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THE
BLESSED INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS THE REV. JOHN E. KITAGAWA ____ ALL SAINTS’ DAY ____ DANIEL 7: 1-3, 15-18 EPHESIANS 1: 11-23 LUKE 6: 20-31
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During the week,
I complained to some of my colleagues that I was having difficulty finding a
fresh way to break open today’s familiar Gospel. I wanted to find new way to relate the
Beatitudes to our faith covenant with God and one another. Then, I did something unusual. I listened to the advice I sometimes give
to people struggling with Scripture—read several translations out loud. Please listen to this piece, more
accurately a paraphrase than a translation.
You
are blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and
[God’s] rule. You
are blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One
most dear to you. You
are blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud
owners of everything that cannot be bought. You
are blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. [God] is [the] food and drink [of] the best
meal you will ever eat. You
are blessed when you care. At the
moment of being care-full, you find yourselves cared for. You
are blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put
right. Then you can see God in the
outside world. You
are blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or
fight. That’s when you discover who
you really are, and your place in God’s family. You
are blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into
God’s kingdom. Not
only that—count yourself blessed every time people put you down or throw you
out or speak lies about you to discredit you.
What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are
uncomfortable. You can be glad when
that happens—give a cheer!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And
all heaven applauds. And know that you
are in good company. My prophets and
witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble[1]. The “aha!” moment for me came with the
repeated combination of these words: “you are blessed when …” For whatever
reason, this paraphrase of the Beatitudes seems more dynamic than Luke’s
version. It seems to offer the
possibility of growing into blessedness.
It seems to suggest we have a great deal to do with whether or not we
are blessed.—that who we are and what we do matter. Perhaps, I am influenced by my reflections
on the following story: A
Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he
felt. He said, “I feel as if I have
two wolves fighting in my heart. One
wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one.
The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.” The
grandson asked him, “Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?” The
grandfather answered, “The one I feed.”[2] I believe each and every one of us struggles to be a disciple of Christ, and to do what God calls us to do. Truth be told, Christ is not always the motivating force at the center of our lives. All too often, our focus is on other than Christ’s call to follow. In all honesty, Christ’s ministry in the world often ranks second |
or third on our
priority lists. While we have plenty to
recall in the silences before the Confession, our shortcomings do not make us
bad people or even bad disciples. The
Beatitudes paraphrase helps me hear and understand that we are blessed in the
moments or at the times when Christ is at the center of our lives, when we act
in ways consistent with Christ’s mission, or when we recognize how deeply we
need God in order to have purpose, meaning and hope in our lives.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of All
Saints. So, I want to connect
blessedness and saintliness. We often
think of saints as the “heavyweights of the Church, who by their sterling
example and influence have won places on our [liturgical] calendars.”[3] We tend to think saints are better and more
faithful Christians than we are. We tend
to put them on pedestals, and enshrine them in stained-glass windows. But listen to this wonderful quotation about
saints.
…
“saints” are as apt to admit being as flawed and flaky, as faint-hearted and
fat-headed as any backslider around. Not
to mention just as sinful.
But
the difference is: “saints” claim that God uses them anyway. Despite their own corruption and personal
demons, they stand before God willing to be used, ready to be God’s
[witnesses].[4]
Our covenant with God and one another is not that we must strive to become
perfect in order to merit God’s love, mercy and grace. Even the Biblical saints are not “idealized
models to be copied. They are flawed
human beings, struggling with what it means to be human.”[5] Scripture tells us, God’s love, mercy and
grace are already freely given to any and all who would receive them. Thus, we are freed and empowered to “wrestle
with the pain and pleasure of being human.”[6] We are freed and empowered to discern not
only which “wolf” within to feed, but also what to feed it. We are freed and empowered to stand before
God, ready and willing to be vehicles for God’s purposes. The saints teach us that sometimes our
struggles, and our decisions about which wolf to feed bear no fruit. At other times, when we manage to be at-one
with God’s ways, when we understand who we are in relationship to God, and in
relationship to God’s people, we are blessed beyond what we can ask or imagine.
You are blessed when you give without
calculating the benefit to yourself.
You are blessed when you receive God’s
gifts and use them for ministry.
You are blessed when you understand the
joy of healing and reconciliation is the energy of the Holy Spirit to become a
healer and reconciler.
You are blessed when you open yourselves
to being changed and transformed by what you experience, or by what you see
going on around you.
You are blessed when you dig deeper,
seeking to go beyond easy and comfortable answers.
You are blessed when you invite the
cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit to prepare a new place for Christ to dwell
within.
You are blessed when compassion moves you
to action.
You are blessed when you plant trees
whose fruits you will never enjoy.
You are blessed when you feed on the love
of the One you know, but do not see.
AMEN.