American Christianity and the Beatitudes

4 Epiphany A January 29,2023
Micah 6:1-8 Ps. 37:1-18
1 Cor. 1:18-31 Matt. 5:1-12

Lectionary Link

What if someone asked you, How are you feeling?  And you reply: My spirit is feeling really poor.  I'm in mourning.  I feel like I have no place or ownership on earth.  I am often without enough to eat or drink.  People are persecuting me and saying awful things about me.

And that person said in response: "Well then, you are really lucky, and not just lucky but blessed."  And because you are blessed you should always be a peacemaker.  And you should have pure motives about everything.  And you should always be merciful.  Because if you do these things, you are even more blessed.

In America, we generally think to be blessed and fortunate means that we are wealthy, have more than enough to eat and drink, own property, to be lucky that we don't have life situations which cause us to mourn, and to have pride of spirit, and to be publicly popular with people affirming us and giving us praise.

And if one can live the blessed American dream, from such privilege one can be a peacemaker, determining our own terms of peace.  And we can feel like our motives are pure and right because living the American dream is the good motive.

And so we pose the question.  How are the beatitudes really relevant to the life experience of American Christians?

And were the beatitudes written for people in situations like American Christians?  And about the only thing we can say is, yes, but it pertains more to Americans who have been historically oppressed by persons who call themselves American Christians.

The words of the beatitudes pertain more to the indigenous people pushed off their lands.  The words of the beatitudes pertain more to the many slaves who were brought to our country as the chief product of the American colonial economy.  The slaves were the involuntary work engine of our country as well as being the chief economic commodity.

Oppressed people, in order to survive have to learn how to survive without being killed.  They have to learn how to live with as much of their own communal dignity while living in ways that comport well with their oppressors.  In our country, we find that the slaves who found a refuge in the message of Christ did true Christly living more than their Christian oppressors.

Can we not see how the beatitudes were perhaps composed for an oppressed population who did not have economic or social power in the Roman Empire?

But for many centuries Christianity has been altered by being the stated belief of people in empires with power and influence.  As Christianity has become empire religion, it has lost the actual practice of the beatitudes, except for the people who have been subjugated and oppressed by Christian empires.

How do those of us who are the recipients of the power and wealth positions afforded by being in the ruling classes of Empire Christianity, adopt, adjust, apply the teachings of the beatitudes in ways that might be worthy of Jesus of Nazareth who spoke the words of the beatitudes?

It is true that both oppressors and oppressed people need to experience spiritual transformation, but those who reside in places of privilege need significantly different strategies.

People of privilege need to confront their actual poverty of spirit, seen in the cruelty which individually and socially has been inflicted in our names upon oppressed people.  Until we can recognize with deep mourning the cruelties of empire religion, we will not have the poverty of spirit to know God's realm.  We cannot be meek until we give all we have to the poor to prove that God and not us owns all the earth and is always already giving it back, but not on our terms but on the divine terms which specify the distribution of enough for everyone.  We cannot be filled in knowing God's fullness until we have seen the futility of placing many other objects of desire as the idols of our life.  We cannot define being merciful as handing band aids of charity when our system of economics has caused widespread poverty.  We cannot be called peacemakers who want peace only on our own terms.  We need to let those who have been oppressed state the conditions of what peace would mean.  We must be willing to be unpopular and be spoken against when people of power and privilege denigrate empathy to a mocked "wokeness."  Empathy is the golden rule of treating others they way we want to be treated, meaning that we are sensitive to racial and cultural identities and gender identities.   We must be willing to be unpopular when people in power try to suppress the truth about our history of subjugating other people.  The beatitudes for people who enjoy social power means "unpowering" our social egos and learning to approach others in their preferred befriending ways.

As Americans, we should consider the words of Jesus as coming to significant political effect in our founding documents.  We were to be a nation of equal justice under the law, and the continuous application of that equal justice as we become aware of our failures in equality toward indigenous people, people of color, women, and persons on non-binary places in the gender continuum.

It is wonderful to have the witnesses of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi who united oppressed people in beatitude movements of non-violent resistance.  But how much better it would be that American Christians lived as non-oppressors fulfilling fresh applications of liberty and justice for all?  And such liberty and justice for all would indicate the will of heaven being done on earth.  Amen.

