a new kind of \u201claw\u201d for life.\u00a0\u00a0 Who does this remind us of from the Old Testament (answer = Moses) and what do we think the gospel writer wants us to understand about Jesus from this connection?<\/li>\n<li> What does it mean to be \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d?\u00a0 Does our understanding of this phrase change if we paraphrase it as \u201cthose who know they need the spirit of God\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>What are some synonyms for \u201cmeek\u201d ?\u00a0 Some possibilities are \u201chumble,\u201d \u201cgentle.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>It is possible to make two lists from the characteristics of the blessed in this passage:\u00a0 one list contains the things that are more like life-experiences that happen *to* us \u2013 mournful, persecuted, slandered;\u00a0 the other list contains things that have more to do with our attitudes and actions \u2013 meekness, mercy, purity in heart, peacemaking.\u00a0 Some, like \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d and \u201chungry for righteousness\u201d could be both, because they can come from a natural humility or the experience of being deflated from our pride or self-righteousness.\u00a0 What do we learn about following Jesus from this?\u00a0 Is the blessed life an active and willful life, or passive and receptive, or both?<\/li>\n<li> Return to the question of what \u201cblessed\u201d means.\u00a0 Many translations of Matthew 5 actually use the word \u201chappy,\u201d which is one perfectly correct rendering of the Greek word <em>makarios <\/em>which appears here.\u00a0 It may be, however, that \u201cblessed\u201d is still a better choice because it suggests that this condition of well-being is something that happens <em>to<\/em> a person\u00a0 or comes as a gift rather than something that someone <em>does<\/em> to attain happiness or blessedness.\u00a0 Which of these is the better way of describing the result of following Christ, trusting the gospel, and obeying Christ\u2019s commands?<\/li>\n<li>Some have noted that Matthew\u2019s version of these \u201cBeatitudes\u201d differs from the list in Luke 6:20-31 particularly in that the Lukan list seems more deeply based in the actual experience of physical poverty, hunger, and persecution.\u00a0\u00a0 As if to emphasize the point, Luke also contains a list of warnings to those who have all of their needs currently met.\u00a0 How literally should we take these descriptions of human conditions in Matthew 5 and Luke 6?\u00a0 Can blessedness come from spiritual hunger just as much as physical hunger?<\/li>\n<li> How do we imagine that these blessings become real in the lives of people who experience the hardships Jesus describes?\u00a0 Is it simply a direct line from God to the individual?\u00a0 Or do we who have experienced these things before or who are already equipped with the good news of the gospel and the means to relieve suffering play a role on God\u2019s behalf in bringing blessing to others?<\/li>\n<li>Some have been critical of these promises in Matthew because they can be seen as self-centered or unrelated to a community of relationships.\u00a0\u00a0 Yet if we take the example of verse 12, the blessing experienced by the prophets of Israel\u00a0 even while they were being persecuted or killed was not simply a personal heavenly reward, but that the nation and the people heard the word of God, which \u2013 as the scriptures promise \u2013 is effective whether we see it or not!\u00a0 Is it possible that the blessedness that is promised to *you* as someone who experiences these things really becomes a fuller blessing in the experience of those around you who share in it also?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Suggested Activity<\/h3>\n<p>On a sheet of paper that you will fold up and carry with you this week as a reminder, list the names of actual people you know to whom you can relate in a new way according to this list of promises from Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 Is there someone in your life for whom you only have contempt or conflict?\u00a0 How can you be \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d in your conversations with them?\u00a0 Do you know someone who is consumed by a lifestyle of destructive behavior or shallow thrill?\u00a0 Can your \u201chunger and thirst for righteousness\u201d provide a suggestion of another way to live?\u00a0 Is there someone in your life who needs mercy and forgiveness from you or others?\u00a0 Can you show mercy and forgiveness to that person, knowing that it may not be received or returned?\u00a0\u00a0 Are you afraid of the consequences of representing the love of God in Christ Jesus to others in word and\/or deed?\u00a0 Recall that the promise of verses 11 and 12 are not just that you have a heavenly consolation for your courage and trouble, but that there may be others nearby who have desperately needed to hear and see the witness of someone who believes that God\u2019s grace can really make a difference.\u00a0\u00a0 Who in your life could benefit from that witness?<\/p>\n<p>Let this list of people be your personal prayer list for the week and also your reminder that God\u2019s promises for following Christ as described here in Matthew 5 are true!<\/p>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>Lord Jesus, giver of every blessing, we rejoice that the wisdom and promises you first shared with your disciples has come down to us and still remains true today.\u00a0 Help us to come to you as your followers did in those days and to welcome your word with gladness, even as it calls us to repentance and service.\u00a0\u00a0 We lift before you for your blessings all those whose spirits call out for relief and righteousness, all who mourn the loss of loved ones, who feel disenfranchised and isolated, and whose fondest desire is that they could feel strong enough to show mercy and forgiveness in the face of persecution and hatred.\u00a0 Give us, along with all your people, joy and gladness for the reward that is ours in your kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by David Delaney, Salem, VA Warm-up Question If we move away from the word \u201cblessed\u201d for a minute and think of the word \u201chappy\u201d instead, what kinds of things come to mind when you imagine yourself as happy?\u00a0 Think about experiences right now rather than a definition of the word.\u00a0 Are you more likely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[5951,535,334,425,400,5911,339,414,449,513,358,469,331],"class_list":["post-2279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-blessed","tag-challenges","tag-disciple","tag-faithfulness-to-god","tag-gospel","tag-happy","tag-justice","tag-kingdom-of-god","tag-salvation","tag-servant","tag-service","tag-trust","tag-witness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>January 26-February 1, 2011-More than Happy - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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