Westminster Towers
Ecumenical Service
Matthew 5: 1-12
Deacon Larry
Brockman
Well, did all of you enjoy your Halloween last Friday! Was this place full of carved pumpkins,
pumpkin spice latte, spooky skeletons, and costume parties? Did you know that Halloween is now the second
largest holiday in the US? But do you also
know what Halloween is really all about?
Well more than a thousand years ago, in the 600’s, Pope
Boniface IV decided that Christians needed a day to honor the dead saints. He called it “All Hallows Day” and it began
the night before on “All Hallows Eve.” That
morphed into Halloween. In the 900’s,
the date was moved from May 13 to November 1st by Pope Gregory III. That’s because the Europeans were used to
honoring the dead at the beginning of the Winter period. Originally, the people were encouraged to
dress up to look like the different saints in the church. These were the original Halloween costumes.
But there were still a lot of pagans around and it seems
they also honored their dead around the same time. On or about that time of the year, they
believed that the ghosts of the dead arose and they could walk about amongst
us.
So society has unfortunately merged what was a wonderful
tribute to the saints with some of these old pagan customs including dressing
up like witches and ghosts and heaven knows what all!
Today, I want to talk to you about the saints, not all the
hype about Halloween. Because that’s
what all All Saints Day is really about and that’s what all of us are
interested in, right. Like the famous
song, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, says: “I want to be in that number, when
the saints go marching in” \ and I’m sure all of you do too.
It happens that when our different churches celebrate All
Saints Day on November 1,they all pretty much use the same bible readings. Our Gospel reading today is one of them, the
Beatitudes. But one of the other
readings is from Revelation 7,which describes the gathering of all of the
saints in heaven in these words: “After
this I had a vision of a great multitude which no-one could count, from every
nation, race, people, and tongue. They
stood before the throne and the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm
branches in their hands. They cried out
in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb’”.
Yes, all the saints are gathered around God and his throne in
heaven. And I am sure all of us want to
be in that number when we die.
But let me ask this. Just
what is a saint? We have Saints like Joseph
and Peter and Paul and all the Apostles.
They were all called to a very special life directly. And we have Saints
like Francis, Ignatius of Loyola, Dominic, and Anthony of the desert; and Saints
like Theresa of Calcutta and Theresa of Lisieux and Catherine of Sienna. They heard God’s call; gave up everything,
and I mean everything, and dedicated the rest of their lives to God. And we have Saints like Augustine and Thomas
Aquinas and Jerome who did wonderful things in preaching and teaching and
putting the bible together. The Church
recognizes all these people for their special holiness and they were all
honored by being named saints.
But is that what it means to be a saint? Is that what we have to do to be in that
number, something truly exceptional? Do
we all have to give up everything and dedicate our lives to prayer and the
Lord.
Now I know that all of us here are making an honest effort
to seek and live by God’s will, but that’s not what I mean. I mean do we have to be people who separate
from society like the people mentioned above did, giving up family and
everything else, in order to be saints.
And then consider this. Do any of
us feel a little uneasy or guilty when you read about some of these saints because
you have not done something exceptional?
Especially all of us here who are a little older and most of our life
has happened?
Well, you should know that a saint is any person who lives a
holy and righteous life. All those in
heaven are saints, not just those our churches honor with the special title. Saints hear the will of God for themselves
and live their lives accordingly. Most
saints are regular folks just like you and me.
In fact, I think it is important to recognize that man’s
primary calling on earth comes from Genesis.
It was given right after man was created and right after the first man
was blessed. In Genesis 1:28, God said
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.” That’s what almost all of us are called to
do. We are called to married life, to
have children, and to be fruitful.
Most of us don’t have any problem at all with the multiply
part, do we? But what does it really
mean to be fruitful? Well, fruitful is
the means by which we “subdue the earth”.
We are fisherman, farmers, soldiers, policeman, engineers, teachers, nurses,
caretakers, musicians, artists, whatever.
We are what makes the world go around and provide for food, water, shelter,
entertainment and the well-being of our brothers and sisters. The world cannot exist without us; neither
can God’s will be accomplished. We are
responding to the specific talents and gifts and interests and environment we
were born into. That’s what most of us
were called to do.
Sometimes we feel inspired to pursue things of interest to
us, and we do; God fills our lives with
circumstances that we must deal with; and we do
But most of us have not heard a special call like the ones the named saints
above heard. And that is OK.
You see, God doesn’t make junk. God lovingly formed each and every one of us. It was his will to place us in this time and
place, and with the people we were placed with.
And God showed no favorites in his creative mode. He gives each of us our unique talents, and
judges each of us one-on-one based on what we have done with them. We are not compared with anyone else.
And that brings us to our Gospel today. You see, just like there will be a great
crowd gathered around the throne in heaven as in the description in Revelation;
there was a great crowd gathered around Jesus in our Gospel reading. Jesus gave all of those folks in the crowd,
the ordinary people, the saints in the making, their marching orders. We know those marching orders as the
Beatitudes. They instruct us on what we
should do rather than should not do, which the Mosaic law emphasized. Let’s look at each one carefully.
Let us recognize that the words blessed and happy are both
used, depending on the translation. So, when
one is blessed, they are truly righteous with God, and at the same time, they
are happy.
First, we hear, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Now it is easy to focus on the word “poor”
here. But it is “poor in spirit”, not financially
poor Jesus is talking about. All kinds
of commentary has been written about this.
