Tag: Sermon on the Mount

Preserving Truth, Exposing Lies

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year ALeave a comment

Matthew 5:13-20

As I said last week, many of us were raised hearing a very skewed version of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, as we sat in the comfort and shelter of a flag-adorned sanctuary among the beneficiaries of white supremacy. It’s fair to say that some of us heard from an alternative Jesus who blesses the rich and the powerful, instead of the Jesus who blesses the poor and confronts power.

So today, I invite you to clear your minds and open your hearts to hear from the brown-skinned Jewish Palestinian who experienced life as an immigrant on the run, who was, from day one, a target of the state. Listen to the Jesus who identified with the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the criminalized, as he delivers a word from God to people who are exhausted from life under a corrupt, tyrannical government, to people who know what it is like to hear their leaders use scripture to support exclusion, exploitation, and oppression.

And it is to them (not to the powerful; not to those called “patriots” by King Herod and his minions; not to the priests aligned with Rome or to the loudest voices claiming divine authority) that Jesus says: “you are the salt of the earth,” and “you are the light of the world.”

And what may be even more shocking is that Jesus does not say, “you will be salt”—when Herod dies, or “you will be light”—when the pendulum swings.

But to those who are exhausted by a system that favors the rich, to the poor in spirit, the mourners, the powerless, to those who hunger for justice and yearn for peace, Jesus says: “you are,” today, right now, in this very moment, “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.”

Salt in the ancient world was not merely something that was sprinkled on food to enhance its flavor. Its main purpose was to preserve food that would otherwise rot. And due to its antibacterial properties, salt was used as a therapeutic agent to treat wounds. Salt was essential for healing—disruptive, uncomfortable, and necessary to stop infection and decay.

That’s why we should pay attention when we hear people say we shouldn’t “open the old wounds of our past,” that talking honestly about our nation’s racist history through works like the 1619 Project is somehow divisive, unnecessary, or unfaithful. Because anyone who has ever had a wound knows this: wounds that are never cleaned don’t heal; they fester. And salt, when applied to an open wound is never comfortable. It stings. It burns. It makes us wince. But it also kills infection. It interrupts decay. It makes healing possible.

If Jesus calls us to be salt, then he is not calling us to comfort the wound, to cover it, or to pretend it never happened. He is calling us to tell the truth about where the injury is, how deep it goes, and what it has cost, because it is only then that healing can begin. Refusing to name injustice is not simply moving on. It is choosing rot over restoration.

That’s why Jesus gives the warning if salt loses its saltiness, if salt stops doing what it was made to do, it becomes useless and gets trampled underfoot. In other words, if you don’t want those in power to tread on you, you must start being who you were created to be!

Like salt, light can also sting and be uncomfortable. Light is dangerous, as it is a threat to darkness, exposing what the darkness covers up. And Jesus says, you don’t light a lamp and then hide it for the sake of safety. You don’t dim it, to keep you out of trouble. But you put it on a stand, and you share it with as many people as you can.

Jesus is talking about being a public witness. He’s talking about possessing a faith that shows up in the world where people are hungry, oppressed, and crushed by unjust systems.

When Jesus talks about light and salt, I can’t help but think about the way people are bearing public witness to the truth today with nothing more than a cell phone in their hands, recording what others hope will go unnoticed, preserving the truth that would have decayed otherwise.

In a world where lies travel fast and violence is quickly denied, these witnesses are letting their light shine, exposing what the darkness wants hidden, preserving the truth before it can be erased. With moral courage they are refusing to let darkness control the story. Every time cell phone cameras come out in Minneapolis, you could almost hear the people singing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!”

That simple song that most of us learned as a child might not have been written as a protest anthem, but it was never neutral. It emerged from Black communities of faith where light was already a language of survival. To sing about light in a world shaped by slavery and Jim Crow was already to make a claim: that God’s presence and love could not be extinguished by racism and violence.

During the Civil Rights Movement, that song was carried out of the sanctuary and into the streets. It was sung in marches, in jail cells, in the face of clubs and dogs and fire hoses. Freedom singers didn’t softly hum “This Little Light of Mine.” They shouted it and marched with it in the streets. In the darkness of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, they turned it into a bold declaration of justice.

And at the same time, those of us who grew up in predominantly white churches, learned how to sing the same song without ever stepping into that darkness. The words and the tune were the same. But the power of the words was diluted. The light was kept safely inside, deep in our hearts, something personal, something polite, something that asked nothing of power.