Sunday School, January 29, 2023 4 Epiphany A

 Sunday School, January 29, 2023    4 Epiphany A

Theme:

How do we live in a world that sometimes is not fair?

Jesus lived in a world that was not fair for many people.  So how does a person live when life is not always fair?  Do we respond in a cruel way when we are treated cruelly?  Do we try to fight evil by being evil ourselves?

Jesus had some advice which might seem difficult.  He said to love our enemies.  He said we should not use evil to defeat evil; he said we should overcome evil with good.  Why did he say this?

He said this because he believed that God had made us and this world good.  So goodness is what is normal in life.  When people are bad, they are not acting normal.  So we need people who can act with normal good behavior to be examples of how to live.

The Beatitudes are recommended ways for us to learn how to practice a very good life, a happy life, a blessed life.  What are the secrets to happiness?

1-Not being so proud that one thinks that one does not need God’s Spirit.  If we are poor in spirit we will appreciate God’s Holy Spirit in us.

2-We need to be merciful and forgiving and that will help us to know mercy for ourselves.

3-We need to be peaceful and people who make peace with each other.

4-We need to do everything for the right reasons not for selfish reasons.

5-We need to be humbly patient and learn self-control.

6-We need to be willing to suffer for doing the right thing.

7-We need to desire what is right more than food or drink.

When we learn to live this way, we learn to live by overcoming evil with good behaviors.  When we live this way, we have the following rewards: We know we live in God’s kingdom.  We know that we are God’s children.  We know that we can see God at work in our world.  We know that we are God’s children who have inherited all the beauty of this world.  We know that we will have a future reward.  We know that we will have a good afterlife.  We know that we will be forgiven for not being perfect. 

Sermon:

  How do we live when we discover the world is not perfect?  We need some rules to follow?

  And when do we discover that the world is not perfect?  When we find out we cannot get everything that we want.

  As children, we learn that we cannot have everything that we want.  And we cannot do everything that we want.

  At the playground, there may be only two swings; but there are 10 children who want to swing.  What do we do?  We have to learn to share, right?

  Maybe we’re playing baseball, and we want to be the best hitter, but there might be someone bigger and better at hitting the baseball.  Is that fair that someone is bigger and better?  What do we do?

  Maybe we make a mistake and we push someone out of the way to get to a toy…or maybe someone pushes us.  What do we do?  We have to say, “I’m sorry.”  And when someone says, “I’m sorry to us.”  What do we do?  Do we stay angry or do we forgive?

  Remember we might think that a perfect world is where all of our wishes come true and where we get everything that we want.  But there is no such perfect world.  So, we have to live with the one that we have.  So, Jesus gave us rules on how to be happy in a world that is not perfect.

  Jesus said, we can be happy, if we know that we are poor without God and without each other.  We are rich if we have each other and we have God.  So, I should not pretend to be the only person in the world who can get everything that I want.

  Jesus said we can be happy, if we know that we cannot have everything at once.  If God is our father, then we know that in this life and in the next life we will have time to receive the joy of everything.

  Since we cannot have everything, it means that we will lose some things.  We will lose favorite toys, we will lose our health when we get sick.  We lose important pets and people in our lives when they die.  And when we lose, we can learn to be happy when we are able to help other people when they lose things and when they are sad.  There is a joy that comes when we help others.

  Since this world is not perfect and since you and I are not perfect boys and girls or men and women, we must learn how to live with our not being perfect.  So, Jesus said that to be happy we have to forgive and be forgiven.  We have to have mercy.  That means saying, “I’m sorry” when I hurt someone or make a mistake.  That means I don’t stay mad at someone when they hurt me and when they say that they are sorry.

  Since there are so many different people.  And many people want the very same things, and we all believe different things; we can either fight or argue with people.  Or we can be people who make peace.  We make peace by sharing and by being fair.  Jesus said that we will be happy as children of God, if we learn how to make peace.

  Jesus said we will be happy if we have pure hearts.  What does not mean?  I think it means learning to want things in life for the right reasons.  Wanting to be strong to help the weak.  Wanting to be rich to help the poor.  And if we learn to do all things because we care for others, we will see God because that is how God is.  God is loving and caring.

