BLESSED ARE …YOU

Matthew 5: 1-12

The idea of blessing is not a Christian invention; it did not first occur with Jesus nor did it end with Jesus; there are blessings in Genesis and there are blessings in Revelation. There is an especially nice blessing in the book of Numbers attributed to Moses’ brother Aaron that I’ll use at the end of today’s service and that I use at weddings and funerals. People want to be blessed and feel blessed. Do remember the story of a mother and son scheming to get a blessing? It’s the story of Jacob and Esau. The blessing of the father onto the firstborn son in Jewish families was both expected and sought when Isaac and Rebekah asked God for children and Rebekah gave birth to twins. But before she actually gave birth, she heard from God, and God told her to do something that would cause Rebekah to become subversive to her faith tradition. In Genesis 25 God told her that two nations were in her and that two sons would born and that the older one would serve the younger instead of the other way around. From that Godly guidance, when Esau, the oldest son by seconds, was old enough to receive the blessing of his father Isaac, Rebekah schemed with her younger son Jacob to have his nearly blind father place his hand on the forehead of the younger instead of the older son. The very act of laying on his hands bestowed God’s blessing even though it went against Isaac’s own will. The stories that followed of the twelve sons, and later the twelve tribes of Israel, and finally the twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus, all started with God’s collaborative plan with an ingenious mother to have Jacob become the father of those first twelve. Today, however, we are reminded that the blessing on you is bestowed out of God’s own holy will and great love for you. We know that Jacob once wrestled with God (or an angel of God) and would not let go until God blessed him. You may feel that way too, wanting to grab God by the arm and not let go until you feel blessed. But today Jesus guides us to know the categories of those who are blessed already. See which category belongs to you.

Two years ago this month, 40 of us traveled to Galilee to walk where Jesus walked. We will take another trip there this November. While we were there, we stood where Jesus likely stood to deliver his Sermon on the Mount. By Jesus’ holy knowledge, the area where he stood actually created an amphitheatre effect of amplification so his listeners could hang on his every word. It is a beautiful location at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was not preaching to bless that day; he was preaching to identify the blessed. The blessings, or Beatitudes as they are called, are not confined to the Gospel of Matthew. Beatitudes can also found in Luke and Psalms for example. There are also three of them in Paul’s letter to the Romans and one in the Gospel of John. A beatitude includes any statement that starts with the word “blessed” as a descriptive term. But particular to Jesus’ Beatitudes in his sermon is the stress on the joy of the individual who participates in the Kingdom of God instead of those striving for happiness by buying what the world is peddling. Jesus is busy naming the faithful ones who will be in that number when the saints go marching in. He was naming blessed people, and by omission, withholding blessing from those who gave all their allegiance of time, talent, and treasure to worldly attractions. Why it almost sounds like Calvinism, doesn’t it, and his idea of predestination! It came from passages like this and Romans 8. There are the blest, and there are those who are not. Again, let’s assume you are in that number, rather than thinking you are not!

Blessed are the poor in spirit. This is not to say that all depressed or grieving or exhausted people are blessed. It is to say that those who have been drained of their humanity from unjust means have an advocate in Jesus; they are not forgotten as happens in the world, or trampled as is done by the powerful. They are remembered and they not only will be blessed, they are blessed even in their brokenness. It is in their brokenness that many reach out to their Savior. Broken people are in the unwavering gaze of God. Blessed are those who mourn. Although God does not forget those who grieve, this blessing is really about those who mourn about the condition of our world. Do you not grieve over then number of senseless deaths, the number of nations in turmoil, the number of people hurt by catastrophes, or the number of people who turn to worldly fixes instead of Godly salvation? God does too. God empathizes with us. As Jesus paused on the Mount of Olives and wept over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41, people who look at the world and grieve over it know the heart of God. Blessed are the meek. This is the affirmation of those who, like Jesus, have chosen not to retaliate against evil. Jesus absorbed evil in his life instead of reflecting it on others. Those who do that are often not lauded by humans who strive to be first and victorious. But God says that this group of people has pulled back the curtain and has seen what Kingdom living looks like. It is Christ consciousness. And there are people who get that even among you. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Many a teacher beams when he or she watches students who are hungry to learn. God is thrilled with those who demonstrate enough of a learning curve that they know more each day than they did the day before; that is that they make more God-pleasing choices today than they did yesterday. God wants us always to thirst after doing right. Blessed are the merciful. Like we learned last week, most people want an eye for an eye when it comes to the verdict for their perpetrator. But if it is you, or your brother, who has done the wrong, you may see things differently. You may ask the judge for mercy instead. With God at the bench and brothers, and sisters around us, mercy instead of madness might have saved the life of Jesus. With mercy in Jesus’ sermon, do we glimpse what higher thinking concludes: that mercy is the way by which God judges our world? Instead of hearing God saying “I judge you,” we could be hearing God say, “I love you.” Blessed are the pure in heart. This one hardly needs explanation, does it? When I see someone who is generally pure in heart, I am drawn to them like a moth to light. People who are pure in heart are God’s leaven and light for our world. Blessed are the peacemakers. These are people who do not just take conflict and paint over it with the brush of silence. Peacemakers get to the root of injustice problems and seek to solve them. If you fix problems at the root, the tree will bear good fruit. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. This one goes hand in hand with the last one: Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. If you are pursuing Christ in such a way that you are mocked, derided, or challenged, test yourself. Ask God if you are really on the right track. Ask trusted friends. Then if your direction is confirmed, plow through the drifted snow that Satan has piled on, that is, of people trying to tempt you into becoming more worldly again. Even with all their temptations, you may hear the voice of your Savior saying you are on the right track instead.

The Beatitudes; did you find yourself in one of those categories? Then Jesus wants you to know you are blessed. If you are not sure, then pray to be among the blessed. It brings with it an awareness that will change your life.

Jeffrey A. Sumner February 27, 2011