Worship service 1/29/2017
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HYMN: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
OFFERTORY: Menuett and Trio |
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CLOSING HYMN: O For a World
POSTLUDE: Trumpet in Dialogue |
“I realize of course, it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor either.” That’s what Tevya said, in the Fiddler on the Roof. That’s how I see the Beatitudes. I would never disrespect the people in these situations, but I don’t really want to be one of them either.
Each Gospel has a different story for how Jesus began his public ministry. The four Gospel writers take the stories about Jesus, and arrange them in a different order, to emphasize the things that they think are most important. It’s interesting to see what each writer chooses for their first story of Jesus’ public ministry.
John starts Jesus’ ministry with the wedding feast at Cana. He takes six jugs of water, each one holding 32 gallons, and turns them into 32 gallons of the finest wine. John likes to emphasize that God is a God of abundance, the Good Shepherd, that life is full of good things.
Mark begins with Jesus curing a man with demons. Mark is dramatic, and Jesus steps in where everyone else is afraid to go. He tears down any barriers that stand in the way between God and the people. The heavens separate people from God, and in Mark, the heavens are torn apart in the beginning, when Jesus is baptized and then again at the end, after Jesus’ crucifixion. There was a curtain in the temple in Jerusalem in the Holy of Holies that separated the people from God, and when Jesus died, it was torn from top to bottom. Jesus tears down any barriers that get in the way between God and all of us.
Luke begins his ministry with the words we read last week. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me, to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” in Luke Everyone is welcomed in to come to his house and to stay for supper. He is always eating with people others think he has no business being around.
But Matthew, Matthew is talking to the Jews. This is the Messiah that God has promised, and Jesus is the Rabbi of Rabbi’s, a great teacher. In Matthew, just like Moses with the Ten Commandments, Jesus begins his teaching on a mountain. Luke has him teaching the crowds, the rabble, because in Luke, Jesus is always here for the ones no one else wants. In Matthew, though, we hear the story of Jesus taking his disciples aside by themselves, so that he can teach them an important lesson.
So what is the first thing he teaches? Not what we would expect. It was how to recognize blessedness. And it was different than we would think.
Who could we think of who is blessed? Back then, people would probably think of the King and Queen, or noblemen and women, or at least landowners and rich people in the city. Today, we might think of the Dayton’s, or Best Actresses or Best Actor, great singers, the Green Bay Packers… but No.
And a big thing is that Jesus wasn’t saying, “You need to do these things,” Or “Get out and be this way,” but he was saying these are people who are blessed now. He wasn’t telling us we need to be different, far from it. He was saying, “This is what Blessedness looks like for God.” That’s what matters, not the outside clothes they wear or things they have. It doesn’t matter at ALL how far they’ve come in life, or what they have accomplished, and least of all, how much money they’ve made. And by inference, “It doesn’t matter at all how far We have come in life or what We have accomplished, it just matters who we are. And none of us need to be different, but these are the people that God sees as blessed, so maybe we should too.
God sees the ones we see as least important, as blessed. How could that be?
How is the shy one, the one who never stands up for herself, blessed?
How could the peacemaker, who gets between two guys in a fight and ends up getting knocked around, be a blessed person?
How could the one who doesn’t ask for anything, be the one who ends up with God’s favor?
Some of this reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore. I know The Mary Tyler Moore Show portrayed her as a quiet, unassuming woman, and I remember scenes where she would have to stand up to Mr. Grant, or to stand up for someone else or something she believed in. Her voice would be shaking, and she’d look from him and back down to the floor, but she always said what was right, even though it was hard for her. And she kept doing it. That’s a Beatitudes’ person.
Who are the ones that we think of as the most out-of-luck and maybe shifty or unworthy? It could be the men and women on the street corners with signs asking for money. It could be the homeless, or young men or women in the neighborhood here who don’t have jobs and are too old for school. Maybe it’s Mexican immigrants or Muslim women in hijabs. Maybe it’s a single mom of kids with different fathers, who doesn’t know who to parent well. Maybe we even feel sorry for them.
I was at the Isaiah conference yesterday. This interfaith national justice group talked about many issues, but the three big ones that kept coming up were affordable health care for all, affordable, available child care, and immigrants, especially refugees. They are all the vulnerable and powerless of our society. Sick people who can’t afford care, babies and children, and immigrants, far from their own country.
And here’s God saying, “These are my favorites.” What? God again, “These are the blessed ones.” How are they the blessed ones? What does that even mean?
Jesus doesn’t give us the answer, but he does say, “These are the ones who are blessed.”
What this means, is that we need to re-order our priorities. We need to stop looking at some people as less than, or not as good as, or even, feeling sorry for, and instead, look at them as an equal human being as worthy of my care and regard as much as any other human being. We need to stop making divisions and boundaries between ourselves, thinking that they are in some way not the same as me. They are blessed. They are important. God’s special favor is with them.
So why would Jesus make a big deal about taking his disciples aside to teach them this? Who is holy? Here they are. Not whom you would normally expect. Exactly whom you would LEAST expect. What would happen if we actually saw them this way? Treated them this way? Our priorities as a nation would change.
