{"id":16863,"date":"2024-10-30T17:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/?p=16863"},"modified":"2024-11-13T17:03:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T17:03:51","slug":"youre-in-when-you-feel-most-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/featured\/youre-in-when-you-feel-most-out\/","title":{"rendered":"You’re In when you Feel Most Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many of us are familiar with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5<\/a>.  You know, Blessed are the poor.  Blessed are the …<\/em> . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two words that translate into “Blessed” in first-century Judaism. The first, in Hebrew beraka<\/em> (and the Greek eulogeo<\/em>) and this word isn’t used in the Beatitudes. This word is used in prayer, asking for a blessing. For example, “Father, please bless Tom and heal his body.” The second word for blessed in Hebrew is asir<\/em> (and in Greek makarios<\/em>). It is not a wish to invoke a blessing; rather, the word describes an existing condition. It affirms a spiritual quality that is a present reality. For example, Jane is blessed to be Margaret’s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the correct word and its usage matters because it significantly affects how we interpret and apply Jesus\u2019 words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beatitudes are not a statement of quid-pro-quo. It is not an exchange of God’s favour or blessing for your correct performance or beliefs – “you are blessed if you do<\/strong> __________ .” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing scandalous in a religious system of quid-pro-quo. It\u2019s as old as religion itself. Ancients would practice animal and human sacrifices for rain, a good harvest or victory in war. It was (and still is) common for us to bargain with God. “God, if you get me out of this mess, I will…” We will sacrifice money, worship, fasting, or someONE in exchange for God’s goodies. This tit-for-tat god ain\u2019t new. This isn\u2019t good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a set of virtues to be practiced, Jesus is turning the established thinking about God on its head. Jesus declares that folks traditionally seen as excluded from the love, the in-group, and the \u201cchosen\u201d are WELCOMED and included<\/strong>. The Kindom of God is not the exclusive club for the spiritually prominent, the strong, steady, the clean, or the super-heroes of the faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Beatitudes, those often crushed by big religion, rejected and exploited are enthusiastically welcomed and included in the loving embrace (favour) of the God who is love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is good news for those of us who:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • are on the outside looking in<\/li>
  • can\u2019t afford the Blinds<\/em> in the economic & religious system game <\/li>
  • feel hopelessly F\u2019d and alone<\/li>
  • are lost under the graffiti of shame<\/li>
  • are the Queer pegs in a straight-hole world <\/li>
  • try as they might, they can\u2019t measure up and given up trying<\/li>
  • are hungry for God but didn’t get an invite to the banquet<\/li>
  • dare to go all in<\/em> on mercy, love, and peace-making even when it\u2019s hard.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The Good News – You’re loved no matter what. All is forgiven (if it ever really needed to be forgiven at all), and dinner is ready. Welcome, and have a seat! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For Blessed are the likes of these.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many of us are familiar with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  You know, Blessed are the poor.  Blessed are the … .  There are two words that translate into “Blessed” in first-century Judaism. The first, in Hebrew beraka (and the Greek eulogeo) and this word isn’t used in the Beatitudes. This word is used in prayer, asking for a blessing. For…","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16864,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16863\/revisions\/16864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}