Here is a safety net

A close-up photo of a net

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

For years, I thought of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” as a blueprint to human behavior: a standard that no one could possibly meet. 

But how could I have missed the true meaning? Jesus spoke those words not to frustrate us, but to tell us what God is really like. They tell us how the Father will be there for us and how we should strive to be there for each other. “If God be with us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

Giving is only a blessing when we give cheerfully to those in need and receive cheerfully from those who may have more than they need. Amen! We can each help be a part of each other’s safety net. 

I was under a safety net at the Starbucks coffee shop in Chinatown at H and 7th streets NW for about nine years. They were in Chinatown for about 25 years and the people there always treated me very well. Now I am across the street at the Capital One Café, where I am now under a safety net with them.. 

Why live without fear and worry? Because the same “God” who gathers the lilies and the grass of the field has promised to take care of us. 

Why pray? If an earthly father gives his son bread and fish, how much more will the Father, God in Heaven, give good gifts to those who ask? 

It’s better to give than to receive. If you give it will be given back to you. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) 

Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount not only to explain God’s ideal toward which we should never stop striving, but also to show that, in this life, none of us will ever reach that ideal. Amen! 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. 

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. 

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3–12) 

Before God, we all stand on level ground. Murderers, adulterers, those that lust, thieves, and coveters — the list goes on and on. We are all desperate and that is the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute idea, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace. 

Most, if not all city and states, have a safety net in the churches and homeless shelters as well as outreach programs to help tackle hard the “homeless sin.” Amen! 


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