BLESSED ARE! The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted because of righteousness, those who are insulted, persecuted and have false evils spoken against you because of your faith in Christ. Rejoice and be glad! For great is your reward in heaven!
From a God who brings us hope and joy and love and confidence in our reward in Him, even when all the world around you is falling apart, and you are reaching out of the pit of despair, I bring you His hope that you may have peace in your lives in your waiting for His kingdom, Amen! (Be seated)
The message of Beatitudes is to me one of the most beautiful in the Bible. The number of times I have found myself relating to what Christ says in this passage are innumerable. Here I have found Christ speaking directly to me when I was poor in spirit or was in mourning. Here I see clearly what He is saying to me in conducting my life-to be meek, to hunger for righteousness, to show mercy, to strive to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, and to stand firm in our Lord’s name no matter how it may affect me in my life or make me a target for what I believe.
I asked myself the question, “What exactly does “blessed” mean?” A blessing is a rite of consecration according to Webster. The act of sprinkling an altar with blood in the ancient religion of the Jews, or to make holy by spoken formula or a sign, to hallow, to set apart for a holy purpose, to ask divine favor, to wish well, to favor, to be endowed, to make happy or prosperous, to worship or praise, to make the sign of the cross (hard to believe that is in Webster), to keep guard. To be blessed means to be holy, sacred, consecrated, enjoying great happiness, blissful, beatified, bringing comfort or joy. A blessing is a statement of divine favor or benediction, a wish for prosperity, an approval, or anything that gives happiness or prevents misfortune.
Guess that sums it up! To be blessed, to be confident in the promises of our Lord to us, clearly outlined in scripture, to be able to stand and look to heaven with the promise of salvation justified by faith. Here is in a nutshell a great promise of hope, but also a clear, concise and pointed explanation of how we are to act if we call ourselves followers of our Lord and Savior.
As with all of our scripture readings this morning, we see the clear messages of guidance for our lives and promise of hope that comes in our strengthened faith, and a warning for our failure to listen to our Lord’s desire for our lives-to forsake sin.
Isaiah tells us that “We have a strong city, that its walls and ramparts are built of salvation and that its doors are open to the righteous nation, the one that keeps faith.”
That righteous nation, and its citizens, are to walk in the way of God’s laws, to yearn for God in our hearts, to await His coming in the morning with hope. In that the Lord gives us His peace as we honor His name alone in our lives. And He gives us hope-your dead will live, your bodies will rise, you who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.
And still a warning-“See the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of earth for their sins.”
Scripture presents a clear picture for us, that heaven is not for everyone, that its walls are strong and only those who are worthy, BLESSED!, shall find the door open to them. The Lord is coming says Isaiah-to punish. In Revelation we hear this morning that John was carried away to see the Holy City of Jerusalem, “coming down out of Heaven from God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. The nations,” John says, “will walk by its light. But he also says, “It has a great high wall”. And here inside the wall, we see the hope offered through our faith in Christ. John continues “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb…… (The servants of God) will see his face, and his name will be on his foreheads.”
And now back to what our Lord says to us in our Gospel this morning. Here he offers the hope of being blessed, but also the clarity of our obligations in the expression of our faith-to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to show mercy, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, to stand firm and not fear persecution, false witness, insults, or other evils because of our proclamation of our faith in our Lord.
Normally, when I prepare a homily, I generally begin with a story or some other introduction so that I can relate the scripture readings of the day to my message. Today I began with scripture because I want the message regarding our obligations and our rewards to foremost in our minds as we explore how God’s word relates to us in our everyday lives.
Suppose for a moment that we only had the law before us to determine if we were worthy of salvation. And let’s say for a moment that I wanted to look at myself and see how I measure up according to what we have heard today in our Gospel. Well-I have been poor in spirit and I have mourned and been lifted up and comforted. That certainly shows my willingness to take advantage of God’s gifts to me. So when God holds out His blessings to me and I ask myself how I measure up, lets see how I do.
