SUNDAY’S SERMON

Odd Blessings

Matthew 5: 1-12

Pastor Robyn Hogue February 2, 2014 Skyline Presbyterian Church

In the valley off to the west from the hillside from which Jesus taught what we now call “The Sermon on the Mount” is a steep cliff rising up the flank of Mount Arbel. The face of the cliff is covered with hundreds of caves, with no good way to get to them without climbing straight up the cliff. That’s why the Zealots liked them. They were safe.

The Zealots were the militant group within Judaism that had declared war on Rome. Every Zealot carried a dagger under his robe and dreamed of the day when he might stick that dagger into a Roman Centurion. Zealots believed that God wanted God’s people free, and believing that, vowed to accept death before becoming a slave to Caesar. The Zealots found the caves to be the perfect hideout. From there they would carry out their terrorist raids and then climb back into the caves and be untouchable.

They slept, ate and built their weapons in these caves. Some scholars now believe that the background sound to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount would have been that of the Zealot blacksmiths hammering out daggers and swords as weapons of war.

We have heard the words of today’s scripture many times. We have read them and heard them preached, and taught them in Sunday school. We have even nicknamed them. We call them “The Beatitudes,” which simply means “blessings”. We have nodded our heads when Jesus talks to the poor in spirit, because we have been poor in spirit and appreciate the recognition. We have mourned, have felt meek, have hungered for many things including righteousness, and have tried to be merciful. We all dream of having pure hearts, like the role of peacemaker when we can get it, and certainly get our share of persecution if we demonstrate in our lifestyle that we follow Jesus too closely. The words Jesus speaks in the Beatitudes help us feel better. We know that Jesus understands.

Before we go further, let’s take a moment to meet the rest of the players. That little group on your right, my left and standing off by themselves, are the Pharisees. They are an interesting group. They agree with a lot of what they have heard Jesus say. They believe in a resurrection from the dead, and caring for the poor, and that God can, and does, heal. However, uppermost in their minds is protecting God’s law. The key to all those other good things is to obey the laws of Moses, and the oral laws set forth by your rabbi. Keep your eye on the Pharisees. They have theirs on you.

That group over on your left, my right, further to the back and dressed so nicely...those are some Sadducees from Jerusalem. They have come to see that Jesus doesn’t offend the Temple. The Sadducees believe that people get what they deserve. Therefore if people are poor, sick or unemployed, then God must want them poor, sick or unemployed. Who are we to argue with God? The Sadducees believe it is better to be rich, powerful and nicely dressed, even if that means we have to cooperate with the Romans to have those things. The Sadducees are here to see that Jesus doesn’t offend the Temple leadership…or Rome. Pay them little mind. They are pretending you don’t even exist.

Here and there, scattered in the crowd, you see a few folks looking and sneering at the Sadducees. Those “sneerers” are some of the Zealots who have come down from the caves and are enemies with anyone who is a friend of Rome. Keep in mind, they carry daggers.

The rest of the crowd is crowd. There are some fishermen, some farmers, some tax collectors, some teachers, some craftsmen, some women, some children—just good common folks. They are hoping to hear a little hope.

This is Jesus’ congregation. Now, let’s try to keep score.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” First of all, to a Sadducee, nothing “poor” is blessed. They vote no. The Zealots respect those whose spirits are strong and determined, and whose hands hold the handle of a dagger ready to act on that spirit. Zealots vote no, but do appreciate what he’s trying to do for the poor. The Pharisees have no complaint. They care for the poor, and so long as they abide by the law, yes, they will be blessed. The common folk are quiet. They had never thought of themselves as blessed while their spirits are this broken. Maybe there is hope. There is a mumbled “Amen” from an old man in the cheap seats.

“Blessed are those who mourn.” Most nod their heads in agreement with this one. That’s probably because most of them miss the point. Jesus wasn’t just talking about those who mourned the death of a family member. Who would argue with that? But what about the death of the faith? The common folks and Zealots would agree. The Pharisees and particularly the Sadducees would not. But it probably went over their heads. This one was just a warm-up.

“Blessed are the meek.” The Zealots don’t like the direction this is taking. First it was “poor in spirit” and now it is “meek.” This is no way to fire up a rebellion against Rome. The Pharisees and Sadducees are ticked. They have studied the old writings and know what Jesus is trying to say here. He is quoting Psalm 37 which lifts up the behavior of the “meek” over the behavior of the “wicked.” The way Psalm 37 describes “wicked” comes a little too close to day-to-day behavior for Pharisees and Sadducees. This get-together has taken a nasty turn. The common folk understand, and said “Thank you.”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Everyone likes this one because they all have dreams for which they hunger and thirst. Most of them have problems catching the subtle difference between “right” and “righteousness.” If they understood what Jesus was really saying, they all would have grumbled.

“Blessed are the merciful.” Zealots show no mercy. They are considering going back to the cliffs. Pharisees see little room in the law for mercy. Sadducees see no need for mercy. If God wanted people better off, he would make them better off. You got what you deserved. Many in the crowd smiled, while others, who remember how they behave at home, duck their heads.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.” Blessed are “the sincere” is how it came out. They were all sincere. Again, I think they probably missed the point.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Every eye in the congregation turned to the Zealots. It is one of those times when everyone believes the preacher has over-stepped the bounds. Sadducees want peace with Rome so they could stay in office. The Pharisees are for peace, within the rules of the law, which does not leave room for Rome. The Zealots are ready to kill for peace, and the common folks are thinking about how hard it is to simply be a peacemaker back home in the family.

“Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” They all like this one. They have all been persecuted at one time or another. The Sadducees feel persecuted by the ignorant poor people who don’t understand how difficult it is to be God’s favored children in charge of the religious life of a nation. The Pharisees feel persecuted for their harping about all those laws. The Zealots feel persecuted by Roman Centurions carrying swords, and the common folks feel persecuted by…pretty much everybody. They have all been insulted and have had evil uttered against them, and all for “righteous” reasons. But then Jesus blessed those who were laughed at for His sake. The Zealots don’t know what to do with this one. The Pharisees and Sadducees are aghast. For His sake? This is blasphemy! The common folks get lost in the theology.

Let me stop here and say that my point is to show that in this lovely collection of Beatitudes, Jesus stepped on some toes. In fact, at one point or another, Jesus stepped on every toe in the church, I mean on the hillside. Some of them were so bruised they began to discuss how to stop Him.

Sometimes we find ourselves afraid to step on toes. It’s funny how Jesus almost seemed to make it a point to step on as many bare toes as He could reach in His three years. Of course, He wasn’t there to please people. He was there to save them.