This Sunday at Peace

A Note from Eric

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

In the early centuries of the Jesus movement, before Christian Empire existed, marginalized Christians considered the Sermon on the Mount to be a capstone of the faith. Dorothy Day called it “The Christian’s Manifesto.” 

Some of our spiritual neighbors get it better than us (as they often do). Gandhi said, “It went straight to my heart...It is the whole of Christianity!" He prodded, “If only Christians would do what it said!” He read it daily alongside the Gita.

“It’s not a directive, it's a direction,” Holly preached a few sermons ago. We don’t follow it literally. Culturally we can’t. But, what if we take it more seriously? How might sitting with the sad, loving our enemies, praying, watching flowers grow, forgiving, giving to beggars… shape or reshape our life’s cadence? What spiritual practice might it inspire? 

I’m convinced Matthew 5:38-48 inspires us to embrace nonviolence, not only as holy foolishness but also as a form of power for change.

Eric