January 30, 2005
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I want us to think about blessings today. I want us to think of blessings because a church aware of its blessings is one that will worship and work with joy and thanksgiving, its members will open itself to others wanting them to find the confidence and faith that they have found and that sense of confidence is what Jesus wanted his followers to think about and celebrate. Jesus has been in Galilee teaching and healing, and gaining a reputation as one who had the very power of God in his being. When he offered these words Matthew gives us at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was laying out a vision for the people who would be his followers. He is delivering what for Matthew is his inaugural address. An inaugural address is the opening word, it is the first speech in a new era, it is introductory, it is foundational, and it sets the tone for what will come. A few weeks ago, millions of people from many parts of the world watched and listened as President Bush gave his second inaugural address as he talked about his plans for the nation over the next four years. History will judge the merits of the speech, that is neither my purpose nor is it appropriate for me to do here. But his address, like all inaugural speeches was a way of laying out a vision.The inaugural sermon of a new pastor serves the same person. I recall that nearly nine years ago I stood here and declared that I believed you had high expectations for me, that I had high expectations of you, and that God had high expectations for us all. I have never doubted what I said then, and I still believe that we can meet those expectations. They have gathered to hear him the way we are called to gather for worship. They brought what we bring to this place, a sense of eager anticipation, they brought minds and souls open for what God would show them. They watch as Jesus walks up the mountainside. We can tell by his body language and by the body language of the disciples that something big is about to happen. One commentary sets the scene this way: “Jesus sits, the disciples approach him, and he opens his mouth and teaches. In these subtle ways Matthew indicates that he intends the Sermon on the Mount to be a christological statement. It not only tells Christian how to live but emphasizes the importance of Jesus. He is not simply ‘one of the prophets’…but he is the Messiah.” (Interpretation series. Matthew. Douglas RA Hare. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993, p.34-35). Jesus lays out a vision as he talks to his disciples. He also talks to the overhearing crowd, the ones who are not his followers but who have heard about him and are curious to see what he will do and to hear what he will say. His message is the same whether we are firmly in the church, unchurched, that is never been part of the church, or what is being called the de-churched, that is people who are so wounded by the church that they are hard pressed to say what good the church does. The vision that Jesus shares is one that says, whatever comes you way, the favor of God, God’s wanting what is blessed and right for us is available to us. But we say – there have been days, maybe today is one of those days, when it feels as if God has given out all available blessings and our name wasn’t even on the list. Understand, to be blessed anyway is not any reason to believe that God has given us some kind of moral or spiritual superiority over others. God’s favor does not come at the expense of anyone else – there is not a limited supply of blessing. To be blessed is to know a measure of God’s grace in a way we have not known that grace before. From time to time, we are among the poor in spirit. There are times when we are without any spiritual reserves. Poverty of the spirit feels like the poverty of our financial resources, it leaves us feeling helpless and vulnerable. “True poverty is a cruel thing. It breaks people. They suffer. Confronted daily with their own helplessness, they know the difference that even a small act of mercy can make. They watch eagerly for a gesture or a glance that might promise help. They long for a bit of kindness. They crave a bit of dignity. Standing before God, the poor in spirit are like that…they come in their poverty hoping for sustenance. They come in their brokenness hoping to be mended. They come in their sin hoping to receive forgiveness. They come in their grief hoping to be comforted. They come in their illness, hoping to be healed… (www.lectionary.org/matthew/02-02-03). We have mourned, and have longed for comfort. We have tried to be kind only to be called weak and wimpy. We have longed to do the right thing even when it wasn’t the popular thing to do. If you look hard enough and if you look back far enough, you will recall a time when your act of mercy and kindness was taken advantage of, when you acted from pure motives and your honesty was questioned. We have longed for peace. Yet peace marchers and advocates for nonviolence are too often called naïve and unpatriotic. It is not popular to stand for Jesus in some places, in some parts of the world it can be deadly, nor do we always know how to stand. We do not want to be confused with the fundamentalists, nor do we want to expose ourselves to any hostile attitudes about the church, and so we miss the chance to do what only we can do, we miss the chance to tell our story. Know that you are blessed, Jesus says, hang in there Jesus says, when your spirit is depleted, but not broken; when it feels broken, but not destroyed, God’s favor will bring you the realm of heaven. We will mourn the death of loved ones, and we will mourn other things as well. We mourn the death of dreams for the way our lives would turn out. We mourn and lament the state of the world. Life can bring with it deep disappointment. But when we open ourselves to others, when we find people we can trust and who love and care