Words on a mountain

      Achoo!  Bless you…

      There are not very many ways we refer to the act of blessing these days.  Sure, we understand very well what it means to have something happen or be given to us such that we “count our blessings.”  But passing on a special, deep, nearly physical, spiritual blessing is not really part of what we do much.  About the closest thing is the quaint asking the parents of your intended if they will “give their blessing” to your marriage.  Sometimes we joke that we want a committee’s “blessing” to start a new project.  We tend to think of that as both a permission to go ahead and as an expression of support, psychologically and sometimes practically.

      Biblically and in olden times, there was a significant transfer of power and authorization and a passing of autonomy to the blessed person from the blessor.  Think of Jacob diverting Isaac’s blessing from Esau.  Jacob became the primary inheritor of Isaac’s possessions and power instead of the firstborn.  To be blessed was to have a piece of the blessor detached, as it were, to you and your use, almost a living inheritance.

      This Sunday we encounter Matthew’s account of Jesus’ preaching on the mountain to the crowds, focusing on what we call the Beatitudes.  “Blessed are the….”  Jesus’ spin is his selection of unlikely recipients for God’s blessing.  Then as now, people call the shining examples, the sports heroes, the titans of business, the entertainment stars the blessed of society.  Jesus elevates the meek, the poor, the hungry, the persecuted, the least of society.  Those are the ones singled out for God’s special blessing.  This fits Jesus’ prophecies of the coming divine inversion of top and bottom.  Those now well-off will get knocked down a peg while the down-and-out will be elevated, will be blessed by God.  (Luke 6 has corresponding “Woes” to emphasize this point.) For many of us in the progressive mainline traditions, this leads to outreach, service, assistance, and advocacy for the least of our neighbors as we seek to be the hands of God touching and blessing those Jesus calls blest.  If you look at the annual report, you can see how by personal involvement, church programming, and contributions, we take this very, very seriously at First Congregational.  We are the conduits for Jesus blessing the poor, the mourning, the meek, the hungering and thirsting (for righteousness, but also truly hungering and thirsting through Feed My Starving Children and the Kitchen Cupboard and through Agua Clara water projects).

      And, we pray, by sharing blessings with others, we, too, will receive God’s secondary blessing.  Pass blessings along!

                                                                                    In Christ,

                                                                                
                                                                                    David


This is “Scouting Sunday,” and while I’m not as familiar with your way of celebrating Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting, I’ve always encouraged everyone who participates or has participated in some form of scouting to show off scouting “stuff,” whether from the US or other nationality.  Maybe your old uniform doesn’t fit, but if you have something you can bring to show our children, that would be cool!  Or bring an emblem, pin, or other jewelry.  I’d love it if you could bring a sash— even if the badges are hot-glued on instead of sewn.  Scouting is an important blessing to many in this congregation; let’s celebrate!
                                                                                                                                                  
Texts For Sunday Worship:
      From the Hebrew Bible           Micah 6:1-8
      From the Epistles                  1 Corinthians 1:18-31
      From the Gospels                  Matthew 5:1-12