Matthew 5:1-12; Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
A number of Christmases ago Paula gave me a National Geographic globe. I hadn’t had a globe since I was in elementary school. In the geography of the 1960s, it seemed that nations changed every week. As a stamp collector I got to know the new countries as well as colonies and nations that no longer existed. We live in a diverse world.
When Paula and I visit Elizabeth and family, first in Chicago and now in Washington, DC, we find ourselves immersed in a sea of languages and cultures. It is a far different world than Pike County, Ohio. The 1890s flood of immigrants through Ellis Island – possibly some of our ancestors – didn’t see any use in learning English. The New York Times editorial board wrote in 1891 that there were districts in that city and others “in which a foreigner of almost any nationality can live without being subjected to much inconvenience through his ignorance of any language but his own.” Those languages receded with each succeeding generations: 84 percent of second generation immigrants spoke the native language, less than half passably, 12 percent of the third generation, and two percent of the fourth generation.(1)
The world is becoming flatter as the language of the world becomes digital. Google is able to translate text into another language. I get a note in one sermon group from a pastor who preaches in English and Spanish. If I happen to open the Spanish note, all I have to do is click the English tab and up comes a translation.
What a diverse world we live in. It is anything but homogenous. The wonders of DNA testing can now pinpoint exactly where our first ancestors lived and what path their genes traveled to get to us. Our genetic bloodlines will tell us that we are all mongrels of sorts. People in South Korea think of themselves a being culturally homogenous, which they hope will help with reunion with North Korea. Yet at the same time the country is host to immigrants from126 different countries and races. One South Korean professor points out that Koreans “are of the Han race and Han means sky, sky embraces everything, so the term ‘Han race’ is inclusive.”
While we pay a lot of attention to differences in culture, language, race, or which side of a human-drawn line people come from, God defines the world much differently than we do. That’s a key message that Matthew gives us. The ministry of Jesus is one of remaking the world in such a way that God’s people are defined by character and conduct more than their heritage.
Jesus starts the series of sayings we know as the “Sermon the Mount” with a description of the character of the realm of God’s rule. “The kingdom of heaven,” often used interchangeably with “kingdom of God,” is not just about geography. It is also about the nature of the rule that God lavishes on creation, ever more so as it inches closer to the divine reality envisioned from before day one of creation.
Jesus’ opening words describe God’s people. These words are called the “Beatitudes” because the first word in St. Jerome’s late 4th century Vulgate Latin translation is beati. The original Greek word is makarios, translated “happy” or “blessed.” Neither word fully captures the depth of the Greek. This was a culture which placed a great deal of weight on shame or honor. Those concepts have little to do with blessedness or happiness. One set of commentators suggest that a better translation for “happy/blessed” would be “how honorable...,” “how full of honor...,” “how honor bringing....” The “woe to you...” sayings later in Matthew would similarly be translated: “how shameless you are....”(2)
That makes sense. The first four sayings are about people who have experienced no honor. Mark Allan Powell of Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, writes that the first four beatitudes do not “offer ‘entrance requirements for the kingdom of heaven’ but ... describe the nature of God’s rule, which characterizes the kingdom of heaven.” Powell continues:
“The people who benefit when God rules, Jesus declares, are those who otherwise have no reason for hope or cause for joy, who have been denied their share of God’s blessings in this world and deprived of justice—in short, people for whom things have not been the way they ought to be. For such people, the coming of God’s kingdom is a blessing, because when God rules, all this will change and things will be set right.”(3)“Those who are hopeless” – the “poor in spirit” – are not just impoverished economically, they also experience spiritual poverty. These are people who have no reason of hope in the world. Not only have they been denied access to a sufficient living, they also have no access to God, no experience of God in their lives. They are not in control of their lives and they don’t even know that they are dependent upon God.