  And then there is a very hard rule.  Jesus said, we are happy if we aren’t the bully.  It is better to be weak than to be strong and hurt other people.  Jesus said that we will find a great reward, if we refuse to be the bully and suffer for doing what is right.

  So, Jesus gave us rules for living in a world that is not perfect.  And we are not perfect either.  But even though we don’t live in a perfect world, we can follow these rules of Jesus and still learn to be happy.

  

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 29, 2023: The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Gathering Songs:

Here  In This Place, Christ Beside Me,  Just a Closer Walk, Peace Before Us

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

People: And Blessed be God’s Kingdom, Now and forever. Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Here In This Place (Renew # 14)

Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away; see in this space our fears and our dreamings brought here to you in the light of this day.  Gather us in the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame; call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.

Here we are young, our lives are a mystery, we are the old who yearn for your face; we have been sung throughout all of history, called to be light to the whole human race.  Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong; give us a heart so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.

Here we will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth, here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.  Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you; nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, you are able to rule all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear our prayer requests, and especially in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord.

Peope: Thanks be to God

Please read with me from Psalm 139

Put your trust in the LORD and do good; * dwell in the land and feed on its riches.

Take delight in the LORD, * and he shall give you your heart's desire.

Litany of Thanksgiving: Chant: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Jesus taught his disciples these lessons:  You will be happy in God’s kingdom if realize that you are not the only person in the world, but you are rich with friends and the presence of God.  You are happy and comforted when you help others, because your sad experience now helps you to minister to those who are sad.  You are happy when you don’t hoard the gifts of this earth, since God is your father, you will inherit everything.  You are happy when you desire justice as much as you desire and need food and water, because you will be full of joy.  You are happy when you forgive others because then you will know that God forgives you too. You will be happy when you do everything with the best motive for then you will see God everywhere.  You are happy if you are always making peace, because that proves that you are sons and daughters of God.  You are happy if you are mistreated when you are standing for justice, because doing justice means that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  You are happy and can rejoice even when things are said against you because you follow me; remember that you are not alone.  Many great prophets have been mistreated too.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany of Asking:  Chant: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be sick. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be with you always.

People:                        And also with you.

Offertory: Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

 Offertory Song:  Christ Beside Me   (Renew! # 164)

1          Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart;  Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.

2            Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me—shield in the strife:  Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising—light of my life

3          Christ be in all hearts, thinking about me, Christ be on all tongues, telling of me; Christ be the vision, in eyes that see me, in ears that hear me, Christ ever be.

4  Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart; Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.

Doxology (Stand)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

All are born into the family of God by Baptism.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we

   Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this Holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ; and that his  presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By  Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, (Children may rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father (Sung): (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

Communion Song: Just A Closer Walk With Thee (LEVAS # 71)

Chorus: Just a closer walk with thee, Grant it Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

I am weak but thou art strong; Jesus keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to thee.

Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares?  Who with me my burden shares?  None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.

When my feeble life is o’er, time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er to Thy kingdom shore, to thy shore.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder Love and Praise # 791)

1-Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

2-Love before us…. 3-Light before us….4-Christ before….

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God!  

Blessed As What Is Most Appropriate

4 Epiphany A      January 29,2017

Micah 6:1-8       Ps. 37:1-18

1 Cor. 1:18-31    Matt. 5:1-12

Lectionary Link

What kind of advice for living would you give people in a growing Jesus Movement?  These were people who if they were Jews were being excommunicated from the synagogue.  Synagogues could be known gatherings and communities for Jews who lived in the cities of the Roman Empire, so even though Palestine had been occupied and every rebellion had been put down by the Roman armies, the Jews had a long history of living as a minority community within the great Empires, the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Parthian, Seleucid, and the Empires of the three generals of Alexander the Great and then the Roman Empire.  The Jesus Movement did not have the advantage of being a community of people who had established ties throughout the Roman Empire as part of the Jewish Diaspora.  The members of the Jesus Movement had to find a way to survive within the Roman Empire and not being an established institution like the synagogue gave the Movement a stealthy presence within the cities of the Roman Empire.  The Jesus Movement was a movement which met in private homes and as such it could "as it were" fly under the radar.  The fact that we have so little "secular" historical records of early Christianity means that it must have been surviving and growing under the radar.  How could one live the lifestyle of guerilla Christianity?  One needed a recommended way of life appropriate to the conditions and setting.  Successful living in a given situation might be called finding how to live, think, feel, act and speak in appropriate ways.  Such discovery of the appropriate way to live in life might be called living the blessed life.  We probably like to think that a blessed life means being successful in health, material possessions and general conditions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

I think that the beatitudes are modes of the blessed state of recommended attitudes for appropriate survival for the early Christians.