for us, we will know a hug, a smile, a hand to hold, a tear shared, deep laughter, a plate of food, a little money to get us through, the power of prayer and the presence of God through all those people. We will be comforted and in the comfort is God’s blessing. As we are blessed, we can stand strong for our beliefs in a way that is humble and gentle, and respectful of others. There is favor in wanting to do the right thing, and in doing it, that’s why we want it so. There is a blessing for us when we long to be in right relationship with God and do all that we can to make our relationship real. Likewise those who practice mercy and compassion will get mercy and compassion in return. We can find blessings as we come to God with a pure heart, the Greek word is katharos, you can hear our word catharsis, which means cleansing. Come with a heart open and emptied, and cleansed of everything that gets in the way of your hope and joy in knowing and being known by God.At our Wednesday night study session we talked about these verses from the book of James, “my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1.2-4). Thursday night one of the guests on The Tonight Show was a young basketball player named Caron Butler. He told the story of how he got into trouble as a teenager and was expelled from school, he committed an act that resulted in him spending time in a juvenile detention facility. He got into a fight on the first day. He spent more than thirty days in solitary confinement. His was a hard trial. He played basketball for extra orange juice, telling his opponents that he was merely tall, he really did not play basketball well. While he was there, he found a relationship with the God who had blessed him with a mother who drove three hours round trip once a week to see him. He decided to make some changes in his life. After being refused readmission to his former school, he made up a name and entered another school, he did well enough that he was able to talk himself back into his old school. He won a scholarship to the University of Connecticut, and now he plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has achieved more in his life than he ever imagined because while he was down, he counted the blessings he had and realized that God wanted to favor him. He may not be totally complete, but he has matured, he lacks little and he is blessed. But what about us? We are blessed too. The blessing comes in words of hope and assurance. “Caron Butler, your life is more than this”. The word of reassurance tells us that we are made for more than empty pews and struggling finances. When it all looks bleak, don’t get lost in despair. Right now, know that there is a promise to be claimed and in that promise is a blessing. We will be blessed, for God’s favor will be with us. How do I know? I know because it has been there before for me, and I know it has been so for many of you. It is time for all of us to count our blessings. Today is the day for us to claim the blessing of God and live as people committed to peace, to shalom, not just to the absence of war, but the presence of justice and well being. Claim the blessings of God, today. When you feel beat up for your faith, know that God is with you. When life gets hard, we can count our blessings, and name them one by one. Name the people we love and who love us. We can thank God for the favor God has shown to us in the great things in our lives. We can say to ourselves, the realm of God is ours, God has given us the presence of Jesus Christ to comfort us. When we are starving to do right, the love of Christ feeds our souls and helps us to know what to do. Say about this life you live that I am able to receive compassion and I am able to give compassion. I believe in God’s peace, I am devoted to the one who is the Prince of peace. I am a child of God. I am blessed. What more can we do to show how blessed we are? We can rejoice in all things, not for all things, some things ought to be mourned. But we are reminded that we are people of resurrection hope so we don’t give in to gloom and hopelessness. We don’t believe that down is the only direction we can go. There is an up side and we are going to ride the tide of the momentum as far and as high and as long as we can. Rejoice in the name of Jesus Christ who promises us that there is a reward in heaven and we don’t have to wait until we die to receive it. We can claim it now. The ministry of Jesus is about living in the present and in the future. We prayed today, “thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So we work now. So I will continue to develop the ministry plan that the Ministry Team leaders have agreed to follow, and together, all of us here will build up this congregation. I expect that we can do it and I believe that we will. That is why I will go on with preaching and teaching in worship and in study groups the good news of transformation, trust in God and in each other; I will preach and teach growth and life together including the disciplines stewardship of time and money. The road map for our plan will be what Rick Warren identifies as the five purposes of the church. Being faithful to Jesus Christ who blesses us, we will plan together to grow our church: warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism. And we will be blessed. A few minutes ago, I asked you to think of three ways God has blessed you. Now I want you to think of three ways you want God to bless this church. Do you have them? Now promise to do your part to help the church get ready to receive the blessings you have named. Blessing and favor are ours to claim, ours to keep, ours to give thanks to Jesus Christ, ours to live. Blessed are we when we put our trust in Jesus whose blessings are ours. Thanks be to God for every blessing and this day and every day, may Jesus Christ be praised. Amen. Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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