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.
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.
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.
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