First of all they needed to believe in a larger world and a higher power than the ones which affected their every day lives.  For their lives, they lived in the kingdom of the Caesar.  That was their every day reality.  All of the Caesar's local armies and governors enforced the rules of the Empire.  One of the reasons Christians were removed from the synagogue is that they were no longer active opponents of the Caesars.  Since the followers of Christ were increasingly non-Jewish persons, they would have less of a bone to pick with the Caesar since they were already accustomed to living with the Roman authorities.

How does one live in Caesar's kingdom while at the same time acknowledging a higher power and a higher kingdom?  One lived cosmically and locally at the same time.  One lives spiritually even as one lives fully within one's body.  The faith Christians were asked to live by made them very presumptuous about their status.  They lived as children of God, they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom, not just a Roman kingdom.  They had the special vision to see God because their seeing and vision was made clear from the conditions of their hearts.  They could live in the Roman Empire in Christian camouflage; appearing to be very poor in spirit.  They weren't full of themselves and didn't have to make waves in the Roman Empire because they presumptuously believed that they were citizens of a greater kingdom.  They believed in the very difficult work of making peace.  The Christians had to learn to live together as a diverse group of people within the urbanization processes of the Roman Empire.  They had to live in peace with each other and then as a local group of Christians they had to negotiate their secret and private status within the Roman Empire without raising political suspicion.  Their situation required high levels of trust.  It also could be easy to fail one another because of the pressure.  They had to practice mercy and forgiveness with each other and they found that mercy and forgiveness were reciprocal.  One could know mercy for oneself as one offered it to other.  This quality of living was required for being a successful community.  The Jesus Movement survived by losing reliance upon the nuclear family or the clan or the tribe.  The Jesus Movement was a mix of perhaps "unattached" people who were nomadic and relocated.  If people did not share blood relationship how could they live together?  Accepting themselves as children of God meant that they had another basis for family relationship.  The early home churches would function like social clubs where people could meet and support each other and find spouses who would share common values.

One of the most challenging tasks of the members of the Christian community was to teach their member how to suffer and survive.  They had to be strong enough for non-violent maintenance of their community.  They had to learn how to deal with persecution.  They had to deal with the fact that people would lie about them and what they believed and how they lived.  Those in the early Jesus Movement could not live totally under the radar and so when they were sold out as being a threat to people in authority they could experience suffering and persecution.  They were taught the non-violent maintenance of their community.

They were like Jesus; they did not believe in armed resistance to the Roman authorities.  They knew that the message of Christ had done an inside job of persuasion in their lives.  No one forced them to believe in Jesus Christ.  They believed because the message got inside of them and changed their lives.  And this is how the kingdom of heaven occurred, not with the force of armies but through the inward persuasion which came through the message delivered by a dynamic loving community.

The wisdom of the Roman Empire was that a kingdom existed by the force and might of armies.  The method of the church in contrast was what was called the foolishness of the message of the Cross of Christ.  The Cross of Christ, an event proving a powerless Jesus of Nazareth, became a powerful interior event for people to die to what was unworthy in their lives and bring them to the recommendable behaviors needed for the maintenance of loving community. 

The prophet Micah of old criticized his people for replacing the basic required practice of life with religious cultic behaviors.  Burnt offerings and keeping religious rules could not replace what the Lord required:  Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly before God.  These are the recommended behaviors expressed in the beatitudes and they were successful behaviors of the members of the Jesus Movement as they formed these stealthy new social clubs called churches in the cities throughout the Roman Empire.  They practiced the non-violent maintenance of their communities in the Roman World which would not have accepted them as open and public competitors with the Roman Emperors.