Meek? Me? Well, if I can be called meek, it is most certainly in my profession of faith as a Christian. Hunger and thirst for righteousness? When it’s convenient. Merciful? I wouldn’t harm a fly, but I certainly will denigrate those who I feel do me wrong. I will profess my discontent for those who I feel dislike me or think of me as an obstacle. Pure in heart? You must be kidding. Peacemaker? As long as I get my way. Persecuted? Not because I am righteous or because I am a hard line Christian or because I stand in the hallowed halls of City Hall and profess my faith, condemning sin and those who are seeking to relegate Christ to some shelf with all their false Gods and place man at the center of their universe.
The walls Isaiah spoke of are seemingly getting higher. The door seems to be closing. The light of Jerusalem doesn’t look to be shining on me.
Ah, but I have a “Get out of jail” card. I am justified by faith, salvation is guaranteed, all hope is there-just reach out and grab it. And that is what scares me most.
I know I can’t keep the law-that is evident. I know that Christ died for my sins because I cannot keep the law and have no hope of ever being blessed. As His blood streamed down the cross for my unworthiness, I look at Him in pain, calling out to me, and yet so often I turn my head. How could I not be moved by this. How could I doubt, how could I not be fully committed. It is the measure of my faith that worries me, for if my faith was strong, would not my life, my actions, my level of commitment change?
I find myself like the tide. Sometimes my faith pours over the tops of the pier when its high, but often it is so low, that the stench of my sin, like the exposed mudflats of the harbor, surround me.
Am I blessed? Is my faith acceptable to our Lord so that I may pass through the door into the new Jerusalem?
On all Saints Day, we look to the lives of those great doctors, teachers and martyrs of the church for the examples of their faith. We look to those who have gone before us and are asleep in the Lord for some measure of the depth of our connection with God. In the early church, All Saints Day was followed by All Souls Day. One day of celebration for those we admired and were worthy to be called Saints and one day for those who were had died to be remembered to Christ. In my mother’s native Mexico, they call that day “El Dia de Los Muertos,” The Day of the Dead. On that day the faithful departed are remembered, as we do this morning. We often combine those days in the modern church, believing in the Communion of Saints, recognizing that all who have died in the faith are saints in the eyes of our Lord.
And yet on this day, I cannot help but ask myself if I have the right to hope. I am certainly no saint and nothing like those we honor in the traditions of the church. In fact, the more I read scripture and compare my actions against what I have read, I realize just how deep in the ash of sin I am truly buried. Yet I have hope, for my Lord has said if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can command a mountain to move. If I fear for my salvation and pray for my faith to grow, is this not the smallest flicker of a flame that the Lord may notice?
It is my greatest desire in my life to be blessed, to be consecrated by our Lord, to be called one of His own. He has shown me nothing but His favor in my life, revealing his truth every time I have been poor in spirit and when I have mourned. He reaches out to me at every opportunity and I allow my sinful self to overcome my love for Him and I turn away.
Rebecca Erickson once told me she attended a Roman Catholic funeral where a young person got up and pronounced that we should not be praying for the person who had died, but instead we should be praying for ourselves. “El Dia de Los Muertos” is maybe more appropriate for our own lives here on earth than it is for those who have gone to be with Christ.
So this morning I want to leave you all with some questions. Does the flame that has been placed in your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit in your baptism flicker or burn bright? Does the sacrament of the altar, the blood of Christ that flowed from His broken body nailed to a cross for your salvation, nourish you through faith? Is the embracing of scripture, which allows the Holy Spirit to grow in you, part of you daily life?
Are meek in your faith? Hungry and thirsty for righteousness? Merciful? Pure in heart? A peacemaker? Persecuted for standing up for your faith?
Should you be praying for yourself on the Day of the Dead?
We pray-Lord, I do not measure up. That is clear, and yet I desire more than anything to walk through the golden gates to you. While I am here on this earth, make me an instrument of your peace, a witness of your faith, a shining light of your love so that the tiny seed of faith in me may flower to do your will, in Jesus Name, Amen.
