This is the second of our
Fall Series
FOLLOW THROUGH
Living out
The Sermon on the Mount
This posting builds on last week's
ZESTY BRIGHT PART I
which is available
by scrolling down here
or going to
BLOG ARCHIVE
(Right column)
Thanks!
******
Dear All of Us,
Joe Cerone was our mayor.
He was also a delight.
Whenever we'd meet
on the street, in a store,
at an event, it was ritual.
I'd say:
"Good to see you, Joe."
He'd say:
"Good to be seen."
We'd both smile a delight.
Jesus pretty much greets us
in same such delight.
"You are the light of the world...
let your light shine before others,
so they may see your good works
and give glory to
your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5: 14 and 16
"Good to be seen."
How does that sit with you?
What's your take here?
Is Jesus contradicting himself?
Is Jesus being illogical,
posing apparently polar opposites?
How does
"Let your light shine
before others
so that they may see
your good works..."
- good to be seen -
jive with markedly different
leads from Jesus?
Sayings such as:
"Beware of practicing your piety
before others in order
to be seen by them...
So, when you give to the needy,
don't sound a trumpet before you...
don't let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing..."
Matthew 6: 1-3
"And whenever you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites;
for they love to stand
in the synagogues
and at street corners,
so that they may be
seen by others...
But whenever you pray,
go into your room,
shut the door and pray
to your Father
who is in secret..."
Matthew 6: 5-6
"Good to be seen"?
HUMMMM???
Well, Jesus is like a diamond.
There are all sorts of
varied and exquisite facets
to him and his teaching.
Variations in unison.
They are neither competing,
nor contradictory, but rather,
wondrously complimentary
in paradoxical unity.
There's a greater truth here than
our sometimes limited logic allows.
Let's take a comparison from
the Hebrew scriptures.
The Song of Songs sings, there's
"...a time to be born
and a time to die
...a time to weep,
and a time to laugh...
Ecclesiastes 3: 2 and 4
There are countless
facets and fashions to life,
many quite different,
even apparently distinct.
Seen in their unified fullness,
they do not contradict,
but blend in the paradox
of life's wholeness.
For sure,
"Life is larger than logic"
and infinitely more so is
Jesus.
He expands beautifully beyond
the limits of our efforts at logic.
And what about how much
Jesus is asking of us?
"You are the light
of the world."
OK, for sure most of us
are brighter than
a sixty watt bulb,
but we're certainly
not chandeliers.
Much less do we have
world wattage.
But Jesus does!
He is
"the light of the world."
John 8:12
He draws us unto himself,
into his intensity, and
is radiant through us.
As disciples we
don't generate the light.
We accept it, live it and share it
in the here and now
of our time and place
in the world.
"You are the light
of the world."
The mystic saint,
Hildegard of Bingen,
saw The Holy One as
"The Living Light."
In that Light we live,
glow, grow, give.
We radiate God in all
the moments and motions
of our days and ways.
The disciple lives in Jesus
and with Jesus for others.
Shrinking, safe, stay at home
spirituality it is not.
"Jesus and me"
no way, never!
"Jesus, us, me for you"
all the way all the time!
All the ways we live as disciples
are to "delight" others -
light up for them
The Road to Right Real -
God and The Kingdom,
Authenticity, Reality.
Like light, we don't exist
just for ourselves.
Light makes it possible to see.
That's what we do for others
in our way and place.
Our living throws light
for them to see
The Right and Real,
and the brilliant difference
it all makes.
What wonder!
What connectivity.
What divine current!
See/sense the disciple's light,
union, trust and commission.
By being the light of the world
right where we live
and as we live,
we radiate God Goodness.
In us others have
flesh and blood,
living breathing examples,
of life in Jesus and The Kingdom.
We High Lite
the good and true in life.
People get to see God Life
in the light of our living it.
And that is all the more obvious
and convincing for the
faults and frailty
of who and how
we are so far.
God Light shines through
the limits of our darkness.
In other words,
disciples have bad hair days
even if they're bald.
Come to think of it,
even a chrome dome
can be shinny bright!!
There's such variety
in how and where
we live this wonder -
all sorts of settings
and scenarios.
We're varied facets of the
Jesus Diamond.
There's Francis of Assisi.
There's Craenie
(from last week's blog).
There's Mother Theresa,
There's my Mom.
There's the dedicated teacher
and coach at school.
There's the couple
giving their all to raise a family.
There's the principled politician.
There's the elderly full of
gratitude and deep in prayer.
There's the farmer employing
environmentally appropriate
approaches to earth, sky, livestock.
There's the supermarket worker
risking health to serve.
The key here is to really,
actually, functionally,
in head, heart, and behavior,
be a disciple, a learner,
to get with the program,
which really isn't
at all a program.
Way fuller than that,
it's a person
Jesus
"The Light of the world."
As Paul put it,
"I live now not I
but Christ lives
in me."
Galatians 2:20
We don't have to
"try harder" at all,
just accept ever more,
genuinely and fully.
That's a lot more and better
than just "Going to church"
and letting it go at that.
Just belonging to a church
is not yet discipleship,
not yet being
"Salt of the earth"
"Light of the world"
Accepting Jesus call
and gift of intimacy,
a life of discipleship,
is way better.
We get:
- to live as resident aliens
on our way to Fullness
- to live out all the
"best practices"
of the
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5:1 to 7:29
- to live a life style simple, caring,
generous and communal
- to forego the hellish loneliness
of self absorption and
so much better, work for the
Common Good
- to come alive giving life
to those with whom
we are plugged into
the same circuitry/sphere
and
- to be brightened,
enlightened in just that
(them and us)
- to be objective
and truth based
in this postmodern era
were both are degraded
and disregarded
in favor of what
Stephen Colbert terms
"Truthiness"
(truth - thin - ness)
It claims that
reality, truth is
what I feel/say it is-
tries to makes you
your own god,
determining reality.
- to sink endlessly
into the sea divine
and soar without limit
into the sky sacred.
The Message
translates the scriptures into
our everyday talk because
they were originally written
in that mode and manner.
Over the centuries the scriptures
were domesticated, even dimmed,
by translating them into formal,
rather staid, starched "properness".
The Word of God,
in
People Talk
"God is not a secret to be kept.
We're going public with this,
as public as a city on a hill.
If I make you light-bearers,
you don't think I'm going to hide
you under a bucket, do you?
I'm putting you on a light stand.
Now that I've put you there
on a hilltop, on a light stand -
shine!
Keep open house,
be generous with your lives.
By opening up to others,
you'll prompt people
to open up with God,
this generous Father
in heaven."
The Message
Matthew 5:14-16
OH YAH!
Good to be seen.
God to be seen.
You're a sight for sore eyes.
You're a sight to see!
Bright On!
John Frank
******
PRAY AND PONDER
Jesus tells us we are
ZESTY BRIGHT
Salt and light
Matthew 5:13-16
What's that look like
when I peer into
the mirror of me?
How zesty, salty,
bright and light
is the life and doing
of the church I attend?
Who and what holds
me back from a
full yes
to discipleship?
How and what helps
me embrace a
full yes
to discipleship?
How can I
go for broke
and be enriched
enriching as a disciple
ZESTY BRIGHT ?
******
If you are new here,
you are welcome here,
and we are blessed.
A very special
WELCOME
to all in the
large groups
of first timers this week
from
Belgium
and
Russia.
Great to be with you!
******
Thanks so much for sharing
with family, friends
and colleagues our weekly
time together here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- it goes online mid-day
each Thursday
east coast USA time
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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- past postings are available at
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Have a brilliant week
helping Jesus
turn up the lights.
See you Next Week!
******
