A WORD TO THE ADVENTUROUS  re: Matthew 5: 1-12
Don’t wax sentimental about the saints. Get real.
Honor them, be influenced by them, and treasure their memory. But do not discount the cost
of being a saint
The way of Jesus is not for wimps.
THE VALUES OF JESUS
The values which Jesus affirms in the Sermon of the Mount are "out of this world." Maybe like
preview of eternal life? That limitless life we are called to start living here and now?
Living it will, undoubtedly, get his followers into trouble. The old world is set in its ways.
It might by wearing the cloak of respectability, pay lip service to Jesus as an honorable man, but if people begin to emulate him, something other than sweet roses hits the fan!
After all, those beatitudes -- as pretty and harmless as they may sound when read with an ecclesiastical lilt --would turn things upside if they were lived. It takes a brave and adventurous spirit to set out to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
Think about it!
Blessed are the poor, blessed are the sorrowful, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers?
Try that on in our greedy, hedonistic, self-assertive, vengeful, conniving and violent world, and see how far you get without some troubles coming your way!
ALL SAINTS GREAT AND SMALL
The saints are people who are divinely adventurous. They attempt to live Jesus style, as far as possible in this crazy old world. Rarely are they popular in their day.
As I use the word saints, I am not only thinking of those great saints who have been officially canonized. I also have in mind the vast number of “small saints.” Those loving adventurers who rarely made a big enough splash to be remembered beyond their generation. Only God knows how many good souls just disappeared, their deeds unrecorded, into the dust of history. Some were dealt with violently, others sent (or had to escape) into exile, many died in poverty and were buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave.
Usually such folk were loved by a few but either ignored or mocked by many. That is commonly the lot of saints.
Like St Claire and St Francis, they did what they did in spite of hostility from those who had much invested in the status quo. Likewise St Mary McKillop of Australia was not popular among the power brokers. Her work with the socially disadvantaged was not welcomed by those in power; and that included those with ecclesiastical clout.
Little has changed today. There are countless ordinary, “small saints” around us who said have said yes to the spirit and word of the beatitudes. Loving, adventurous souls who in one way or another have suffered hurt, rejection, or sophisticated disdain, because of their loyalty in following the Lord Jesus. Rarely do such folk into the news.
Many “small saints” do not even complain about their suffering to friends. Most certainly do not brood over their hurts; bitterness is not for them. They just get on with doing the Jesus thing to the best of their ability.
 
Bruce Prewer

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