Blessed To Be A Blessing

I wonder if you have ever had this experience:   You greet someone by asking how they are.  They respond with these words: “I am blessed.”

I am not sure how you have recovered from that response, but for me, I get lost in my own mind, rabbit hole maze that it is, wondering about what that means for them.  Does it mean that everything is going just as they want it to?  Like the prosperity gospel, do they understand their blessings to be material and tangible, and they are content with the experience of them?   Or perhaps, that they are lucky in some way or another, as in winning the lottery, being in relationship with someone incredible, or enjoying vacation time.  Maybe they intend to communicate gratitude for what they have known as God’s blessings.  As I have grappled with this language, I have come to hope that those who proclaim themselves blessed, intend the literal definition: holy or set apart.

 

I believe this is what Jesus intends as he offered us the beatitudes.  Jesus was teaching those who had gathered about God’s kingdom.  Just how different it was than the world they knew in the here and now, the hustle and the bustle, the pinch and the challenge of daily life.  In their world, Rome was the powerhouse through whom all aspects of life were regulated.  Taxes and temple access were regulated by Romans or their stewards.  Infrastructure and permissions came through the government.  Most interactions with the governmental officials were notoriously based on greasing palms, patronage, and who you knew.  There were the powerful with money and influence and then, there was everyone else.  Even within the temple complex, many religious leaders had bought into the Roman system.

So now, hear Jesus to say, you are set apart when you feel lost spiritually and can find glimpses of God’s kingdom.  You are set apart and like God when you find that in the midst of grief, there is comfort.   You are set apart when your easy-going nature is taken advantage of and you will inherit the earth.  You are set apart when a God sized hole within you will only be satiated with God, you will be satisfied.  You are set apart when you extend mercy and care; you, too, will know mercy and care.  You are set apart when your wide-eyed optimism surpasses the cynicism and pragmatism that limit humanity’s vision of fulfilling God’s dreams, then you will see God.  You are set apart when peace and reconciliation are your first priority, you will be holy like God.  You are set apart when belittled for your faith, you will know the fullness of your faith in God’s kingdom.

With this backdrop, Jesus’ words were radical and almost unbelievable.  Jesus was talking of a kingdom where the poor and marginalized, those who mourn and hungered would have great blessings!  These blessings were in direct contrast to the opulent and lavish blessings that the Romans showered on their leaders, the most highly regarded.  The Roman governors and patrons, with money who demanded groveling and quid pro quo, have no honor and blessing in God’s kingdom, unless they, too repent and seek God first.

Today, it is not so different.  How often do we find ourselves, even subconsciously, offering praise and status, deference and regard  to those with money and power, reputation, and smooth presentations.  Rarely, do we see or feel the blessings of being at the end of our rope, losing what is dear to us, not keeping up with the Jones’ or the Kardashians, seeking God before anything else, having a tender caring heart, doing interior spiritual work, the difficult work of collaboration and cooperation, or commitment to God’s way that leads others to shun or talk poorly of us.1   We do not find the blessing in those lowly and disregarded, painful and awkward statuses of our world.  We often focus on the challenge and struggle.  Jesus invited us to know the blessings of God’s ways.

After I sent out the weekly update with a sermon sneak-a-peak, I received an email from Aaron Boyd sharing with me a story of a co-worker who was blessed to be a blessing.  Maybe you saw the story on the news.  Aaron’s colleague, Amy, a nurse was running the Key West Half Marathon, and had finished with a personal best record, when she saw a fellow runner, Bill in cardiac arrest.  Quickly, she was with the runner in trouble offering CPR.  When the emergency personnel arrived with paddles, Bill’s heart was shocked into rhythm, and he was carried off to the hospital and is now home recovering.2    We know about this story, because as Bill was recovering he wanted to send gratitude to Amy and the other medical professionals who were fellow runners and had cared for him.  Through social media, he disseminated a video.  The two were connected less than 24 hours later.  Instinctively, her medical training kicked in to care for a fellow runner.  Like many who have CPR training (and how important that is), she did what she was taught.  But she was the specific individual who responded in that place and time.  Media coverage has made this feel more like a burden than a blessing. Over 1.4 million people viewed the video and glimpsed mercy and hope. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Our actions sometimes in the midst of pressing challenges and trials can bless others, ourselves, and usher in the kingdom of God.   Thursday was Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Sometimes, we question why it is that commemorate and memorialize various events.  We remember so that we will not relive that particular horror again.  We remember to honor those who died and those who lived.  Where do we get that idea?   286 times in the Bible, God commands us to remember.3   We are called to remember tragedies and joys.  We are called to remember the opanies of God’s presence and covenant promises.  We are called to remember misfortunates and blessings.