How do you and I find "appropriate" beatitude behaviors for us today.  We are no longer a movement.  We are an institution.  We have the favor of the great Empires of the world.  It is both easier and harder to be a follower of Christ today.  It is easier because we have so many freedoms to believe and act in so many ways without people oppressing us.  Since it is so easy to be a public Christian today, it is rather easy to be less than committed to the very values of Jesus and the values of those early Christians who had most challenging settings.

We still need the values of the beatitudes today.  We need to believe in higher powers than America, Russia, Germany and England.  We need to believe in higher powers than democracy, capitalism and socialism.  We need to believe in a greater family than just our blood relatives or our ethnic community; we need to believe that all are children of God and so we have the basis for the family of the church which will continue to welcome everyone.  We need to be sure of God's actions in our interior lives so instead of projecting pessimism on the outer world, we will be able to project and see the life of God in our world.  We need mercy and forgiveness for successful Christian community.  We need the grace not to over react when people criticize us for what we believe.  We need to believe in a future beyond our own limited life where the problems of today will be resolved and viewed from a different perspective and where our fears and anxieties will prove to have been wasted energy.

The beatitudes were the oracle of Christ which were recommended for the church responsible for writing the Gospel of Matthew.  They were blessed because they were successful appropriate ways of living for survival of the Jesus Movement in the decades after the destruction of Jerusalem.  The beatitudes had their own relevance and significance for the ancient churches and they can have corresponding relevance for us as we live each day by faith in trying to find the most appropriate way to act and speak in our lives and build up the church and honor Christ.  Amen.

Bee Attitude?

4 Epiphany A      January 29, 2017              Youth Sunday Dialogue Sermon

Micah 6:1-8       Ps. 37:1-18   1 Cor. 1:18-31    Matt. 5:1-12

 Lectionary Page

Alex:         In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  You may be seated.    Today we’ve read a speech that is more famous than Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.

Rylie:        What’s that?

Alex:         t’s the Sermon on the Mount delivered by Jesus Christ.  It is also called the Beatitudes.  Do you know what Beatitude means?

Caroline:  I do.  A Bee Attitude is how a bee behaves.  For example, collecting pollen is a Bee Attitude.  And buzzing is a Bee Attitude.  And making honey is a Bee Attitude.  And stinging people is also a Bee Attitude.

Rylie:        Caroline, that does sound correct, and it does make for an interesting pun.  But beatitude means something else.

Caroline:  Like what?

Alex:         I think the word comes from the Latin word “Beatus”  BEE  AT US. 

Caroline:  And was does that mean?

Alex:         Beatus means “Blessed.”

Rylie:        That’s it!   All of the beatitudes begin with the words “Blessed.”  So that is why this speech of Jesus is called the Beatitudes.

Caroline:  Now that we’ve got that settled.  Can we talk about some of the meanings of the beatitudes?  Some of the meanings are kind of hard to understand.

Alex:         What do you mean?

Caroline: Well like, “Blessed are you when people persecute you and when they speak falsely about you.”  How can that be happiness or good luck?  How can we say that we would be lucky if someone lied about us and how could we say that we are blessed and happy?

Rylie:        I think that Jesus was teaching his followers about what he valued in life.  Jesus valued telling the truth.  He said that anyone who lied would be living in a cursed state.  So it is much better to be the one who lives in truth and who is lied about than the one who tells lies to hurt other people.

Caroline:  So we are happy and blessed if we get to be the people who tell the truth; the people who tell lies are cursed and they hurt other people when they lie.

Alex:         It can really be hard to stand up for the truth sometimes.  And it is really hurtful when people lie and hurt the reputations of other people.  But Jesus said, if you want to follow him you must be willing to stand up for what is true no matter what people say about you.

Rylie:        What about the so called lucky conditions of life in beatitudes?  Like blessed are the meek, blessed are those who mourn?  Why would being meek or mourning be good at all?

Caroline:  Meek means to be humbly patient. This is the opposite of being proudly impatient.  People who are proudly impatient are people who trample all over the feelings and rights of other people. People who act that way are living a cursed life. The people who are humbly patient are those who have the Spirit within them giving them self-control. But how do humbly patient people inherit the earth? It appears that proudly impatient people just go ahead and take as much as they want.

