Content related to Matthew 5

Symposium 2022: Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted

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Symposium 2022: Blessed Are You When People Insult You

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Symposium 2022: You Are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World

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Matthew 5:21-37

Epiphany 6A

Say the word “radical” to the average person and the name of “Jesus” will likely not be the first thing that springs to anyone’s mind.  If you think about “radical acts,” the Sermon on the Mount is unlikely to come to mind, either.  Radicals throw Molotov cocktails at police and stage sit-ins and carry placards…

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Matthew 5:13-20

Epiphany 5A

At a restaurant in California some while back I asked the waitress if their cioppino was good.  She assured me it was.  Cioppino is a wonderful seafood stew, and the server assured me theirs contained a lot of very fresh clams, shrimp, calamari, and more.  I ordered it.  And . . . it lacked all…

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Matthew 5:1-12

Epiphany 4A

Suppose you could combine the personality traits of the Beatitudes and put them all into one person.  What would Mr. or Miss Beatitude look like? Well, he would be consistently kind and yet also a bit shy, shunning the limelight.  He would always downplay his own actions by claiming they were never enough to achieve…

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Matthew 5:38-48

Epiphany 7A

Compared to any number of you reading this sermon commentary, I’ve had it easy in life so far.  My “enemies” (such as I’ve had them) have not exactly risen to headline-grabbing people who kidnap children, rape women, or kill other people.  Still, I’ve been hurt by others and even harder to take, I’ve seen people…

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Matthew 5:21-37

Epiphany 6A

Say the word “radical” to the average person and the name of “Jesus” will likely not be the first thing that springs to anyone’s mind.   If you think about “radical acts,” the Sermon on the Mount is unlikely to come to mind, either.   Radicals throw Molotov cocktails at police and stage sit-ins and carry placards…

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Matthew 5:13-20

Epiphany 5A

At a restaurant in California recently I asked the waitress if their Cioppino was good.   She assured me it was.  Cioppino is a wonderful seafood stew, and the server assured me theirs contained a lot of very fresh clams, shrimp, calamari, and more.   I ordered it.    And . . . it lacked all salt.   Seemed…

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Matthew 5:1-12

Epiphany 4A

There are several ways to approach the Beatitudes. You could fruitfully consider them one at a time or you could look at the overall sweep and direction of these blessings. Since the Lectionary gives us the whole smack for just one Sunday, our best option is to look at the bigger picture and consider, in…

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