Matthew
5:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
I want to
start off by saying just how blessed I am.
As I wrote this it was sunny and warm outside, I got to celebrate my Mom
and niece’s birthday this week, I had a chance to spend quality time with
friends and family. I am blessed.
I feel
blessed to be called by God to this wonderful vocation, to work alongside
fantastic people who want to make our community better. And, I get to spend time with great youth in
our church. I am blessed!
We often
talk like this don’t we?
We say things
like “I am so blessed; I got to spend time with loved ones.” “I am so blessed because I have a good paying
job where I feel respected and successful.”
“I am blessed with a nice house, a nice car, health insurance, and being
healthy enough not to need it much.” “I
am blessed because a storm missed my house.”
Whatever seems to be positive for you is a sign you are blessed.
This is the
way the world works, right?
We are
taught from a very early age to be proud!
Be proud of your achievements, you worked hard for them! If you don’t toot your own horn, no one else
will. We are taught to hunger for
success, power, money, popularity, influence and respect! And when we get what
we want- we are blessed!
We are
taught not to grieve: Keep a stiff upper
lip/ don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. If we do have a reason to mourn it
should be temporary; we medicate people if they mourn for too long- people have
a limited tolerance for sadness.
We are
taught not to be merciful- if we show mercy people will think we are weak. We doubt if anyone has a pure heart- we
assume the worst in everyone and struggle to trust anyone. So, we hoard our blessings- fearful someone
might try to steal our joy.
And
peacemakers? It seems that there is
little room for peacemakers today. We
are told you must choose sides, everything is polarized, you are either for or
against. If you don’t agree then you are hated and despised, your faith, your
patriotism, your value as a human being is challenged. We completely discount
the experiences and feelings of anyone who might feel differently: accusatory
instead of empathetic.
There is
even war in the church! And usually not
over anything of substance- We aren’t arguing whether or not Jesus is
Lord. We argue over which side of the
sanctuary the piano is placed, if our favorite paint color for the nursery wasn’t
used, or someone doesn’t like a woman preacher or slaves to be buried in the
cemetery. Whatever the argument of the
day happens to be; we would rather take our ball and go somewhere else than
concede our position. Peacemakers are
hushed, accused of taking a side or told to choose- there is no middle ground-
and we are only “blessed” when we get our way.
And then we
read the Gospel of Matthew- and Jesus flips the script. This stuff isn’t what matters to God. Striving after power, success, “happiness” isn’t
what brings us happiness and blessings at all.
These are empty platitudes which only make us hungry for more and angry
when we don’t get it!
Paul tells us in Corinthians that anything
other than striving after the cross of Christ is foolish and only leads to
pain. There will always be a need for
more when we search after things of this world- always more to know or be right
about, more respect to have, more money and things to be get: the thirst is
never quenched.
Jesus says
blessed are those who are poor in spirit, when those who feel hopeless find
hope in a relationship with Christ as they long for the hope that is the
kingdom of God. When the world is
falling apart it is foolish to scream that the sky is falling. Just know that God is in the storm and know
you are blessed because of a hope found in the cross of Christ- not the
world.
Jesus tells
us that it is those who grieve who will be made glad. Not simply because those who grieve the loss
of a loved one will receive comfort, which is true- but there is a special
promise for those who willingly enter into the grief of others. We are blessed when we are empathetic to the
needs of someone else, and who grieve for the pain and oppression of people unlike
themselves. When we spend time trying to
understand someone else’s point of view, we experience blessings because we
know we are not grieving alone. We grieve together and we know that Jesus
grieves our heartache and carries our burdens with us.
Blessed are
those who are humble because they know that it is God who makes all things
possible. They don’t have to strive and
earn and struggle because they know the gifts they have come from God, they
know that grace comes from God and that the love of Christ- the ultimate gift
is free and limitless for those who accept it.
Jesus humbly offered himself on the Cross so that we might have eternal
pride, not in our own doing but in the fact that God loved us enough to become
a vulnerable human so that a way could be paved toward eternal blessings.
Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… it is only through God that we
can be satisfied. Striving for things of this world may give us
immediate gratification but before long we are hungry again.
When we
crave things like bragging rights, kudos, respect, power and material wealth,
there is always another argument to win, another person to impress, another
mountain to climb or battle to be won.
It’s like eating a high calorie but non-nutritious fast food meal. It’s fast, convenient, takes little effort,
and provides immediate gratification to your growling stomach; but you’re
hungry again in an hour, your stomach is upset from the grease, and your body
isn’t getting the nutrients it really needs so it craves more.
When we
crave a relationship with Christ, when we desire to know the love of God more
fully- we are filled to the brim with all we will ever need, our relationship
with God, our love for Christ and our love for neighbor will grow exponentially
because our lives are filled with things that nourish our souls.
Blessed are
those who are merciful. Mercy is an act
of compassion, forgiveness and vulnerability done by someone who doesn’t have
to. It comes from a place of power where
someone has offended us in some way and yet we choose to express love instead
of exerting the power to hate, hold a grudge or punish. It is what we desire when we are the ones who
are the offender.
We pray that
Jesus will be merciful to us so that we will benefit from his sacrifice on the
cross, that we will somehow be forgiven of our sins and yet we struggle to offer
that same compassion to others and we are left wanting. We can never exact the revenge or punishment
we think the other deserves, we always thing the punishment we receive is too
harsh and it reminds us just how much we fall short of deserving the mercy of
God ourselves.
Blessed are
the pure at heart- for they will see God.
We talk about God being in everything, in every place in every time but
we struggle to see God in anything. It
isn’t because God isn’t there- it’s because our hearts are too hardened to see-
our hearts are contaminated by pride, business and hate so often that we have
built walls around our hearts afraid to let people in and blocking the blessing
that is a heart open to God.
Blessed are
the peacemakers. This requires all the
other attributes of blessings we have already named- mercy compassion, a pure heart,
a desire for God instead of power, walking alongside those who are hurting so
you can see life through their eyes and their perspective. We cannot encourage and advocate for peace if
all we do is point fingers of blame, discounting someone else’s feelings of
oppression, turning the heat up on arguments, stirring the pot of anger and
distrust. It requires knowing when to
speak and discerning what God is calling you to say and when to simply keep
quiet. Choosing words which build up
instead of tear down.
Living into
these Christian, Christ like, values would fill our lives with blessings that
aren’t temporary, limited to changes in weather, or limited to whether or not we
get our way.
Living into
these values seems too difficult, too counter cultural, foolish even, but this
is exactly what Jesus calls us to do.
Paul tells us in our reading from 1 Corinthians: The message of the cross is foolish to those
who are perishing- following Christ and living into the values Jesus gives us
is foolish to those who don’t know Christ but there is power in it for those of
us who know the saving love of Christ.
We know we
don’t have to stress because we live into the never-ending love of God. We know we can’t earn God’s favor and don’t
need the world’s favor. We don’t have to
strive to be better, smarter, or more worthy than anyone else because of the
grace of God in Christ we were all made children of God-all loved, all
cherished, all blessed equally. We don’t
have to fight because our prize is not in this world- our prize is the cross of
Christ.
What a true
blessing it is when we can finally let go; surrender our hearts, our mind, our
will and our future to God who has already won the war, has mercy and
compassion for us, even when we fail, and who has promised that his grace is
sufficient for all our woes. When we
trust God and accept the grace given to us in the life, death, and resurrection
of Christ- true blessedness is known, true peace is experienced and true love
is shown.
We don’t
have to succumb to the never ending search for happiness- when we seek it in
Christ blessings are yours to be found.