Powell writes that contemporary scholars understand that “those who grieve” – “those who mourn” – refers simply to people who are miserable or unhappy. It is not a characteristic one would seek. He says,
“If the poor in spirit are those who find no reason for hope in this life, then the ones who mourn are those who find no cause for joy. They are blessed because ‘they will be comforted,’ a divine passive that implies God will act, so they need mourn no more.”(4)Eugene Boring in the New Interpreter’s Bible, notes that one of the characteristics of the true people of God is that they lament the present condition of God’s people and God’s program in the world. He says, “This is the community that does not resign itself to the present condition of the world as final, but laments the fact that God’s kingdom has not yet come and that God’s will is not yet done.”(5)
“The humble” – “the meek” – may have a positive sense of humble or gentile. But the word can also have a negative sense: “humiliated,” “walked on,” “doormats,” or “powerless.” These people “inherit” their blessing. It is not a reward that they earn, but a gift for which they must wait. They have been shut out of the fullness of the world’s resources which God intended for all people.
The images of “hunger” and “thirst” not only depict desire, but also deprivation—those who do not have food and drink—the people who do not experience justice—the people who know that God’s will is not being done on earth.
In short, the first four beatitudes speak of reversal of circumstances for those who are unfortunate. These are not characteristics that people should exhibit if they want to earn God’s favor. Rather, these are undesirable conditions that characterize no one when God’s will is done.
The next four beatitudes may be interpreted as promising eschatological rewards to people who exhibit virtuous behavior. The virtues that earn blessings are ones exercised on behalf of the people mentioned in the first four sayings. In other words the people whom Jesus declares honored, happy, blessed in the second four sayings are those who help to bring to reality the blessings promised to others in the first four.
“People who show mercy” – the “merciful” – are healers, people who seek to put right that which has gone wrong. They favor the removal of everything that prevents life from being as God intends: poverty, ostracism, hunger, disease, demons, debt. Not only will they be treat mercifully at the judgment, they will see mercy prevail.
Those “who have pure hearts” – the “pure in heart” – are those who are truly pure as opposed to those who are only apparently so. Simply put, they have integrity. Commentator Boring describes it this way:
“ ‘Purity of heart’ is not merely the avoidance of ‘impure thoughts’ (e.g., sexual fantasies), but refers to the single-minded devotion to God appropriate to a monotheistic faith. Having an ‘undivided heart’ (Ps 86:11) is the corollary of monotheism, and requires that there be something big enough and good enough to merit one’s whole devotion.”(6)“People who make for peace” – “peacemakers” – are those who work for the wholeness and well-being that God wills for a broken world. Peacemaking is part of “showing mercy” and doing it with a “pure heart”. It is acting for the sake of others with integrity and honest motivations – love for the neighbor without hidden, self-serving agendas.(7)
“Harassed” – “persecuted” – because they are righteous has to do with those who show mercy and who work to establish God’s shalom. They are examples of people committed to righteousness. If they are pure in heart, then their commitment will not falter in the face of persecution.
The first eight beatitudes all talked about people in the third person. The final one abruptly shifts to “you.” Suddenly the words aren’t about some faceless, nameless others, but about the hearers themselves, about the “me” who is listening. Why would I be reviled and persecuted and lied about? Because I am committed to righteousness and justice and because of this commitment, I will end up in the position of those who lack them — being unjustly persecuted. However, I – you – we – have already heard the blessings God has in store for such people. Will we believe those promises for ourselves or not? Will we believe that God will make all things right for us? If so, we can rejoice and be glad, knowing we have a great reward in heaven. We have the characteristics desired in God’s eternal people.
Thanks be to God.
(1) “Immigration and Language Diversity in the United States,” Rubén G. Rumbaut and Douglas S. Massey, Daedalus, Summer 2014; cited in The Wilson Quarterly, Fall 2013.
(2) Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, second edition (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 2002), p. 47.
(3) Mark Allan Powell, God With Us: A Pastoral Theology of Matthew’s Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1995), pp. 129-130.
(4) Powell, p. 135.
(5) Eugene Boring, “Matthew,” New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), pp. 178-179.
(6) Boring, p. 179.
(7) Brian Stoffregen, “Gospel Notes for Next Sunday” Matthew 5:1-12, February 2, 2014.
Unless noted otherwise, all scripture references are from The Common English Bible, © 2011 www.commonenglishbible.com
Copyright 2014 First Presbyterian Church of Waverly, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.
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