Indexed by Date. Sermons for Epiphany Year C

January 30, 2005

Micah 6: 1-8
Psalm 15
1 Corinthians 1: 18-31
Matthew 5: 1-12

In one of the Monty Python movies we see that someone portraying Jesus is preaching on a far off hillside but ther people in the foreground cannot hear. One of them runs a little closer and then comes back to his friends.

“What’s he sayin’”, asks one of them.

“Blessed are the cheese-makers” answers the other.

Blessed are the cheese-makers! In a way it makes a lot more sense than what the writer of Matthew’s gospel has actually written. As a cheese-maker can goes home at the end of a day’s work, she or he can see the wheels of cheese made that day, curing or take the cheque to the bank when a delivery has been made. Cheese is good, even if the nutrition experts say that not all kinds are good for you! What a wonderful thing it is, on a cold evening, to invite some friends over and enjoy a snack of crackers and a hot cheese dip made of almonds, green onions, mayonnaise and Swiss and cream cheeses! We should give thanks for the skills and knowledge of cheese-makers. What would we do without them?

But that’s not what I read! “Blessed are the peacemakers”. Peacemaking is a much harder, much more dangerous, much more controversial occupation. Peacemakers sometimes doesn’t have much to show for their efforts. With the most powerful nation in the world engaged in what they have termed “a war against terrorism”, peacemaking does not seem to get much attention or respect.

Today’s gospel passage is sometimes called “The Beatitudes” and is taken from a larger section, called, “The Sermon on the Mount”. The “blessed life” or “the blessed” are not limited to peacemakers, but also include, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted, and the slandered.

At first glance though these do not seem to be indications of any real kind of blessing. In fact they are often taken as indications of just the opposite. They seem to be contradicted by both common sense and experience. We all know that the meek don’t even get into traffic at an uncontrolled intersection, let alone end up inheriting the earth! We all know that the world only remembers winners, not the losers, or the ‘also rans’.

There were two models for “blessing pronouncements” that were used by Israel and from which Jesus could have drawn. Many came from what was called the “wisdom” tradition. Some might say wisdom is little more than common sense, but it is more like “common sense reflected on from the viewpoint of the life of faith.” This format took a look at people in fortunate circumstances and declared that they were blessed. An example might be, “How blessed are they who have enough to eat”. In a world where many walked in hunger, it was indeed a blessing to have food.

At this point I need to say that I believe it is unfortunate that some modern translations have used the word ‘happy’ instead of ‘blessed’. Happy is too light a word; too easily misunderstood or discounted as superficial or fleeting. The word, “Happy”, just doesn’t “do it”. “BLESSED”. Now that is a good, solid word, with layers and layers of meaning. The opposite of being ‘blessed’ is being ‘cursed’.

The other major tradition which used “blessing pronouncements” was the prophetic tradition. In the prophetic tradition of ‘blessing pronouncements’, common sense was turned on its head and blessing was pronounced on those who were currently in dire circumstances. The prophetic tradition called people to faithfulness for the ‘long haul’ and it called the people to live as if the proclaimed future were in fact already a reality. In the very declaration of blessedness, those so named actually become blessed.

In addition, these beatitudes are not aimed at people in general, but rather to the Christian community. They speak of the blessing of those who live out God’s reign, even though the world may not call them blessed.

Now I know of lots of folks who would say, “Says who?”. The truth and reliability of these words is based on the authority and identity of Jesus. This is not just some holy and wise person, or a really smart person, but the Son of God, the Head of the Church, the Saviour of those who call upon his name. It is the life and death of this person which provides the inspiration to his followers to follow in his footsteps by trusting in God, as he did, and by living lives of service, as he did.

Last week marked the 60th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Auschwitz, one of the death camps run by the Nazis is probably the best known of the camps designed to kill Jewish people, gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people and others considered unfit to live by the Nazis. One million Jewish people and over one thousand others were killed at Auschwitz alone. They came from all countries controlled by or allied with Nazi Germany.

