The 4th Sunday after Epiphany

We continue the journey of following Jesus in the early days of his work and ministry. This week, we come to the beginning of Jesus' first major episode of teaching, known as the "Sermon on the Mount."  Jesus opens his famous "sermon" with the even-more-famous passage known as the "Beatitudes".  Although beloved and sentimentalized, the truth is that with his series of "Blessed are the..." promises, he turns the world's expectations on his head.  He pronounces blessing upon all sorts of people who in his time (and in ours) would be hard to consider "blessed". The simplicity and nakedness with which Jesus talks about who is blessed is brilliant... a radical message made all the more clear and memorable because of its poetic power.  Moreover, it challenges us to re-imagine how the ways of God's kingdom are at odds with the world's values, and how the Word -- God's word, and also God's word speaking through us -- has the power to create new reality.