WEEK FOUR INTRODUCTION 
TITLE: THE HARD SAYINGS OF JESUS
March 7 - March 13

Christ appeared on the scene as a radical prophet proclaiming a bold new message. This risk-taking Messiah was fearless in confronting prevalent religious teachings. Challenging the legalistic rituals of his day, he did not back down. With conviction and power Christ rose above the fray of earthly dross, directing his followers to seek the difficult way that led to everlasting life. Author Phillip Yancey eloquently writes, “Thunderously, inarguably, the Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.” 

This week we examine the hard sayings of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7. Imagine sitting at Christ’s feet as he first preached the spiritual truths contained in the Sermon on the Mount. What must have flashed through the heads and hearts of those who were hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Over two thousand years later, with resounding truth, these sayings ring clear and pure in the midst of heavy-handed media control, outrageous lies, and unbelievable deceit at every level of society. As followers of Christ, we must cling to his message endeavoring to live out his teachings as never before.

Hindu dissident Mahatma Gandhi who was guided through life by Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as he led India’s non-violent independence movement once stated, "I believe in the teachings of Christ, but you on the other side of the world do not. I read the Bible faithfully and see little in Christendom that those who profess faith pretend to see. Christians above all others are seeking after wealth. Their prosperity is far more essential to them than the life, liberty, and happiness of others.” May Gandhi’s words ring in our ears as we ponder Christ’s challenging message on how to live our lives as his followers.

Day 19 - Sunday, March 7
Title: “REJOICE AND BE GLAD, FOR YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN IS GREAT”
Scripture: Matthew 5:3-11;13-16
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Poetry: 
“I am happy living simply"
by Marina Tsvetaeva; translated by Stephen Edgar

I am happy living simply:
like a clock, or a calendar.
Worldly pilgrim, thin,
wise—as any creature. To know

the spirit is my beloved. To come to things—swift
as a ray of light, or a look.
To live as I write: spare—the way
God asks me—and friends do not.

REJOICE AND BE GLAD, FOR YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN IS GREAT

I moved in 2020. I had lived in a tiny studio apartment for four years, and with quarantine and the start of remote teaching I was home almost 24-7 working and living in a small space and feeling like I needed something bigger. Then, when I found a new place and moved, I was struck by the strangeness of it and the grief I felt. Marina Tsvetaeva writes in her poem, “I am happy living simply: like a clock or a calendar.” In those months following my move, I wondered if in my desire for something bigger I had lost the simplicity of that small space that I called home. 

One of the things I miss about my tiny studio apartment is the light that would come in through the kitchen window. My kitchen window faced east and in the morning there was a warm orange-hue of light that filled my little kitchen. It greeted me in the morning like a hug; its dappled notes falling like grace-filled melodies across my stack of drying dishes. Marina Tsvetaeva’s poem continues: “To know the Spirit as my beloved. To come to things--swift as a ray of light, or a look.” There was an embodied knowing in those moments; the little girl in me who jumped out of bed to go to the kitchen, to playfully twirl and move her hand through the light noticing how it bathed in the orange hue saying, “Jesus, look!” “Yes, my daughter, I see!” 

During January and February of this year, Pastor Jeff Tacklind at Church by the Sea has been preaching on the Beatitudes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. He has taught on how there is a progression to the Beatitudes: those who are poor in spirit are able to grieve and be in a space of mourning. Those who mourn are enabled to become meek. And those who are meek are capable of positioning themselves in the posture of humility needed to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Then, through that humble posture, mercy, purity of heart, peace, and a willingness to be persecuted for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven will pour out of us and we will see God. It is interesting how Jesus’ teaching on the Beatitudes then segues into Him speaking metaphorically about salt and light: Be like salt and be wary of losing your saltiness; be like light, like a city on a hill that is not hidden. 

In Denise Weyhrich’s work Beacon, the salt shakers are instruments being used to make light visible and pour out salt. Denise’s work is an installation of 99 illuminated salt shakers lovingly collected and gathered over a period of two years, purchased from thrift stores or flea-markets, or gifted to her from friends. The salt shakers are arranged upon a blanket-like mound of salt and stand as vessels that vary in height and character and age; some ornate, antique, and others more contemporary or simple in form. The work invites each of us to be like salt, to be vessels that bring forth goodness and preserve and honor the richness that is within each of us; and to be like light, vessels that shine forth Christ’s light through the darkness, standing together in faith and unity and transmitting the light that darkness cannot overcome. 

These beacons of salt and light invite us into what Christ’s Beatitudes invite us to: the poverty of spirit that allows us to recognize we are limited in our humanness and need help, and to feel what it feels like to be emptied out, like how we have experienced a collective emptying out and grieving this past year on so many levels. Then, when we reach that place of humility, our Maker lovingly pours His salt into us and illuminates us with His light, and in turn, we may pour ourselves out for others. His light shines through our imperfect and broken vessels and He says, “My children, glorify your Father in Heaven. Rejoice and be glad! For your reward in Heaven is great.” To which we can reply with gladness, “Yes, God, now we see you. Blessed are we.”  

Prayer: 
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where this is sadness, joy. 

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand, 
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 
Amen. 
(Prayer of St. Francis) 

Kari Dunham
Adjunct Professor of Art
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.