“Out of Fear . . . Blessedness” (Matthew 5:1-12)

 

One of my favorite Mother Teresa quotes is: “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle.  I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”  In this quote we shake our heads in agreement because we identify with this saintly woman of the faith.  Like Mother Teresa we trust that God loves us enough that we will never be burdened with the hardships of life.  But the way life rolls we have to wonder . . . why does God think that we can handle it all?  What we really want is for God to give us a break!

This morning we are confronted by the “Beatitudes” from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.  I suppose that the “Beatitudes” can be mindless platitudes if one reads them quickly and moves on.  In reading in such a way these so-called “blessings” we affirm them, thank God that we are not like these people, and move on.  That was never Jesus’ intention.  No, with Jesus it is through these . . . through all the difficulties of life . . . that blessing is found.  Out of our fears comes blessing.

 

We live in a time and culture of fear.  Fear has become the big player in life.  It is the hammer upon which so much of our culture, our society, and our world pounds us into inaction and complacency.  Fear is what is used to immobilize us . . . to divide us . . . and allow those in power to continue to run the world we live in.  Fear uses our vulnerability against us.

 

The “Beatitudes” expose our vulnerabilities . . . expose our fears.  As we listen to Jesus reel off these so-called states of blessedness we are uncomfortable and uneasy.  What Jesus lists as “blessings” are the very things in life we would never want for ourselves.  That is God’s way . . . God turns everything in this world upside down and makes us see in a different way the Kingdom of God.  In these words our vulnerabilities are exposed . . . are fears are revealed . . . and God’s way becomes our challenge.  It becomes our challenge if we do not allow the fear to take control.

 

As you listen to those groups that Jesus bestows the “blessings” . . . did you catch yourself jumping up and down wanting to belong to any of those groups?  Or did you find yourself quietly say, “Thank God I’m not like of those people.”  I don’t think there are any of us biting at the bit to join any of the groups Jesus lists.  No, in fact, these are the things we don’t want in our lives.  We don’t want poverty.  We don’t want injustice inflicted upon us.  We don’t want to be on the short end of the stick.  We don’t want to be persecuted . . . left out.  We don’t want to live hard lives.  None of us wants a hard life.  No, we try to avoid this at all cost.  None of us wants God to trust us that much.

 

Fear drives us and our fear comes from our vulnerabilities.  Instead our lives should be driven by a faith that is grounded in love . . . God’s love for us and through us.  But it is difficult to avoid the truth that confronts us in the words we hear this morning.  Yet the only way that we can truly embody Jesus’ vision of God’s kingdom and God’s justice and God’s peace is by opening ourselves to accept life as it is and our own vulnerabilities to the pains and losses and disappointments of life.  It is only through embracing life in this way that we can find true joy, and can open ourselves enough to leave behind the fear that drives us to compete and attack others and instead discover those relationships of others around us filled with compassion and integrity.

 

You see . . . life is hard.  Life is difficult.  All of us as the children of God . . . created in God’s image . . . are trying to make it through this journey we call life.  We are trying to get home.  And the journey is not always easy.  We hit roadblocks.  We have good days and bad days.  We encounter inclement weather that slows us down.  We win a few and we also lose a few.  There are days we find great joy and other days filled with sorrow and grief . . . sometimes even the darkness of depression.  We would never wish any of our bad days upon anyone. 

 

We cannot allow our fears and vulnerabilities to immobilize us . . . from living our lives to the best of our ability.  It is in the living that the blessing is found.  When life is lived in love with God . . . in love with our selves . . . in love with others that we discover that blessing is found.  It is blessing that draws us closer to God and one another.

 

It is this different vision of life that Jesus calls us to.  It is to embrace life in all that it throws at us . . . to walk in the light of God’s love and grace through the good and the bad, the happy and sad . . . knowing that we are not alone.  With us in the journey is God.  Also with us are our fellow sojourners.  And we are all trying to make it home the best that we can.

 

And yet it goes against everything we have been taught and believe.  It scares us.  Scares us to walk in the opposite direction of the world we live in, the society we exist in, and the communities where we dwell.  It makes us vulnerable.  Vulnerabilities are weaknesses.  None of us wants the world to know that we are weak.  None of us wants to expose our fears.  None of us wants God to trust us that much!  And yet, that is how God designed us . . . we are vulnerable . . . we are all broken people.  In our brokenness we discover ourselves and we discover blessing.

