By Reverend Deacon Jerry Bauman
From the beginning of today’s first reading, we are told to seek various ways of being. This prophet, Zephaniah, from Hebrew Scripture, is telling us to be God-seeking people, righteous people, humble people, lowly people, upright people, honest people, people who seek refuge. For these are some of the goals in maintaining meaningful relationships with God. He tells his audience, and that includes us, to be smart and approach life with wisdom, because these are the ones who will be hidden on the day of God’s wrath.
And then we come to the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. Jesus’s pièce de résistance, his monumental line in the sand for humanity. This is the passage of Scripture from which fans of Jesus most often quote. “Don’t judge.” “Love your enemies.” “Turn the other cheek.”
And today’s Gospel, from that Sermon on the Mount, contains the Beatitudes. Beatitude means, “a state of supreme blessedness.” or, “a state of utmost bliss.”
These are eight teachings of Jesus, that we’ve heard numerous times through the years. Eight teachings – that are better suited for the walls of a classroom or courthouse than the ten commandments are, any day of the week. Because instead of telling us what not to do, they tell us what is really important in experiencing God’s kingdom.
Jesus never describes God’s kingdom as a place. God’s kingdom is never referred to as a where, but more as a when. God’s kingdom is here and now. God’s kingdom is at hand.
We experience God’s kingdom when we are connected with God, when we are in oneness with God, when we are in relationship with God. There is nothing we can do in the afterlife to earn a place in the kingdom of God. So, unless we seek to find that kingdom, right now, where we are, and who we are, it’s lost to us.
Matthew 5:17 tells us, in a part of the gospel for later in the year, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
Many, many people—including many church people—have this idea that Jesus showed up on earth two thousand years ago to shake things up. And many assume he was doing so to upset a group of people who were in charge at the time. But I believe that in shaking things up, Jesus was showing us how to find God’s kingdom – in the here and now!
Every aspect of Jesus’s life and ministry has messages for us that can be easily misunderstood. For example, I don’t believe Jesus entered the world simply to die. He became flesh, and journeyed with us, to teach us how to live and love our God and each other. And, yes, Jesus was killed for being a trouble-maker, but that’s a story for another time.
In the Beatitudes, Jesus makes a series of teachings about the purpose and effect of God’s kingdom that is breaking into the world. But rather than humbling ourselves before its messages we try to co-opt and spin them, turning them into a set of Christian fortune cookies.
We are so convinced that the “blessed” statements are all about us, that we miss the message of how we are to live in communion with our brothers and sisters!
And Jesus opened his mouth 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.
These beatitudes are about ‘God’s Good News”. They are not “Advice.” Jesus is telling us that it’s our turn now—or, at least, that it will be soon. Jesus is announcing and proclaiming who, in the here and now, is part of God’s kingdom. Jesus says, “I am bringing a blessing to the meek.” not “become meek and you’ll get blessed.”
A common misunderstanding is that the Beatitudes are a checklist of things we have to do to become better people or more spiritual. The beatitudes are not action points, telling us what we need to do to get some blessing. They are instead telling us where we can find those who have already been blessed, so we know where to find God’s kingdom. The assignment is not to become more humble or more merciful, as if they are spiritual homework to earn God’s Blessings.
It makes sense, Jesus is speaking to people who are already meek or who have been made meek, by some circumstance or experience. Meekness isn’t something we put on to achieve particular blessings. I don’t think this is what Jesus had in mind at all when he gifted us with the Beatitudes.
The Beatitudes are not laws. They aren’t steps or tips. These blessings are good tidings! They are announcements of something happening, not instructions of things to do. The Beatitudes are beautiful proclamations of the good news of God’s kingdom, which has come in-and-through the person and work of Jesus the Christ.
What does Jesus mean when He says, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who hunger and thirst’? Jesus’ Good News is the naming of real people who are already living these realities—people who feel empty, grieving, exhausted, or longing. And He is saying that they are blessed right now, not after they get their act together or move on to the afterlife. The Beatitudes are described as a mirror Jesus holds up to our ordinary human lives, showing that God sees us, and is near to us. Showing us that God is not ‘out there’ in the distance, but with us in the midst of our human struggles.
Blessing comes in the fullness of our lives as they actually are—amidst our grief, our doubt, our weakness, and our longing—not after we become our better selves.
When we understand the Beatitudes in this way, it changes our perspective from being about performance and achievement into being about presence, relationship, and grace. Emphasizing that God sees and loves us as we are.
The Beatitudes invite all of us to breathe and know that God sees us, that God loves us, and is with us, and that we are not outside the reach of God’s grace, regardless of our current struggles or spiritual state.
God is offering us comfort rather than burden. Jesus wasn’t turning things upside down. He was turning things right side up.
Think of every category of person spoken to in the Beatitudes:
The spiritually impoverished.
The emotionally devastated.
The psychologically weak.
The culturally oppressed.
The inwardly pure.
The relationally calm.
The physically abused.
The personally accused.
Jesus says these people are already blessed, so do we cherish them? Are these the kinds of people we typically see featured on magazine covers or in awards shows? Do we listen to them on the radio? Do we go to conferences to hear them? Do we buy books authored by them? No. We don’t really care to associate-with or learn-from these people. They’re socially awkward, messy, and kind of needy. What can they teach us? They aren’t winners. And yet these people are exactly the ones Jesus is referring to.
So, if you’re trying to find the kingdom of God in the here and now, don’t strive for blessedness, but instead look for the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and walk with them on their journeys. Journeying with them will show us new ways of being blessed. For, as Matthew tells us, “theirs is the kingdom of God!”
Do you recall the alien monolith that dropped out of the other dimension in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001-A Space Odyssey? The one that drove all the apes crazy? Some got smarter, some got meaner, but they all got different because their reality had been changed. That’s what the Beatitudes do. They change reality. This is not meant to be good news for some who are trying to earn the most blessings, but it is very good news for those of us already seeking a share in God’s kingdom in the here-and-now?
Amen Holy Family?