What we did to that song illustrates how the gospel of Jesus gets whitewashed, prompting the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock to recently say: “I have to say, as a pastor, I think Jesus is the biggest victim of identity theft in the country.”

We’ve learned how to keep the language of Jesus while emptying it of its demands. The light Jesus talks about becomes personal comfort and salvation instead of public confrontation and social transformation. And Jesus becomes someone to believe in rather than someone to follow.

Which is exactly what Jesus is addressing in verse 20 where we read: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

It’s important to remember that the scribes and Pharisees were not secular villains. They believed in God. They were morally serious and deeply religious. They quoted scripture fluently. They claimed divine authority. They believed they were defending God’s order in the world. And yet, they had learned how to practice religion without practicing love. How to keep the law while neglecting the least of these. How to be righteous without being just.

And Jesus is saying: “That kind of righteousness is just not going to cut it!”

Not that it might prevent us from experiencing heaven when we die, but that it will certainly prevent anything close to God’s reign of love from being experienced here on earth.

Jesus is saying: You can know and even obey all the rules and still miss the reign of God. You can quote scripture and still block the kingdom at the door. You can be loud about God at a prayer breakfast and silent about injustice.

Jesus is saying the righteousness of the kingdom exceeds right religion, because it is all about right relationship, with God and with our neighbors, especially with our neighbors who are suffering: the poor; the foreigner; the crushed and the cast aside.

The righteousness of the kingdom looks like love showing up to heal suffering. It looks like justice showing up to disrupt the darkness. It looks like the refusal to stay safely inside the Pharisee’s religious walls of belief.

It’s the kind of righteousness that is never private but always practiced publicly. It shows up in real places, with real bodies and real risk. It looks like telling the truth in the face of lies. It looks like standing with our brown and black neighbors who are being targeted, even when it costs us comfort or reputation. It is showing up where silence would be complicity.

Salt preserves what would otherwise decay and exposes what the powerful want to hide. And every time we choose courage over comfort, solidarity over safety, truth over security, we are practicing the righteousness Jesus is talking about.

So, when Jesus says, “you are the salt of the earth,” he is saying:
don’t lose your edge; don’t soften the gospel until it no longer confronts injustice.

When he says, “you are the light of the world,” he is saying: don’t hide the truth to stay safe; don’t dim your witness to stay comfortable.

And when he says our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, he is saying:

The kingdom of heaven is experienced through love that refuses to look away, through justice that costs something and through faith that stands with the vulnerable even when it makes us enemies of the powerful.

Jesus is saying: The world today does not need any more salt that has gone bland. And it does not need a light hidden behind patriotism or religious certainty.

It needs a church brave enough to live a righteousness that exceeds belief, rejects the false religion of nationalism, and dares to trust that God’s reign is still breaking in. The world does not need more certainty. It needs more courage.

And Jesus does not say this to shame us. He says it to name us. “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.” Not someday. Not when it’s safer. Not when the cost is lower. But right now. Which means courage isn’t something we wait for. It’s something God has already placed in us—

The courage to tell the truth when power is lying.

The courage to show up when silence would be easier.

The courage to follow Jesus not just in what we confess, but in how we live.

The darkness is real today. But so is the light.

And the darkness does not get to decide if the light shines.

So, at the end of the service when we sing, “This little light of mine,” we’re not singing a sweet little children’s song like you used to in Vacation Bible School.

We are making a public vow,

a declaration that in the darkest night, the light still shines.

That truth will be told.

That wounds will be healed, even when it stings.

And love will not stay silent.

Amen.

We Need a Slap in the Face

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year CLeave a comment

Luke 6:27-38 NRSV

These words from Jesus are some of the most difficult words to preach in the entire Bible. They are so counter-cultural, so offensive, that we would rather ignore them.

But these are the words of Jesus, and these are some of his very first words. So, if we want to call ourselves Christian, we cannot ignore them.

So, to avoid offending too many people, losing too many congregants, and, frankly, to avoid getting fired, preachers have this special knack of using a little hermeneutical smoke and mirrors. We pull this off by talking less about what the passages are saying, and more about what they are not saying. It’s a technique that preachers employ to keep their congregants happy.

And sadly, and tragically, this is one of the main reasons that many churches today, and many so-called Christian people, act nothing like Jesus.

