This passage, Matthew 5:4-10, was said when Jesus was up on a mountainside, so that he could see so far. I wondered if he looked over the top of the crowd and looked to the horizon. I wonder if the crowd would remember and change they ways?
Context
At the time this Gospel was written, it is said by scholars, that the Temple had been destroyed in Jerusalem and the Roman rule had tightened its grip on the area. Retribution on the locals for insubordination was swift and severe. Jesus starts his emotional battle cry with ‘Blessed are the poor for the Kingdom of God is theirs.’ So not the victors then? ‘God blesses those that mourn for they will be comforted’. So this applies to both sides of the war then. God’s blessings go out to all those that mourn – are our prayers ones that mourn for all peoples?
Justice?
‘God will bless those that hunger and thirst for justice‘. I think here these are linked by justice. Justice being? A win for one side over another or a cessation of war and peace… That verse concludes ‘for they will be satisfied’. God blesses those who work for peace.
As someone who used to be in the military and then work in a defence firm, I reflect back on my experiences and ponder whether my work was always working for peace. This passage concludes ‘for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs’. Not victory as we might see when reflecting about wars, but the Kingdom of Heaven.
Following the first and second world wars our hymns took on a militaristic stance,
Although Onward Christian Soldiers was written in 1865…
fight the good fight etc.
Where is the Church here?
I’m wondering whether that was the perspective of Jesus on that mountain side as he gave these statements to the listening Jews. Do we remember and change? What do you think? Where does the Church sit?
I’m thinking that we might feel the desire to be patriotic, stand up for the values of our country but is that what the Bible is saying? Does the church, and us, sit in that awkward middle ground, of brokering peace, of supporting those from all sides who are caught in the crossfire, hurt, injured, traumatised?
Can we remain in that middle ground – no man’s land – or feel called to one side or the other? We might really feel the tension, that pull from society to take sides when…
In all that we may have heard, sung, prayed, on this Remembrance Day, there is that inevitability that humanity will continue to engage in warfare, in the destruction of the other. Our Gospel tells us so clearly that the reversal of gain is needed. When our hearts are turned to compassion, we will find the Kin_dom of Heaven.
Where do we stand today?
When we recall the wars, we can walk alongside those that mourn, for all of their different reasons. This may not be a time to be patriotically supporting another venture but a time to question the need for spiralling expenditure towards an increasingly powerful surgical strike capability.
What would a countries economy look like when its defence spending goes on support for the poorest, when it afford to support the suffering abroad, when the growth of foodbanks and warm spaces is reversed? Can we remember and change?
I found the dialogue interesting and I enjoyed it