Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 35)

Every Ash Wednesday, we hear the same readings. While they’ve become familiar to me, this year, the readings from Isaiah and Matthew struck me more than ever before. You see, earlier today, Vicar Paisley and I stood outside in the cold and snow smearing ashes on people’s foreheads at the Damen blue line stop while others watched. Tonight, we gathered and heard Jesus say, “Beware of practicing your piety before others…” Well, crap. What were we doing out there? Should you all really come forward in a few moments to have ashes placed on your forehead? And, who picked this darn reading for tonight anyway?

Today’s gospel reading picks right up where we left off last week. And, we’re about a third of the way through Jesus’s famous “sermon on the mount.” And it’s so very important to remember the context; otherwise, we’ll miss the meaning or come to believe in alternative facts. So, we’re going to do three things: first, dig into the context; second, dive into the examples; and third, find out what this all means for us…

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain” (Matthew 5:1). That was the first verse in today’s gospel. At first glance, it seems like a transitional statement to get us to a place for Jesus to teach. However, real estate agents have taught us that location matters. A location provides or limits access to resources which often communicates value. So too, a location can reveal something about identity, including someone’s socio-economic status or their values. And, when Jesus went up on that mountain, it was more than a transitional sentence…