Beautifully manicured gardens greet us as we pull into the parking lot and enter the Mount of the Beatitudes. The day Situated on the hills above Capernaum, the site is maintained by the Roman Catholics as a Holyland Pilgrimage site. As we walk the site, we are awed by its spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee. We are also attracted to the many groups of Holy Land Pilgrims. Some are wandering and some are sitting in secluded spots listening to their guide or singing songs of praise.
The location itself will take us away from the world with its pressures and problems and for a brief time we’ll feel anxious for nothing. With so many present, we’ll be impressed as we notice everyone is considerate of others and doing unto others what they would want them to do to them.
This morning our guide will quickly look for one of those secluded spots and give us a brief historical overview. Then he’ll sit down and we’ll open our Bibles (Matthew 5-7) to reflect on the words Christ spoke here. As our eyes follow the text and our ears hear the reading, we can imagine ourselves listening to Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount.
In this spot, the words will come alive. We’ll sense what the original hearers sensed that Christ came not only to save but to teach how to Live God’s Way. Something referred to as “Kingdom Living”, it will strike us how abnormal it is to
Live God’s Way. Imagine this. We are
• to be salt and light in a polluted and dark world
• to love our enemies
• to pray with a focus on God’s Kingdom and God’s Will
• to forgive others as God has forgiven Us
• to not lay up treasure on earth nor be anxious over anything
• to restrict our judging others knowing we’ll also be judged
• to do unto others what we would have them do to us
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