Dear Emanuel Members and
Friends –
“When Jesus
saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples
came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for
they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they
will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for
they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:1-12)
Our Gospel readings from
February all come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is contained in the 5th
through 7th chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. The opening section of this sermon contains
what are called the Beatitudes. Each is
a statement of blessing – for the poor in spirit, for those who mourn, the
meek, and so forth.
Some of us have heard these
Beatitudes from time to time since childhood, and because of their familiarity,
it’s easy to miss how radical these statements are, how life-changing it is –
or could be – to live in accordance to the Beatitudes. Every single one of these statement runs
counter to what our national culture proclaims.
In fact, it takes little imagination to construct the opposing but unspoken
set of beatitudes which define our American culture and national life, and I’d
invite you to contrast the cultural beatitudes below to the radically
counter-cultural beatitudes spoken by Jesus above:
“Blessed are
the self-satisfied, for theirs is the joy of never having to say they’re sorry.
Blessed are
those who rejoice at their own good fortune while ignoring the suffering of
others, for they shall be comfortable and complacent.
Blessed are
the arrogant, for they will intimidate and impose their will on their
neighbors, and thus shall always have their way.
Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for money and possessions, for he who dies with the
most toys wins.
Blessed are
the merciless, for people will learn to stay out of their way.
Blessed are
the polluted of heart, for they shall throw some truly awesome parties.
Blessed are
the warmongers, for they keep the military-industrial complex and our national economy
going.
Blessed are
those who persecute others for righteousness’ sake, for they keep everyone else
in line.
Blessed are
you when you revile and persecute and utter all kinds of evil against others
falsely, especially when these others are mocked and despised by society for
living out their faith, because you will keep more timid believers from speaking
out, marching, protesting, and otherwise
stirring up trouble for Jesus’sake.”
While Jesus’ Beatitudes
invite us to make radical changes in our way of living, it would be a mistake
to look on the Beatitudes as a list of rules to be obeyed grudgingly, a killjoy
catalog of “do and don’t” drudgery. The Beatitudes are not just a bunch of
laws, like the Ten Commandments handed down by Moses. Rather, they are Gospel, good news. (As the
Apostle Paul put it, “the letter [of the law] kills, but the spirit gives
life.” – 2 Corinthians 3:6) By
beginning each statement with the word “blessed”, Jesus is saying that living
according to the Beatitudes will be its own reward, not only after we die, but
in this life. We won’t feel the tension
of having to fight to get our own way, of having to compete, of having to prove
to others that we’re right and they’re wrong, of having to “buy things we don’t
need with money we don’t have in order to impress people we don’t like”. Rather, we can “let go and let God”, and live
the kind of life we were created to live, experiencing the freedom of living
within the reign of God, which Jesus proclaimed and which is already here in
part, but will only be fully realized when Christ returns at the end of time. Until then, may we be among the “blessed”,
and may our lives, and our congregation, be a blessing to others.
See you in church –
Pastor Dave
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