Rylie:        Inheriting the earth means we get something free from our parents. And people who know God as their heavenly parent know that God has given them the blessing of the created world. This does not mean having lots of money and big houses. It means God has given us the world as a gift for us to enjoy. It is much better to have the gift of enjoying the world than just to own property. But why do you think mourning is a blessed condition of life?

Alex:         I think that mourning can be a blessed condition of life not because we always like to feel sad and cry. What Jesus probably means is that people who have mourned in their lives will know how to comfort and be with people who are sad. It is the gift of empathy. Empathy is knowing how other people feel and so you know how to comfort them. When you know how to comfort other people you can also know comfort for yourself and you can be thankful that you learned how to mourn.

Rylie:        That is a different kind of mourning than being a cry baby. Not that I would ever call anyone that!  But what is good about being poor in spirit? Isn’t is better to be wealthy and rich in Spirit.

Caroline:  I think what that means is that God’s Holy Spirit is the wealthiest Spirit of all. And if we think our own little spirits are the greatest and wealthiest then we will not make room for God’s Holy Spirit. So we have to learn how poor our spirits are to find out how much we need to ask the Holy Spirit to be strong and rich at the center of our lives.  When we discover the Holy Spirit within us, then we truly know that we are living in the kingdom of heaven.

Alex:         Quiz time!  How can you and I know for certain that we are children of God?

Rylie:        If we are peacemakers then we will know that we are children of God?

Caroline:   I think that is why we pass the peace every Sunday in church.  We practice the greeting of peace so that we take this as the way that we’re supposed to live with all people.  I know that my mom and dad are happy with me as their child when I live at peace with my dear sister.  So God is really happy with his children when they also live at peace with each other and when they help to bring peace to everyone.  But there is something important needed to make peace happen.

Alex:         What is that?

Caroline:  Since we are not perfect people and we have to live together, we need to practice forgiveness.

Rylie:        Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.”  Everyone who is not perfect needs mercy.  And the best thing that an imperfect person can do is to have mercy.

Alex:         And it just so happens that people who have mercy also receive mercy.  When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Caroline:  Yes, we should treat other people the way that we want to be treated.  So if we want mercy for ourselves, we need to practice forgiveness.  Well, this preaching makes me hungry.  I hope we have some good snacks in coffee hour.

Rylie:        Hold it Caroline.  Jesus said you should hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Caroline:  I’m sorry but my growling stomach tells me that hunger is not a metaphor. It’s how I really feel.

Alex:         That’s the point Jesus is trying to make.  He is saying that we should have a longing and a desire to do what is right.  And if we do what is right, then we will be filled.  We will be satisfied and contented.  But I think one of the hardest sayings of Jesus is when he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Rylie:        Doesn’t it say in other places in the Bible that no one can see God?  Isn’t this like saying if we were birds then we would be able to fly; but since we’re not birds, we will never be able to fly?

Caroline:  It might mean that when we learn to have the correct motives in life that we will begin to see how God is involved in our lives.  The Holy Spirit is working to create in us a clean heart and as our heart become pure, then we can better understand what God is doing in our lives and in our world.

Alex:         So we’re never going to be perfect, but we can always become “more perfect” today than we were yesterday.

Rylie:        As we find the good and right reason for doing everything then we will understand or see God more clearly.

Caroline:  Well, these beatitudes are not for the bees, they are for us.  And they are some very difficult habits of living for us to succeed at.

Alex:         Yes, Jesus set a very high standard for us, but this is good because it is better to have very high standards and fail than to have very low standards and not achieve much.

Rylie:        People of St. John’s, Jesus invites us and the entire world to learn to live by the beatitudes.

Caroline:  We are lucky, happy and blessed people if we are learning to adjust our lives to the beatitudes.

Alex:         Let us thank Jesus today for the high standards that he gives to us.  It means that we need God’s mercy and help as we try to follow the high standards that have been given to us.

Rylie:        Jesus gave us the beatitudes.  And now all I’ve got to say is, “Let’s get to work and follow Jesus towards the beatitudes.”  Amen.