As I was remembering on that day, I read this story.  There was a 15-year- old young man in Auschwitz.  In the depth of winter, he and his companions were ordered to harvest sugar beets for the guards who kept watch of them.  The young man remembered the hunger that gnawed on him as he picked these sugar beets in his threadbare pajamas.  All of the prisoners knew that is they dare  take a bite of a single sugar beet, they would be shot on sight.   As the day wore on, he found that he was emboldened against his captors.  He slipped his arms out of his pajamas and tied them at the end.  He managed to fill each arm with sugar beets and march back to the barrack undetected.  That night, after the lights out, he silently handed out his sugar beets to his starving fellow inmates.  He saved lives that night and offer hope where there was none.4   Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Hope in despair, whistling in the dark, is the very kind of blessing, we all are called to offer to one another and to ourselves.  It is where we find ourselves surprised as our children, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren discover God.  They who do handstands more easily are often more open to where God shows up in unexpected places.  They see God’s fingerprints all over creation and in the way in which we care kindly for one another.  Barbara Brown Taylor says it this way, “Upside down, you begin to see God’s blessed ones in places it would never have occurred to you to look.  You begin to see that the poor in spirit, the meek and those who mourn are not just people you can help but people who can help you, if you will let them, and that their hunger and thirst for God are not voids to be filled but appetites to be envied.5” Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

If I return to those who respond to my inquiry of how they are with – I am blessed, I find myself hoping they are right.  Hoping that they are living their lives in such a way that that they are set apart in living out their faith.  Hoping that they will share their glimpses of God with others.  Hoping that they will instinctively offer CPR where needed, smuggle sugar beets in their pajamas, and see God from a handstand.  Our invitation is to join them in being blessed to be a blessing.

This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.

1Inspired by the paraphrase of the Message, Matthew 5:1-12

2http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/health/facebook-nurse-saved-life-marathon/

3http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=352633597

4Prayer for the Day Volume I: 365 Inspiring Daily Reflections, BBC Radio 4, 2015. Page 35.

5Taylor, Barbara Brown, Gospel Medicine, 1995, page 159.

  Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 15

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?  Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,    and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue,  and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;in whose eyes the wicked are despised,  but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; who do not lend money at interest,  and do not take a bribe against the innocent.Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Meditations For Your Week

Sunday, January 29~ Saturday, February 4

Sunday: “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3.  Poor in spirit are those who do not experience the abundance of God’s presence and comfort. Pray for those who are poor in spirit.

Monday:  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4.  Grief is not for a day or even a month.  Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a dear loved one knows it can go on.  If you are mourning the loss of a dear one, receive the blessing of God’s comfort and presence.

Tuesday: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5-6.  The ones who catch our eyes are often flamboyant and extreme.  Where are we seeking righteousness?  Where are we seeking to be as God is?  Prayerfully ask God to center your heart on thirsting for righteousness.

Wednesday: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5: 7-8.  Mercy is a place of grace.  How are you extending grace to others?  Purity comes for a place of earnestness and authenticity.  Pray to see God.

Thursday: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5: 9.  Children of God are those who seek to act like their heavenly parent.  Where are you seeking peace?  Not just as the absence of pain and conflict, but the presence of comfort and peace.

Friday: “‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 10.  We often think of times we have been persecuted, and perhaps rightfully so.  Where have you persecuted others who are seeking God?  Where can you reflect on your own behavior?

Saturday:  “‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5: 11-12. Now, there really are times that we are persecuted and reviled for living the radical way that Jesus calls us to live, like loving those who dislike and speak poorly of us, because we act like Jesus.  Prayerfully ask God to show you how to live more like that.