The prophet Jeremiah was a prophet during a hard time in Israel. All hell was fixing to break loose as the Babylonian Army loomed on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a sign of God’s coming judgment. Times were difficult.

Following King Josiah, there was a brief period of reform and good in the land. However, after King Jehoiakim assumed the throne, things went from good to bad to worse, as the people enjoyed more and more material pleasures, forgetting God’s laws and purposes.

And so, when Jeremiah says that the human heart is perverse, he is seeing firsthand what can go wrong when people are being unfaithful, or when a ruler goes bad.

Remember that in Jewish thought the human heart is the seat of reason. Emotion resides in the abdomen, or in what we call the “gut.” The cheating heart, therefore, is actually a corrupted or a deceitful mind, a way of not seeing clearly. Persons become deceived when they think they are better than others. There is a kind of thinking that wants to take credit for the good things and then blame others when the problems come. 

What the prophet Jeremiah wants us to do is wake up and live in a place close to God’s heart, making sure we have roots deep in the ground of God’s mercy (v. 8).

How may we stay close to God’s heart? What may we need to do to follow in Christ’s step and have a heart open to God’s Spirit?

Pastor Andy Kinsey

Perhaps we may remember singing the song “This Little Light of Mine” in Vacation Bible School. I know we sing it quite often in preschool. It is a song that is easy to sing, and, if not at times, to sentimentalize. Actually, however, it is a song that was sung in many African American churches during the civil rights movement: persons sang it as they were preparing to go out into the world: “This little light of mine, I’m goin’ let it shine. Don’t let Satan, snuf it out, I am going to let it shine.”

The words, of course, are based on the passage of scripture in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus says “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. So let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:15-16). That’s the sermon in a nutshell: we are to be light-bearing followers of Jesus, lampstands in a dark room, not kept in a closet.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is wanting the people who follow him to be light. That may sound like an audacious claim, for isn’t Jesus the light of the world (John 1:4-13, John 8:12, John 12:46)? In John’s Gospel, Jesus is light of the world: “The light has come into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:13). But now, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth.” 

Does this mean that Jesus is now out of the picture?

Well, if you call yourself a Christian, no! Jesus’ light and your light come from the same source. Jesus’ calling and your calling come from God. Jesus’ mission and your mission are grounded in the kingdom. There is to be continuity between what Jesus did and what we do. Because Jesus is the Light, we can let our light shine. This is not a contradiction; rather, it is a kingdom strategy: it is a strategy to relate to others and to offer God’s love and peace.

How may we employ Jesus’ strategy in all we do? How may we serve as light and as salt wherever we are? What steps do we need to take to light up our world?
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Pastor Andy Kinsey

One of the reasons the Sermon on the Mount in general and the Beatitudes in particular continues to confound people today is because they do not buy into the logics of this world. They do not fit into the way we think about politics or religion, but rather point to what God is like and, in doing so, to what true religion entails. They paint a picture of what the followers of Jesus are to be about, rather than what we would like to see happen. In doing so, they turn our expectations upside down about life in God’s kingdom. 

This is another reason why Beatitudes confound us as well: the Beatitudes are tough because they represent a kind of speech that does what it says and fulfills what it promises. It’s why the two most important words in the Beatitudes are the words “are” and “will.” Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. And so forth. 

Jesus wants us to know who the persons are God is blessing. God blesses people, and not just any people but people who are hurting, who are humble, who are working for peace, or who are poor in spirit. 

Why? Because that’s what God does; that’s who God is! It is in God’s very character to act in such ways: to bless those who are hurting or who are striving for righteousness; because that’s exactly what God is doing: God is also working for peace and righteousness. 

That’s the good news of the kingdom: Jesus is announcing to those who are suffering or who are serving in the kingdom that God is making his strength and his mercy generously available, with all the benefits of his grace.

How are we seeking to be the kind of people who announce what God is doing and then fulfill what God promises? How will be the people God shapes into God’s kingdom purposes?

Pastor Andy Kinsey