 

We are among the blessed for we are the vulnerable.  Let us not allow our fear dictate our lives and our journeys through this life.  Let us step up with the courage of knowing that we are loved . . . loved by God . . . loved by others.  That we are not alone and that together we can make it . . . we can all make it.  We cannot allow fear to win.  As Mother Teresa says: “Yes, you must live life beautifully and not allow the spirit of the world that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure make you forget that you have been created for greater things.”

 

God is with us . . . let us live . . . let us be blessed.  Amen.

“Unity” (I Corinthians 1:10-18)

Unity does not come from being the same.  Unity comes when people are willing to stop working against one another—through competitiveness, quarreling, and maintaining division.  Unity is working together.  For the church that unity is working together to emulate Jesus’ radical upset of the world’s power relationships.

At least that is what the Apostle Paul says.

 

This morning we hear the apostle’s call for unity as the followers of Jesus.  This letter to the church in Corinth is in response to a conflict that is tearing the congregation and its witness apart.  It seems as if the congregation is made up of several factions . . . fellowship groups . . . vying for control of the church.  The apostle writes of the groups: “What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’”  Because everyone is setting up camp under different individuals and claiming that their way is the right way . . . there is a lot of quarreling going on.  The apostle wants none of this and proclaims that the church cannot exist in such a state.

 

That is Paul’s plead: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  The apostle understood well the old saying, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

 

If we are going to be honest with ourselves . . . how in the world is this going to happen?  No divisions?  Different beliefs. No differences? Different interests.  No opinions?   They are the markers of our identities.  They are important and they are not easily set aside.  So . . . how are we going to make this happen?  Ordinarily we think of these differences as the things that make us who we are.  They define where we are in the world and who we are related to others.

 

During first century Corinth everything depended upon who you were with.  It mattered which person you followed . . . which family you were a part of . . . which city or country you belonged to.  Unity was founded in the context of banding together against the next family, city, or nation . . . “I belong to” . . . was a powerful statement.  Thus, there was a staunch division among the people and constant vying for position and power. 

 

Now remember . . . Paul is addressing the church in Corinth.  It is a church divided . . . Paul’s followers, Apollos’ followers, Cephas’ followers, and even Christ’s followers.  Yes, Paul even criticized those who proclaimed themselves to be followers of Christ.  It is easy to see how Paul could criticize certain groups within the church, but how could he criticize those who identified as the followers of Christ?  Surely, they had it right! 

 

No.  They might have had the right name.  They might have been wearing the same clothes.  But they had the wrong spirit.  The problem was not that they had different foundations of faith, but that they were quarreling.  For the apostle this pointed out that they lacked the kind of unity that is the fruit of belonging to Jesus.

 

The union of the world is not the union of which Jesus speaks or Paul preaches.  Paul believed just as Jesus did . . . there are differences, but those differences do not separate us in God’s kingdom.  Foreskin or circumcised? No difference.  Slave or free?  No difference.  Man or woman?  No difference—in Christ Jesus we are one family.  Clothing oneself in Jesus does not erase our differences, but it does cover them, set them aside, and put them in a new context.

 

Paul does not ask the congregation in Corinth to be identical . . . to be the same.  What he does ask is that they set aside their differences that put them at cross purposes, and instead work for cross purposes.  Instead of fighting with one another through competition, quarreling, and maintaining divisions within their fellowship that they work together by emulating Jesus’ radical upset of the world’s power relationship.  Instead of being cross with each other that they work for what Jesus died upon a cross pushing for.  To love God.  To love one another.  To seek peace . . . justice . . . inclusion.  To bring the whole family to the table.  To seek the best for all.

 

Paul’s vision is of unity.  That understanding of unity does not negate differences.  Think of Paul’s metaphor of the church as being the “body” of Christ.  Paul believes that the church . . . those people who are gathered together around the cross of Jesus and sharing him in their communal life are the body of Christ.  Yet, Paul understands that the body has many parts.  They do not look alike or act alike.  They don’t always move in the same direction.  Picture a runner . . . arms and legs pumping, as one goes back, the other goes forward. All the various parts of the body are joined together, and they work together to move the whole body forward.

 

The key is that they work together.

 

That is the goal.

 

The apostle states: "All of you be in agreement, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose." This is directed not at identity, but at mission. Division is to be avoided because Christ has called us together, into a body, to accomplish God's purpose in the world . . . to be one . . . one family striving to not to be the same but united in God’s love and grace.

     

It is the only way . . . Jesus’ way.  Amen.