January 9, 2011
Matthew 4:23–5:1-12

"Blessed"
Lauren J. McFeaters

Introduction
A little less than 24 hours ago, on a sunny winter morning, a killer opened fire on a gathering outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson. Senior US District Judge John Roll, a nine-year-old third grader named Christina, and four others are dead; including Gabriel Zimmerman, 30; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Phyllis Schneck, 79. 
Representative Gabrielle Giffords is in critical condition. Eighteen are injured.

In a world where we hardly look up into the faces of those we pass on the street; or where we feel deeply uncomfortable putting out our hand to be shaken; in a world where we die a little more each time violence is perpetrated and we are diminished each time cruelty is played out, we need a Word from the Lord.

And the Lord has a Word for us. It’s a Word of healing. It’s a word of Blessing. It’s a word that proclaims who and whose we are.

Listen now, for the Lord’s Word comes to us from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4:23–5:1-12:
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.

And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

This is the Word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.

Matthew 4:23 - 5:1-2 (1)

For weeks he’s been curing sickness. The ailing have been laid before him; and he’s cured those with serious disease. Now enormous crowds have followed Jesus and he chooses to climb up a mountain and to ask his disciples to come near. He sits and he preaches; he uses words for a troubled people.

Good words, as we know, literally put us back together again; they integrate, help, mend, and heal us. Wrong words disintegrate us; crumble us; they literally make us sick; they hurt and break us. (2)

So Jesus speaks to what is diminished and broken. How does he preach?

Will he remind us of our heritage and the great traditions we’ve lost sight of?

Will he say we’ve broken covenant with God?

Will he tell us to return to the past?

Will he tell us to fear the future? (3)

No, he just looks at us and announces:
Blessed. Blessed are. Blessed are you.

When we’re weary and tired; when we start resembling a worn out gaggle of disciples who have left their nets and boats; when we begin to lack zest and passion and loose energy to be vital; when the news of the world, and the day after day of our lives chips away at our resilience, Jesus sit down with us and tells us it is the very poverty of our souls that brings us a blessing. (4)

When he offers us these Blessings, he’s not giving us practical words for successful living; these are not instructive cues for an enhanced life style or statements about our human virtue; Jesus is not gently laying his hand on our heads and whispering in holy tones: “Blessed are you, Blessed are you, Blessed are you.”
His Blessings are fearless, bold, and audacious.
His Blessings are prophetic declarations about our place beside him; about the fundamental goodness of Christian community; about the hope we have in the trenches of ministry.
The Blessings do not describe, one after another, different kinds of good Christians who get to go to heaven; they are instead holy expectations of a life together.(5)

Blessed. Blessed are. Blessed are you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Blessed are those who mourn,
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are the hungers righteousness,
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the pure in heart,
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness,
Blessed are the reviled.

One preacher puts it this way: if we ever question who we are; if we’ve unsure of our place; if we ever wonder about our identity, Jesus tells us here and now.

He tells us what is unassailably true: you and I are created for blessing. We’re knit together for joy. And the source of our joy is not that we will live easy lives in a happy world or that things are getting better every day, but that our trust is in God.
Jesus proclaims what is unassailably true: the purpose of every holy law, the foundation of every tradition, the aim of every practice of the church called and instructed by Jesus is for the saving of God’s people.

It becomes apparent then, that Jesus’ Blessings turn the world’s principles upside down. They are a flat reversal of what is considered to be true in a world that pronounces a benediction over the violent, the aggressive, and the antagonistic. The people whom the world would see as pitiful and weak; contemptible and pathetic — the mournful, the meek, the merciful, the peacemaker, the pure, the persecuted—are the very people who are a joy to God. And the source of the joy is not that God’s people live they live painless lives in a merry world or that things are looking up, but that our hope is in the God who loves us. (6)

Calvin says:
Christ teaches that the greatest joy and happiness is not in the conveniences and pleasures of this life, but [the greatest joy and happiness] is laid up in heaven for those who willingly rest in the good will and pleasure of God, and endeavour to profit all [humanity].(7)
Blessed. Blessed are. Blessed are you.

Elizabeth Schultz and I have been talking about the New Year’s Day bomb in Alexandria Egypt that killed 21 Christians. 96 are wounded. It was just eight days ago. 

But have you heard that to stand beside their fellow Egyptians, Muslims in Alexandria and Cairo and all across Egypt; men, women, children, protected Coptic Christians at their Christmas services.
And more than that: Egyptian Muslims, average citizens, went out in force on Epiphany to risk their lives by attending Christmas worship with their Coptic Christian neighbors, serving as human shields as Christians arrived and left their churches. Muslims protected and sheltered against further acts of extremist violence.
Ashley McGuire reported this for the Washington Post. She quotes one Muslim woman as saying:

I know it might not be safe,
yet it's either we live together,
or we die together, we are all Egyptians.

These are the words we might expect from the battlefield, McGuire continues, of politicians preparing a nation for war, of voices rallying people for an inspiring cause.
But these are the words of Cherine Mohamed, a 50-year-old Egyptian housewife.
When an Egyptian Muslim woman will leave her spoon in the pot;
when an Egyptian Muslim teenager will leave her books and papers in the classroom;
when an Egyptian Muslim man will leave his stethoscope in his office;
and they all attend Christmas worship to protect the very life of their Coptic neighbors,(8) blessing come to light:
“Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Blessed. Blessed are. Blessed are you.

 

Endnotes

 

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