October 6, 2012
Title: Week 5 — Blessed are the Uncool
Series: The King’s Speech
We continue to plod along in the King’s Speech (Sermon on the Mount). We should be experts at satisfaction, as no people in the history of this planet have ever enjoyed so much affluence, such a broad range of choice, and such unbridled freedom. Yet Mick Jagger’s lyric still touches a nerve: “I can’t get no satisfaction… I try, and I try, and I try, and I try.” So with all these options, why is hollowness so rampant? And depression such an epidemic? Why is there a malaise, a sense that something is missing? Our endless display of choices merely teases and disappoints, leading to anxiety and depression. The illusion is that, given so many good choices, we can arrange just the right life. We are seeking to create an identity rather than accept a given identity. Jesus communicates about a “blessed” life. He describes a present reality of happiness and good fortune for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the merciful, and for the pure in heart. What is this righteousness, mercy, and purity that Jesus speaks of? We explore these three Beatitudes this week.