Micah said, “This and only this is what I require of you, that you act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” Al Franken, our national senator told how his rabbi, Rabbi Shapiro at Temple Israel used to say, “Being just isn’t enough. You have to do justice.” Amen.
Each Gospel has a different story for how Jesus began his public ministry. The four Gospel writers take the stories about Jesus, and arrange them in a different order, to emphasize the things that they think are most important. It’s interesting to see what each writer chooses for their first story of Jesus’ public ministry.
John starts Jesus’ ministry with the wedding feast at Cana. He takes six jugs of water, each one holding 32 gallons, and turns them into 32 gallons of the finest wine. John likes to emphasize that God is a God of abundance, the Good Shepherd, that life is full of good things.
Mark begins with Jesus curing a man with demons. Mark is dramatic, and Jesus steps in where everyone else is afraid to go. He tears down any barriers that stand in the way between God and the people. The heavens separate people from God, and in Mark, the heavens are torn apart in the beginning, when Jesus is baptized and then again at the end, after Jesus’ crucifixion. There was a curtain in the temple in Jerusalem in the Holy of Holies that separated the people from God, and when Jesus died, it was torn from top to bottom. Jesus tears down any barriers that get in the way between God and all of us.
Luke begins his ministry with the words we read last week. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me, to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” in Luke Everyone is welcomed in to come to his house and to stay for supper. He is always eating with people others think he has no business being around.
But Matthew, Matthew is talking to the Jews. This is the Messiah that God has promised, and Jesus is the Rabbi of Rabbi’s, a great teacher. In Matthew, just like Moses with the Ten Commandments, Jesus begins his teaching on a mountain. Luke has him teaching the crowds, the rabble, because in Luke, Jesus is always here for the ones no one else wants. In Matthew, though, we hear the story of Jesus taking his disciples aside by themselves, so that he can teach them an important lesson.
So what is the first thing he teaches? Not what we would expect. It was how to recognize blessedness. And it was different than we would think.
Who could we think of who is blessed? Back then, people would probably think of the King and Queen, or noblemen and women, or at least landowners and rich people in the city. Today, we might think of the Dayton’s, or Best Actresses or Best Actor, great singers, the Green Bay Packers… but No.
And a big thing is that Jesus wasn’t saying, “You need to do these things,” Or “Get out and be this way,” but he was saying these are people who are blessed now. He wasn’t telling us we need to be different, far from it. He was saying, “This is what Blessedness looks like for God.” That’s what matters, not the outside clothes they wear or things they have. It doesn’t matter at ALL how far they’ve come in life, or what they have accomplished, and least of all, how much money they’ve made. And by inference, “It doesn’t matter at all how far We have come in life or what We have accomplished, it just matters who we are. And none of us need to be different, but these are the people that God sees as blessed, so maybe we should too.
God sees the ones we see as least important, as blessed. How could that be?
How is the shy one, the one who never stands up for herself, blessed?
How could the peacemaker, who gets between two guys in a fight and ends up getting knocked around, be a blessed person?
How could the one who doesn’t ask for anything, be the one who ends up with God’s favor?
Some of this reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore. I know The Mary Tyler Moore Show portrayed her as a quiet, unassuming woman, and I remember scenes where she would have to stand up to Mr. Grant, or to stand up for someone else or something she believed in. Her voice would be shaking, and she’d look from him and back down to the floor, but she always said what was right, even though it was hard for her. And she kept doing it. That’s a Beatitudes’ person.
Who are the ones that we think of as the most out-of-luck and maybe shifty or unworthy? It could be the men and women on the street corners with signs asking for money. It could be the homeless, or young men or women in the neighborhood here who don’t have jobs and are too old for school. Maybe it’s Mexican immigrants or Muslim women in hijabs. Maybe it’s a single mom of kids with different fathers, who doesn’t know who to parent well. Maybe we even feel sorry for them.
I was at the Isaiah conference yesterday. This interfaith national justice group talked about many issues, but the three big ones that kept coming up were affordable health care for all, affordable, available child care, and immigrants, especially refugees. They are all the vulnerable and powerless of our society. Sick people who can’t afford care, babies and children, and immigrants, far from their own country.
And here’s God saying, “These are my favorites.” What? God again, “These are the blessed ones.” How are they the blessed ones? What does that even mean?
Jesus doesn’t give us the answer, but he does say, “These are the ones who are blessed.”
What this means, is that we need to re-order our priorities. We need to stop looking at some people as less than, or not as good as, or even, feeling sorry for, and instead, look at them as an equal human being as worthy of my care and regard as much as any other human being. We need to stop making divisions and boundaries between ourselves, thinking that they are in some way not the same as me. They are blessed. They are important. God’s special favor is with them.
So why would Jesus make a big deal about taking his disciples aside to teach them this? Who is holy? Here they are. Not whom you would normally expect. Exactly whom you would LEAST expect. What would happen if we actually saw them this way? Treated them this way? Our priorities as a nation would change.
Micah said, “This and only this is what I require of you, that you act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” Al Franken, our national senator told how his rabbi, Rabbi Shapiro at Temple Israel used to say, “Being just isn’t enough. You have to do justice.” Amen.