Matthew 5:1-12
“Blessed”
November 1, 2020
The most obvious recent occurrence for me was when my husband sneezed yesterday morning. Almost absent-mindedly from the next room over, I called out “God bless you.” While on Friday I said the lesser known form of the phrase, as I often do multiple times every day, when I finished a phone conversation with my daughter and that also gets said, strangely to these American ears, at the end of British newscasts. The word “Goodbye” comes from the centuries-old greeting “God be with you.”
The idea of blessings is thrown around casually on the Internet. A recent check of Twitter indicated that among those who signed off writing #blessed (hashtag blessed) were:
A basketball player who was offered a job to play with the Philadelphia 76ers
A new homeowner
A guy who just got a promotion at work
A realtor who sold his second house in one day
And these were just over the last 48 hours or so.
Jesus, here, is going in a completely different direction. When he says “Blessed are the…” he is painting a picture of what the ideal follower of him looks like. He’s not promoting the success story that involves all the earthly rewards so many of us treasure – a home, a good job, a secure and well-saved-for future. No, he’s got something else in mind.
He’s just been journeying throughout Galilee and drawing huge crowds because word’s gotten out that he’s making ill people well. As the news spreads, more folks want to see Jesus for themselves. There are the parents of sick children, the shamed women, the ones with physical deformities and mental illness – all moving together in the hopes of a glimpse of this man who sounds too good to be true.
Jesus was talking about the coming of the kingdom of heaven. and it can’t be soon enough because the grip that the Romans have on the people is tightening, taking any and all profits and shutting down any dissenters with the threat of death. With hope, the crowds follow Jesus, and that is the moment he moves in a new way with his closest friends, heading up the mountain. Looking down upon all that humanity, so much of it suffering, Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven. And this is a kingdom where the lives of these hurting and oppressed folks that they can see with their own eyes, matter.
Barbara Brown Taylor has a great image of Jesus’ Beatitudes. She thinks of everyone in the world as being on a huge Ferris wheel that has stopped for a bit. Up in the top cars are the rich and powerful with the terrific view that everyone in the world would think of as blessed while down in the bottom of the Ferris wheel are all the poor and struggling folks that Jesus has a soft spot for. As things stand, it looks like those on top will stay there but eventually God will release the brake and the Ferris wheel will start moving again. When it ultimately stops for good, the rich and powerful will be at the bottom and the poor and powerless will be up on top. (cited in Homiletics)
Jesus, here at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, is all about transformation. What the takeaway may be from this upside-down world that Jesus presents is that God is at work not in the usual places of strength but rather in the places of weakness and vulnerability. This is after all, the same God we know in Jesus who showed up in the least expected way, born in a modest stable amid the noises and smells of farm animals not in some high end palace with servants. He spends his time not with the guys with all the money but with the destitute. His death will come not as a victorious warrior but on a cross used for criminals.
The Beatitudes provide comfort for the poor and the mourning and the meek – the have-nots of this world. But there is also challenge for we the haves. We can be transformed by speaking up for those that people don’t listen to. We can support organizations and movements that stand up for those who are reviled and persecuted. We can align ourselves with the merciful and the peacemakers. Transformation doesn’t always happen in big and bold movements and often it can take years, but Jesus never promised an easy and pain-free path.
On this All Saints Day we remember all those selfless and caring souls who lived out their faith in the transformation business that Jesus promoted. We think of someone like Mother Teresa and her willingness to bring dignity and compassion to the most desperate souls in India who she intentionally chose to live among. You probably can think of other saints who’ve gone before us who transformed lives by not talking up all the good things they were doing in God’s name but rather just humbly went about doing the work of changing lives for the better.
There are also countless saints among us. Three living saints I celebrate today are individuals who have spent much of their adult lives transforming the lives of the meek and the poor in spirit through the organizations they founded and have led. They faced daunting obstacles and never lost sight of a new kingdom of heaven here on earth.
Bryan Stevenson founded and leads the Equal Justice Initiative that challenges bias against the poor and minorities, especially children involved in the criminal justice system. Father Greg Boyle founded and leads Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program. And Marion Wright Edelman devoted almost her entire professional career to establishing and leading the Children’s Defense Fund that advocates for disadvantaged families and serves as a strong voice for the needs of children throughout the country. All three of these folks have written and spoken of the power of their Christian faith as being foundational in why and how they went about transforming lives that many would consider irredeemable. They knew better and they did better. They followed the lead of Jesus in prioritizing those who the rest of the world has little use for. That is the blessing of Jesus’ upside-down vision for us.
Let us then offer this prayer from the Rev. Dr. Carolyn J. Sharp:
Gracious God, fount of every blessing: we praise you for the magnificent promise we have in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in his assurance that those who mourn will be comforted and those who yearn for righteousness will be satisfied. Pour your blessing upon us, that in all we do, we may tell the good news of your healing and justice. In the name of the One who is mercy unbounded and love incarnate: Jesus Christ, to whom be all honor, glory, and praise, now and forever. Amen. (www.Day1.org)