Here’s an example of how it is done:

“But if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other also.”

Now, Jesus is not saying here that should be pushovers.

“Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you!”

Now, Jesus is not saying here that we should help those who are perfectly capable of helping themselves.

“Love your enemies.”

Now Jesus is not saying we have to like them!

See how that is done? Preachers get away with this all the time, and their congregations let them, because the preacher is saying the things they only wished Jesus said.

And then, to put the finishing touch on this chicanery, preachers quickly skip to the end of the passage and point out verse 36: “Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.”

It is then they say: “You see. None of us can be like God. Therefore, Jesus really does not expect us to do any of these things. He is just laying out some very high ideals—ideals that we can never live up to. Jesus is trying to reveal just how sinful and unworthy we are.

That’s when preachers leave these words of Jesus and go off on a tangent about grace and the need to accept Christ as our personal savior because none of us are like God, and we all fall short of the glory of God.

Now, I believe in grace. I need grace. I am by no means close to being a merciful as God, so grace is my friend. Grace is my hope. Grace is amazing. But here’s the problem with using grace as an excuse to not obey these counter-cultural commands of Jesus, and it is a huge problem— At the end of the sermon, Jesus (as if he knows we will try to use grace as some get-out-of-doing-what-I-say card) says, beginning with verse 46:

 Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’

So, what are we to do with these passages? When someone slaps us in the face, does Jesus really want us to turn and give them the other cheek to slap? And are we really supposed to give people the very shirts off our backs? Give to everyone who begs of us? Really?

No, this just can’t be. For it is directly opposed to almost every instinct we possess.

We read these words of Jesus, and many of us have a problem. Let’s face it. We have a big problem.

Now, are you ready for some good news?

Well, you are going to have to wait, because the bad news is still coming.

The truth is: these very difficult and offensive words of Jesus expose an even bigger problem for most of us. Think about it…

When was the last time that you have taken a stand against an evil, an injustice, stood up for someone who was being marginalized and scapegoated, and because of that stand, because you stood up and spoke out, the supporters of that evil, not only sent you a nasty email, defriended you on Facebook, personally confronted you, but became so offended they physically attacked you by slapping you in the face?

What I am asking is: when was the last time that we’ve even had an opportunity to turn the other cheek?

When was the last time someone who was very cold approached you, and knew you well enough to ask you to give them the very coat that you were wearing? When is the last time anyone has asked you to sacrifice warmth so they could be warm? When was the last time that you even had the opportunity to offer someone in need the shirt off your back?

When was the last time that someone in great need came to you and begged for you to help them? I am not talking about the person you see holding a sign at an intersection, “Help. Homeless Vet.”  I am talking about someone whose name you knew, someone who knew your name, someone who felt like they could trust you, someone coming to you personally, swallowing their pride, and asking you for help?

Jesus says we are to love our enemies, but when was the last time that we’ve made an enemy? After all, isn’t confrontation something we all like to avoid? Isn’t it better, especially in this day and time, to mind our own business, keep our thoughts to ourselves, especially when it is about religion or politics?

Our problem is not that we are unwilling to turn the other cheek. Our problem is that we are so private, so unconcerned about anyone other than ourselves, that we never get off our blessed assurances to cause any confrontations.

Our problem is not that we are unwilling to give someone the shirt off our back. Our problem is that we are never around anyone who needs our coat.

Our problem is not that we are unwilling to give to the needy who personally approach us and beg of us. Our problem is that we do not personally know anyone in need.

Our problem is not that we are unwilling to love our enemies. Our problem is that most of us have never created any. We are so afraid of anything that might cause us a little discomfort, we never put ourselves out there to make any enemies.

And if we ever become bold enough to speak out, to take up for another or some gospel principle, if we know we have offended another, we usually go out of our way to always avoid that other. If we turn to go down an aisle at Kroger and see them, we will quickly turn and go to the opposite end of the store. Or we might leave and finish our shopping at Food Lion.

And because we stay away from those we have offended, because we keep our enemies at such a safe distance, we are simply nowhere close enough to them to even think about loving them.

You’ve heard the wisdom of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

The late Presbyterian author and preacher Frederick Buechner spoke of this wisdom:

If your enemies are close—

You see the lines in their faces and the way they walk when they’re tired. You see who their husbands and wives are, maybe.

You see where they’re vulnerable. You see where they’re scared.

 Seeing what is hateful about them, you may catch a glimpse also of where the hatefulness comes from.

