I’m posting this as part of a message series among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers who are being challenged to memorize Matthew 5:3-12 in the coming weeks. Here is the PDF outline of the message:
There is nothing like repetition in the process of memorization. To memorize several verses, I recorded myself reading the passage and put a little soft music in the background. I imported the .MP3 into my phone’s music app. Several times a week I go for a walk and play the track with the “repeat” feature on.
I start by just whispering out loud with the track as I walk. As it becomes more familiar, I try to start each line just ahead of the track. As I start to feel like I have it down, I hit the “pause” button and try to say the whole thing myself. Within a week or so, I pretty much had it memorized. Two weeks and it was not only was it memorized but it began to impact my daily thoughts as different situations would bring it to mind.
Yes! Sometimes my mind wanders as I’m listening and saying the words. I let myself ponder and think about what I’m listening to and saying and then I come back to it and pick up with the track wherever it is as my mind re-engages. Have grace with yourself. Let your heart and mind wander and chew on what you’re memorizing.
Here are my MP3 audio tracks for the Beatitudes. One is just the verses. The other adds “The Way” of each Beatitude from The Nine-Fold Path of Jesus by Mark Scandrette. That was the version I chose to memorize.
May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 1 Samuel 24:12 (NIV)
One of the things I’m discovering on my current stretch of Life’s road is that my spiritual life is growing deeper and more meaningful even as my body begins to show the signs of the aging process that will continue to lead to its inevitable, physical demise.
I have been preparing a message for the past few weeks on a familiar piece of Jesus’ teaching called The Beatitudes. As I have been memorizing, studying, and meditating on them I have come to realize that it is a road map for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. One commentator I read called it “a new way to be human.”
I suppose that it’s inevitable that as I meditate deeply on Jesus’ nine-fold path of being that it would become a filter through which I begin to see new things in old stories. Like today’s chapter.
I have mentioned in recent posts that the saga of Saul and David is a study in contrasts, and those contrasts continue in today’s episode.
King Saul holds all the worldly power. He has a nation’s army at his command. He has an entourage catering to his every whim and seeking to ride the gravy train to their own personal empowerment. King Saul has become obsessed with killing his young rival, David.
David has no earthly power. He is living a life on the run. He’s hiding in a cave in the desert with a rag-tag crew of misfits and mercenaries. He was anointed as God’s to-be King by Samuel, but that doesn’t seem to be coming to fruition any time soon. In fact, looking at the circumstances, I’ve got to believe that David is wondering if the whole thing is some kind of joke.
In today’s chapter, King Saul and his army are on the hunt for David. They’re in a desert area that is riddled with caves. King Saul finds himself needing to “answer nature’s call” so he steps into one of the caves to have a “seat on the throne,” so to speak. What he doesn’t know is that David and his men are in hiding just a bit deeper in the back of the cave.
From the perspective of the culture of those times, this is David’s chance. His men are adamant that David assassinate Saul and make his prophesied rise happen. No one would bat an eye if David were to seize this opportunity. They live in a dog-eat-dog world of conquest. Kill-or-be-killed is their everyday reality. The strongest and most violent are the ones who rise to power in their world. There’s no person in the world who would question David’s actions were he to take out his vengeance on the mad King who had, unjustifiably, ruined his life and made his daily existence a living hell.
This is where David is different. God told Samuel that David was “a man after my own heart.” David wasn’t concerned with what everyone in this world would think. David was concerned with what the God of heaven would think. David is revealing “a different way to be human.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit…” David is embracing his impoverished circumstances and placing his trust in God to fulfill his destiny, not take it into his own hands.
“Blessed are those who mourn…” David is embracing his lament, turning them into poetic songs, and seeking the comfort of God’s mercy rather than his personal revenge.
“Blessed are the meek…” David has the power to assassinate the King, but he humbly chooses not to use that power.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” David willingly chooses not to be a judge, jury, and executioner, deferring justice and vengeance on Saul to God.
“Blessed are the merciful…” David mercifully treats Saul as he would like to be treated by Saul.
