Reflections on The Kingdom, by Sam Berg (Days 7 – 12)
Day 7 – Life in the Kingdom: More reflections. January 6, 2025
Matthew 5:5 – Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Some of us strive to inherit the earth or at least pieces of it. Jesus isn’t here offering a strategy for inheriting the earth.
Each of these beatitudes describes a mark of repentance, of turning towards the kingdom. The meek are those who have forsworn this kind of striving. But neither have they given up on life here on earth and are only waiting for heaven.
The meek have discovered a way of life in the kingdom that takes a non-demanding stance towards life on earth. They have not succumbed to temptation and temptations in the same way that Jesus didn’t. They have not turned stones into bread, worshipped Satan in order to rule the kingdoms of the world, nor thrown themselves down from high buildings (Matthew 4). in other words, They have overcome the desires that lead to greed, lust, and pride.
They are flourishing on this earth because they are not demanding that it provide them with life but are receiving life as they follow Christ.
Day 8 — Life in the Kingdom: More reflections on Jesus’ teachings. January 12, 2025
Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The flourishing that comes with repentance towards the kingdom also include a hungering and a thirsting for righteousness.
The Greek word that is translated as righteousness also means justice. English separates the two ideas with two different words but they rightly go together. Flourishing comes from this powerful desire for justice/righteousness. The righteousness of a personal lifestyle is to be accompanied by a sensitivity to justice in our communities. And our sensitivity to justice is to be trained by the teachings of Jesus in this sermon and elsewhere in the gospels.
We need to rise above the right-wing / left-wing polarities and find the over-arching radical centre where Jesus lived and worked and taught. We need to introspect where we may be blind to injustice. I may become indignant when I see injustice. I can become angry if I’m the victim of injustice. But I will be blind to it if I’m the beneficiary.
Prayer: Help me overcome my blindness that I may hunger and thirst and thus be open to the flourishing that comes with the satisfaction of my hungering and thirsting.
Day 9 — Thinking about Life in the Kingdom January 17, 2025
Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7).
My cynicism, my ego, my impatience with others all require repentance. The merciful flourish. Flourishing comes from becoming merciful. Here are some associated thoughts:
– “Walk softly for everyone you meet carries a heavy load” (Richard Gorsuch).
– “I never met a man I didn’t like” (Will Rogers).
– “All the drivers in the other cars are created in the image of God” (Pastor Joel).
– “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. … For each will have to bear his own load” (Galatian 6).
Day 10 –Thinking about Life in the Kingdom January 20, 2025
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
In my mind, this is the most difficult of the eight beatitudes. See God: in what sense??
To continue the theme of flourishing … Flourishing includes having a pure heart! How do you ge one of those? Modernism values authenticity. The “aut-“ part of that word highlights the self and leads to ideas such as “To thine own self be true.” It’s a short step from that to self-centeredness. A step further in that direction leads to the conclusion that “we’re all sinners” and thus nothing more can be expected of us.
But the repentance that brings us into the kingdom looks for a different orientation of the heart.
In contrast to the value of authenticity, we recognize that we have many selves. We have as many selves as we have contexts of our lives. These contexts and the relationships in them make life rich. Selves become selves in relation to other selves, beginning from at least the moment we draw our first breath. But we have heard the invitation from Jesus to “follow me” and therefore every self we are includes Jesus-following. And so, as we follow, we see God: the hand of God, the mercy of God, and especially the image of God in each of the other selves we encounter in the many contexts of our lives. As we shall see further in this text, flourishing is relational. Flourishing that comes from purity of heart is the identifying with Jesus. As Jesus himself said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Day 11 — Thinking about Life in the Kingdom January 22, 2025
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
A footnote states that “sons” can be understood as gender-inclusive – sons and daughters.
Jesus speaks not of peacekeepers, although that is also a worthy endeavour. Peacemakers find their place where there is no peace. Peacemaking is a mark of repentance towards the Kingdom that requires a surrender of one’s own egoistic defensiveness. This is a mark of flourishing.
Peacemaking acknowledges a basic hostility in human relationships that results in a self-protective stance towards others that easily escalates into alienation and its extreme expression of violence. One expression of that in families is relational cutoff, described fully in Murray Bowen’s family systems theory. Many other expressions could be described.
Peacemaking seeks to overcome the alienation that characterizes humanity by adopting the view that aligns with that of a perfect Father (Matthew 5:48) towards one’s fellow humans. Rather than emphasizing differences that divide, a peacemaker looks for commonalities that provide the grounds for conversation and indeed communion. This is what characterizes the sons and daughters of God.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18).
Day 12 — Thinking about Life in the Kingdom January 29, 2025
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
It’s hard to grasp how being persecuted for anything can be described as flourishing. Persecution is to be avoided. We flee from it.
But we remember that “righteousness” and “justice” are synonymous. As we hunger and thirst for this (v. 6), we find ourselves taking stands, speaking out, advocating on behalf of persons who are suffering injustice, or joining those causes that are the seeking to put unjust situations aright. Taking stands and advocating will generate resistance from those who benefit from the injustices. Many causes and issues come to mind, on which I would love to give you the benefit of my opinion. However, what I seek in these brief meditations is something else – to understand the message of Jesus as he proclaimed the kingdom of heaven and invited us into repentance so as to enter it.
To be clear and convinced on the stance we take on issues requires an alignment with the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), so that we can understand justice and injustice in the ways Jesus saw them. He told us how he saw them: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,” (Luke 4:18). Life in the kingdom means carrying forth with Jesus this kingdom mission on behalf of the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed.
There are vested interests who benefit from there being poor, prisoners, blind and oppressed people. Their interests would suffer if systemic changes were made. They will push back. That can certainly feel like persecution. This confronts me in two ways: first, are my interests in some ways aligned with those who benefit? Second, how well am I able to enter into the mind of Christ so that I vividly, unmistakably, see as He does? This, I think, would be flourishing!
Related:
For start of series:
Reflections on The Kingdom, by Sam Berg (Days 1 – 6)
This page by: Ron Richmond
First published: 2025/03/20
Latest revision: 2025/03/25