Big Four Mountain, Mt.Baker-Snoqualmie National Forrest, WA
The Gospel lesson for today is Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes. The Blessings. The Sermon on the Mount.
This is one of those Biblical passages
which we hear so frequently that many of us who have grown up in the church or
who have been dwelling in the Word for a long time tend to gloss over, to
assume we’ve heard it before. Or maybe
we think we understand what’s being said but we’re not really certain. That happens to me an awful lot. I think I know what someone is saying,
but I’m not quite sure I’ve heard it right or completely or maybe I’ve zoned
out for a half second and now I feel lost in the conversation. I'm sure this has never happened to any of you!
I'm trying a new practice with moderate success, I’ll stop the person who is
speaking and ask them to “please, say it again a different way”. In the context of conversations, this usually
works pretty well, and the person to whom I am listening is usually grateful
for my demonstration that I am trying pretty hard to hear them. But what to do when it’s an ancient
text? Well, we read a different
translation. I like to read Eugene
Peterson’s The Message. It is
written in modern English, and I often find something new to help me hear the
Word speak.
So, we’ll read the Gospel again in a
different way in just a moment.
Now, my Goddaddy Pastor Delmer Chilton
says, “Well, the Sermon on the Mount is not Jesus’ Little Instruction
Book. It is, rather, a proclamation of
the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is
a rallying cry aimed at those called by God to become a part of that Kingdom.” [1]
Over the four Sundays, we’ll be exploring
the Sermon in its entirety, but today we are just focused on the
Beatitudes. The blessings.
Professor Karoline Lewis of Luther
Seminary says, “The
Beatitudes are identifiers of discipleship; characteristics of the faithful;
attributes of believers. They are truth-tellings. They name our blessings but
also what is at stake in these blessings. This is why this sermon has to be
preached here and now (at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus) to the
disciples and not later. They have to know who they are in order to be able
hear the rest of what Jesus has to say about who he needs them to be….
You are blessed. You have to hear that on
the front end. And note that being blessed is not just for the sake of
potential joy, but also for the sake of making it through that which will be
difficult.”[2]
Let’s read from the Message. But I want you to listen actively. Listen for that little bit that pricks up
your ears.
Matthew 5:1-12The Message (MSG)
You’re Blessed
5 1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge
crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the
committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught
his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of
your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost
what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to
you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with
just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud
owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a
good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the
moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside
world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people
how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you
really are, and your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to
God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s
kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed
every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to
discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they
are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for
though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And
know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten
into this kind of trouble.[3]
What did you notice that was
different? What struck you for the first
time? What had you forgotten but the new
translation helped you remember? Or is
this the first time you are hearing this story at all? Take a couple minutes and share your ah-ha
with your neighbor.
How many of you (this is NOT a test!) but
how many of you caught that in this telling of the Beatitudes, the Sermon on
the Mount, Jesus is talking to his disciples and NOT to the crowd? That’s what caught me this go ‘round. In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus is
preaching to a crowd in a field, but here, he’s gone from the crowd and has taken
his disciples, or as Peterson calls them, the committed, with him up the
mountain and begins to speak once they are alone.
This is significant, I think. It appears to me, from reading the previous
chapter, that Jesus loves the crowd. He
calls them out to him and preaches to, teaches, and heals them. But when he sees the scope and reach of his
words, he takes his little band of believers, those committed to him, he takes
them away, and expects them to really learn something about Kingdom
values.
And so I wonder and will keep wondering
over these four weeks, are we called to be a part of the crowd? Or are we called to be disciples, committed
to learning from Jesus and putting those teachings into action for the sake of
the Kingdom?
As we heard in this space last week, we
are living in turbulent times. And
daily, if you aren’t white, cis-gendered, straight, and (preferably) male, not
that there is anything wrong with being any of those things (you are who God
made you after all), but if you aren’t all of those things the world is getting
a more frightening.
In one week, in one nation, we have
witnessed environmental racism as the Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines were
reauthorized to the detriment of Native communities…we are still willing
to sacrifice our promises and brown bodies for money. In one week, in one
nation, healthcare has been jeopardized for millions of people. In one week, in one nation, our voices, both
public and private, have been threatened as those who seek to keep us informed
are silenced. In one week, one nation,
the rights of people who love differently from the heterosexual “standard” or
who are differently gendered have been threatened and our bodies threatened,
too, as conversion therapy has once again made it to the forefront of public
discourse on LGBTQ issues.
But most shockingly to me, and it appears
to the world, in one week, in one nation, millions of people have been
endangered, turned away, shut out. We
are witnessing the rejection of the immigrant which is absolutely mind-blowing
for people who have studied American history.
And for those of us who believe in the God of Abraham, we know that this
kind of action is completely contrary to our faith story. As far back as the book of Leviticus (19:33-34),
we find instruction from our God regarding the immigrant. “When an alien/immigrant resides with you in
your land, you shall not oppress the alien/immigrant. The alien/immigrant who resides with you
shall be to you as the citizen among you; for you shall love the alien/immigrant
as yourself, for you were aliens/immigrants in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Instead, this week, in this nation, Christians
are promised priority regarding entrance to the United States. And here is where it becomes extremely
important for us to remember that Jesus Christ, our God, says over and over and
over again, “the first shall be last”.
In other words, if we, Christians, find ourselves in a place of
privilege, it is our job to elevate someone else. It is our commandment given to us by the One
who showed us exactly what it looks like to empty oneself for the sake of
another.
Now is the time to demand that immigrants
be treated with the same care and respect that citizens are. Now is the time to call the people who have
public authority to change national policy on immigration, on healthcare, on
equal (not extra) rights, and to tell them what you think…what you believe…what
your faith requires you to say. Now is
the time for us to show up and use our voices and your authority (you’ve got
it, believe me! And I do, too) to advocate for those whom God adores as much as
God loves us.
Oh, it’s not easy. It’s not even fun most of the time. In this time in our world, it’s even
dangerous. I’ve been threatened a few
times myself. But it’s our baptismal
calling. When we are doing the work and
it feels scary or like we might be risking ourselves or our stuff or our
privilege, that’s when we must remember the first sermon Jesus delivers to his
disciples in the book of Matthew. “When
things feel scary, and you do the work of elevating someone else, you are
closer to me. And you are blessed.”
Hear the Good News: baptized into the death and resurrection of
Jesus the Christ, you, me, we are freed, forgiven, and beloved. Go and seek God by serving the Other. Even when it feels scary. It’s there we’ll find our blessing.
Jesus says, “And know that you are in
good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of
trouble.”
Go, disciples, cause good trouble.
Amen.
