Hearing the Bible

Someone asked me what I thought the point of doing this was.

When I was a young Christian, I went along to an event at the Christian Union of Coventry University (then Lanchester Polytechnic). It has stuck with me for many years, and what was remarkable about it was that a post-graduate student simply stood up and read out John's gospel, all of it, from start to finish.
People sat and listened, or wandered around getting a coffee or standing in front of different prayer installations.
When Brendan finished his long reading, we all went home. No discussion, no explanation, just those immortal words ringing in our ears.
It was a profoundly moving experience.
So I hope in time to repeat it in a small way by reciting the Sermon on the Mount to my church family, and it will be interesting to see what they make of the experience. I'm not naive enough to expect they'll be remembering it in 30 years' time, but maybe it will encourage people a little, maybe it will help some for whom one of my usual sermons doesn't really hit the spot.

But first, I've got to learn it, and I've given myself until Easter to do it.

The first part of the sermon is the best known, and the most memorable, so I don't anticipate too many difficulties in getting this first bit under my belt.
It consists of eight couplets, each starting with the same word in Greek: makarioi, which is usually translated "blessed" or "happy." So Jesus lists 8 qualities, and ascribes blessings to them: poor in spirit, the mourning, meek, those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, the merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and those who are persecuted.
Blessings to these people.
Luke's version follows it up with woes - woe to those who are the opposite of the above. Matthew stays positive, just talking about the blessings. It echoes some of the blessings that Moses promised in Deuteronomy for those who followed the Law.
But to qualify for these blessings, you don't need to do anything, just be something, or suffer something. This is about what's in your heart, not about what shows on the surface.
And what are the blessings? They're comfort, peace, satisfaction, mercy, belonging to God's family and to his kingdom, seeing God face to face.
These are the sort of people, Jesus seems to be saying, that God is looking out for. Not necessarily the ones you'd expect.
No mention of holiness, of obedience or even of faith.
Strange?