“Re-Minded by Mountains”
“Re-Minded by Mountains”
Micah 6:1-8 Psalm 15 Matthew 5:1-12
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Year A
January 29, 2023
First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint, Idaho
Andrew Kennaly, Pastor
Poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those seeking righteousness, the merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, the persecuted, the slandered; Jesus calls people who experience these, “blessed.” This passage is referred to as The Beatitudes. Jesus gives his mission statement, as these very qualities are not only verbally shared, but expressed in his life and ministry. They are not the values of the empire, or nations, or cultures that hold people at levels of fear. Jesus goes against the grain.
This teaching of Jesus called the Beatitudes is something you can’t get your head wrapped around because they tend to be resisted or ignored and, at best, involve a process of transformation on the level of the heart and soul, which is hard work. Jesus calls us to nothing less than a change in how we perceive reality. This includes the transformation of our mind.
One thread that weaves through the scriptures this morning is the use of mountains. Micah the prophet hears God calling for what sounds like a court case. But instead of a judge the LORD invites people to plead their case before mountains, the enduring foundations of the Earth. In Psalm 15 we hear about the Holy Hill. In Matthew, Jesus sees the crowds and then goes up the mountain, sits down, and teaches his disciples who come to him. Something about going to the mountains is needed and has an effect on us.
In this area we are surrounded by mountains. Back east or in the mid-West, if there are mountains they are more rounded and older. Throughout scripture, theophanies, or encounters with God, take place on mountains. It seems they are important places to give us focus, to help us gain perspective. When you’re up on a mountain, the valley looks lovely and everything that seems large down there, like buildings or communities, looks smaller from up there. People look like little dots, if you can see them at all; cars look small, and you can see the entire train from front to back. Mountains help us get free from perspectives in ways that help our mind renew. We can get re-minded by mountains.
Up on the mountain, here is Jesus, the teacher, sharing principles, and embodying them he lives them out. Let’s be sure to notice how Matthew sets up this scene. “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying “Blessed”… and he shares the teaching. There’s a lot going on in that sentence. “Jesus saw the crowds,” he sees the people looking, searching, bringing their sick for healing; great crowds following him everywhere. He’s getting famous. People seek him out.
It’s as if he needs a break. He shows compassion, he sees them, he knows their need. But he goes up the mountain. Valleys are wide, and most of life takes place in the accessible areas of farms and villages. The crowds are in the valleys. A mountain, by its very structure, has a limiting effect, both in terms of steepness so it’s not as accessible, and in terms of vastness; a summit holds less people than a valley. Jesus seeks a retreat, a time away from the crowds and the demands they have as they come to him.
In the cultures of biblical stories, mountains are where religious temples are located, on the acropolis above whatever village may be settled down below in the valley. To have Jesus on a mountain is an intentional signal that the message about to be revealed comes straight from spending time with God. Jesus shares the divine word of God, and his disciples come to learn.
In our busy lives, it is good to ask, “When am I intentional about spending time with Christ, to hear the Word of God?” When and where do we have those mountain-top experiences of blessing?
In this story, Jesus takes a seat. The disciples stand. That is how things work in this type of culture; the important people with power and authority sit, while everyone else stands. Jesus is called teacher, and they are listening. How do we approach Jesus to listen? At this point in Matthew, it’s established that Jesus is the teacher and his disciples come to him. His authority grows, his authenticity and revolutionary insights speak for themselves, they resonate with people who are weary of Empire religion and false promises of power politics. Jesus speaks with authority because he’s grounded in the living expression of God’s loving grace.
The Beatitudes taught by Jesus on the mountain echo prophetic wisdom, such as the passage we hear from Micah in chapter 6. “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
This verse is even better when we play it backwards. We start from the humble stance of being with God, in God’s loving Presence, accepted regardless of the circumstance. But Micah reminds us this is not a static experience. It is a journey. “To walk humbly with your God” involves walking, which implies action and motion, but not from our ego or pride or sense of identity, because we’ll defend our identity; but from a humility, our core essence, which is a gift; the eternal Christ is expressed in our life.
From this humble beginning, then comes a result, to love kindness. Kindness. Not arrogance, not retribution, not power or violence, not greed or concentrated wealth, not even competition. Love kindness. Kindness is love in action, and love is a verb, really. Like a crescendo in music gradually increases the intensity and the volume of a musical masterpiece, moving from walking humbly with God leads to love, kindness, and as traction begins to build we see it leads to justice. Justice; the other side of the coin; love on one side, justice on the other side of the same coin. You cannot love without justice, and you cannot have justice without love. Rather than retribution or punishment, this loving justice is restorative, relationally based, rooted in kindness, grounded in humility which sees reality through the lens of unity. This is how Jesus can say, “Love your enemies.” Loving justice is possible when connection is experienced, not distinction, not separation, but union as one life reflected in another. Everything is an expression of God with us.
Jesus teaches on the mountain, Micah shares a prophetic vision: these Epiphanies speak to us on a soul level of God with us, they call us to open our hearts. We are invited to spend time with God, taking retreat, prayerfully listening, simply being as we learn to let go of all the storylines, assumptions, and self-inflicted identities our perspective clings to.
As we gather around Jesus on the mountain and hear the Beatitudes, we are offered an expansive view of deep love. God Almighty, the LORD, Christ is in our midst! May we learn from the teacher who not only tells, but embodies soul lessons so we may become expressions of transformation. In Christ, the source of life, may we continue to learn the LORD’s Wisdom.
And may we live the humble love of God, both NOW, and forever. Amen.