The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon.
A Hunger for Justice
In today’s first reading, God cries, “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” (Micah 6:3). The people of God have forgotten God’s deliverance and who God has called them to be. Like a shrewd prosecutor, God has placed them on trial and is examining their actions, recounting the signs of mercy and loving kindness shown to them from generation to generation and searching for a sign that they are living into who God has called them to be. And so, they are reminded that this is how you shall live: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.
A Latin American prayer asks: “Lord, to those who hunger, give bread. And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice.” The words of this more modern-day prayer do not sound so different from the ancient words spoken by the prophet Micah to God’s people. “What does the Lord require of you,” asks Micah, “but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). The hunger of God’s people has already been filled by the mercy of God, and so they are called by God to feed the hunger of others through lives of justice, kindness, and humility.
In the Sunday assembly, God surrounds the gathered people with reminders of who and whose they are: we splash in the waters of baptism, are brought to new life in the word, are fed and forgiven through bread and wine. Around the table, hunger is satisfied, and a hunger for justice is renewed. From the table, God sends the gathered assembly, blessed and broken, to feed the hunger of others as, together, we await the fulfillment of the kingdom.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount by naming those who are blessed in the reign of God.
1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”