I am not sure, I was
not here back in the day. But the fire storm of our existence from the
beginning may have provoked even the civilized folk of Wilshire Wood to shout
“These people who have turned the world upside down have come here also!” What
possibly could have provoked them? We were not snake handlers, we did not put
up revival tents.
Incredibly, our threat
came from a couple of ex-convicts who had just been released from jail in a
Macedonian town called Philippi, where they had been charged with “disturbing
the city.” Paul and Silas were out and ours was hardly the last place in which
their teaching touched off a small riot.
Their teacher, Jesus,
had been horribly executed. He had rudely crumpled up the mental map of the
known world and no one in Galilee or Jerusalem appreciated having their
traditional world view refolded and then redrawn. Paul and Silas, like many to
follow them, were greeted with puzzled grimaces and clenched fists. We know the
hue and cry, “These (people) who have turned the world upside down have come
here also.” (Acts 17)
We have come here and
it is puzzling to others what we are about. After all, Jesus had been acting
like a circuit preacher along the Sea of Galilee and the crowds were buzzing
with excitement. The turnout had been growing and rumors about Jesus had been
turning the world upside down.
I suppose Matthew was
trying to help when he stops the action and we get to overhear what Jesus,
seated on a mountain, had to say. It is in these Beatitudes.
At first we are struck
by their sheer impracticality for the world we live in. We live in a time when
the blessings given are to those who succeed. Often at the expense of ourselves
and others. To be poor in spirit,
peaceful, merciful, and meek will get us nowhere in a culture grounded in
fierce competition with an underlay of fear. Who can possibly survive in an
attempt to live into the spirit of the Beatitudes?
More importantly,
when Jesus turns the values of the world upside down like he has done here,
what does that mean for us as church?
Being good
Presbyterians, we have a meeting! As a
matter of fact, we will have such a meeting today! It will be orderly, well once we fill our
plates that is, and we will read and remind ourselves of our Mission and Vision
statements and our accomplishments in 2013. That is what good Presbyterian do!
Now, our world as
church is not upside down or crumbling, but it is just good business to step
back and assess our lives. Be it Mission and Vision statements or Beatitudes, a re-visit and honest checking-in
on our progress is a good idea.
Our Mission Statement says:
In the name of Christ, we welcome and serve all of God’s people with energy,
intelligence, imagination, and love. Let’s see – energy, intelligence,
imagination, and love. I suppose two out of four is not so bad.
Our Vision Statement
says we are here to participate in worship that affects the way we live every
day. We are here to learn how following Christ can change our lives. We are
here to love our neighbors. We recognize everyone is our neighbor because we
embrace diversity.
Like the beatitudes,
we find in these statements ways we have been faithful, ways we might improve,
and clearly marked expectations from God for our discipleship.
C. S. Lewis, in his
sermon “The Weight of Glory,” challenges us to know God’s desire for our lives
as Christians and as church. He offers that, “indeed , if we consider the
unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised
in the Gospels, it would seem our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but
too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with life and ambition
when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on
making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer
of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
No one would argue
Genesis church is far too easily pleased. We have worked really hard to bring
this church from the brink and become a viable and safe place welcoming and
serving those whom God brings to our campus with energy! Yes, we do have
energy. It is not with reckless abandon that we discharge our energy. It is
intentional and well thought out and we pace ourselves.
As for intelligence,
imagination, and especially love. We know God’s the one who challenges us and
we give our all when we put our mind and our heart to the task of being church.
Archbishop Oscar
Romero understood the struggles of Christians and a struggling church in a
difficult world and echoes our sentiment when in he said, “The world does not
say; blessed are the poor. The world says: blessed are the rich. You are worth
as much as you have. Jesus Christ says:
Wrong! Blessed are the poor because they do not put their trust in what is so
transitory. Blessed are the poor for they know their riches are in the One whom,
being rich, made himself poor in order to enrich us with his poverty. Teaching
us the Christians’ true wisdom.”
We are blessed because
this church did not put our trust in what is transitory. We know our riches are
in Jesus Christ. He shows us the way to follow. It is his way. So our life
mission is to embrace Christ’s way of service, as a people and as a church.
Discernment and discovery
of the presence of God and this will of God, and our future path with God,
takes more than our energy. It takes extraordinary faith and staying power. It
requires a love deeper and more giving than we can give on our own. It means we
take Jesus up on his invitation and, with his help, we live like he lived.
From his childhood to
the last week of his life, Jesus found his staying power in the Jewish daily
prayer the Shema. It is one of those
grounding prayers we should all know.
“Hear O Israel. The
Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
Jesus found his
energy, faith, and staying power in the Shema and from it God’s command that we
“Keep these words . . . in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk
about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down, and
when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your
forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The
Lord is our God, the Lord alone.”
Grounded this way these beatitudes have a
chance to find their way into the fabric of our life as Christians and as
church. They have a chance because of who said them. It was Jesus who spoke
them and embodied them and we are compelled to care. This Sermon on the Mount is
Jesus’ sermon and he is the embodiment of all the Beatitudes. We find in them a
glimpse of what life with Jesus is like.
The poor in spirit who
are blessed are those who recognize their need for God in all things and that
only God can save and protect them. We help bless them when we make room for
God in our hearts and in our lives. For then many will be blessed and our
church will come closer to bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to our little corner
of the world.
Those who mourn are
blessed as they realize their wish for God to send a Messiah, to restore God’s
kingdom, and set the world right, is here in Jesus. We help bless them when we
place our fear and the future of this church with him. Those who mourn will be
blessed and our church will come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven when we rely
on Jesus for our service of mission and vision.
Those who are meek are
blessed when they remember to trust that God knows what God is doing. We, in
turn, will bless them when we remember to
trust God as well, and our church will come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are hungry
and thirsty for righteousness are blessed when they recognize their spiritual
poverty leads to a hunger for right living. We will bless them when we insist
on living in God’s right way, following God’s rule. Our church will come closer
to the Kingdom of Heaven as well.
Those who are
merciful are blessed when they recognize mercy is part of God’s nature. We will
bless them when we risk our own comfort for the good of another and our church
will come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are pure in
heart are blessed when they realize the heart that desires only what God wants
is not the result of personal effort. God works in and through us. We will
bless them when we faithfully seeks God’s way, pray and act on what God wants.
Then our church will come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are
peacemakers are blessed when they who would normally be at war with one another
will be in harmony. We will bless them when we invite those with whom we war
into our lives. Our church will then come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are
persecuted for righteousness sake are blessed
when persons revile them and persecute them and utter all kinds of evil
against them falsely on God’s account. We will honor them when we take up our
cause for doing the right thing. We then come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
These Beatitudes are
not calls to action, they are not commands. They are telling us the way things
are to be. They do not call us personally to be poor in spirit, to mourn, or to
be meek. No, they are promises of how the Kingdom of Heaven will be.
As such, they define
our faith. They assure us “Christianity is not a scheme to reduce stress, lose
weight, advance in one’s career, or preserve one from illness. Christian faith
is a way of living grounded in the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way
of God. That righteousness and peace will prevail and God’s future will be a
time of mercy and not cruelty.
So, blessed are those
who live this life now. Even when such a life seems foolish. For we will, in
the end, have our fear taken away by God.”
Does this define our
church? I believe it does. It is affirmed in our statements of mission and vision. It is
loudly shouted in our actions. For they
do speak louder than our words.
In Christ’s name, we
welcome and serve all of God’s people. Our worship affects our lives, our learning
about Christ changes our lives, and we love our neighbors.
To God be the glory.
These people who have turned the world upside down have come here, and the
Kingdom of Heaven is near.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
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