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Sunday February 24, 2008 "Living the Blessing" Matthew 5:1-12 |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 2/25/2008 12:42 AM | When we hear a scripture like the one we just heard read, it is easy to say, “Oh, I’ve heard this a thousand times before. How am I supposed to get something new out of this?”
I think it helps if we approach it like we would any scripture, and forget for the moment that is the opening salvo of Jesus’ most important and extended sermon on Christian living.There are questions I think we should ask ourselves whenever we delve into the scriptures. What is the context, the situation in life, of this scripture? For whom was the original message intended? How would they have heard it? How can an ancient text have an impact on us, in wildly different circumstances today?
Let’s start with the context of this passage.The Gospel according to Matthew tells us that Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan. Immediately following this event, Jesus is led into the wilderness where the preparation for his ministry is begun. It is, indeed, an odd preparation, but it seems to have served him well.In the wilderness he fasts for 40 days and 40 nights, all the while facing temptations that any normal person would mostly likely succumb to. But Jesus is resolute and answers every temptation with strength and the power of God’s word.After the wilderness experience, Jesus headed to Capernaum, hard by the Sea of Galilee, and made his home. While in Capernaum, Matthew tells us that he began the calling of his 12 closest followers, those whom he asked to give up everything and follow him; those we know as his disciples.
After these days of preparation, the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth begins in earnest with him traveling throughout the region of Galilee, a hilly region of small villages and rural dwellers; a region alternately barren and beautiful, desolate and bountiful. A place where farmers and shepherds and fishermen coexisted, seeking a living in this place that they all called home.In those days, Galileans would not have generally considered themselves dominated, even though technically they were under Roman rule. Other parts of Israel would have felt the sting of Rome’s whip much more than Galilee. Jersusalem, and those areas surrounding that holy city, several days ride away from Galilee, were much more likely to know the restriction of the domination of this foreign empire. Included in the dominated area would have been Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born – nestled firmly in what we now know as Israel’s west bank.
But Galilee? Galilee was pretty much left alone, and this is where Jesus truly began his ministry.
In chapter 4 verse 23, we are told that Jesus’ ministry in Galilee began to attract some attention. His teaching, his preaching, his proclamations of the good news of the kingdom of God, his healing of the lame and curing of the sick all became known to outsiders and made Jesus a bit of a superstar. Matthew tells us that people from Syria, from the cities of Northern Palestine, from Jerusalem, from all of Judea, people from places far flung and nearby, came to be in the presence of this great man, Jesus.It seems from Matthew’s account that the first people drawn to Jesus would have been those who needed physical restoration, rather than spiritual restoration. In verse 24 of the 4th chapter we are told that “all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics” were all brought to him. We are further told, “Jesus cured them all.”
Then came the day when “he went up the mountain” and delivered his most famous teaching on the Christian life: what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. In our reading this morning, we heard the very beginning of that sermon; a series of blessings that today are commonly knows as “The Beatitudes.”
If you go to Galilee, not far from Capernaum, you will find a place called “The Mount of the Beatitudes.” Today, a beautiful Orthodox Catholic cathedral sits on this mount. Tradition says that this is where the Sermon on the Mount was delivered, and as you stand at the top of the mount you look down into a natural ampitheater, and it makes perfect sense that this is where Jesus came to be heard. As you stand on this hill, you can look at the sea of Galilee before you and you can imagine the boats pulling up on shore in order that their inhabitants might move up the hillside to be in hearing of Jesus’ message.
That, then is the context of this message: it is very early in Jesus’ ministry and he finds himself with the opportunity to speak to a huge throng of interested Galileans, and he took it.
What then of our next questions: For whom was the original message intended and how would those original hearers have heard it?Given the setting, even with people traveling to hear this man Jesus, most of the people there would have been Galileans coming from town and village within easy walking distance: Capernaum, Tiberius, Magdala and others.In general, Galileans would have been relatively well off. They would have to work hard to make a living, to be sure, but a living could be had. Compared to there brothers and sisters in Jerusalem or in the countryside surrounding Jerusalem, the Galileans would have been fairly autonomous, free to make their living and live their life without overdue intrusion by the Romans who preferred to stay in the cities or in the seaside areas of the country like Caesarea Maritimius.
So, these relatively free, relatively prosperous people came to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his lessons. While some of them might have been in need of physical healing, there is no mention of this kind of activity throughout this episode. So I think it is safe to assume that the vast majority of the people who gathered on that hillside beside the sea were Galileans who were there for something other than physical healing: they may have been there because they were seeking a connection with God that they found hard to make in their every day lives. They may have been there because they had heard that this preacher could help them make that connection. They may have been living lives at loose ends, seemingly doing well in the eyes of the world, but wondering about how to live lives of meaning. They may have been there because they were need of spiritual healing.It makes sense to me that Jesus understood that, because immediately he lays out a plan for living.
