Bret Hammond22 Maj 2022

Blessed are You; Matthew 5:11-12

Our friend Kendal challenged several of us to a scavenger hunt. My brother-in-law and I were confident we could win! As soon as we had the instructions in hand, we took off in his truck to search the countryside for the prize. After getting stuck in a ditch and relying on the kindness of a farmer to pull us out, we were curious as to why none of our competitors had come along after us. Were we that far ahead, or were we in last place? So we headed back to the starting point and discovered the instructions were leading us back there the whole time. The others had noticed that from the beginning and decided to wait it out and see how long it took us to return. I've felt a little like I did that night as we wrap up the Beatitudes today. We've been viewing these blessings as "A Map to Jesus." However, we've seen ourselves in these blessings as we've made our way through. We've mourned, responded in meekness, and hungered for God's righteous rule in our world. We've found that this map to Jesus has led us right back where we started—to each other! Today as we wrap up the Beatitudes, Jesus makes this final blessing very personal. He leads us back to ourselves to discover if we have found the strength within ourselves to stand for him. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Can we find Jesus even in this blessing? Can we find each other?

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