2023 01 29 Sermon
What Does It Mean to be Blessed?
Matthew 5:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Epiphany 4 A
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
When I was growing up in my home church, back in New York, our children’s choir would sing a song that teaches one of the most powerful practices you can learn for living the Christian life. The lyrics went something like this: Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what the Lord has done.
If someone asked you “what does it mean to be blessed?”, what would you say? My sons might say that it’s being given an extra-large portion of whatever they just ordered at Chipotle. We might also say it’s things like being with family, connecting with friends, celebrating a birthday, finding satisfaction in your job or volunteer activities, getting a good education, having a nice place to live—the list could go on and on. These are all blessings we can count. The word “blessed” in biblical usage indicates that someone has been made holy, someone has received God’s favor—in other words, God looks kindly upon a person.
Who are some of the people that the Bible describes as blessed? Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, is a prime example. Who does Jesus describe as blessed? This we find out by listening to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which he spoke to his disciples just up the hillside, up from the Sea of Galilee, soon after he called those fishermen to follow him.
Jesus teaches: Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn; blessed are the meek; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Because they are blessed: theirs is the kingdom of heaven; they will be comforted; they will inherit the earth; they will be filled. Jesus is describing people who are either lowly or struggling, due to the circumstances of their lives, or of the world around them. They are blessed because God looks kindly upon them. God knows their struggle and wants them to be in a better condition.
And Jesus ministers to them with a message of hope, that their unjust or unfortunate circumstances will be reversed. This divine reversal will be in an eternal sense, because in heaven all of these problems will be overcome. But Jesus also intends this promise to be one that people can experience in the current time, as well. Our God is not one who created us to simply suffer and then die. We have a God who created us to be able to live in hopefulness, knowing that the salvation he has promised can burst into our present circumstances.
The hope we have from faith in God will only be completely fulfilled when we meet Christ in the resurrection—that’s when mourning, sorrow, pain, disease, and death will be no more. But it’s also a hope that can be fulfilled in part today, when the ways of heaven sink down into the people of this earth, and God uses us to be his partners, sharing love, healing, forgiveness, grace, and justice in the way of Jesus.
Jesus also teaches in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the merciful; blessed are the pure in heart; blessed are the peacemakers; blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Because they are blessed: they will receive mercy; they will see God; they will be called children of God; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is describing people who have been caught up in the vision of hopefulness that God has for this world. These are people who have been given a spiritual gift that is fulfilled by seeking to be a partner with God in addressing the circumstances of the lowly or struggling, or oppressed. They are blessed because God looks kindly on them. God knows that their faith will not be at rest, unless they are trying to do what they can to try to set things right in this world; to try mending some of the things that break God’s heart.
Only God can completely set the world right, and as long as human being are plagued by sinfulness, things will never reach perfection. But that doesn’t mean that God can’t work through people to make things better than they are. As Martin Luther put it in his Small Catechism: God’s Kingdom comes on its own, without our prayer; but in the Lord’s Prayer we ask that God’s Kingdom may come even to us, and through us.
There are so many things that break God’s heart, and it’s not hard to find them. Some things that have struck a chord with me, and many others, is Tyre Nichols, maybe you’ve seen the video of him beaten and eventually died after a traffic stop in Memphis. There have been more mass shootings, in California and other places. The war against Ukraine continues, including the targeting of civilians. We can also look close to home to see more things that break God’s heart—housing insecurity and homelessness; hunger; mental health issues—things that people are living with even in our own peaceful suburbs like Franklin and Oak Creek.
You can even look inside your own soul, and ask yourself what is breaking your heart? Because that is probably breaking God’s heart, too. What causes you to mourn? What do you hunger and thirst will be made right? Who do you know that’s in need of mercy, or greater understanding?
God looks kindly on all of it—not because he wants the bad stuff to continue, but because he wants to set the world right. St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, describes God’s way of setting the world right—and it looks completely foolish and even scandalous according to the wisdom of the world.
God’s way is the cross of Christ. And all of the heartbreaking stuff—whether it is “big” and happening far away, or challenges present in our community, or a personal travail—all of them are ways that we can see the cross in our midst. And wherever the cross is, there Christ is, too. Because Christ chose the cross for himself, he reveals that God chooses what is week and lowly to make his grace known. In fact, God became what is weak and lowly—a Messiah executed by his opponents rather than triumphing over them. That’s how God in Christ takes on a radical solidarity with the suffering of the world.
God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. In the cross of Christ, God chose what is foolish, scandalous, weak, rejected, and lowly as if to say to us: You can’t get away from me that easily! I am here with you, not because of anything you have done to make yourself wise or worthy. And I haven’t abandoned you due to anything you’ve done that is foolish or despairing. I am here with you; with the world; even with the suffering because I am the source of your life, and I want to set things right. Therefore, I look kindly upon you, God says. You are blessed.
Now go, and look kindly upon yourself; look kindly upon the people and the world around you; look kindly upon those who are suffering, and upon those who are trying however imperfectly to set the world right. Then you will know what it means to be blessed. Amen.