As I hear the list of the blessings again, I am struck that Jesus is describing a way of living that, if embraced, will lead to changed lives. The sermon continually moves between the fact that people “are” a certain way, but that they “will” become something else. The movement from the present to the future told those Galileans that they were supposed to follow these blessings as a way to live, not simply some theoretical lesson about God’s grace.The first three of the blessings back up the notion that the first shall be last. They also would provide hope to those people gathered on the hillside because at different times, they all would find themselves in these situations: they would all find their spiritual lives challenged by temptations or the pull of earthly pursuits. They would all mourn. They would all have times when they would feel small and powerless. “So,” Jesus seems to be saying, “take heart. I will never leave you in those times when you feel alone.”
The tone of the next blessings are slightly different. Having been assured that God will be with them always, they are told that if they live their lives according to the precepts of Jesus, they will continue to be blessed, and in living this life, they will always be a blessing to others, including those who are seeking God, who mourn, who are unheard.
Jesus is addressing the question of how best to live life. And in short order he gives those listeners an answer: when you despair, know that God is with you. And when you understand and feel God’s presence, turn your attention to those who still mourn, who still seek God’s presence, who still feel powerless. Turn to those who are least able to make it on their own, and serve them with love, with mercy, as a peacemaker, as someone who is a witness to God’s strength and power.
These Galileans have come to Jesus seeking a prescription for right living. And Jesus delivers that prescription: live a life of service to those who most need you. In so doing, you will be living in service to God, and you will be blessed, no matter what persecution or travails may confront you.
Now comes the hard part of fully understanding scripture: how does it speak to us, today, in our circumstances.Think about our situation today. We live in relative comfort, even as we must work hard to make our livings. We live in relative freedom, able to go about our business as we generally please. Many suffer from illness and injury and disease. But many more suffer from other maladies for which spiritual encouragement might help tremendously. We suffer in so many ways: when we mourn, when we are lonely, when we find it difficult to feel God’s presence.
In addition, when we put our trust only in our earthly pursuits, we might find ourselves at loose ends: saddened, depressed, angry, bereft.
Rarely has it been so abundantly clear to me: we are the spiritual brothers and sisters of that Galilean crowd in most every significant way. We find ourselves, 2000 years later, in almost the same situation in life. When Jesus preaches the Beatitudes, he is preaching to us, across the centuries, across the continents, because we are just as much in need of this message as those who gathered by the sea.
How are we to live? By recognizing that in the depth of despair: in our mourning, in our loneliness, in our emptiness, in our struggle to be heard, God will never leave us. God will bless our journey and stay with us until we can take our gaze off the ground and move forward.
How are we to live? By striving for righteousness and justice and fairness on behalf of all people…by being merciful to all those whose paths we cross, just as God has been merciful to us...by working for peace among all of God’s children, in all ways, at all times. By living a life of service to those who need us the most.
How are we to live? In full confidence that no matter what the world may say, God’s grace will see us through anything.
With this hearing of the Beatitudes, I am more and more aware that Jesus continues to speak to us today. He speaks to us through this living, breathing document we call the Holy Bible and he speaks to us in our experience of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Ancient words and contemporary living intersect to lead to the same place: at Jesus’ feet, learning how to best live out our Christian walk, today, tomorrow and always.It’s fine and good to hear these words, but it is always better to have examples of people who have lived the life that Jesus talked about. People who understand that people need comfort and encouragement and mercy. People who have chosen to live their lives in service to others. People who could have chosen to live lives that made them monetarily rich or socially powerful, but instead, chose to live by reaching out to the least among us, the most vulnerable among us, the most fragile among us.
We have many examples of those people here today. They include current and former teachers of the Brookhaven Child Develoment Center. Folks who devote their lives, not to the pursuit of riches and fame and power, but rather to nurturing the least of these, our children. Those who devote their lives to teaching our children, and with their example, with their care, with their love, change lives and change the world.We will gather after this service to honor one of those teachers, Mary Mallard. Hear me well: Mary Mallard is a wonderful example of how we are to live in service to others. In accepting others as they are, and reaching out to provide care for those who need it, she is a blessing to all the lives she has touched. And I am not just talking about the children: I am talking about Mary’s understanding of the needs of parents, and teachers, and members of this congregation, and, the one that I am most grateful for, the needs of the ministers that she deals with. In all her actions, she personifies the notion that in our service to others, we find ourselves serving God and God’s purposes. And for all that, I thank God for Mary Mallard.
As I think about Jesus on that hill, simply and directly preaching about the life he calls us to, I am reminded that our Christian walk is not guided by a plan to protect ourselves or promote ourselves or enrich ourselves, but rather as the scholar Eugene Boring has written, “Christian faith…is a way of life based on the firm and sure hope in the way of God; that righteousness and peace will finally prevail and God’s future will be a time of mercy…”And I would only add, when we live that life well, the fulfillment of God’s future of righteousness and peace and mercy, comes closer and closer to being a reality.
One life at a time.
Let us pray: Across the ages, your words ring in our ears, Lord, and we are ashamed at the times we have not lived our lives as we should. We are humbled by the fact that when we are mourning, alone and frightened, we are comforted by your eternal presence. We give thanks for the witness of those who remind us just what a faithful life looks like, and for your forgiving ways. Strengthen us that we might be instruments of your mercy, your peace and your righteousness, now and always. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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