Seeing the hurt they cause you, you may see also the hurt they cause themselves.

You’re still light-years away from loving them, to be sure, but at least you see how they are human even as you are human, and that is at least a step in the right direction.

It’s possible that you may even get to where you can pray for them a little, if only that God forgive them because you yourself can’t, but any prayer for them at all is a major breakthrough.

I believe Jesus is urging us to come close enough to others that we will truly be able to see them as beloved children of God, that tere is no “us” and “them.” There is only “us” as the Most High is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked.

Now, here is the good news:

The good news is: You are here! You have put yourself out there! You are not so self-absorbed and selfish that you stayed home this morning. Your self-concern has not crowded out your moral concern.

The good news is: You are here, and together, as a church, we are going to go places where we will encounter people who are in such need that they may ask for our coats. And we will have opportunities to sacrificially offer them our shirts. We will get to know people who are so desperate that they may beg of us. And we will have opportunities to selflessly give.

Together, we will speak up, speak out, and stand firm for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for the prophetic justice he taught, and for the unconditional love for all people he modeled.

And yes, because this way of Jesus is socially unacceptable today in our country and in our city, we are certain to make some enemies. Like churches all over this country who are boldly standing up and speaking out, our property may be vandalized. Our flag will continue to be stolen. We are apt to stir up so much anger in some people that they will not only de-friend us on Facebook, send us ugly emails, but they may want to slap us in the face!

But together, because it is impossible to do it alone, together, as part of the household of God, we will not ignore them. Nor will we run and hide from them. We are having a discussion in our fellowship hall this Wednesday night to learn to have conversations with them. And we are having a workshop next month with Father John Dear to learn how to resist them nonviolently. We will learn together how to turn other cheek. We will learn together how to pray for them and how to love them. We will learn what actions we can take to make this world more peaceful, just, and equitable.

And no, we will never be as merciful as God, far from it. But we are going to do all we can do to stand up for mercy and to plead for mercy whenever poor people are called parasites, immigrants are scapegoated and transgendered and non-binary people are erased. We will stand together and stand up to the wicked in power who, full of lies, greed and hate, enrich themselves while trampling the poor, and then, we will at least be on our way, prayerfully, lovingly doing what we can, where we can, to become like the wise one who built a house on rock. And when the rains fall, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on our house, it will not fall. Amen.

Light It Up

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Non-LectionaryLeave a comment

Sermon preached at First Christian Church, Slidell, Louisiana, June 21, 2020

Matthew 5:1-14 NRSV

I would like to begin this morning by wishing all of the Dads watching a Happy Father’s Day and by sharing personal story about my father. I am not sure who else can relate to this, but my Dad has always been always been very persnickety about the lights. Ultra conservative might be a better word, but since we are living in this politically-charged era, I am going to stick with “persnickety.” Everyday, I heard it: “Who left on that light?” “Turn off the lights.” “Why is every light on in the house!” “Son, is there really a need to turn on the hall lights to walk a few feet to your bedroom?”

When I was learning to drive with my learner’s permit, I will never forget daddy ingraining it me that the headlights of the car should never be done until the sun set, until all of it completely disappeared over the horizon. If it was getting dark before sunset, only the parking lights were permitted. Turning on the headlights before the sun went down was a waste of valuable light! My father was, and probably still is today, a light-miser.

Jesus was also persnickety about light, but he seemed to be persnickety in the opposite direction. What I mean is that I am pretty sure no one ever called Jesus “a light-miser.” In fact, Jesus said that he was light, and not only light, but he was thelight. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

I believe Jesus was all about light because it was his life’s misson to get us to see something special in the darkness: the truth of who God has created us to be, of how God has created us to live.

I think it is interesting that Jesus actually spoke less about how we sin and more about how we see. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see…” (John 9:39).

Throughout the gospels, Jesus asks: “Do you have eyes and fail to see?” (Mark 8:18) “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye?” (Matthew 7:3) “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” (Luke 10:23) “Prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it!” (Luke 10:24)

Over and over Jesus talked about importance of seeing something that most people have difficulty seeing.

And what is it that we have so much trouble seeing? What is the truth that God wants us to see?

