Think about it, friends … when are you most aware of being "Blessed"? What makes you "Happy"? First time readers of the Beatitudes that you just heard read from the Gospel of Matthew might have some serious questions or doubts about the terminology of those statements.
"Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!" And so it continues … happy or blessed depending on the translation from which you're reading. But all those conditions of happiness or blessing don't sound like conditions that make us feel so fortunate.
The bumper sticker philosophy that we generally see posted reads more like "Happiness is surfing," or "Blessed are those who run in circles for they shall be called ‘big wheels'!"
Unfortunately bumper stickers seldom capture the whole truth. Nobody can say for certain what formula of circumstances guarantees happiness. If we could, given the market for such a product, we could write the formula in a book and retire independently wealthy.
The whole truth must include the reality that happiness is illusive. Although surveys show that most people consider themselves to be happy persons, few, if any, are happy all the time. Furthermore, most folks admit to a desire to be happier than they are presently. But as to what causes a person to be happy, who can say for sure?
As understood in the Bible, happiness is the condition of being spiritually blessed. It is an inner assurance of God's love and grace; it's a condition in God's eternal care. Misunderstanding is likely if we confuse the biblical state of blessedness with our common notions of happiness which, for the most part, are descriptions of good feelings dependent upon surrounding circumstances. Jesus was not suggesting that those who mourn should feel good about it or that those who suffer persecution should enjoy their trials. Rather, in his beatitudes, Jesus was offering assurance of divine grace and care to those who experience the uncertainties and sorrows of life. They are truly blessed who, in the midst of personal pain or sacrifice, can still rejoice in the unfailing love of God. Within a century after the death and resurrection of our Lord, the church would be referring to itself and especially to its martyrs as "blessed" or "happy". They were blessed, not because they enjoyed an easy, undemanding life, but because they possessed an inner conviction of God's presence despite stormy conditions and treacherous times.
The year was 1735 when a young Englishman, fresh from study at Oxford, and feeling a divine call to do missionary work in the colony of Georgia, boarded a ship for Savannah. He was to take up the challenge of ministry to immigrants and Indians. On the voyage he came face to face with death. A ferocious Atlantic storm engulfed the small ship. The vessel was tossed and broken as wave after wave washed across the deck. Disaster seemed imminent. While fear and panic spread among passengers and crew, the young Oxford fellow noticed a small group of men and women huddled together calmly praying, singing hymns, and speaking words of comfort to one another. He was deeply touched by their faith and courage.
Amazingly (some would say miraculously), the storm passed, and the ship was spared with no loss of life. The young man approached the calm group and inquired as to the reason for their calm in the face of such danger. He learned that they were members of the religious society of Moravians, also on their way to establish a mission and a church. The source of their quiet confidence? Why, nothing less than the assurance of the love and grace of the Savior, they told him.
The young man was so impressed by their witness that later when he returned to London (feeling a failure), he sought out the fellowship and support of the Moravian congregation meeting at Fetter Lane. In the course of time he would experience a new purpose and direction for his life.
The young man was John Wesley, of course, and from the work of his mind and hands and the inspiration of his heart came the great churches of the Wesleyan tradition, including the United Methodist Church.
The 18th century Moravians had a reputation as "God's Happy People." To some, this happiness was evidence of naivete, even childishness, but to others – John Wesley among them – it was a witness to the blessedness promised by Christ, a spiritual happiness given to those who mourn, to the meek, the merciful, those who search for righteousness, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted. Happy are all those, because God has not abandoned them; God is their comfort and strength. This is how I explain the JOY that I feel deep within, even when I'm not feeling "Happy" as the world generally defines it. It is what keeps us from despair because we know the Holy Spirit embraces us through all the times of our lives … and will get us past the trials we face. We affirm with Paul that "NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." Each time that occurs our faith grows a little stronger and deeper and our relationship with Jesus is more intimate.
It is no mistake that the beatitudes are read every year on All Saints' Day. Like the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes confront us with an ideal vision – God's vision – of who we can be. But most of us read them like paragraphs of a job description and decide that it is futile even to apply. Our mistake when we do that, when we admit defeat before we start, is believing that sainthood is a carrot on a stick, something we must achieve, earn, arrive at, by self-sacrifice; that is we DO the Ten Commandments, or DO the Beatitudes, then we may finally be saints.
The reality is quite different. The reality is that all of us who have been baptized are already saints … because all it takes to be a saint is to belong to God. It is not a matter of being or doing good or wearing a hair shirt or even of working three miracles that can be documented for the Vatican. Once you have linked up with Christ's body, once you have been baptized in his name and shared his body and blood, you have everything you need to be a saint. You have your identity, your halo, and a CHOICE: to live like who you are or not!
It is also true that God gives us the freedom to forsake this birthright, to fail to live up to it, to choose not to exercise the capacity for sainthood that belongs to all of us. Karl Barth likens us to a pardoned prisoner who won't get up and walk out the door of his cell. Or if you do not warm up to that analogy, try this one: It's like there is a check for a million dollars made out to you but until you claim it and cash it, you are still as poor as you were before.
Use it or lose it, the saying goes, and that is the way it is with sainthood too. Once we have been baptized, once we have received our halos, we are saints. Our vocation, our calling from that point on, is to act like we are, to exercise our sainthood, to practice it, so that we do not lose our God-given capacity to be saints.
Do the Beatitudes sound any different in that light? I hope so. Each phrase deserves a sermon of its own, but read between the lines and this is what you hear: You are loved; act like it! You are redeemed; act like it! You are a saint; act like it! I have a colleague who when he looked out at his congregation and they weren't smiling or looking joy-filled, he would boom out, "If you're redeemed, look like it! Act like it!!" Be what you already are and you will be blessed with every breath you take, because blessedness, which means happiness, which means joy, which means fullness of life – blessedness is just what happens when you are who you were created to be, living the life you were created to live. Which is, incidentally, what the Kingdom of God is all about … not squeezed into some mold the world has made for you.
So that is what we are up to today, recognizing our sainthood and remembering the saints who have gone before us. On this day especially we are all gathered together, the old saints with their sickles and the baby saints in their diapers, passing one another on our ways in and out of this world. Can you feel what a crowd we are today? Mary and Joseph with their boy Jesus, the apostle Paul and Stephen the deacon, Origen and Julian of Norwich, Thomas Becket and Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa – angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, and every one of us by name – all sainted by God through the waters of baptism, all related by the blood of Christ, all of us with halos, whether we can see them or not, whether we are living up to them or not, bobbing and swaying and sparkling above our heads.
When Jesus sat down to teach the disciples about happiness, he spoke of blessedness of spirit, not conditions of circumstances. We cannot – we must not – let the world define us or our attitudes. He taught that true happiness grows from an unconditional acceptance of life as the good gift of a gracious God, a God whose all-consuming purpose is to bless us, and in all circumstances, to make us the objects of God's love.
Happiness is … ?? It's many things, we think, as the years go by. But when the years come to their end, it may be none of the things we thought. The Gospel says that happiness is one thing only – having the kind of spirit as to realize how truly rich we are in the love and grace of God … and acting on it!!
(Some of this material comes from "When the Poor Become Rich," Life in Heaven's Kingdom, by D. Wayne Burkette,p. 69 and "The Company of Heaven," Mixed Blessings, by Barbara Brown Taylor, p. 49.)
Go back to the 2009 Sermons page.Go back to the UMC Red Bank home page.