Matthew 5:1-12
Becoming Saints - Stewardship III
James Sledge October 30, 2011 – All Saints
Every culture has its wisdom literature, its wise sayings and proverbs. Our culture is no exception. American proverbs go back to colonial times. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” said Benjamin Franklin. He also supposedly said, “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” A lot of American proverbial wisdom encourages behaviors thought to lead to success, well-being, or happiness. Thomas Edison’s quote, “Genius is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration” is a case in point.
Such proverbial wisdom is generally meant to be self-evident. By that I mean that once you hear it, even if it’s not something that had occurred to you before, its truth will strike you. You will agree that while some people are smarter and more creative than others, hard work makes a great deal of difference. Either that or you will reject it as wisdom entirely.
People have sometimes approached the Sermon on the Mount, and especially its Beatitudes, as though they were something similar, pearls of wisdom meant to guide us on the path of success or well-being. Robert Schuller, of Crystal Cathedral fame, wrote a book back in the 1980s entitled, The Be (Happy) Attitudes: 8 Positive Attitudes That Can Transform Your Life. In it he says, “As we look upon the Beatitudes – The Be-Happy Attitudes – of Jesus Christ, you will discover our Lord’s key to joyful living.”[1]
Schuller sees each of the Beatitudes as a proverb, a wise saying that, if followed, will lead to happiness. Now while it is true that the word translated “blessed” in our scripture this morning sometimes means “happy,” it is quite a stretch to speak of happiness being found in mourning, in poverty of spirit, or in being persecuted or derided. And in fact, Schuller has to get very creative in explaining what each blessing means. For example, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” becomes “I’m really hurting—but I’m going to bounce back!” And “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake” becomes, “I can choose to be happy—anyway!”[2]
But I think that Schuller makes a bigger mistake than just playing fast and loose with the words of Jesus. He clearly does not realize that the blessings Jesus speaks are not advice, not proverbs.
Rather they are categorical statements about how things are, descriptions of reality, although it is a reality not evident to a worldly observer. It is instead the shape of the new world that God is creating, of the Kingdom that Jesus says has “come near.” This reality is not self-evident, and it says more about the character of God than about us. This reality is dependent on the trustworthiness of the one who speaks it. Jesus is describing something new, something at odds with the world as we experience it. No one listens to Jesus and nods in agreement saying, “O yes, yes, it is quite good and enjoyable to be persecuted or to weep and mourn.” Rather, Jesus’ words create something new, a new reality that we are invited to become a part of.
As a pastor, I do my share of weddings. People who have no connection to this church, or to any church for that matter, come here wanting to be married. They come because an authority has been vested in me. When I speak the words, “Therefore, I proclaim that you are now husband and wife,” they in fact are. If the couple walked up to someone on the street and asked, “Will you marry us?” That person could go along and say the exact same words that I do. Jesus’ words change something. They would not be married.
Jesus is doing something similar with the Beatitudes. He has the authority to say to us, “You have lived in a world that presumes blessedness, God’s favor, happiness, is to be found in riches, in doing what is necessary to get ahead, in being successful and well regarded, in standing up for yourself and triumphing over others. But I tell you that this is not so, at least not in God’s new creation.”
The blessedness Jesus speaks into being is a future blessedness, the blessedness of the kingdom that will come. It is not advice to make our lives better. But, for those who are in Christ, it is a reality that can already be seen and felt. It is a promise of future blessing to us and a reality that is embodied, that becomes visible, when we are the Church, the living body of Christ in the world.
It is a couple of days early, but we are marking All Saints today. On the same day when we pledge ourselves to live as Jesus’ disciples, pledge to give generously from our resources of time, talents, gifts, and finances, we remember those saints among us who have died in the past year. It seems to me entirely appropriate to combine these, to remember saints as we pledge to live as saints ourselves.
It’s too bad that the word “saint” has been robbed of its biblical meaning. Now we tend to use the word either as a disparaging term for some goody two-shoes, or as a technical term for those declared saints by the Catholic Church: St. Paul, St. Francis, and so on. But when Saint Paul writes to the congregations he shepherds, he uses the word very differently. “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints…” or, “To the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi…”
The term really means “sanctified ones,” or “set-apart ones.” The idea is that when we are joined to Christ in baptism, when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we become something different; we become something sanctified, holy. We are joined to Christ and to his holiness. And we become a part of the living body of Christ, each of us gifted in some way so that together we can show God’s love, and God’s coming new day, to the world.
I occasionally listen to NPR as I drive. Recently a local station was having one of its regular fundraisers. The announcer stated the $5000 goal for the next 3 hours and how some company promised to match it if they got to $5000. I understand why these fundraisers are needed. I might even send them some money, but I find the constant campaigns annoying.
I suspect that some people find church stewardship campaigns similarly annoying, even if they do decide that they should give a little money. But if church giving feels like an NPR fundraiser, we are doing something terribly wrong. Stewardship is not about making sure the church has enough money to pay the bills and keep the lights turned on, as real as such needs may be. Stewardship is about our call to be saints, to live as those sanctified and set apart so that the world can catch a glimpse of a new reality in us, that reality Jesus speaks into being as he declares God’s favor and blessing on ways that are out of step with our world.
As the body of Christ, as saints, let us live in this new reality that Jesus proclaims.
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