BE-ATTITUDINAL!

MICAH 6:1-8 Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany PSALM 15 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time I CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 January 29, 2017 MATTHEW 5:1-12 Year A

1

2

Be-Attitudinal! (The preached portion of the sermon is in bold!)

Civility is dead, or so it seems. DRT—dead right there! As extinct as

any a dinosaur. To use an image from Don McClean’s seventies hit

song American Pie, civility, like the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost has

taken the last train to the coast. Civility has morphed, devolved into

open hostility, a most unfortunate mutation. I have been on vacation,

but unfortunately, every now and then I have had pause in my

personal festivities to stop and catch the evening news. Grace and

goodwill have not abounded! You have probably seen much of it as

well. The good news, I am not going to recall and recite any of it this

morning. We simply do not need a rehash of it and you are all I am

quite sure all too painfully aware of it. If you have missed much of it,

consider yourselves lucky and blessed!

Today we are confronted with the most challenging of sayings

attributed to Jesus in what is popularly called The Beatitudes from

the Sermon on the Mount—not to be confused with Luke’s version

known as the Sermon on the Plain, a text that is probably a more

literal rendering if indeed any of these words have any real

connection with Jesus. But, I digress; I often do! Yes, I am back in the

pulpit! The Beatitudes give us such wit and wisdom as these: Blessed

are the poor (in spirit, Matthew tells us), or as one translation says,

“Happy are people who are hopeless.” Yes, that will win friends and

3

influence people, every time, all the time. Everyone wants to sign up

for that kind of prosperity. Sounds like kicks and giggles to me! The

sermon goes on to add other gems such as “blessed are those who

mourn,” and “blessed are the meek.” Then we shift gears a little,

“blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for righteousness”

according to Matthew (Luke is all about physical hunger and

thirsting); “blessed are the merciful,” “blessed are the pure in heart,”

“blessed are the peacemakers.” And, then we are thrown an absolute

haymaker, “blessed are those who are persecuted,” or “harassed” as

another version translates it. This final salvo comes complete with

its own commentary, “Blessed are you when men revile you and

persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my

account.” In his book The Power of One, author James Merrell

suggests that The Beatitudes may be more instructive when inverted

or read “backwards.” He opines that by doing so The Beatitudes are

given an entirely new meaning: “The way to heaven is through

poverty . . . the way to consolation is through genuine sorrow . . . the

way to earthly possessions is through a hungering and thirsting for

justice . . . the way to mercy is through mercy . . . the way to God is

through the open, unobstructed, pure heart . . . the way to a full

relationship with God is through the active presence of peace . . . the

way to God’s realm or Kingdom is through the struggle for right that

leads through conflict, pain, and even death itself.” It is so counter

4

intuitive to our popular and populist notions about the nature of

God, the gospel of Christ, and our engagement with any and all of it.

And, we must wonder if the writer of Matthew’s Gospel was spinning

this counter intuitive reality tongue in cheek because it all concludes

with the admonishment to “rejoice and be glad” because a heavenly

reward awaits the used and abused? How Pollyanna can a text get?

You must be kidding? Somebody must be kidding? Jesus must be

kidding? I don’t know about you, but my guess is that there is not

much in this oppressive litany to which many, most, or any of us

really wish to aspire (poverty, grief, bereavement, meekness, famine

and starvation, let alone persecution). And, that special horror is

given added emphasis. I mean, who among us does not wish to be

hated? Yeah, that is how I get out of bed every day! Hey, that’s what I

live for, to be a spiritual piñata! Sure, the parts about being merciful,

pure in heart, and being peacemakers, a social justice agenda if ever

there was one, are all appealing, but the rest of it is appalling. And,

assuming or pretending for a moment, for our intents and purposes,

that these are the actual words of Jesus, we know full well that he

would not allow us to pick and choose, but would require of us our

full acceptance and commitment, lock, stock, and barrel, the whole

enchilada! And, while we would gladly embrace the three positively

reinforced images, if we had to take all of them in a lump sum. We

would give pause. I don’t think so!