“Blessed are the pure in heart…” David is more concerned with the condition of his heart than the condition of his circumstances.
“Blessed are the peacemakers…” David, having cut off a piece of King Saul’s robe as the monarch was indisposed, confronts Saul in an effort to peacefully resolve their conflict.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness…” David’s entire life has become that of unjust persecution because God has blessed him and not Saul. Still, David humbly surrenders to God’s will and God’s timing for the right time to lift him to the position and power that has been prophesied.
“Blessed are you when others insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice, and be glad…” At the end of today’s episode, Saul goes back to his palace, power, and position while David retreats back into his cave where he picks up his lyre and pens the lyrics of Psalm 57 in which he laments living among “lions, ravenous beasts, and men whose teeth are sharp spears” (remember Saul twice tried to kill David with his spear), but then in the very next line writes:
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
If the Beatitudes are Jesus’ prescription for a different way of being human, then David was the ancient prototype.
In the quiet this morning, I simply find myself desiring to live however many days I have left on this earthly journey exemplifying Jesus’ nine-fold path of being human, just like David did.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape. 1 Samuel 19:6 (NIV)
If you’ve followed my blog/podcast for any length of time, you know that Wendy and I typically have a “word” on which we focus every year. My word for this year is “blessed,” and this has led me to memorize Matthew 5:3-12, which is the opening of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” also known as “the Beatitudes.”
A few weeks ago I was with a friend who was asking me some really good questions about life. I recounted with him some of the life challenges Wendy and I have experienced and are experiencing this year. As I got through the list, my friend exclaimed, “Wow!” He then asked me, “And what is your word for this year?”
“Blessed.”
We shared a good laugh together.
One of the observations I’ve made along my spiritual journey is that it’s quite common for people, myself included, to assume that life should be easy. When I encounter troubles or trials on life’s road, it surprises me. I didn’t see it coming. I wasn’t prepared. My natural response is often pessimism, complaint, and descent into a funk of despair.
In today’s chapter, Saul’s madness and obsession with killing his rival, David, only intensifies. David has done nothing wrong to deserve Saul’s homicidal rage. In fact, David is living a “blessed” life. A shepherd boy from a backwater town, he has been anointed king by Samuel, become a royal minstrel, defeated Goliath, become a national hero, proven himself a gifted military leader, and married a princess. Despite all this, David has big troubles. Saul is hell-bent to kill him, and because of this, his life has become untenable.
The famous psychologist, Carl Jung, would point out that David is on an archetypical “hero’s journey.” Heroes always face trials and obstacles. At some point, they find themselves in the wilderness. It’s a repetitive pattern in the epic stories we love.
It’s also a repetitive pattern in life.
As I’ve been meditating on the Beatitudes in my memorization process, it has struck me that what Jesus is really getting at is an attitude of embracing the trials, obstacles, suffering, and tragedies with humility, trust, lament, right motive, and peace (props to Mark Scandrette and his book The Ninefold Path of Jesus). There are blessings within the struggle if I will stop fighting them as some kind of heinous and unexpected aberration in life, and start to flow with God in the midst of them.
Life is filled with trials, obstacles, suffering, and unexpected tragedies.
But it doesn’t mean I’m not blessed.
Like me, David’s going to learn this the hard way.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
(WW) Mark Scandrette & the Ninefold Path of Jesus –
Wayfarer
On this Wayfarer Weekend (WW) podcast, my conversation with Mark Scandrette, author of The Ninefold Path of Jesus – Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes.
“We’ve learned to live from a mentality of anxiety and greed, but what if a world of abundance with solace and comfort is actually near? We’ve learned to live by striving, competition, and comparison, but what if we all have equal dignity and worth? Whatever your story, whatever your struggle, wherever you find yourself, this way is available to you.”
