Matthew 5:1-12 NRSVUE
1.When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Last week we talked about the Nicene creeds utter lack of teachings of Jesus
This week we are looking at what John Wesley considered to be the foundational teaching of Jesus – everything we should be doing – our Method for Christian Living.
Tuesday I signed up for the 8am shift at the Federal Courthouse to do clergy accompaniment alongside the Legal Observers. I needed to leave at 7:15am in order to get there and park before my shift, so of course I hit the snooze button 4 times and stumbled out of bed at 7:05 and made it to my car at about 7:22am.
Morning People, I salute you! I am not one of you.
After getting turned around exiting the parking garage, I managed to arrive at my post near the entrance of the Federal Courthouse at 8:01, where Pastor Kris was already stationed and our Legal Observer showed up one minute later. Us clergy wait outside to walk people to their cars or to make photo copies of their asylum papers – Immigration court gives you 1 copy of your papers, but you need to turn in 1 copy upstairs, turn in another copy downstairs and keep another stamped copy on you at all times. So we do a lot of photocopy runs.
It was a peaceful shift, but something odd happened… and kept happening.
The staff kept thanking us for being there.
Federal employee after Federal employee, wearing their badges over their coats, carrying their insulated lunch bags, coming in for the day, saying, “thank you for being here.” “Thank you for being here.”
And the Army recruiters – there’s a recruiting office inside the Federal Courthouse – dressed in their fatigues, who usually eye us suspiciously, all greeted us with a friendly good morning.
That was a little odd, but it was a pretty typical day. Immigrants with brightly colored folders walking up to the door, for us to greet and ask if they have a lawyer, and tell them about PIRC and ECO if they don’t.
Then the Legal Observer messaged us, that the family she was talking to said that Court was canceled today – and their hearing was rescheduled for 2 years from now.
Our first thought, was, “oh no, what has the administration done now?”
But then somebody from the court came out and made an announcement in Spanish. Our Legal Observer that day doesn’t speak a whole lot of Spanish, but managed to find out that the court clerk was sick, so court was canceled. There’s been so much defunding of Federal staff, that if one person gets sick, it shuts the whole operation down.
Then the Army recruiter came out and offered a chair for our Legal Observer to sit in, because they make the Observers stand in the hallway – they won’t let them into the courtroom anymore — new policy. But since court was canceled, we were going to leave.
Remember how last week I said,
It’s hard to maintain a dictatorship when the people believe everyone has value in the eyes of God!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9) is apparently catching on at the Courthouse.
Last week we were talking about the Nicene Creed – and noticing that it does not contain any of the teachings of Jesus.
Today we are delving into one of Jesus’ most significant teachings, sometimes called The Sermon on the Mount, because Jesus stepped up onto a little hill so the crowd could see him better. In the gospel of Luke it’s The Sermon on the Plain, but regardless of the elevation, it’s a very counter-cultural teaching in pretty much every time and place.
We don’t think of it as counter-cultural because we’re used to it.
Many of us learned about the Bee-Attitudes in Sunday School class while making terrifyingly large bees out of pipe cleaners and craft paper, where we focused on the Blessings.
But look who Jesus is calling Blessed…
Starting at verse 3 — you can follow along in your bulletin…
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So… is Jesus saying that you’re blessed if you’re depressed?
The gospel of Luke leaves out “in spirit,” (LK 6.20) so…. Is Jesus saying, God loves poor people???
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Luke reads, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (Lk 6:21)
So…. is Jesus saying that grief is a blessing? I think, perhaps Jesus is saying that those who are suffering now, are beloved of God and that their suffering will not last forever.
Verse 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
In a culture that tells us to “lean in” and “promote your personal brand,” humility doesn’t seem likely to deliver the wealth of the whole earth. But Jesus seems to place a high value on walking humbly with God.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Luke 6:21 reads: “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.”
So…kinda different messages, but both are counter cultural.
Luke promises the blessing of fullness to those who are currently food insecure.
Matthew tells those of us longing for justice that the arc of history may be long, but God is bending it towards justice.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Blessed are the merciful is very different from the current message that if people would just mind their own business and stay home, they’ll be safe.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
The phrase, ‘pure in heart,” reminds me of people with Downs syndrome, and autism, and children, who are so very vulnerable.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
This one seems less counter cultural – I mean, there’s a Nobel peace prize.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I can tell you that tear gas does not feel like a blessing, but standing up for what’s right is Kingdom of God work.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
Are you sure Jesus? Being reviled, persecuted, threatened and having your name drug through the mud, does not feel like a blessing, to me.
And maybe that’s because our definition of what it means to be blessed in this culture, is defined by what is pleasant, comfortable and attractive.
When we say, “I’m so blessed,” we’re usually referring to having the privilege of going on vacation, having a nice house, a solid income, a stable family.
We don’t generally refer to poverty, grief, and persecution as a blessing.
So maybe the problem is our definition of blessing.
Maybe God is thinking not of what is a blessing to us, but of what is a blessing to others.
Mary mother of Jesus, is called Blessed. Her life was not easy, but she was a blessing to others.
And in verse 12, the author of Matthew brings up the Prophets.
The life of a prophet was often kinda terrible, listening to God, speaking up for God, and having kings try to kill you for your trouble is not what we would call, “too blessed to be stressed,” but their lives have definitely been a blessing for others.
Jesus’ calling to,”Take up your cross and follow me,”
Found in, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23
Isn’t a calling to a life of comfort, wealth, and popularity.
It’s a calling to be a blessing to others.
I was watching videos of animals using word buttons while doing dishes the other night, when a video came up from an official government account, where some blond woman was addressing herself to Christians. Telling us that God expects us to be on the side of law and order, and that we should stay out of the way of the legal actions of this administration.
My hands were wet with dirty dish water, so it played through twice before I could stop it.
Listening to her weaponize Romans 13:1 – which didn’t work out so well for the authentic Paul, who wrote it – Rome executed him.
Listening to her weaponize Romans 13:1 and completely ignore everything that Jesus taught about how we are to treat the stranger among us… and everything that Jesus taught us about standing up for what’s right, in the name of Law and Order, was dissonant.
Because laws are not always just.
Slavery was legal. Helping people escape was illegal.
The Holocaust was legal, hiding Anne Frank’s family was illegal.
Resisting the gestapo was illegal.
Protesting was illegal.
And now they are trying to tell us that offering help to people who have been injured while practicing their first amendment right to peaceful protest is un-Christian and illegal. They’re dragging Alex Pretti’s and Renee Good’s names through the mud and telling us to not believe our own eyes.
Friends, we’re not called to stay home and stay safe.
We’re not called to be nice and avoid talking about politics.
We’re called to be a blessing in such a way that we are inconvenient to those trying to do harm.
So keep boycotting.
Keep emailing and calling our legislators.
Keep annoying the heck out of your friends and family members.
Keep showing up and volunteering and donating where you can.
Keep singing, laughing, hoping and dreaming.
Keep being the Church — you are a wonderful church, and I’m so grateful to be in ministry with you!
You are a blessing.
We are a blessing in a world that desperately needs us to follow Jesus.
