IN SEARCH OF THE COMMON GOOD - II

What is the COMMON GOOD? Last week the focus was on Genesis 1-11.  This week the focus is on Jesus' SERMON ON THE MOUNT in Matthew 5.

It is right to focus on the COMMON GOOD as God-Jesus' foundational ethic because the Divine is about ALL.  Justice - peace - nonviolence are for ALL. As we are created for God-Jesus, so are we created to be brothers and sisters for each other, for ALL.  Faithfulness to God-Jesus means peace-justice-nonviolence towards ALL.  What does this mean concretely?  How can the quest for doing the COMMON GOOD become real? 

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

1.  Jesus takes the INITIATIVE to speak to the people.  Do we take the initiative to speak a word of hope and love? 

2.  Jesus begins with a word of grace: BLESSED.  Some say HAPPY, but BLESSED has more depth. BLESSED is God's goodness, God's character given to us at the beginning.  Why at the beginning?  Because we can now start the journey of discipleship fresh, forgiven, and free!  BLESSED is God giving the initial push, providing the initeria for continual movement of PJNV (peace-justice-nonviolence).  A basic law of physics says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  God-Jesus desires us to stay in motion for PJNV.

3.  We are BLESSED to provide for the COMMON GOOD.  We provide when we MOURN, are MEEK, HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, show MERCY, are PURE IN HEART, make for PEACE, accept PERSECUTION for God's sake.  To mourn is to show empathy.  To be meek is to be obedient to God's will and to listen to the other side.  To be passionate for righteousness is to seek to live rightly in our relationship with God and value relationship with each other.  To show mercy is to be kind and forgiving.  To be pure in heart is to love God, love each other, and love ourselves. To accept persecution is to give all for God and others in the pursuit of PJNV.

4.  Christ says: "You are the salt of the earth."  Salt gives flavor and provides taste to make eating more delightful.  Salt also preserves.  We are to preserve God's creation, all of life.  We are created to bring delight to life, not to destroy.  We cannot escape responsibility for life!  We are told: "We are...."  It is not a matter of us choosing to be responsible, WE ARE....  So, BE the LIGHT!

5.  Jesus says: "You are the light of the world."  God wills that we see the world, see each other.  To see is to understand, to acknowledge the value of the world, to bring PJNV.  "The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light."  The Light is Christ.  We are created to be the presence of Christ, to reflect Christ's Light.  We reflect Christ's Light as we be who we are created to be, as we use our talents for Christ's sake.  As a colleague once said: "Things left in the dark get worse."

6.  We are graced and called to FULFILL THE LAW.  God-Jesus give us guides, parameters for living, for discipleship.  The Ten Commandments are a piece of the Law.  We are to honor them, look to them, make them real in our daily living.  Yet Christ gives us the Greatest Commandment to guide us: love God, love each other, love ourselves.  

7.  We are given the gifts of FORGIVENESS and RECONCILIATION.  Christ came to mend our brokenness, and we are graced and called to be "menders" of personal and global relationships.  PJNV have their roots in forgiveness and reconciliation.  Indeed, there can be no PJNV apart from their reality.

8.  We are given the gift of HONORING MARRIAGE, respecting the commitments we make to our spouse, working to enhance the quality of the marriage relationship, being generous in forgiveness, honest in feelings, open in truthfulness, being willing to repent and change.

9.  We are given the reality of COSTLY PRICE.  There is a price to pay, a painful cost when relationships are broken.  Relationships are not to be taken lightly.  Share the suffering.  Risk sharing the price of brokenness.  When one suffers, all suffer.  Recognizing there is a costly price in relationships makes us more cognizant of commitment, and a willingness to try and work out differences.  Yet, when the flames of love are out and the reality of the end is clear, let us realize that we have injured each other and kneel for mercy from God and each other.  There is no room for pride and satisfaction, but a painful good-bye in hope of new life for each other.

10.  We are called to be TRUTHFUL and CLEAR.  Resolution to conflict necessitates clarity of motive, expression of grievance and of desired ends.  Put all on the table.  Be honest.

11.  Reject RETALIATION.  Retaliation brings only retaliation brings only retaliation brings only retaliation.  To paraphrase Gandhi: "An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."  Instead of retaliation, RESPOND with a call for conversation, a coming together to eat and drink, tell our stories, share our grievances.  A Native American colleague says: "Transformation comes through sharing our stories."  Take violence off the table.  Make the other person feel the guilt and bear the sorrow of violence. 

12.  We are graced and called to LOVE THE ENEMY.  The enemy is the one who believes differently than us and acts counter to our beliefs and values.  Spend time with the enemy, try to become friends.  As Lincoln said to his Secretary of War who wanted to punish the South: "Do we not destroy our enemies by becoming their friends?"

Making REAL the COMMON GOOD is living in the grace of God.  The grace of God empowers us, calls us, and opens us to DO the COMMON GOOD.  In Matthew 5, Jesus gets specific about how to make the common good come alive.

And there is more....

Peace!

Ron