I believe the answer is in Jesus’ first recorded sermon.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus wants us to see the truth that God favors the “poor in spirit.” Not the religious, the devout, the pious, or even the spiritual. Not the pastors, the elders and the deacons, not even the church member who serves every week in the soup kitchen. No, God favors the ones who have come to be served at the soup kitchen. They are not the ones with something to give. They are the ones with nothing to give. Jesus says the ones who are blessed, the ones who are blessed by God are those who, spiritually speaking, are completely destitute and needy. Their very spirits have been broken. And notice that Jesus uses the present tense. Not willbe blessed. Not mightbe favored. They are, right now, right here, blessed. And their future is the kingdom of heaven. Can you see it?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Jesus wants us to see that God favors the mourners. Not only those who may be mourning the death of someone, but maybe especially those who are mourning over their own lives, those who are wondering if their lives have any value. They remember how their fathers and mothers, their ancestors, were valued by this world. They consider how they are valued by this world. And they look into the eyes of their children and grandchildren, and they grieve. They cry out in the streets for their lives to to matter, yet Jesus calls them blessed and promises comfort. Can you see it?

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

The meek are favored, says Jesus. Not the strong. Not the ones with the personalities or the confidence or the physical ability or the privilege to do whatever is necessary to overcome all sorts of adversity and make it to the top. Jesus says, blessed are the ones who never seem to get ahead. It is the last, says Jesus, not the first, who survive and inherit the earth. Can you see it?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

Not the ones who are righteous, but the ones on whose behalf the prophet Amos preached: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).These are the ones who are unjustly judged, mistreated, shunned and bullied by society, even by communities of faith. They suffer grave injustices simply because of who they are.

They have been beaten up so badly by the world that they hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness like a wanderer lost in a hot desert thirsts for water. Jesus says that they are blessed, and they are the ones who will not only be satisfied, but will be filled, their cups overflowing. Can you see it?

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Not the perfect and the proud, the boastful and the arrogant. Not the ones who never admit any mistake. But God favors the ones who are fully aware of their imperfections, the ones who have made mistakes, terrible mistakes, and they know it. Thus, when they encounter others who are also suffering from unthinkable errors in judgment, they have mercy and compassion, and in their hearts, there is always room for forgiveness. They give mercy, because they need mercy for themselves. And because they are favored by God, they will receive it. Can you see it?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Not the pure, but the “pure in heart.” Not the ones whose outer appearance and abilities suggest that they have the best genes. No, God favors the ones with obvious disabilities and who are viewed by the world as genetically flawed. We are reminded of the words of 1 Samuel “for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God will see the pure beauty of who they truly are and they will see God. Can you see it?

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Not the ones who have necessarily found peace for themselves. But the tormented, disturbed and restless, who, because they are so continuously in chaos, seek to make peace whenever and wherever they can. Blessed are those who are without stability, but seek it, because they will find a home, a place of security, rest and a peace that is beyond all understanding, within the family of God.[i]

And this, Jesus pronounces, is not a prescription of how things should be or how things could be. Jesus asserts that this is how things are! Can you see it?

If not, then maybe more of us need to stop being light misers and get up and turn on the lights! Every light in the house!

Jesus announces: “I have come as light, as the Light of the World, to help you see it, to give all who are blind to it, the sight to see this world as God sees it.”

And not only that, Jesus says, you who seek to follow me, you who seek to do the things that I do, you who want to go to the places that I go, are also the Lights of the World. And you are called not to hide or conserve or be persnickety with your light, but to shine your light on what is the truth, so all may see the world the way God sees it.

We are to shine our lights by lifting up, accepting and caring for all people, but especially those the world leaves behind. We are to light it up by loving, accepting, and caring for the least among us: the poor, those who are crying out for their lives to matter, the weak and the underprivileged, those who need mercy, the marginalized who hunger and thirst for justice, the obviously flawed but pure in heart, and the spiritually or mentally troubled who yearn for peace.

Will we be despised for it? You bet. Will people say that the way we accept and love and affirm others is socially and even theologically unacceptable? It’s likely. Will we be demeaned and even persecuted by others, even by those in organized religion? Most certainly.

But here is the good news:

Jesus also said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you[notice the change in person] when people revile youand persecute youand utter all kinds of evil against youfalsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So while some continue to live as persnickety light-misers in the twisted, dark worlds that they have created, a world where they blindly believe that it is the rich, the prosperous, the privileged and the powerful that are blessed and favored by God,

let us commit ourselves to living in the world created by our gracious, loving God, in the world that Jesus, the Light of the World, came to help us see.

