The Beatitudes as the Character of God

A sermon for the fourth Sunday of Epiphany, January 30, 2011, given at the United Church of Acworth, Acworth, NH.

Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 15

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

The kingdom of God has come in the speech and action of the man Jesus and a greater and greater number of people are beginning to realize it. The crowds follow him around, flock to him --attracted by the magnetism of the life and light of God -- the love that heals spirit and flesh.

Seeing the crowd, Jesus ascends a mountain and sits. It is here on this mountain where Jesus will explain to his followers what it means to be a part of this kingdom.

Jesus has gone all over Galilee announcing the kingdom and demonstrating its life-giving presence -- the disciples, I’m sure, are incredibly curious to know what all of this means -- tell us more about the kingdom, Jesus!

The beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12 begin Jesus’ talk with his followers about what the presence of the new kingdom means for those who become part of it. Repeated hearing of the same statements can sometimes dull their meaning and relevance to our lives. Let’s try to forget that we’ve heard these sayings before and listen to them with fresh ears, as those who have encountered Jesus in Galilee -- seen the marvels of the man who proclaims the presence of the kingdom of heaven on earth and goes about healing diseases and freeing those enslaved by oppressive conditions. Let’s become like the followers that heard him speak on that day -- desperately curious to hear some explanation of what this kingdom talk is all about.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

In today’s reading from Micah we read God’s message to his people that he does not require great gifts of wealth or great displays of power and influence but to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God is calling his people to imitate his own character.
God is described throughout the Scriptures as one who is just and wants to give justice to the oppressed and bring the oppressor to justice.
God is described throughout the scriptures as loving mercy. Psalm 103:8 says The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
And God’s humility is seen in Christ who as we read in Philippians 2:6-8
...being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
It is the God of justice that calls us to act justly; it is the God of mercy and compassion that calls us to be lovers mercy, and it is the God of such immense humility that calls us to walk humbly with Him.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

If the kingdom that Jesus proclaims is His kingdom, namely the kingdom of God, then we can expect the directions which he will give in his talk to His disciples to be consistent with the God we see through the prophet Micah.

In fact we see the call of God in Micah 6:8 throughout the beatitudes. And just like Micah 6:8, the Beatitudes point us to the character of God -- we see in the Beatitudes and in the Sermon on the Mount as a whole an invitation to embody the character of God as we come to see it in the life of Jesus.

In the beatitudes we hear Jesus calling us to act justly

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
and Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

a quick note -- the word translated “righteousness” is the greek word dikaiosune which means so much more than righteousness -- the best I can think to translate it would be wholeness.

This pertains to the wholeness of individuals

who seek to become whole in themselves through a right relationship with God-- the health of rightly ordered desires and actions --

but also the wholeness of situations where we can think of the desire for rightly ordered relationships between fellow humans, between governments and their citizens, and between humanity and the earth.

All of these relations may be considered have their own possible brokenness and therefore their own possible wholeness. To desire dikaiosune, the Greek idea behind our word “righteousness” is to desire the world to be made right -- for individuals and societies and the earth to be restored to the wholeness of God's original design.

As we follow Christ, we begin to hunger and thirst to see the world restored to wholeness, for justice to brought to those who suffer oppression, for wholeness to be brought to those who are broken by sickness or despair. We speak out for justice and advocate on behalf of those who suffer from the injustices and oppressions rampant in our modern societies -- and often are persecuted for our speech and action on behalf of justice. Those who benefit from injustice have no interest in justice being realized and will often defend the status quo and persecute those who would bring change even to the point of violence.

But this is the community into which we are called. This is the nature of the kingdom which we come to know through Christ. Justice is a priority of God.

