January 29, 2023 - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - Micah and the Beatitudes

Pastor Steve quoted the introduction to this Sunday's worship given in the resource Sundays and Seasons as a good summary of what he would say in his sermon:

Who are the blessed ones of God? For Micah, they are those who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. For Paul, they are the ones who find wisdom in the weakness of the cross. For Jesus, they are the poor, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who mourn, and those who hunger for righteousness. In baptism we find our blessed identity and calling in this counter cultural way of living and serving.

In Micah the familiar verse was  6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Today's Gospel, which most people know as the Sermon on the Mount, contains the verses commonly known as the Beatitudes. 

I heard all these verses as a child and then throughout my life. My understanding has changed over the years and with my life experience. The question posed here was Who are the blessed ones of God? 

The answers given are the answers I have given myself for years. Today I want to give a more expansive response. I believe this is what Jesus meant for people to hear in these words. He does not mean the "blessed ones" to be some state we are aiming for or are expected to aspire to. I don't understand these words to mean that it is God's desire is for people to be poor or rich or meek or proud., Being merciful, pure in heart, or peacemakers are admirable qualities but not required to be among the blessed ones.  We don't need to constantly mourn or to hunger for righteousness. Thinking this way of thinking implies the Sermon on the Mount can be seen in a moral reward and punishment judgment that God is subjecting man to.

The Bible, instead, more often than not, proclaims all of us are blessed in God's eyes. The Beatitudes are inclusive, not exclusive. And sometimes we will not feel blessed while sometimes we will. That is not as important as to realize those Jesus describes in the Beatitudes, and how he illustrates in multiple parables, are not the only ones that are blessed as far as God is concerned.