And let us, as lights of this world, for the sake of this world, keep lighting this world up, keep turning on every light in every house, until the day comes when the eyes of all are finally fully opened.

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION

Go now into the world and light it up!

So the poor will know that they are blessed.

Light it up,

So all who cry out for their lives to matter will be comforted.

Light it up,

So that the underprivileged will know that they are favored.

Light it up,

So that those who ache for justice will be satisfied.

Light it up,

So that the obviously flawed but pure in heart will see God.

Light it up,

So that those you yearn for peace will know security as God’s beloved children.

Light it up,

Knowing that if you are persecuted, yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Light it up,

Until the day comes when the eyes of all are finally fully open, and all may know love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[i]Inspired by Frederick Buechner. Whistling in the Dark: An ABC Theologized (New York: Harper Collins, 1988), 18.              

 

Light It Up!

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year ALeave a comment

beatitudes-1

Matthew 5:1-20

I believe one of the reasons that some Southerners yearn to see some snow, at least once a year, is because of the sheer magic of it. In an article for the Farmville Enterprise I quoted J.B. Priestly: “You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?”

Then I wrote:

One day Stantonsburg Road was littered with empty Natural Light cans, leftover trash from Bojangles and McDonalds, and the carcass of a possum or two. The next day it was a majestic, untarnished pathway through a winter wonderland.

One day my lawn was brown, covered with ugly winter weeds and strewn with fallen tree limbs and dog droppings that I have been too lazy to pick up. The next day it was glistening white, void of a single blemish.

One day the flaws and faults of this fragmented world were all too apparent. The next day everything seemed to be forgiven, blanketed by grace. And although the world was still a very dangerous place to drive and to even walk, the hopeful wonder and potential beauty of the world was obvious (from: Snowflakes from Heaven).

Snow in the South is like a fairytale. But a few days later, the sun comes out, the rains fall, and it quickly melts away bringing us back to the real world, where we see the harsh, uncovered reality of it all. And the winter wonderland that once was seems to be a distant magical dream.

Have you ever considered that we might have it all backwards?

What if the fairytale is the littered highways and the brown lawns with ugly winter weeds?

What if the magical dream is the uncovered, unforgiven, graceless, and fragmented existence?

What if reality is the winter wonderland? What if reality is the world that has been blanketed by grace? What if reality is the world where hopeful wonder and potential beauty always exist?

I know what you are thinking…“Oh my goodness! Somebody call 911 ‘cause the preacher has lost his mind!”

But what if I have not lost my mind, and in fact, right now, my mind is as sane and as sharp as it has ever been?

I have said before that Jesus spoke less about sin and more about our inability to see. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see…” (John 9:39).  He continues throughout the gospels:

Do you have eyes and fail to see (Mark 8:18)? Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye (Matthew 7:3)?  Blessed are the eyes that see what you see (Luke 10:23)! Prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it (Luke 10:24)!

Over and over, Jesus talked about importance of seeing something that most have difficulty seeing. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he said that he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Not to get rid of it, but to bring it back into focus, to help us to truly see the purpose within it.

This is why I believe he said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

To see anything, light is needed; thus, one of the main purposes of Jesus is enabling people to see, to see the real world, to see reality.

And what is reality? What is it that we have so much trouble seeing? What is it that God wants us to see?

I believe the answer is in Jesus’ first recorded sermon. Jesus went up on a mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him, and taught them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

God favors the “poor in spirit.” Not the religious, the devout, the pious or even the spiritual. Not the pastors, the elders and the deacons, not even the church member who serves in the soup kitchen. No, God favors the ones who have come to be served at the soup kitchen. They are not the ones with something to give. They are the ones with nothing to give. Jesus says the ones who are blessed, the ones who are blessed by God are those who, spiritually speaking, are completely destitute and needy. Their very spirits have been broken. And notice that Jesus uses the present tense. Not will be blessed. Not might be favored. They are, right now, right here, blessed. This is reality. And their future is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4).

God favors the mourners. Not the faithful who can understand what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he said we should “give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thessalonians 5:18), or “rejoice even in the midst of suffering” (Romans 5:3-10), but the ones who are not just complaining about the pain in their life, but they actually in mourning over that pain. They look at who they are, and who they have become, and they grieve. They look in the mirror in utter despair, and Jesus calls them blessed and promises comfort.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

The meek, the gentle, the shy and the timid are favored. Not the strong. Not the ones with the personalities or the confidence to overcome all sorts of adversity and somehow still make it to the top. Blessed are the ones who have never conquered anything, not even their own fears. It is the weak, says Jesus, not the strong, who survive and inherit the earth.  

