Worship Sun 9: pt 2 The Beatitudes - 'Blessed be'

picture - Jen Norton

READINGS 1 Cor 2:1-16; Matt 5:1-12

SERMON
Let’s pray: may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

What helps us live a happy life –
a blessed life?

Before we begin to answer that, a short recap.
Last week, as we began thinking about the beatitudes, we did a little unpacking of the word itself –
‘beatitude’.
Basically, it means 'blessing'.
And we thought about Jesus, who blessed all who came to him –
regardless of age, status, gender, wealth, or health –
no-one was off limits from a blessing...
well, apart from those who refused to be blessed.
But what is it to be blessed?
A blessing can be:
a way of saying or doing something that encourages us to be an even better version of ourselves;
it can be a protection from harm,
it can be a guide and a guard on us to help keep us from doing wrong –
and in so doing, not being a blessing to others.
A blessing is a reminder that we don’t walk through this life alone –
that God is by our side...
when we are blessed it’s a reminder that God cares for, and loves us, and wants the best for us...

And, as we began exploring the text from Matthew last week, we saw in this, Jesus’ first sermon,
just who Jesus thought were particularly blessed within God’s kingdom.
We also thought about another way of translating the word ‘blessed’ –
some bibles use the word ‘happy’ instead...
So ‘happy are the poor in spirit’ and so on.

So, today, back to that question:
what helps us live a happy life –
a blessed life?
While the state of being blessed is a happy state of affairs –
the happiness isn’t just a wee fleeting feeling:
happiness is not always all wrapped up in a McDonald’s happy meal.
Happiness is not always a cigar called ‘Hamlet’.
And, controversial for some:
Disneyland may not always be the ‘happiest place on earth’ –
and at some point, you do have to leave the park and head out back into the world.
This definition of happiness moves on –
and the endless pursuit of this kind of short-term happiness fix can often lead to us feeling
well, just a little hollow, empty... always wanting more,
always chasing the next thing promising to give us another wee happiness fix.
And it can become a habit –
a way of being that isn’t particularly helpful.

Rabbi Harold Kushner – who wrote the very helpful book
‘When bad things happen to Good people’, which I really recommend –
Rabbi Kushner tells a great wee story about a young man who had managed to get
a much sough- after place in a very prestigious university.
He was studying medicine, and, having done exceptionally well in his first year,
his parents rewarded him with a trip to Asia over the summer break.
And so the young man travelled far and wide –
up into the deepest depths of river valleys that few human eyes had seen,
high into the highest heights where small villages hung precariously onto the sides of cliffs.
During his travels, he came upon a guru, and they spent time together.
The young man was keen to tell the ancient guru all about himself,
and what he’d accomplished,
and how he hoped to make his mark on the world.
It would take discipline, hard work, but his greatest desire was to be a success.
Success was all that really mattered.

The guru listened to the young man listing off his successes and ambitions,
and when the young man stopped there was a long silence between them.
Eventually, the guru said to him:
‘Helping others is good – and you will help others with your medicine. 
But, don't you see how you are poisoning your soul with this success-oriented way of life? 
Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a 
better grade than your best friend. 
Your idea of a good marriage is not to find the woman who will make you whole, 
but to win the girl that everyone else wants.
Basically, your idea of happiness is not actually about helping others at all, 
it’s based on beating everyone else.
Following this path cannot truly lead to happiness – 
for there will always be another person to beat and you will never be satisfied.
My friend, that's not how people are supposed to live, let go of that idea of happiness; 
come join us in an atmosphere where we all share and love each other.'

The young man was shocked.
So caught up within a competitive culture, he had never thought of any other way of being.
After many days of reflection, he called his parents and told them that he would not be
coming home, and that he was dropping out of university to live with the guru and his community.
This would be his path to true happiness.

Six months later, his parents received a letter from their son:
‘Dear Mum and Dad,
I know you weren't happy with the decision I made last summer, 
but I want to tell you how happy it has made me. 
For the first time in my life, I am at peace. 
Here there is no competing, no hustling, 
no trying to get ahead of anyone else. 
Here we are all equal and we all share. 
This way of life is so much in harmony 
with the inner essence of my soul 
that in only six months I've become the number two disciple in the entire community, 
and I think I can be number one by June!

Jesus talks often about abundant life, about life in all its fullness,
life not just splashing in the shallows,
but life that dares explore and reflect,
a life that dares to stop,
and to challenge behaviour in ourselves that stops us from having life in all its fullness –
to pursue happiness rather than distractions...
that is the way to finding and to understanding just how truly blessed we are.
The kind of happiness talked about in the beatitudes is one that runs deep –
beatitudes comes from the Latin which means ‘a state of bliss’.
This kind of happiness is a state of being that runs right down to our core
so that no matter what may be going on in our lives, yet, we are blessed –
and we are blessed because we are God’s.
And that’s the whole point:
we are blessed,
we are happy,
we find our bliss
when we find our focus on God.

