When Jesus called his twelve disciples, they had no clue what they were in for. We found that out last week when we heard the story of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, the fishermen who dropped everything – nets, fathers, homes – to follow this itinerant preacher whom they had met during a casual encounter on the lakeshore of Galilee one warm summer morning. The four strapping twentysomethings left all they had ever known - on a wing and a prayer – and not much in the way of concrete information.
Put yourself in their sandals for a moment. Imagine how shell-shocked you would have been as the early days of your newfound life stretched into weeks away from home. Picture yourself as they were - on the sidelines, watching Jesus, the man they hardly knew, not only heal the sick and the lame (which was impressive in and of itself), but also empower those who were at the end of their ropes, comfort the ones who had lost everything, and embrace the moments when he encouraged cooperation and brought peace to strained relationships along the way. Imagine the disciples asking one another: What is this man all about anyway?
Perhaps Jesus sensed their bewilderment because, according to the Gospel writer of Matthew, he did not leave the four fishermen and their compatriots in the dark for too long. You see, we find out in the very next chapter of the Gospel of Matthew that one day, though crowds of people followed him, Jesus took his disciples off, “up a hill,” we are told. And there he gathered together Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the others and enlightened them. How fortunate we are – through the Gospel of Matthew - to be eavesdroppers on these ancient teachable moments!
What gist of what he taught them is what we call “The Sermon on the Mount.” These three chapters in our gospel narrative are really a collection of short pithy sayings and insights about life, love, morality, and God.
Most likely, Jesus did not speak all of them at one time or in one place. However, the Gospel writer of Matthew chose to present them to us all neatly compiled – much as the Lucan gospel writer does. However, all that really does not matter because the setting in which Jesus might have actually spoken these timeless words hardly detracts from their beauty and truth.
Jesus begins by teaching his twelve followers about what constitutes true happiness, true joy, and what makes a life truly worth living. We call these first teachings the Beatitudes, and I can not help but wonder whether the disciples were as thunderstruck by what must have seemed like overwhelming demands as we ought to be when we read the plain language of this text.
A few years ago, a Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper published an article entitled: "How Do You Measure Up As A Man?” It was based on a research study that explored the criteria we in our society use to judge the successful – and therefore presumably the happiest, most joy-filled male – the one who knows how to truly live. Here are the top eight criteria:
1. His ability to make and conserve money.
2. The cost, style, and age of his car.
3. How much hair he has.
4. His strength and size.
5. The job he holds and how successful he is at it.
6. What sports he likes
7. How many clubs he belongs to.
8. His aggressiveness and reliability.
Frankly, I find those criteria dreadfully shallow. However, I do think people have used them – or ones similar – going all the way back to Jesus’ time…1. Hs ability to make and conserve shekels, 2. The number of sheep he owns, 3. His place in the temple hierarchy – you get the picture.
Knowing how un-self-reflective people can be at times, we should not be surprised then to read that the core curriculum Jesus outlined for his disciples turned these shallow criteria topsy turvy and instead outlined a completely different way to experience happiness, joy, and a life worth living.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who are poor in spirit, Jesus said, who are not full of themselves and their ability to make and conserve money, but rather have room for God – a lot of room for God – who rely upon the Holy One for direction rather than the values of their culture.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who lament and let go of all that is dead and dying in their own lives – all the ephemeral things – their strength and size, not to mention the people and relationships who sap their energy, and, of course, the old ways of doing things - who also weep over the grief and pain they witness in the world around them.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who are meek – but not in our usual sense of the word, not the weak, the milquetoasts, the mousy, the wimpy – but rather the ones who possess a silent strength deeply rooted in a faith in God, trusting that in the end good will prevail over any evil the world can create, meek like Jesus in the judgment hall before Pilate.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who long for, who ache and agonize for things to be as God would have them be, who will do whatever lies within their power to bring healing where there is hurt, justice where there is injustice, equality where there is inequality, right where there is wrong, who will not simply look the other way.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who have hearts overflowing with compassion, whose souls are moved by pain and suffering, who have the innate capacity to walk in another’s shoes and to understand intuitively that the one who suffers could just as easily be themselves.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who love God more than they love themselves and their possessions, who have the clarity of vision to see that loving God – and allowing themselves to be loved by God - is enough to transform their lives and their world and is more than any amount of money can buy.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who understand that God calls them to bring peace to the world and to their own lives and relationships, but not just the absence of war or conflict. In the end, this peace is the one that passes all our understanding, for it is shalom, healing, wholeness, prosperity, reconciliation, and ultimately communion or oneness with God.
