Zephaniah 2.3; 3.12-13 In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people
1 Corinthians 1.26-31 God chose what is foolish by human
reckoning, to shame the wise.
Matthew 5.1-12a How happy are the poor in spirit
‘Then Jesus
began to speak and taught them’
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In the gospel today we hear the opening
of Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ when, echoing Moses going up Mount Sinai
to receive the Ten Commandments, Jesus goes up a mountain and reveals himself
to the disciples as the Source of divine teaching.
Moses received; Jesus Christ reveals.
It’s worth saying that the Sermon on the
Mount is not a sermon in the sense of what I am doing now.
The Sermon on the Mount is divine
teaching from the mouth of God, it is the renewing and fulfilling of God’s Law
that was received by Moses, for those who are ready, like the disciples, to go
up the mountain with Jesus and receive his teaching and to share mystically in
his life.
Despite its thorough identification with
Jesus Christ the Sermon on the Mount has inspired many non-Christians, Gandhi
notably among them, to reflect on ethics and, for example, how world peace
might be achieved.
The Sermon on the Mount is full of good
ethics that are universally human, and we will hear more of that over the next
two Sundays.
But back to today, because there is much
more the Sermon on the Mount includes that is about faith in Jesus Christ, not
just ethical teaching.
The Sermon on the Mount begins with the
Beatitudes, the collection of sayings that this morning were sung so
beautifully as part of our gospel proclamation.
The word ‘beatitude’ comes from the
Latin ‘beatus’ which means ‘blessed’ or ‘blissful’.
So each beatitude begins, ‘blessed are…’
Different people are declared ‘blessed’ through what they endure.
These blessings point to and wrap us up
in what is known as the ‘beatific vision’ the vision of the blessing and
holiness of God.
The Law received by Moses was to make
the people holy, and the New Covenant taught by, and embodied in, Jesus Christ
fulfils that call to holiness.
This goes way beyond some broad ethical
principles that can be swallowed by secular culture. Ours is a culture that
either makes Jesus Christ more ‘palatable’ by reducing him simply to being a
charismatic teacher and compelling guru: that is not the gospel’s proclamation
of who Jesus Christ is.
Remember how St Matthew begins his
gospel when speaking of Jesus who will come to save us from our sins: ‘his name
shall be called Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’. (Matthew 1.22,23)
So, Jesus Christ is wise, yes; because
he is Wisdom itself.
He is a teacher, yes; because he is
Divine Teaching itself.
He blesses, yes; because he is the
Source of Blessing itself.
He forgives, yes; because he is
forgiveness itself.
He heals, yes; because he is the Source
of all Healing
The Beatitudes take us into what it
means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to share in his life, death and
resurrection and what it means to be part of His Body, the Church.
Where do we find all that?
We’ve seen the parallel with Moses who
ascends the mountain to receive the Law, whereas Jesus goes up the mountain to
renew and fulfil the Law.
Jesus also goes up a mountain when he
was transfigured and his divine glory shines out unmistakably: on that occasion
he takes Peter and James and John with him and they are mystically joined by
Elijah and Moses – many levels of connection there.
Jesus also goes up a smaller rise, the
hill of Calvary, outside Jerusalem when he dies on the Cross for us and for our
salvation, flanked not by the representatives of the Law and Prophets, Moses
and Elijah, but by two criminals.
The reference to the ascent up the
mountain sets a chain of connections throughout the gospel of St Matthew.
It is in that frame of mind, or perhaps
better put, that frame of spirit, that we hear the Beatitudes afresh.
The Beatitudes are not a set of
recommendations for the Christian believer, rather they are a description of
the people Jesus has come to bless and to draw into his Body, the Church, for
their salvation and the transformation of the world through the coming Kingdom.
Strip that out and all you have is a
worthy, and somewhat unworldly, collection of trite sayings.
When you understand that this is divine
teaching then it changes everything.
St Paul puts it so much better than me:
Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and
acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2)
Only through a mind and spirit and
outlook renewed in Christ do we begin to see the blessing that comes, when:
the
poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven;
when
the meek inherit the earth;
when
the grieving receive comfort;
when
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and justice are satisfied;
when
the merciful receive mercy;
when
the pure in heart see God;
when
the peacemakers are named children of God;
when
even the persecuted in the cause of right receive the kingdom of heaven.
That is indeed blessing, beatitude,
plentiful and generous, from the loving divine heart of Jesus to those living
the Kingdom of God.
The word ‘beatitude’ sounds like
‘attitude’.
So what is your ‘attitude of beatitude’:
‘what does your life look like when lived in blessing?’ What can the world look
like when lived in blessing?’