The beatitudes help us in finding that focus –
in the attitudes we see displayed in those who Jesus describes as blessed.
What are these attitudes?
Essentially:
1/ poverty of spirit – or simply, having humility;
2/ mourning – or, simply, dropping the mask and not being afraid to honestly express loss –
the mark that someone has made on your life - an expression of love;
3/ meekness – a little like humility – but the ability to put others first, to see their needs,
to hold yourself back and by doing so, allowing others their moment in the sun;
4/ a hunger and thirst for righteousness –
following God’s way of justice and fighting on behalf of those who have been treated
unjustly - speaking up on behalf of ‘the little ones’;
5/ mercy
6/ purity of heart
7/ being a peacemaker – a builder of bridges, a reconciler;
8/ not bowing to peer pressure – faithfully following God’s way despite the temptation to try to
take short cuts – it’s following the way of the cross;
and 9/ proclaiming whose you are no matter what.

These attitudes are ones that are about letting go, and, of taking on:
letting go of your ego;
letting go of your masks;
letting go of the need to compete so much that no others have a chance;
letting go of a desire for revenge;
or the desire for distractions and desires that would turn your focus from God;
there’s the letting go of the fear that would prefer to divide and conquer
rather than see and share common ground;
letting go of the need to fit in, no matter what you have to sacrifice...even God;
and... letting go of the notion that you don’t belong and taking on your identity as God’s own.

And, as you work through these nine different attitudes, and then take a wee step back,
you discover that they are best seen in one particular human being:
Jesus.
In his life, in his words and actions, he is the very flesh and blood that shows us the beatitudes –
the way to happiness,
bliss,
blessing.
It doesn’t come without a price –
but what is important,
what is of value,
rarely comes easily.
Keep looking at Jesus –
he is the beatitudes in motion,
showing us how to be fully human,
truly happy –
it is an attitude of being that is prepared, as Paul says,
to look foolish at times,
to look weak at times,
so that our faith, our very lives,
don’t rest on being hung up with the quick fix,
but rather, rest on God -
to be grounded and focused upon Him...
for it is God, and only God who can ever be our source
of true and lasting happiness,
blessing.
And the more we enter into God’s blessing,
the more we demonstrated those be-attitudes –
attitudes of being –
that not only bless us,
but bless our families, our neighbours, our communities, and our world.
Not only will our reward be great in heaven, we’ll see the reward even here,
for the God of heaven is present on earth in us, for we are Christ’s body.

So:
Blessed are you who make room at your table
for in that way even tax-collectors shall be redeemed;
Blessed are you who seek out lost sheep
for your seeking you find more than a lamb;
Blessed are you who touch the leper
for you make a home for the excluded;
Blessed are you who welcome the prodigal
for you express the fullness of the love 
that is God;
Blessed are the silenced
for you hear the cry of God;
Blessed are you who make friends 
with your enemy,
for you know the way to lasting peace;
Blessed are you who turn the other cheek
for you show more strength than the oppressor;
Blessed are you who break bread 
with the stranger,
you will have a foretaste of the kingdom;
Blessed are you who heal on the Sabbath,
you will reveal what is important to God;
Blessed are you who seek company 
with the outcast and unclean,
for you shall be accompanying Jesus;
Blessed are you who overturn the tables,
you are the freedom fighters of love.
Blessed are you who love your neighbour,
for you already live in the realm of God;
Blessed are you who walk the way,
for you shall move within the company of heaven;
Blessed are you who carry a cross,
for you shall see God’s wisdom;
And, blessed are you who wait for the morning,
for you shall see the renewal of life...*

What helps us live a happy life –
a blessed life?
In the end, simply...
to have God at our centre,
and Jesus as our example.
It’s no quick fix,
but it is the way to our true bliss.

Let’s pray:
Give us, O God, this day:
humility -
so we can see you in the most vulnerable;
a cup -
to catch the tears of all who weep;
an arm -
for the long-suffering to cling to as they walk through life;
a broken heart -
which can heal those who have harmed me;
purity -
which looks at another and sees your beloved;
friendship -
which embraces those we are taught to fear;         
hospitality -
which welcomes those who are mocked for following you;
words -
of hope, of comfort, of grace whispered in the ears of all who are slandered for your name;
Give us, O God, this day:
a heart –
that loves, and knows itself beloved...
We ask, in Jesus’ name,
who showed us how to be. Amen

*Roddy Hamilton