2-2-20
Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our
Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.
We walk quickly and we walk slowly. We hurry when we need
to be somewhere fast…. or we amble our way through a store or the mall when we don’t
have a pressing need. We hike in the woods with purpose, and we drag ourselves
up the stairs after a long day. But what does it mean to walk humbly? And what
does it mean to walk with God?
We may try to take the lead and choose pace direction,
but that often gets us into trouble. We can drag our feet and lag behind, but
then we might miss where God is leading us. Every moment God is walking with
us, next to us, and we could not have a better traveling companion. God knows
the way. And God calls us to follow… and then calls us blessed.
Blessed? What? ME? No way! I don’t look at all like the perfect,
happy people on all the commercials or in the magazines. I’m not as successful
as the scientists curing cancer and famous authors I hear about in the news. I
don’t make as much money as CEOs and movie stars. Surely THOSE people are the
ones who deserve to be seen as special, not me.
The disciples might have been thinking the exact same
thing as they listened to Jesus. Last week we heard about how they were at the
beginning of their own walk with God. They had just been called by Jesus to
follow him, to even drop what they were doing and just go. No more fishing for fish
– Peter, Andrew, James, and John would be fishing for people from now
on. So, I’m sure wondered, “What in the world did I just sign up for? And What
happens now?”
Jesus’s answer comes in the next chapter in Matthew, as
he begins what we call “The sermon on the mount” - it IS a sermon and it IS on the
side of a mountain. This is Jesus’ very first sermon the Matthew – his
inaugural sermon if you will, and this section is what is commonly called “The
beatitudes.” This sermon will set the tone for the Jesus administration
and sets the terms for what it means to be a disciple.
To be a disciple is “churchy” way to be a learner, a
student. A student learns from and listens to a teacher. And the very first
thing that Jesus the teacher teaches in his very first sermon is that his
students are blessed. Jesus’s disciples are blessed, even though they
would not be considered first round draft pics for Jesus’s Kingdom.
Take a look over who Jesus says is blessed one more time.
This is a list that seems totally backwards, and shouldn’t make any sense to
us. This is not how the world works, as we see on a daily
basis. The world says– those who are wealthy and successful are
blessed, those who are in power are blessed, the famous, the popular, those who
seem to “have it all together” are blessed, those who are beautiful or
attractive or thin or strong are blessed….Just look at the news, social media,
or the cover of any magazines in the checkout aisle at ACME. They do not feature
people like us.
But Jesus turns the world order on its head. Instead, THESE
are the blessed ones –those who don’t have it all together, those who are
bullied, dispirited, or fleeing their homes as refugees, those who are
grieving, those who hunger and thirst for the common good, those who are
merciful and compassionate, those who work for peace and reconciliation, those
who have a single-minded devotion to God’s kingdom, those who don’t back down
from working for justice, even when they are misunderstood and challenged. Jesus
calls THESE people blessed. And I am sure that we can all find ourselves somewhere on this list
The NEW Kingdom, the Jesus regime, starts NOW, with his
first sermon, which states that you are blessed,
right where you are, however you find yourself. Jesus calls YOU blessed,
because you ARE a child of God and a fellow disciple of Jesus. Jesus teaches us
that we are blessed because we need to know where we are FROM before
we can know where we are going.
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Lutheran writer and speaker Nadia Bolz-Weber shared this
reflection recently (in her most recent email newsletter): “Maybe the Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus’
lavish blessing of the people around him on that hillside who his world—like
ours—didn’t seem to have much time for: people in pain, people who work for
peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance. Maybe Jesus was simply blessing the ones around him
that day who didn’t otherwise receive blessing, who had come to believe that,
for them, blessings would never be in the cards…” So, Nadia Bolz-Weber imagines
Jesus standing among us offering some of these new beatitudes:
“Blessed are they who doubt. Those who
aren’t sure, who can still be surprised...
Blessed are those who have nothing to
offer. Blessed are the preschoolers who cut in line at communion. Blessed are
the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are they for whom death is not an
abstraction.
Blessed are they who have buried their
loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean. Blessed are they who have
loved enough to know what loss feels like.
Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.
Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury
of taking things for granted anymore.
Blessed are they who can’t fall apart
because they have to keep it together for everyone else.
Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it
yet.”
Blessed are those who no one else notices.
Blessed are the forgotten. Blessed are the
closeted.
Blessed are the unemployed, the
unimpressive, the underrepresented.
Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones
who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard, for Jesus chose to
surround himself with people like them.
Blessed are those without documentation.
Blessed are the ones without lobbyists.
Blessed are foster kids and special-ed kids
and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved.
Blessed are those who make terrible
business decisions for the sake of people.
Blessed are the burned-out social workers
and the overworked teachers and the pro bono case takers.
Blessed are the kids who step between the
bullies and the weak.
Blessed are the merciful, for they totally
get it.
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Jesus spent most of his time with the downtrodden and displaced, with those grieving, with those hungering and thirsting for God’s kingdom, with those actively making peace, with those with a heart for God’s justice, with those who are merciful when the world thinks it’s a sign weakness, and with those who are hated and feared by others.
We are called to be hungry and thirsty for God’s justice
when there is a clear “Justice shortage.” We are called to show compassion when
we are taught to only look out for ourselves. We are called to follow the voice
and vision of Jesus above all the other desires of our hearts. We are called to
be an active force for peace in the world.
To the rest of the world, this looks like a completely
foolish endeavor. But, as Paul wrote, “Has God not made foolish the wisdom of
the world?” “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God
chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
In the Jesus regime, what seems foolish is wise and what seems
weak is strong. The merciful, the meek, the peacemakers, you,
and me are all blessed and are brought together into a blessed
community and family. And a crucified man is our ruler and guide in doing
justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with him along the way on this
journey. And whether than journey is fast or slow, straight as the crow flies
or full of detours and, the destination is the same – The kingdom is coming,
and the kingdom is already here… as we put one foot in front of the other, taking
the next stop… then the next… then the next. Thanks be to God, amen.
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