Flourishing are the ones
hungering and thirsting for righteousness
because they will be satisfied.
Flourishing are the merciful
because they will be given mercy.
Flourishing are the pure in heart
because they will see God.
Matthew 5: 5-8
Jesus doesn’t say “Flourishing are the righteous”, but those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness/Justice. What’s the difference ?
What is your reaction ot Viktor Frankel’s Saints, Zombies, and the rest picture ? Where are you ?
Read Proverbs 4:18. Is this the language of road/path ?
What areas are you hungry to see made right ? List some.
How do you feel when you can’t see it happening ?
How will it feel to be satisfied ? (Will it have mere mmmmm?)
If a number of indigenous cultures have a desire for
rightness, balance, shalom, ‘Te Wa’. What does that look like to a westerner ?
In Mat 13:44 the parable of the pear does not compare the kingdom of God with the pearl , but with the person seaching for it. Is that us ?
How does being merciful balance the hunger for justice ? How are mercy, compassion, Love, empathy linked ?
The desire for purity is a long established pattern of the church. read Isaiah 32:16-18. How does this link with the other two ?
What happens if this one gets priority ?
Read this quote : and check to see what you think it looks like
1 ) This was a voluntary society: you could not be born into it. You could come into it only by repenting and freely pledging allegiance to its king. It was a society with no second-generation members.
2) It was a society that, counter to all precedent, was mixed in its composition. It was mixed racially, with both Jews and Gentiles; mixed religiously, with fanatical keepers of the law and advocates of liberty from all forms; with both radical monotheists and others just in the process of disentangling their minds from idolatry; mixed economically with members both rich and poor.
3 ) “When he called his society together Jesus gave its members a new way of life to live. He gave them a new way to deal with offenders—by forgiving them. He gave them a new way to deal with violence—by suffering. He gave them a new way to deal with money—by sharing it. He gave them a new way to deal with problems of leadership—by drawing upon the gift of every member, even the most humble. He gave them a new way to deal with a corrupt society—by building a new order, not smashing the old. He gave them a new pattern of relationship between man and woman, between parent and child, between master and slave, in which was made concrete a radical new vision of what it means to be a human person. He gave them a new attitude toward the state and toward the “enemy nation.”
Are we like this ? When are we ? How can we keep encouraging and reminding us to live this way ?
Which of these three aspects is easiest for you
1 ) Desire for what is right/just
2 ) Showing mercy/compassion
3 ) Being oure of heart.
Which is the balancing aspect that is hardest for you ?
Pray together about this.
Are you coming to the sunday night “Belonging in Aotearoa” sessions ?