In the beatitudes we hear Jesus calling us to love mercy

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Those pure of heart are those who truly desire the “weightier matters of the law.” They do not seek outward purity of appearance but inward purity of desire. Later on in the book of Matthew, chapter 23 Jesus derides the Pharisees for giving a tenth of their income for tithe but neglecting the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. The Pharisees sought to be pure in appearance but neglected to be pure in heart. Those who are pure of heart in this way will be those who desire mercy for the oppressed and afflicted in the way that Jesus desired such. They will be the merciful who desire wholeness when they encounter brokenness who desire relief when they encounter oppression, who desire to bring hope when they encounter despair. Those who are pure in heart will behold the God because they will feel the feelings that God feels toward those who are weary and heavy laden with the darkness of this world.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

The pure in heart will become merciful and like their Savior they will mourn for the brokenness of the world around them.
In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus weeps over the tragedy that Jerusalem has been blind to God’s visitation. He weeps that they have not realized that their hope has come, that God has come to bring salvation that they might be made whole. Jesus is merciful because Jesus is pure in heart and so Jesus mourns the tragedy that a people who had so long waited for the mercy of God to come have been blind to its visitation.

Finally, we hear in the beatitudes not only Jesus’ call to act justly and love mercy, but also to walk humbly with our God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

To be a part of God’s kingdom, the community that was come into existence through life, death, and resurrection of Christ, is to be a follower, an imitator of Christ.

In fact, the first to be called Christians were called that because they were seen to be Christ-like ones.

The biggest stumbling block to becoming like Christ is to become like him in his humility -- his poverty of spirit.
We are naturally the very opposite of humility.
But God showed us humility when he came to earth and allowed himself to be misunderstood, mistreated, hated, and killed. His humility was essential to his existence.

Christ showed us that if we are to be honest with ourselves, we are not in control of our lives and we cannot therefore try to live as if we are in control. The attempt to live in control often leads to our exerting our own will over others since if we are to be in control we must control others. Christ did not do that. His humility, his lack of control and lack of power testified to the truth that man lives only by the word of God -- that God is the source of our existence, we did not create ourselves.

And so, if we are to become peacemakers -- those who live to foster wholeness nonviolently, we must first recognize the fundamental (and humbling) truth that we have never been and never will be in control of our own stories. To become part of God’s kingdom is to recognize that our story is in the hands of the God who rules the universe. Our story becomes part of his story and we hope only in His providing and his direction.

But to live this humility, this recognition of our being “without control,” will inevitably put us at odds with those who like to believe they are in control. The meekness of Christ is despised and rejected by those who live under the pretense that they are in control of their own lives, or that they can control the world around them. Thus, those who testify to God’s control will find themselves persecuted and hated by those who would defend to the point of violence their own autonomy.

Peacemaking is the humble activity of those who love mercy and justice but refuse to resort to violence to achieve them. Peacemaking consists of speaking truthfully, doing works of mercy and justice in ways that build up without violently tearing down. But to live this sort of peacemaking puts the disciples in the position of speaking against the violence and injustice used by the world to maintain order and the status quo. Those who rely on the status quo for their wealth and power will inevitably resist those who testify to the injustice underlying that order.

And so there will be persecution, awkwardness, evil speech, and even violence against those who dare to point out the injustice and deceit of those who are in power.

But we hear from Christ,

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

To an intensely curious audience, Jesus describes the kingdom in these Beatitudes -- may we listen with fresh ears to hear Jesus’ vision for how the church might exist as light in a world of darkness.
May God grant us the gift of witnessing to this way of life that in acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God, we might be blessed. Amen.

Light in the Midst of Darkness

A sermon for the third Sunday of Epiphany, January 23, 2011, given at the United Church of Acworth, Acworth, NH.

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Today’s gospel reading begins with an act of governmental oppression.

John has been put in prison.
Herod Antipas, the local governor, had recently imprisoned him.
According to Mark chapter 6, John had openly criticized Herod’s marriage, a marriage which went against Jewish customs, and Herod’s wife had urged him to put him in prison.
Josephus, a Jewish historian, adds another dimension to the story. He writes that Herod imprisoned John because he “feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise.” (Antiquities, Book XVIII)
Herod’s wife’s anger and Herod’s own paranoia joined forces to silence and detain John.

But John wasn’t trying to start a rebellion and what he said about Herod’s marriage was true.
So, no one could really claim that there was anything right or just about John’s imprisonment.
Just plain old oppression.