Many stories have been told about people who tried to prevent such deportations by hiding Jewish people in attics and basements, by obtaining extra ration cards so that they could eat, and false documents so that they could escape, or by claiming young Jewish children were their own. When I was in Junior High I watched a movie called “The Hiding Place” which told the story of a family from Holland who were eventually sent to concentration camps because they helped to hide Jews from the Nazis’. The TenBoom family were watchmakers and committed Christians. Their home was always an "open house" for anyone in need.

During the Second World War, the Ten Boom family, far from stopping their work, continued and branched into much more dangerous pursuits. Their home became a refuge, a hiding place, for fugitives and those hunted by the Nazis. By protecting these people, Casper and his daughters, Corrie and Betsie, risked their very lives. Their faith led them to hide people such as Jews, students who refused to cooperate with the Nazis, and members of the Dutch underground resistance movement.

During 1943 and into 1944, there were usually 6 or 7 people illegally living in this home: 4 Jews and 2 or 3 members of the Dutch underground. Additional refugees would stay with the Ten Booms for a hours or a few days until another "safe house" could be located for them. Much of the ‘leg work’ was done by Corrie, who was far from young at the time. Through these activities, the Ten Boom family and their many friends saved the lives of an estimated 800 Jews, and protected many Dutch underground workers.

In the 1980's Corrie, the only member of the family to survive the concentration camps, was asked to plant a tree in to honour those who did not survive, in Israel’s “Garden of Righteousness” and she was honoured with the title, “Righteous Gentile”

She and her father would have looked upon their work, the sacrifices it involved, and the dangers as an honour and would have often given thanks for the blessing it brought them.

The beatitudes call Christians to look at the world with a different set of eyes. Every time you turn on the TV you see ads for the Atlantic Lotto. Whether it is the regular 649 or the “Set for Life” promotion, the ads assume that winning a big amount of money is the one thing that is keeping all of us from true happiness and peace of mind. They forget to tell you that it takes thousands of losers to pay for just “one week” for a set for life winner. They equate this surface kind of happiness with what the beatitudes would call ‘blessedness’.

I was reading a book the other day that spoke of the work of Tatamagouche Centre and others in Guatemala. The Maya people of Guatemala, in villages like labor De Falla, where Chignecto Presbytery donated a large amount of money toward a well, know that true meaning in life does not come from possessions, for they have very few. They, and many others in similar difficult circumstances, can teach us a great deal about peace and happiness and true meaning in life. They do not want to have people come to ‘help them’ but to have people come to ‘walk with them’, to ‘share their lives’ and to realize that ‘we are all interconnected and that their liberation and ours are tied together. They have much to teach us about hope and true blessing.

And it’s certainly NOT about ignoring all of the ills of this life because they will all be erased in heaven! By no means. We are meant to struggle with the evil and sad things of this world and to make life better for all people, but we must always keep things in perspective. The success is not in the arrival, but in the journey; the joy comes from having walked together in faith with those who are on a similar journey of love, peace, justice and faith.

You see, the beatitudes are not a COMMAND to be poor, meek or in mourning, but rather, they proclaim that God’s blessing is on those who find themselves in these situations. They proclaim God’s blessing on those who are in these situations because they are Christ’s disciples.

So much of what I see in the beatitudes involves living our lives in a completely different way. We are called to choose an alternative to the ‘success model’. We are called to model something other than the ‘dog eat dog’ success model that gives us nothing but ulcers and leaves our opponents as road-kill on the highway to success. It’s the model that enjoins us to ‘look after #1' by earning more and saving more and maximizing our return because “if we don’t look after ourselves, no one else will.”

Instead, it substitutes another outlook. The model of Christ teaches that “it is only through working together and focussing on the Good News of Jesus, the Christ, that we will find true blessing. Its part of the paradox of the gospel that it is only in losing our lives that we will find and in giving that we receive.

The truth of the beatitudes will only become apparent as we live them into being in our won lives as a community of faith, ever supported by the presence of the Risen Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

February 2, 2005