Perspective of the Resurrection (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany)

Sermons on YouTube…

Every year at Prince of Peace, as Superbowl Sunday approaches, we make a big push for the “SouperBowl” – that is, the collection of soup and stew for needy families in our community which we distribute through Gaithersburg HELP.  And to get people into this, we always set up two boxes in the narthex – one for the AFC champs and one of the NFC champs, so that people can put their cans into either box and “vote” for which team they want to win! 

Some years, especially like this year when it’s Seattle and New England, where people may not have a strong vested interest, we also have a third box that says something like, “who cares?!” 

But even if we don’t care who wins, it’s always interesting to find out who wins.  And it’s also interesting to see which team box “won” the Souperbowl – and whether we continue our tradition of usually picking the team that doesn’t win… (which I think is sometimes part of people’s strategy in picking the box)!

We’re always interested in the winner.  And that’s why I’ve always found it sort of ironic that as a quirk of this year’s lectionary cycle, we always read the Beatitudes as we prepare for the Superbowl.  And it’s ironic because, in one sense, the Beatitudes are a series of sayings that talk about how blessed people are when they lose.  Blessed are you who are poor in spirit.  Blessed are you who mourn. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you.

Really?  This is not the kind of blessing I hope for when I look for blessings from God.  It’s not the kind of blessing I want for others.  It’s not even the kind of blessing I want to think about.  Like many people around Superbowl time, I’d really rather watch someone win.

Yet while we often sentimentalize the beatitudes as pious sayings which promise pie in the sky for those poor unfortunate souls (who hopefully are not us!), the Beatitudes of Jesus aren’t what they may first appear to be to many people.

I don’t know about you, but over the years, as I’ve heard people talk about the beatitudes, I’ve often heard some odd and unsatisfying interpretations.  Sometimes, people read these sayings and think that they’re:

• Some kind of deep and profound philosophy that somehow, someday, everything will be made right; and there is some truth to that.  After all, Jesus does promise a reward that’s great in heaven.  But that, in and of itself, doesn’t make suffering and losing a blessed thing right now.  Indeed, if that’s all it is, the Beatitudes ring hollow in the same way as someone who tells you that somehow your pain “is all part of God’s plan”, and that’s NOT what Jesus is saying…(and after all, if suffering was so great, Jesus wouldn’t promise relief…)

• An appeal to some kind of masochism – you know, suffering is good for you, and you’re supposed to enjoy it.  And if you’re not suffering in the right way, it must mean you’re a lousy Christian.  After all, suffering builds character, right?  Gee thanks.  But I’m enough of a character already.  Besides, I face plenty of suffering and challenges without seeking more out.  And if the Beatitudes were simply about smiling while you endure suffering, then they aren’t really any different than the all the “positive thinking” stuff that’s out there… (and Jesus isn’t into denial, either…)

• Proof that Karl Marx was right – religion is the “opiate of the people”.  And in Marx’s view, religion was just the way that rich people got to tell poor and oppressed people to suck it up and serve the rich until they died and went to heaven.  It’s a cynical misinterpretation.  But it clearly wasn’t what Jesus had in mind when he uttered these words.

So what are these words about?  Why did Jesus say them?  And more importantly, why did Christians remember them and write them down?  It surely wasn’t for any of those reasons.

And so here’s what I think is the key to understanding the Beatitudes: they only make any sense and have meaning if you read them from the perspective of the Resurrection of Jesus.  I suspect that these Beatitudes made little sense to most people when they first heard them.  But from the perspective of Jesus’ Resurrection, the Beatitudes reminded them and us that:

• God wins in the end – Jesus actually rises from the dead.  And that means that “reward in heaven” isn’t just a pious wish for someday.  It means that God’s power to give and restore life really is more powerful than all the stuff that causes pain, suffering and mourning.  God really can and will undo the worst evil the world can dish out, even death.  If the Beatitudes were uttered by somebody who got chewed up by the system and killed, then they were the fantasy of a crazy person.  But if they were uttered by somebody who endured all the suffering he spoke of and then rose from the dead, then there’s a real and living hope beyond the suffering.  The first Christians experienced the Resurrection of Jesus, and they knew that “reward in heaven” wasn’t just a pious hope or a figure of speech; the kingdom of heaven was already becoming a reality in their daily lives right now, and they experienced that reality even, and sometimes especially, in the midst of the suffering they were going through…

• Acting in faithfulness is worth doing, even if it results in pain and suffering, because we’re participating in something that lasts and has meaning and purpose.  It’s one thing to say you’re going to act on principal and die trying.  It’s another to know that that principal will win out, even if you don’t make it through.  People saw Jesus making God’s kingdom a living reality in their daily lives. And that task wasn’t in vain, because in Jesus’ rising, they knew that God’s kingdom was going to continue to happen in their lives and in the lives of others, in spite of the pain and suffering around them; and so living into that coming kingdom right now is worth the investment and the effort, even when it’s not appreciated or valued by others …

• Pain and brokenness are not signs of God’s absence, but the places where the living Jesus meets us.  The Resurrection reminded the first Christians that just as Jesus met them alive at the tomb, Jesus had first met them in the midst of disease, isolation and death.  When everyone else said their pain was a sign that God had abandoned them, Jesus showed them that their pain was the place where he met them and had first made God’s presence a living reality in their lives.  And because of that, the beatitudes are about being open to experiencing God’s presence even in the midst of suffering…

And so I think the first Christians remembered the Beatitudes because the Beatitudes reminded them of the reality of the Resurrection.  And it means they read them – and we should read them – kind of like this:

Blessed are you when you’re poor in spirit or mourning right now – because that’s where the living Jesus promises to meet you.

Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness today – because it means you’re investing yourself in something real that’s going to outlast all the pain and brokenness.

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you – because even if they do those things, you know the power and presence of Jesus’ Resurrection.  And that means that no matter what, God wins in the end, and that winning will include you.

Amen.