Mark Scandrette is executive direction of Reimagine: A Center for Integral Christian Practice. In addition to leading learning labs worldwide, Mark teaches in the doctoral program at Fuller Seminary. He lives with his family in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Wendy and I were on a cruise last week with our friends, Chad and Shay. Cruising has become Wendy’s and my favorite form of vacation, though perhaps not for the same reason that many enjoy it. Being on the water has always held a spiritual connection for me. To be honest, Wendy and I spent much of our time last week together inside our cabin or on our small verandah staring out over the vast ocean. It was heavenly.
I read a couple of books as we sailed along.One of them was called The Ninefold Path of Jesus by Mark Scandrette. It practically, simply, and deeply explores a familiar passage in the Great Story found in today’s chapter, traditionally known as “the beatitudes.” The beatitudes are the opening of the most thorough record we have of Jesus’ teaching, a message Jesus gave His followers on a hill by the Sea of Galilee.
Each of the nine beatitudes describes those whom Jesus says are “blessed.” What immediately stands out is the contrast to those whom we often think of as “blessed” in this world: the rich, famous, popular, powerful, influential, famous, privileged, talented, and elite. Jesus makes it clear that those who are blessed in the Kingdom of God look very different. In fact, they are much the opposite of what subjects of the Kingdom of this world typically consider blessed. In God’s Kingdom, Jesus states, those who are blessed are:
poor in spirit (trusting God for their provision) mourning (lamenting their brokenness, and what is broken in this world) meek (holding any personal power in check) hungry/thirsty for righteousness (seeking justice in life and relationship) merciful (having compassion, even for my enemies) pure in heart (acting, speaking, and relating with right motives) peacemakers (finding and choosing ways to deescalate conflict) persecuted for doing the right thing (radically loving others)
Perhaps my choice to begin reading Matthew’s biography of Jesus on the chapter-a-day journey this week was subconsciously influenced by my meditation and contemplation of the beatitudes last week. As I read them anew this morning, my head and heart were still full of all that I pondered as I watched the ocean waves roll by this past week.
As I continued on into the rest of the chapter, and the continuation of Jesus’ message, I realized for the first time that Jesus subsequent teaching about murder, curses, adultery, lust, divorce, making oaths, revenge, and love for one’s enemy all connect back to the be-attitudes of trust, lament, meekness, mercy, motive, peacemaking, and radical love. In essence, the beatitudes are the table of contents for everything Jesus is going to say after. I realize that if I don’t have my “being” and “attitude” right, I’ll never act, speak, and relate as Jesus goes on to describe.
Wendy and I have been repeatedly asked this week how our cruise went. We’ve enjoyed sharing our experiences, though I sometimes wonder if people are surprised by our description. We spent a lot of time in our cabin. We slept a lot. We read books. We talked about life on our verandah. We stared at the ocean. We watched a dolphin jumping in the water. We saw the distant, misty eruption of a whale’s exhale. As I continue to look back on it, Wendy and I spent the week trying to get our “being” centered and aligned so that the onslaught of “doing” that faced us upon our return might look more like “the nine-fold path of Jesus” and less like the vain pursuit for what the kingdoms of this world describe as the “good life.”
Note: If you’re normally one who reads my blog post or listens to my podcast, but you don’t actually read the corresponding chapter, let me encourage you to take a couple of minutes today and the next couple of days to actually read Jesus’ message on the hill in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. I think it’s worth it.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.”Matthew 5:6 (MSG)
I have never heard a message delivered about appetites. Someday, when God gives the opportunity, I’m going to do so. Over the last several years of my own journey I’ve come to understand that my life reveals my appetites, and my appetites reveal the condition of my heart.
I can draw a dotted line between those things with which I struggle and appetites out of control. The first bite of forbidden fruit was rooted in Adam and Eve’s appetites. The fruit was pleasing to the eye and they wanted to possess it. It was so juicy, looked so scrumptious that they wanted to taste it. It would make them like God and they wanted to experience it. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are appetites without a governor. Every one of the seven deadly sins (greed, lust, sloth, envy, pride, gluttony, and wrath) are unbridled appetites.
Today, I’m asking myself: For what do I truly hunger? For what do I truly thirst?
Wayfarer 