Joyful and blessed by God are those who are willing to pay the price for following Jesus - because there is a price - who commit themselves to honesty, integrity, justice, and healing, understanding that the world will not take to them kindly – but in the end it will all be worthwhile.
“Yikes!” we might say. “I can’t live up to this stuff. These Beatitudes are way over the top. I am out of here.”
But wait! If that is what you think about the Beatitudes, that you better hustle off because you can not live up to them, then you are reading them all wrong. You have not really heard them.
It is like the scene in the Monty Python movie, “Life of Brian.” What did he say?
I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers.”
Aha, what’s so special about the cheesemakers?
Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.
Really listen to the words here. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew is clear that the Beatitudes are not standards that we are required to reach. They are not conditions or terms. They are simply blessings, statements of fact about what will bring happiness, what will bring joy, what will make life truly worth living.
The Beatitudes are a vision, a beautiful vision of the world with God at the center and God at every turn along the way, urging and challenging us to step deeper into the waters of faith, deeper into the Divine Presence that is all around us. As UCC pastor Susan Blain writes, Jesus is “not demanding of us extravagant sacrifice or liturgical purity… God is calling us to follow Christ into the world to engage in a lifetime of faithful, creative, courageous, community-building love.”
Those of us who are into good grammar might already have noticed that, as seminary professor Mary Hinkle Shore, points out, the Beatitudes are in the indicative. They are statements of fact. They are not demands. They are not conditions. They are not “if you do this or that, then you are blessed.
The Beatitudes are merely a statement of the way things are, “a statement of the world turned upside down, where those who mourn are comforted rather than abandoned or merely pitied, where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied, not ignored or shouted down, where the meek inherit the earth rather than being ground into the dust.
"Right," someone will say. Or "Get real." (Life is not like that.
But, wait, suspend disbelief for a moment, and ask yourself this question:) What if Jesus is describing the real world, and we go around all day thinking the other world – the world as we know it - is the (ultimate) truth about us and our neighbors?” What if all along we have been living a lie? What if Jesus really is right?
“The meek, the mourning, the persecuted, the merciful: are they blessed in the present and given a trustworthy promise concerning the shape of the future? Or are they just weak, foolish, and out of touch with reality?...
(I think) the Sermon on the Mount (and most particularly for us this morning, the Beatitudes) is Jesus' Dream Speech of a better way, a better home, and his sketch of what the place will look like when we (finally) arrive.” The Beatitudes are not pie in the sky. They outline the way life should be.
So do not ignore the Beatitudes because you know that you can not live up to them. Do not disregard the Beatitudes because you think they are conditions for God’s blessings.
Rather cherish them – keep them safe in your hearts – so when given a choice – a choice to be:
Full of yourself or full of God
Lamenting the death of the old or embracing the new
Being silently strong or crumbling beneath some cultural expectation
Making even a small thing right or looking the other way
Walking in another shoes or standing on the sidelines in your own shoes
Loving God more than loving yourself
Striving for peace rather than ignoring or inciting conflict
Being willing to pay the price of the Gospel message or deciding it is not worth the cost
When you are given those choices, you can, first, recognize that you have a choice, and, second, you can make an informed decision.
Cherish the Beatitudes, so you can remember just what in the long run brings happiness, brings joy, what makes a life truly worth living, a life which God blesses.
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