The greatest message ever preached was the Sermon on the Mount. In it lies the politics of the Kingdom of Heaven and the backwards, upside-down, topsy-turvy ways in which the citizens/ambassadors of Heaven are to live. The world cannot receive its ethics for they make no worldly sense. Its poignancy can only be seen on the other side of the cross where things like being poor, hungry, sad, and hated pan out as blessing and redemption. It’s not logic. It’s theo-logic.
But the difficulty with crosses is that they can get you killed. Indeed, being poor, hungry, sad and hated for the sake of Jesus may not lead to “your best life now.” However, it will lead to your best life later. On the other hand, when our pursuits in this life are all about being rich, full, happy and loved, we will face woes in the life to come.
It’s not that God doesn’t care about our quality of life. Jesus said there is reward both in this life and the life to come when we suffer for the gospel. But we must reorient our lives now to King Jesus, his Kingdom of Heaven, its politics, and his message, the gospel.
*This devotional was created out of the themes of Luke 6:12-26 found in today’s reading at CommonPrayer.net.
Jamin Bradley 