What does it mean to be blessed? I wonder what we all think when we hear these familiar words from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes we find beautiful poetry in the Hebrew style where the first phrase makes a statement, and the second compliments the first. In this case, as in much Hebrew poetry, the second phrase compliments the first by completing it with a statement that almost seems like a polar opposite. It creates a tension. What we hear at the beginning sets one tone and what we hear at the end sets another. How can these two fit together?
Perhaps we are so used to hearing these phrases together that we don't think about it anymore. Or perhaps we have had some sort of a comfortable understanding of these opposites as we have traveled on our faith journey, and so we don't really think about it at all.
I think that most of us view the words we find in the Beatitudes as a sort of comfort and we would be right in doing so. They are words of comfort. But more than that, they are words of confidence in the ultimate goodness of God. But today, I'd like to dig a little deeper into what the Beatitudes mean for our lives of Christian faith.
First of all, let's look at that beautiful word, blessed. Some would translate the word to mean happy and others might substitute the word fortunate to begin each sentence. But neither of these words gives a complete picture of what Jesus means when He says blessed. Blessedness has an eternal quality to it. Blessedness speaks of our ultimate well-being. Blessedness is something that can only be given by God. Happy and fortunate have none of these qualities.
When Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes are what Jesus chooses to begin with. He wants people to know who they are and who God is. He wants them to hear the declaration He is making in the Beatitudes. Jesus is in essence saying to the people gathered, and to us today, not happy or fortunate are you because you suffer, but Congratulations, God has blessed you! You have followed where God was leading and because of that you have suffered here on earth. But, God has blessed you with all things heavenly; with eternal life, with comfort and peace and no thirsting or hunger and all those things that we read about today in Revelation.
I truly believe that what Jesus is saying here is that when people respond tot heir identity as Children of God and they do God's will here on earth, they will suffer for it. They will empathize with others, they will strive for peace, they will endure persecution, they will be pure in their openness and vulnerability to God, they will be gentle and their hunger to know God more intimately will not be fulfilled completely. Those things are not easy to do. But, Congratulations! Because no matter how bad you think things are here, no matter how tough it is, this place is only temporary. Your job as a child of God is to follow where God is leading. And, God will make sure you are taken care of in the end. God has promised. You are blessed. God has made a covenant. It will be kept. Congratulations!
I think that Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount with these statements as a setting of the stage. He is placing before us a sort of Christian context with which to look at the world. He is saying that this is how you follow God; this is how you live the Christian life. And, this is who God is and how God is faithful to you. Jesus gives us both instruction and promise. The words Jesus shares in the Beatitudes are the foundation for everything else He says in His famous sermon.
The teaching found here in the Beatitudes is very similar to the teaching we found in our psalm for today, Psalm 34. Examples are given of how to live a life that is faithful to God, and God's actions of love to us. Psalm 34 is another statement of confidence in God and the comfort that we find there.
Today is All Saints' Day. We remember all who have gone before us in the faith and all that are yet to come. We feel a connection to God's people from every time and place, the Church Universal, all who have felt the confidence and comfort of Psalm 34 and the Beatitudes.
I love to think of the time when we will meet with the saints from every time and every place, that time that is spoken of in Matthew's Beatitudes and in our other New Testament readings for today.
In 1 John, we find more words of confidence, "We are God's children." We also find words that give us a preview of what life with God in Heaven will be like. Christ will be revealed; we will see Him as He is. And, we will be like Him. Paul gives us words of encouragement and challenge, "Purify yourselves, just as He is pure," More words of education. Strive to live a life like Christ, strive for that purity, that openness and vulnerability to God, that turning away from sin. John begins this section of the letter with the word see. Listen, he is saying, this is important. See who you are and who you are becoming. Know who God is and that you are a child of God.
In Revelation we find a beautiful picture of what it is like in Heaven after the time of great tribulation, after the end times. We find the Church Triumphant, those who have followed Christ and have found true happiness in their faithfulness to God are so great in number that they cannot be counted. The saints are gathered around the throne of God and the Lamb. They are robed in white, their sins washed away by the Lamb, and they are paying homage to God with palm branches and with words and songs of praise.
And, once more, we hear words of confidence and comfort, words of congratulations, words of blessedness. The covenant made by God has been kept. Those who have endured and suffered are now in the place of peace, the place of eternal life, the place where the Lamb who is also the Shepherd will lead us all to the springs of the water of life.
It is indeed a beautiful picture. Today, we remember those whom we have lost from the community of faith. But, just think of where they are! Just imagine the beauty and peace of a place with no weeping and no hunger and thirst, physical or spiritual! I believe that Heaven is a place where we know fully who God is and who we are as God's children. It is the place where our Christian goal is fulfilled. It is the place of our ultimate well-being, the place of our blessedness. It is what we have been promised.
There is a poem that the English writer Oscar Wilde wrote during a very low period in his life. He felt that his death was near. It is called The House of Judgment.
And there was silence in the House of Judgment, and the Man came naked before God.
And God opened the Book of the Life of the Man.
And God said to the Man, "Thy life hath been evil, and thou hast shown cruelty to those who were in need of succour, and to those who lacked help thou hast been bitter and hard of heart. The poor called to thee and thou didst not hearken, and thine ears were closed to the cry of My afflicted..."
And the Man made answer and said, "Even so did I."
And again God opened the Book of the Life of the Man.
And God said to the Man, "Thy life hath been evil, and the Beauty I have shown thou hast sought for, and the Good I have hidden thou didst pass by...Thine idols were neither of gold nor of silver that endure, but of flesh that dieth...Thou didst bow thyself to the ground before them.."
And the man made answer and said, "Even so did I."
And a third time God opened the Book of the Life of the Man.
And God said to the Man, "Evil hath been thy life, and with evil didst thou requite good, and with wrongdoing kindness..."
And the Man made answer and said, "Even so did I."
And God closed the Book of the Life of the Man, and said, "Surely I will send thee into Hell. Even into Hell will I send thee."
And the man cried out, "Thou canst not."
And God said to the Man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Hell, and for what reason?"
"Because in Hell have I always lived," answered the Man.
And there was silence in the House of Judgment.
And after a space God spake, and said to the man, " that I may not send thee into Hell, surely I will send thee unto Heaven. Even unto Heaven will I send thee."
And the man cried out, "Thou canst not."
And God said tot eh man, :Wherefore can I not send thee unto heaven, and for what reason?"
"Because never, and in no place, have I been able to imagine it," answered the Man.
And there was silence in the House of Judgment.
That is one of the saddest things I have ever heard. Not being able to imagine Heaven.
As Christians, we are called not only to imagine Heaven, but to have confidence in it. Congratulations! Rejoice! Be glad! You are blessed! May we truly believe in God's promise of Heaven; and with the Church Universal, those who believe from every time and every place, join together in eternal praise of our God. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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