And the general sense is that Jesus is referring to people who defer in
spirit. The poor in spirit are those who
recognize their own limitations. Their focus is not on letting their own spirit
dominate them as if they were a god unto themselves. Rather, we must all come to recognize that
our life force is a free gift from God. And
so we need to defer our spirit and our inclinations to the will of God to fully
experience that gift. We will be happier
if we defer to God’s spirit because we will not lust after the things of this
world. They cannot bring us ultimate
happiness; only God can do that. For
those who are poor in spirit, the kingdom of God is theirs. And that is the happiness we all ultimately
seek.
Next, “Blessed are they who mourn”. This seems strange at first but think of it
this way. Virtually all of us strive for
the right thing, but somehow fall short.
That is something to mourn about.
It is a recognition of our own humanity; our own limitations. Try as we might, we fail in some ways of
weakness over and over. But it is
important that we recognize that, and so mourn over it. Jesus is telling us that if we are sincere in
our mourning, we will be comforted. It’s
the same as our relationship with children, isn’t it? No matter how many times they mess up, we are
there to comfort them and tell them it will be OK.
Then, “Blessed are the meek”. Those who are meek quietly submit to the will
of the Lord. When God points them in a
direction, they go that way- like the person who must care for a sick child or
an elderly parent. Such people may be
besieged by lots of influences and temptations along the way, but they quietly
hold fast to their calling. They will
inherit the land, This is as if to say
that even though some of the things of the world seemed to pass them by while they held firm to their purpose, ultimately
they will inherit “the land”, a place with the Lord. And that is what is really important.
Now true Christians not only follow their instincts on what
the Lord is calling them to do, but they also seek God, they are proactive. So “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”.
Indeed, those who seek God spiritually in prayer will be rewarded. And this also applies to hungering and
thirsting for justice. So, we cannot be
complacent in a largely secular world. We
have to be meek; but we also have to hold firm and seek justice for ourselves
and others. Jesus is telling us we will
be rewarded for our efforts if we do.
I am pleased that after the many years of right-to-life
activity here in Orlando the proactive pressure worked, because the Planned Parenthood
clinic on Tampa Avenue closed. This was
Justice for the most vulnerable members of society- the unborn.
And in the midst of all of the trials of life, each of us
has been hurt- hurt by family members, employers, neighbors and friends. Just as we expect God to be merciful to us in
the face of our failings, so also we need to be merciful to those who offend
and hurt us. Hence, “Blessed are the
merciful”. In a sense, those who are
merciful achieve a special level of happiness.
Because they let go, rather than hang on to anger and hurt. Holding on to anger and hurt never makes one
happy. Jesus says that merciful people
will receive mercy. Indeed, God is
merciful to those who show mercy to others.
Next we have “Blessed are the clean of heart”. Ah, yes, the heart. Where your heart is, so also is your
treasure. The heart is how we really
feel about things. It’s where our real
relationship with God is. We cannot hide
or deceive God, who knows what is in our hearts. And things that derail the purity of our
hearts are lusts for things of this world like power, money, relationships,
things. If these are the focus of our
hearts, rather than our relationship with God, then God knows it. Also, people would be uncomfortable looking
into the eyes of an all good God in the face of their own impurity. But those who are pure of heart are ready to
see God.
“Blessed are the
peacemakers”. That’s a really tough
role, isn’t it, being a peacemaker. We
all tend to want our side; understanding how to defer to another is hard. And for those things that go on around us, well,
it’s prudent to just stand by and let other people deal with a situation. Why get involved? Well, because we are called to be peacemakers-
in our families, in our jobs, in our community. When people know you are the real thing; if
they know that you are pure of heart and not biased, then they will honor you
when you fill the role of peacemaker.
Those who are peacemakers are truly the children of God, they
are a reflection of God himself, projecting love and a true spirit of
kindness., just like their Father.
And lastly, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the
sake of righteousness” or “for my sake”.
Indeed, a real Christian cannot go through life without being attacked
by the devil and his minions. It’s a
multi-pronged attack of ridicule, insult, avoidance, pain, suffering, and all
kinds of evil. Because when you are
doing the right thing, you are an obstruction to the plans of those who run the
world.
But the reality of life is that all of us will suffer. Jesus Christ suffered a horrible passion and
death for the sake of his Father and for the sake of righteousness. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called
and destined to experience the same. But
this life is only a stepping-stone to eternity.
And those who hold firm will be rewarded with the Kingdom of God.
Earlier this week I visited a man in the hospital who had a
horrible disease. He was a man of great
faith. He was covered with festering
sores all over his body and was in constant pain- pain that no medication could
control. This condition has lasted now
for 2 years. He knows he will not
survive; but he is having a problem dealing with the pain and the effect on his
family. I could do nothing but pray for
him, this modern-day Job. But then I
suggested he offer it up to God and told him he would constantly be in my
prayers.
In one way or another, all of us have to deal with pain and
suffering. It is part of life; and its
duration can be indeterminate. God tests
those he loves; and sometimes we cannot know why. But the Kingdom of God is there for all who
endure this suffering with dignity and grace.
And that Kingdom will be ours for ever and ever.
And so, the Beatitudes are a script for those of us who live
normal lives. Se are all called by God
to do his will and to live life to the fullest.
God loves each of us. None of us
has been favored by God when he created us.
Rather, we were all created in his image and likeness, and each one for
our own special life with our own talents and limitations. Some people are called by God for special
tasks. But the overwhelming majority of
us are called to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
When Jesus Christ looked out over the massive crowd in
Galilee, some 5000 families, He preached to them how they should live their
lives. He preached the Beatitudes to
them. It is Jesus’ script for how they
could be happy and achieve everlasting life with him. And it is just as applicable to us today.