John’s speech was unwanted by the powers that be and so it was silenced.

It is after John’s silencing, that Jesus begins to speak
He picks up right as John had left off proclaiming,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
We can imagine Herod’s response when he reads this in the Galilee Times.
“John’s Message Not Dead -- Lives On In Galilean Carpenter”
Jesus defies the intimidation of Herod and begins to preach the message that needs to be heard:
God’s kingdom has broken into the world.

“Repent,” he says, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Forsake your old ways, for a new way has come to you.
Wake up! Attention! Warning!
A new reality has intruded into the present one.
John spoke of the coming of the kingdom -- It is at hand
Jesus speaks of the coming of the kingdom -- It is here.

It is important to note the timing of Jesus’ message that kingdom of God has arrived.
John has been arrested and everyone in Galilee has been reminded that the authorities will not tolerate a threat to their influence over the hearts and minds of the people.

It is to an intimidated people, living under oppressive regimes, that Jesus ministers.
It is to the fearful and uncertain that Jesus speaks
It is to the worn out and anxious that Jesus comes

Before Matthew goes on to tell how Jesus’ ministry begins, he emphasizes the importance of the fact that Jesus moves to Galilee.

His emphasis of this comes by quoting a passage from the prophet Isaiah, our Old Testament reading for today:

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.

This passage in Isaiah 9 comes right after speaking about the destruction that will come to Israel as a result of the oppressive empires that will conquer the nation. This passage begins the poem of hope for future restoration.

Those living in darkness have seen a great light
Those living in the shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.

It is in Galilee after John’s arrest that this darkness is an even greater reality. The people are reminded that they are living under a government that does not care about justice. They are living in the shadows, they are living in the darkness of fear and oppression.

And so, to the place that lives in the shadow of death and the darkness of oppression, Jesus moves and begins to minister the truth of God’s truth, justice, and healing.

It is to a burdened people that Jesus comes to comfort and heal.

Those living in darkness have seen a great light
Those living in the shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.

I can’t help but think of Robin Hood as I read this text. Herod is definitely a Prince John type of guy. Justice doesn’t matter; only what is convenient and helpful for him to remain powerful and wealthy.

Jesus is a Robin Hood coming to Galilee’s discouraged and proclaiming hope -- being hope -- by his very presence with them.

He walks along the sea of Galilee and sees some Galilean fishermen and calls out to them: “Come and join me, friends. We’re going to build a kingdom and you’ll be my recruiters.”

Their names? Little John and Will Scarlet -- wait, I mean James and John (whether they called him Little I don’t know).

These guys don’t waste any time but immediately jump up, leave their boat and nets, and join Jesus.

The kingdom had come and the Spirit of God through Jesus’ words and works was changing an old world into a new one.

I think of C.S. Lewis’ children’s book, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, of Aslan’s entry into Narnia--breaking the spell of the White Witch which had created perpetual winter (with no Christmas!)

Aslan enters Narnia and the frozen places melt, the stone statues of those who went against the White Witch are given motion and life once again.

Lewis’ fantasy story is a perfect picture of the interruption of God’s kingdom into a violent and oppressive world.

People have been living in darkness -- the darkness of disease, injustice, fear, and all kinds of other oppressors.

But in Christ they will see a great light.
In Christ they will be healed, relieved, given hope, forgiven.
And his kingdom will provide an alternative to the violence of the world.
His kingdom will dispel the winter of injustice and shine light into the darkness of violent actions and false speech.
His kingdom will be
a community that seeks to serve in a world that only knows the desire for dominance,
a community that seeks to help in a world that wants to keep to itself, mind its own business,
a community that seeks to speak the truth in a world that only knows how to manipulate words to serve its own quest for power or wealth,
a community that seeks to bring peace and be peace in a world that only knows violence.

Christ’s kingdom has come and Galilee, having lived in darkness, is now witnessing a great light.

For we read that:

he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

The life of God radiates so powerfully from the Spirit of God in Christ that all of the shadows of death that are brought to him in bodies, minds, emotions, spirits --
all the shadows are dispelled
and life and light, health and hope pour out of Him as he proclaims and displays that the kingdom of God has come.

