Blessed are you

The Beatitudes - from Rev Felicity Amery's message 15th February 2025

Photo from the Nightciff Uniting Church Community Garden

Its easy to think about the Beatitudes as binary pairs of dos and don’ts, the choice between crackers and chocolate biscuits, light and dark, fear and hope...

We have heard Jeremiah use the example of bushes planted by the river of water growing into powerfully strong and healthy trees as opposed to being planted in the desert and failing to thrive. Again, the binary pairs stand out, life and death, wet and dry, blessing and judgement. Jeremiah reminds us it takes practice, commitment, companionship and discipline, shaping our heart, mind and body with God dwelling and delighting in our growing understandings.

Paradoxically, this new reality is not a set of rules. The Beatitudes are an invitation to grieve for the old life as something new emerges. It’s the resurrection that Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15, that in death we are released from the fear that keeps us silent into life that frees us to speak and take action.

The Hebrew concept of blessing is to discover that God is present in our daily struggle and active in your lives. A blessing is a ‘God is found in you’ statement.