Comparing the agendas we discover among the four Gospels is always interesting. This week I took to investigate what is the very first thing Jesus is recorded as doing in his ministry. In Mark, which is the earliest gospel, Jesus first casts out a demon, which is a symbolic way of telling us that the Lord came to take on and defeat the forces of evil, indeed all that keeps us from our potential. In John, usually considered the last gospel written, Jesus' first act is the story of turning wine into water, which conveys the message that Jesus has come to bring abundant life. In Luke where Jesus is a social activist, his first deed is to preach a sermon in his home synagogue against the wealthy establishment and in praise of Gentiles, resulting in an attempt to kill Jesus by pushing him off a nearby hill.
In the other canonical gospel, Matthew, read from today, (5: 1-12), Jesus' first act is to preach the Beatitudes -- a fifty-cent word for blessings -- to his apostles who will pass the word to the first bishops and on through history to us today. Those blessings tie nicely with the psalm, for they describe what moral integrity looks like: the poor in spirit are hungering for justice; mourners are sad because evil has the upper hand; those whose hunger is for justice are aching for the Kingdom; the merciful forgive and love their neighbour; the pure in heart show spiritual transparency and sincerity; and peacemakers see to restore harmony.
Today's psalm (15) echoes the theme by asking who is fit to worship in the Temple. The answer is the one who is in proper relationship with God and others in thought, word, and deed. Or, as elsewhere summarized: Love God and love your neighbour as yourself.
But we might ask whether there any short-lists we can remember and consult day to day. Let me suggest a couple. First, there are the three vows taken by most Religious: poverty, chastity, and obedience. These three have specific meanings in a monastic order, but can have a broader meaning for us. What if poverty means using things and loving people instead of loving things and using people? Poverty can mean the lack of attachment that is associated with spiritual freedom and the exercise of Christian stewardship. Chastity can mean sexual behaviour appropriate to one's state in life. And obedience can mean simply listening for God's will and following the right course.
Another short list is found in the last verse of today's reading from the Hebrew Scripture, (Micah 6: 1-8). We read: "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Another triad -- this one calling us to take action for human justice, to be people of kindness, and to avoid any sense of self- sufficiency and arrogance, instead practising humility and reliance on God. Then we shall be truly blessed in our Christian walk.
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