4 Epiphany, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
4 Epiphany, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Micah 6:1-8
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
What does it mean to live a “blessed” life?
I’m guessing the answer to that question may depend on who is asking and in what context.
If our context to the question is the cultural context of The United States,
then the question is most often asked in the form of:
What does it mean to be “successful?”
or….What does it mean to have “made it?”
When I read today’s passages from Micah, 1st Corinthians, and Matthew,
I thought of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
And books such as “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
Now, I must first admit that I have not read any of these books,
so I am not able to comment on them.
As I thumbed through the chapter titles of “How to Win Friends and Influence People,”
it struck me that Jesus might have profited by reading
Part Two: Six Ways to Make People Like You…or
Part Three: How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking…or
Part Four: How to Change People without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment!
While I chuckled as I considered the possibility of Jesus inviting change without giving offense,
it struck me that we actually find ourselves in difficult positions time and again
as we consider what our faith tells us and what our society offers us.
In today’s scriptures it is apparent this challenge also existed for the ancient Israelites,
Jesus’ disciples,
every generation of Christians since then,
and probably for followers of any religious tradition.
The cultural world and the spiritual world often bump up against each other,
providing moments of great friction, reflection, decision, and course of action.
In our Old Testament passage today, the prophet Micah is bewailing the fact that God’s people are acting as if they don’t need God anymore.
God reminds them that God has delivered them from slavery into freedom…
a fact that they seem to have forgotten.
In response to this remembrance and their repentance,
the question arises: What can we do to appease God?
What things can we offer God?
Burnt-offerings?
Calves?
Thousands of rams?
Tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
My firstborn child?
No, God says.
No “thing” do I want.
God requires justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God.
God requires a disposition (an orientation) of life that entails:
acting justly,
offering mercy,
and walking humbly with God.
According to the prophet Micah,
a “blessed” life is a transformed life
that is rooted in God
and exhibits itself in how we treat our neighbors with mercy and equity.
According to the apostle Paul, a “blessed” life looks very similar.
In First Corinthians,
Paul says that the successful life for the Jews is one in which God’s power reigns supreme
and that the successful life for the Greeks is a show of knowledge and wisdom.
Yet, Paul says that for Christians,
the “blessed” life is one of humility, love, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
In worldly standards, the cross was an instrument of shame and violence…
an instrument of foolishness.
By Jesus’ standards,
the cross was an instrument of love and humility…
a counter to the cultural violence of “an eye for an eye.”
Mercy is the currency of power in the Kingdom of God.
This is what Jesus has been teaching to his disciples.
This is what Jesus teaches us!
A “blessed” life in the Kingdom of God
is a life that acknowledges and reflects our dependence upon God…
a life in which those who feel loss are consoled by God’s presence…
a life for those who live into who they are and what they have, not seeking more…
a life that exhibits mercy toward others, not judgment…
a life that tries to resolve differences peacefully, not with violence…
a life in which we stand up for God’s justice, equity, grace, and forgiveness for all
despite the fact that we may be persecuted for it.
A “blessed” life is a life of goodness and richness
although not necessarily in the realm of “stuff.”
This past Wednesday at our clergy lectionary Bible study, one pastor asked:
“What does a ‘successful’ or ‘blessed’ church look like?”
We tossed around some ideas:
full pews…
people of all ages…
lots of children…
abundant programs.
One pastor offered this thought as he reflected:
“Instead of looking at what we have,
we often focus on what we don’t have.”
Are our churches “successful” or “blessed” if we aren’t full,
or we don’t have scores of kids,
or we don’t offer something every day of the week?
I have always thought that if a church is actually living out the Gospel,
then the congregation will likely be small.
I mean…Jesus was crucified, right?
His ways of love and mercy and forgiveness and justice weren’t exactly popular!
I suspect that they are not any more popular today than they were in Jesus’ day…
or in Micah’s day.
And yet, we are invited to see our own blessedness…
if we live our lives humbly rooted in God,
recognizing our deep dependence on God for the whole of our lives,
and acting with justice and mercy.
As we worship, pray, and serve together as a community of faith,
we come together to encourage, support, and challenge one another
so that our lives -
and this church -
are places of mercy, justice, forgiveness, grace, goodness, and humility.
After our service today and some time of fellowship, we will gather for our annual meeting.
I invite you to listen to all the places in our lives in which we are indeed blessed:
the ways through which we root ourselves in God
and the ways in which we listen and respond to the needs of our community,
both in this congregation and the world around us.
And, as we move together into the future,
let us be mindful of other ways in which we can enact justice and mercy,
knowing that it is God alone who blesses us and works through us.
Amen.