5

Of all the teachings attributed to Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount in

general, and the Beatitudes are probably the most critical in terms

of our understanding about the law and discipleship and all the gray

areas that encompass them. There are probably no more difficult

teachings than the ones revealed to us today. As usual, these were

probably sayings grafted onto Jesus by the early Church to explain

the horrors of persecution and the abject terror to which early

followers of Jesus were constantly subjected. For the earliest

Christians, daily threats to their fragile existence were

commonplace, a familiar part of their ecclesial landscape. For these

pioneers of a new faith perspective it was not a matter of if, but of

when, Rome’s persecutorial “powers and principalities” would come

calling, making martyrs of untold numbers of faithful saints.

The Prophet Micah in today’s Witness from the Hebrew Scriptures

asks a theological question of profound import, perhaps one that

people have been asking since the beginning of time, “What does the

Lord require of you?” Any people of faith, including we people of

Christian faith, have a desire, a yearning to know and do the will of

God. It is the first question asked once we determine that indeed we

do believe in God and place our faith in God. Micah answers for us

directly and succinctly, “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly

with your God.” It is not about our worship or devotion, what the

biblical writer called our “solemn assemblies.” The text tells us that

6

not even the sacrifice of our own flesh and blood would suffice.

Inferred within these words is Jesus’ own interpretation of the

ancient commandment to love God, expanded with emphasis to

include neighbor and self. Frankly, the pivotal question confronting

us, framing a sermon in its own right is thus, “What does doing

justice, social justice, mean for the person of faith?” Whatever it is, I

guarantee you it is not about mere lip service, but demands our

engagement, our involvement, our participation. It is especially

relevant in our own real time today. Perhaps the answer lies in these

transliterated words attributed to St. Francis who opined, “Preach

the gospel always, and when necessary use words.”

It is clear the lectionary editors intentionally paired these texts

perhaps indicating or intimating that The Beatitudes are in some

way an expanded version of Micah’s basic rules for living a faithful

life. The Beatitudes tell us the risk of living a life of faith, giving

insight into the very DNA of a faith filled life. They speak to what our

mind set must be when we choose to authentically and genuinely

follow Jesus, living a life that is open, integrated, transparent, and as

much as humanly possible, integrity based, and not

compartmentalized in any way whatsoever. Paul says it this way:

that our minds be in Christ Jesus, literally interpreted, that we have

the mind of Christ. It is a long shot at best, a human impossibility, but

is the goal and the hope of our calling as we seek to follow in some

7

very large footsteps. Every day of our lives as persons of faith we

must weigh the risk versus reward of living the gospel of Christ and

determine our personal fortunes, making the best decisions that we

can make, hopefully always led by the holy and still speaking Spirit

of God. But, let’s be honest with one another, to be a person of faith

in America today is no risk at all, and the reward remains the same!

For our forebears in the faith, it was always high risk, high reward!

The problem for us today is the same problem that believers have

had for more than two-thousand years. How do we apply these

sayings to our lives, our context, our church, our community, our

global village? How do we practice humility, sharing the love that is

within us, without becoming door mats or punching bags? Oh, wait,

we are supposed to turn the other cheek—all of them! Let’s be

honest, on most of these teachings we read today we simply do not

qualify. They are not descriptive of us. And, that is not a

condemnation, but rather is simply an acknowledgment of how far

off they are from any of our individual or collective radars. If they

are rules or mandates, like say the Ten Commandments, then we

might well have a problem. We are in a pickle! We struggle to keep

them and we certainly break them. We are not poor (in spirit or in

wealth), or hopeless, a strange interpretation based on the hope we

claim in Christ; we are not mournful (we are a resurrection-eternal

life, Easter people). I am not sure about our meekness or exactly

8

what that should look like in the first place; we do not hunger or

thirst, using the literal Lukan image here; we strive to be merciful,

pure in heart, and peacemakers, to the best of our abilities, our

limited abilities, but we do not really know how to measure that by

any scale. If we think we have achieved any of it we automatically

fail! It is the ultimate catch twenty-two! In comparing ourselves to

Christ, always a dangerous thing to do, we know that we are not

persecuted or reviled in any capacity, even on days when we think

the world is picking on poor, pitiful us, paranoid or not. So, what do

we do? Micah helps us at this point with a wonderful equation, a

balm for our anxiety and uncertainty, and I am sure that Jesus would

concur, “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.”