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).

Not the ones who are righteous, but the ones on whose behalf the prophet Amos preached: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). These are the ones who have been unjustly judged, mistreated, shunned and bullied by society, even by communities of faith. They have suffered grave injustices because of their race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental and physical ability, socioeconomic level and political or theological background. They have been beaten up so badly by the world that they hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness, like a wanderer lost in a hot desert thirsts for water. Jesus says that they are blessed and they are favored and they are the ones who will not only be satisfied, but will be filled, their cups overflowing.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7).

Not the perfect and the proud, the boastful and the arrogant. But God favors the ones who are fully aware of their imperfections, the ones who have made mistakes, terrible mistakes. Thus, when they encounter others who are also suffering from unthinkable errors in judgment, they have mercy and compassion, and in their hearts, there is always room for forgiveness. They give mercy, because they need mercy for themselves. And because they are favored by God, they will receive it.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).

Not the pure, but the “pure in heart.” Not the ones who, on the outside, appear to be straight and narrow, the ones who seem to have it all together, whose characters appear to be flawless. No, God favors the ones viewed by the world as abominations. We are reminded of the words of 1 Samuel “for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God will see the hopeful wonder and the potential beauty of who they are and they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).

Not the ones who have necessarily found peace for themselves. But the tormented, disturbed and restless, who, because they are so continuously in chaos, seek to make peace whenever and wherever they can. Blessed are those who are without stability, but seek it, because they will find a home, a place of security, rest and a peace that is beyond all understanding, within the family of God.[i]

This, Jesus pronounces, is not a prescription of how things should be or how things could be. Jesus asserts that this is how things are! This is not some enchanted dream or magical fairytale. This is reality. This is truth. And Jesus announces: “I have come as light, as the Light of the World, to help you see it, to give all who are blind to it, sight to really see it as it really is.”

And not only that, Jesus says, you, who seek to follow me, you, who seek do the things that I do, go to the places that I go, you, who want to be my disciples, are also the Lights of the World. And you are called not to hide your light, but to shine your light on what is reality, what is true, so all may see it the way God sees it.

And we are to light it up in the same manner Jesus lit it up.

In Matthew 4 we read after James and John, Peter and Andrew left their fishing nets to follow Jesus, they proclaimed “…the good newsof the kingdom by curing every disease and every sickness among the people…those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them” (Matthew 4:23-24).

We are to shine our lights by lifting up, accepting and caring for all people, especially those the world leaves behind. We are to light it up by loving, accepting, and caring for the least among us: the poor, the weak, those who need mercy, the marginalized who hunger and thirst for justice, the obviously flawed but pure in heart, and the troubled who yearn for peace.

Will we look like fools? You bet. Will people say that the way we accept and love and affirm others is socially and even theologically unacceptable? It’s likely. Will we be demeaned and even persecuted by others in the community, even other churches? Perhaps.

But here is the good news: Jesus also said,

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you [notice the change in person] when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-11).

So let the rest of the world live in their enchanted, dreamlike, fairytale existence where the rich, the prosperous, the powerful and the strong are blessed and favored by God.

And let us commit ourselves to living in reality, in the world created by our gracious God, in the world that Jesus, the Light of the World, came to help us see, in the world where the Holy Spirit reveals the hopeful wonder and potential beauty in all things and in all people, in the world that has indeed been blanketed by grace, like a 4-inch snowfall in the South.

And let us, as lights of this world, for the sake of this world, keep lighting it up, until the day comes when the eyes of all are finally fully opened. Amen.

[i] Words on the Beatitudes were inspired by Frederick Buechner. Whistling in the Dark: An ABC Theologized (New York: Harper Collins, 1988), 18.           

 

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION

Go now into the world and light it up!

So the poor will know that they are blessed.

Light it up!

So that the weak will know that they are favored.

Light it up!

So that those who ache for justice will be satisfied.

Light it up!

So that the obviously flawed but pure in heart will see God.

Light it up!

So that those you yearn for peace will know security as God’s beloved children.

Light it up!

Knowing that if you are persecuted, yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Light it up!

Until the day comes when the eyes of all are finally fully open, and all may know love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.