We just
heard the first twelve verses of Matthew’s record of Jesus’ “Sermon on the
Mount”. This opening passage is known as
the Beatitudes because in the Latin
each begins with the word beatus
meaning, blessed, happy, or fortunate. It is not only an
incredible teaching, but also a phenomenal piece of literature set within a
historical context.
Of the
four gospels, Matthew’s is written primarily for late 1st Century Jewish
readers. The author does several things
to connect Jesus’ teaching with his intended audience. First, he sets each beatitude in a structure
reminiscent of the parallelism found in the Psalms and other poetic writings of
the Hebrew Scriptures. Beatitudes 1-3
and 4-6 each contain exactly 36 words in the original Greek. The final two beatitudes contain 35
words. This is not by accident and would
not be lost on Matthew’s readers.
He makes
an even bolder statement in describing the setting. Jesus is on a mountain overlooking the Sea of
Galilee when the crowds gather around him.
The text tells us he begins to speak and teaches them. Mathew places the moment in contrast to one
of the most significant events in Hebrew history: Moses receiving God’s 10
Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Some 1250
years before the Sermon on the Mount, only Moses can go before God. There, the people must to remain at the foot
of the mountain and anyone who transgresses beyond the allotted distance
perishes. A thick cloud shrouds the
mountain Moses ascends because no human can bear to look directly at God’s
glory and live. In Jesus, we have God in
flesh and all people are free to approach him without fear or apprehension. This
message too would not have been lost on Matthew’s original readers.
The
sharpest contrast between Moses and Jesus is found in the content each
delivers. God gives to Moses a series of
commands – “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not.”
Whereas Moses prescribes the do’s and don’ts of moral and ethical
behavior, Jesus describes it. He
commands no one to be poor or meek or merciful or pure in heart. He directs no one to search for a reason to
mourn or to seek just causes or to make peace or to be persecuted. He simply says as you do these things you are
blessed. People who live this way, Jesus
says, are happy.
Through
his initial teaching on the Sermon on the Mount Jesus does not intend to change
the world, rather he intends to change the way his followers see the
world. It is as if we are wearing a pair
of glasses with lenses designed to filter out a specific light frequency. Jesus invites us to remove these glasses and
wear a pair he prescribes; a pair which allows us clearly to see the world as
he and God have created it to be. The
world is not changed by changing our glasses, but how we see the world is
changed.
Jim Barringer, a Christian
musician and church teacher, says this is how the world looks if you look at it
through the glasses the world gives you:
· “Blessed
are the rich in material wealth, because they pull all the strings and have all
the nice things.”
· “Blessed are those who put on a stiff upper lip and
pretend they aren’t hurting, because vulnerability is weakness.”
· “Blessed are the aggressive, because nice guys finish
last.”
· “Blessed
are those who have low expectations, because they will never be disappointed.”
· “Blessed
are the merciless, for they will become CEOs.”
· “Blessed are the people who only care about morality
when it’s convenient, because they will have a much easier life.”
· “Blessed
are the winners, because everyone who’s not a winner is a loser.”
· “Blessed
are those who don’t take a hard stand for anything, because persecution isn’t
fun or easy.”
In the prime of his career, Charles Barkley
appeared in a magazine ad clutching a basketball with a menacing look on his face. The caption read, “The meek may inherit the
earth, but they’ll never get a rebound.”
It is hard to argue against the world’s logic, but we might want to ask
if, in the end, is a rebound that important.
This week I watched a PBS documentary about the residents of 740
Park Avenue in New York City, a building home to thirty-some billionaires. Their lives are marked by power and
opulence. Residing at various ends of
the political spectrum, each contributes millions of dollars to various political
campaigns, lobbyists, and think-tanks in order to influence legislation as well
as public opinion for their benefit. I
cannot imagine what it is like to live in a lavishly decorated, 20,000 square
foot New York City apartment or to have members of congress dedicated to doing
my bidding. But I do challenge the
notion that any or all of the residents of 740 Park Ave. are any happier than I
am. Most put on a good public face, to
be sure. But I imagine each to be so
driven by competition and a burning desire to promote self-interest that the
pleasures of their material things – extravagant beyond anything any of us will
ever know – are fleeting at best. They
spend their lives trying to staple the morning dew to a flower’s pedal; an
enterprise that does not make for happiness.
They may say even if their lives are not happy, they are no less
happy then ours, and they have all the nice things. I disagree.
We have things money cannot purchase.
Through this weekend’s Vestry retreat, as each of us shared why this
church is important to us, two themes surfaced again and again: first, we find
God in this place, and second, we experience God’s love for all people in the
common life we enjoy with one another. These
are relationships that transgress education, social status, and economic
well-being. Our relationship with one
another is ground in the Beatitudes. It
is lasting. It is real. It is eternal. And it is blessed.
Jesus teaches the crowds out of God’s deep love for each of
us.
·
While destitution is not a virtue in and of itself, Jesus
recognizes there are riches to be found in poverty that no amount of wealth can
purchase.
·
In a world clutching tightly on to everything, Jesus says letting
go and mourning a loss is a path to comfort and healing.
·
The world tells us to lash out at our enemies, to have a strong
and immediate response to every perceived insult, threat, and attack, but Jesus
suggests there is a value to enduring injury with patience and without
resentment; a response he calls meekness.
·
Jesus says
happiness involves recognizing the connections we share with one another and
knowing, as Paul says, when one person suffers, we all suffer. This is why we crave for a just world where
every person is rightly treated.
·
Our Lord suggests
happiness does not come from what you can do to others or in what you can make others
do for you, but rather in discovering what others might need from you and
offering it to them; in doing for others those things they may not be able to
do for themselves – being merciful.
·
Jesus says
happiness comes from having a personal and godly integrity. Our behavior, our actions, and our deeds do
not change to harmonize with the situation.
Our pitch in life emanates from our Baptismal vows. We are pure in voice and in heart.
·
And we
work to create harmony among individuals, within a group, throughout our
community, and in our world. Happiness
is found in peace – in concord, not discord.
·
We accept
pursing happiness as Jesus describes it at times will not be popular. It will put us at odds with those who define
their happiness through the colored lenses of the world’s glasses, which come
in many different hues and shapes.
Karoline Lewis, a seminary
professor writes, “The Beatitudes are a call to action for
the sake of creating the world God imagines.”
I cannot imagine a more difficult or a more meaningful pursuit in
life. The world presents us with so many
easier and lesser paths. We are a part
of a movement that men and women have given everything for, even their lives,
in witness to the truth of and the life inherent in the teaching of God’s Son
incarnate.
