Jesus, What World Were You Living In?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are

those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:1-12 NRSV

 “If you aren’t angry, you aren’t paying attention" I saw on a faded number sticker recently. At any given moment there are plenty of things happening that ought to make us angry- (if we are paying attention, that is). All is never perfect, and seldom is it well.

Jesus’ words- really a poem- from Matthew 5: 1-12- (aka “The Beatitudes) ought to be frustrating and perhaps make us a little angry. The world he describes just does not exist.

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk and writer who is important to me, calls the Beatitudes a “counter-intuitive spirituality.”  In usual JC style, his poetry runs current to what we see, but has deep Truth.  What happens for us  if we read The Beatitudes not as a an ideal or a list of what it looks like to be righteous , but rather, an outline for hope? 

When we love others fully, even when they hate us - we will be blessed and a blessing. 

When we are gentle in spirit, we will have the blessing of “inheriting the earth” or being in tune with what we were created to be. 

When we allow our hearts to break for others (mourn) we are outward reminders of God’s compassion for us all, joining with the “comfort” to be found in sharing the heart that God has for all people. 

When we are down- depressed- poor in spirit- in our lowest places- we learn to reach out to others, receive love from them, and join in God’s kingdom on earth. 

When we see others as who they really are - children of God- we see God in them. 

Our anger about The State of The World is not wrong- but if we just hold on to that (without keeping our eyes on the “reality” Jesus offers us in his verse) we just might turn to cynicism, hate and despair. We can do better, with God's help. 

This Jesus kind of love is hard. This Jesus kind of  love might even hurt or mean being unpopular, or reviled, or persecuted or even (God forbid) admitting we are wrong sometimes. God's Church, right now,  can be a “school for love” where we “practice” reaching across differences and embody Jesus crazy poetry. We can share our difficulty in loving the other, whoever he is. We can rise up, when the time comes, (as we have done in the past) to push back against injustice. We can find the reviled and persecuted, the lied about and forgotten and be a blessing to them.  We can find our reward, not in the hereafter, but in the heaven on earth we will be a part of creating. 

So be blessed— and a blessing. Beatitude living promises us that  we will see and find none other than God herself in the struggle.