And, much to Herod’s chagrin, Jesus’

fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

The shadow of death is still with us in 2011. Darkness is still here. Injustice, violence, disease, psychological oppression.

We can’t mention psychological oppression without thinking about Jared Loughner, the young man who killed six people in Tucson, Arizona. We can’t mention injustice and violence without thinking about that tragedy.
Almost immediately the media was pointing fingers as to who was to blame for creating the environment in which violence like this could take place.
Almost immediately people all over the nation were wondering how someone could will themselves to do this.
People tried hard to find an explanation. But there is no easy explanation. Evil is a complex reality -- it is not easy to see clearly when your subject is darkness.

But we have to remember that violence is not new
the darkness that we see in Jared Loughner is the same darkness we’ve seen when Cain killed Abel.

We have to wonder, what would have happened if the church had reached out to someone like Jared or to a family like the Loughners.
What would have happened if someone, seeing the darkness in that boy, had sought to be a light, to show the generous love we find in Christ that dispels hate, the life that dispels the fearful shadows of death.

Perhaps nothing would have happened.

But we must think about these events and the people involved with the perspective of those who believe that a new kingdom has broken into this world.
That those who have lived in the shadow of death have seen a great light.
And we exist as a community to be the light of the truth and love of God that shines in the darkness of lies and hatred, the life and love of Christ which neither death nor darkness can overcome. Amen.

That He Might Be Revealed

A sermon for the second Sunday of Epiphany, January 16, 2011, given at the United Church of Acworth, Acworth, NH

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

“I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”(Isaiah 49:6)

In verse 31 of today’s gospel reading in the gospel of John chapter 1, John remarks: “ ..for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

that he might be revealed

This is the mission of the church
-- to reveal Christ, the light for the nations, the salvation reaching the end of the earth.
John’s whole prophetic ministry is centered around this function --

that he might be revealed.

John spoke --

that he might be revealed

John baptized --

that he might be revealed

We see in John’s words and actions an embodiment of Christian mission,
a mission that we’ve all become a part of through baptism.

We exist as Christians --

that he might be revealed

Tomorrow we celebrate the life of a man who gave his life for this very purpose. On February 4, 1968, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon that would be his last at that church.
In it he expounds what J. Wallace Hamilton, a methodist preacher of that time, had called “the drum-major instinct.”

The drum major instinct as King describes it is that tendency in people:
to seek greatness and prestige among others.
to have reasons to boast of themselves and their own accomplishments
to lead the parade to be first among all

he opposes this instinct with the attitude of Christ

Christ reversed our notions of greatness with one fell swoop:

Matthew 20:26 records Jesus saying:
whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

prophetically in King’s sermon, he turns to the subject of death and begins to tell people how he wants to be spoken of when his time is through

Every now and then I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimized with what is life's final common denominator—that something that we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, "What is it that I would want said?" And I leave the word to you this morning.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,

If I can spread the message as the master taught,

Then my living will not be in vain.

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world.

King marched, spoke, and served so that Christ, not King, might be revealed

in the spirit of John the Baptist who we read in John chapter 3 verse 30 saying, He must increase, but I must decrease.

we must live so that he might be revealed

our lives are stories

it is in light of events like the Tucson tragedy that we are forced to reflect on our stories

do we seek to be drum majors or servants? whose revealing is our purpose -- ourselves or Christ?

President Obama demonstrated this sort of reflection in his speech on Thursday at the funeral service for the victims of the tragedy in Tucson:

“Sudden loss causes us to look backward -- but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -- but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.”

what will the stories that are our lives tell the world?

what are our stories telling the world?

can we, with John, say that for this reason we exist, that he might be revealed?

let that be our goal

may we forget ourselves and any drum major instinct we might have fostered over the years

may our lives tell the story of the love that Christ first showed us

may that love shown to us in Christ well up within us by the power of the Holy Spirit and create a life that is a story of love for all people

may we live that he might be revealed