Love God with all your being and love neighbor even as you love

yourself in the process. And, always remember Jesus’ compassion for

sinners, for that is what all of us are capable of being, at least on

occasion. None of us could ever live up to the standards set in The

Beatitudes. The answer is always grace upon grace upon grace.

And, remember Jesus’ compassion for sinners, for that is what we are all

capable of being, at least on occasion! None of us could ever live up to the

standard set forth in The Beatitudes. The answer, as always, is grace,

grace upon grace. Paul reminds us that the gospel is not a new philosophy,

a message he needed to convey to his original Hellenistic audience with

its infatuation with the Aristotles, Platos, and Socrates of that world, but

9

rather it is a message calling forth from its adherents to a new way of life,

a servant life to be lived and embraced. The apostle stresses that the saved

of the world, those who experience the salvation of God, are not the wise

of this world, but rather those who believe. The cross is the measuring

stick where our faith hangs in the balance. Perhaps the Beatitudes

confuse, confront, and confound and perhaps distress and disappoint us

because, as Paul declares, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame

the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God

chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to

bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in

the presence of God. His odd phrase, “things that are not” perhaps is a

technical, philosophical term known by his constituents, in that culture

and context, used sarcastically by those who were negative critics of the

gospel. Perhaps the Beatitudes were there for the early Church and still

relevant for us, to remind us that faith, as with life, is not the proverbial

bowl of cherries and, as you gardeners are acutely aware, more times than

not contains more thorns than roses. Maybe they are there so that we do

not get too comfortable, falling into the prosperity trap that so pollutes

much of Christendom today. God’s love, grace, salvation, mercy, and

blessing are not evidence of how well you and I live, how good we

perceive ourselves to be. Yes, the source of our life, Paul says, is in Christ

Jesus, “whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification

and redemption.” Only in God through Christ Jesus should there be any

boasting in us.

10

So, as I close my first sermon of 2017, allow me to bring all of today’s

rich texts home, giving some contemporary light to these theological

images mused by the ancient writers for their day and time, but

thankfully preserved for our hearing, relevant for our learning, and

action. Every time I travel I am often amazed, disgusted, and

bewildered at some of the theological insanity that is posted on

church marquees, as incredibly creative as they often are. On Friday

I passed one that simply asked the question, “What good will you do

today?” I nearly swerved off the road, so shocked at the sanity and

soberness of a genuinely authentic and relevant question for our

living of these days. George Herbert Walker Bush once spoke about

a mysterious thousand points of light, calling for a kinder and

gentler nation. Never have his words had more import than they do

in today’s caustic, cynical, and non-civil society. The Beatitudes

remind us that no matter the slings and arrows of outrageous

fortune that invade our personal airspace in this life, that we are

always in the hands of God regardless of the good, bad, and ugly that

will at some point or points be our reality, our destiny as human

creatures. God makes no promises about our fate in this life! How

often we forget that! The call of The Beatitudes is to stay faithful even

when doubt and horrors abound, nudging us to be less anxious and

more gracious, secure in the arms of God. This is my prayer for the

beloved faith community known as the SouthShore United Church of

Christ, and yes, it is a much needed and very relevant word to me as

11

Senior Minister, your pastor about to complete three years in this

parish, a very flawed human being who on occasion lets his own

anxiety get the best of him. You may have noticed that on occasion!

All of us are always at risk, threatened by that monster in our midst.

And, while we are at it, let us make the prophet Micah’s words our

words to live by as well, may we, individually and as community,

beloved faith community, always strive to do justice, to love God, and

to walk humbly with our God. When we can do that, we are living at

our best, being all we can be, and we, our church, our community,

and our hurting world, will all be the better for it.

In the name of the One who creates, redeems, and sustains and seeks

justice, loves us unconditionally, and walks with us no matter the

situations and scenarios that are our ever-present companions.

Amen and Amen.

Timothy W. Shirley SouthShore United Church of Christ Sun City Center, Florida 33573 © January 29, 2017