Jesus Gets Personal
Dear Sutton and Savannah,
Information engages the mind, while stories engage the soul. The stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, form our identity. The stories we tell others, about ourselves, create our persona or mask. The stories we tell our employees or customers form a corporate culture and a corporate image. The stories we tell about our relationships or our family can perpetuate rigid roles and dysfunction, or can break down barriers and expand opportunities.
Personal growth inevitably leads to an examination of the stories that have formed us. In some cases the stories need to be revised with expanded context, different perspective and new understanding. Doing so creates space for a renewed awareness of the self and new possibilities for the future.
I’m pretty certain that your best stories are yet to come.
-Dad
Inside Out Lectionary Letters
Year A - 4th Sunday after Epiphany (Texts, Art, Hymns)
Readings for February 1, 2026
Micah 6:1-8 / Psalm 15 / 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 / Matthew 5:1-12
Summary of Matthew 5:1-12
Matthew has already told us at the end of chapter 4 that the work of Jesus included preaching, teaching and healing. He then proceeds to dedicate the next three chapters to the teachings of Jesus in a section that has come to be known as the sermon on the mount. Chapter 5 of Matthew begins with Jesus going up on a hillside and sitting down. His disciples gather around and he teaches them.
This section starts with a beautiful piece of poetic verse referred to as the beatitudes. There are several interpretations of this passage. Some view it as a checklist of spiritual attributes. Others claim that it is a roadmap to happiness and reference the section as the be happy attitudes. And still others make a strong argument that Jesus uses this introduction to his ministry by making it clear that the good news is for everyone, with each verse of the beatitudes identifying a group that has been pushed aside, ostracized, or ignored. What if this last viewpoint was considered through the lens of the inward journey of the soul?
Scripture as a Mirror of the Soul
The ministry of Jesus begins with an invitation to get personal. He names the vulnerable parts of our personality. He exposes those stories that we have tucked away because we are certain no one wants to hear them. Let’s start with “poor in spirit.” What is the story of a dream you gave up because you didn’t have the resources to pursue it? Or what is the social or family issue that means so much to you but you’ve become so exhausted from trying to champion the cause, that you’re not sure you can continue? What is your poor-in-spirit story?
What part of you never had a chance to grow up because you lost something or someone important at a very young age? (“Blessed are they that mourn.”) What part of you still feels the loneliness of that kind of sorrow and longs for compassionate companionship? What is your they-that-mourn story?
Is there a story you can think of when you felt like you had to be silent because your voice didn’t count, or it felt too dangerous to speak up? (“Blessed are the meek.”)
This is not some abstract spiritual construct. Jesus is knocking on the closed doors of our woundedness. And he is inviting us to get specific. Very simply, he is stating that it is into these stories, which wrap around wounded, hidden, stunted and ignored parts of our personality, that the good news comes. These are the places where the Kingdom of the Divine comes with comfort, inheritance, nourishment, mercy, new vision and belonging.
Be prepared. If you sit down on the hillside and listen, not just to the words, but to the vulnerable places to which these words refer, you will find a journey of healing, renewal and insight. And, this journey is beyond anything we could have imagined.