Sermons

"Beatific Advice"

Delivered from the Pulpit of First Congregational Church

of Anchorage by The Reverend Mark E. Long

on November 1, 2009

Lections:  Is. 42.1-9

                 Js. 3.13-18

                 Mt. 5.1-11

"Follow your bliss," this is what they say isn't it?  Translation:  Do whatever makes you deliriously happy.  It seems to be good advice.  Unfortunately, most "blissful paths" provide only short term bliss and may have long term repercussions.  Many a life has gone careening off track trying to follow one's bliss.  There is a diminishing return to our earthly diversion of any moment.  It doesn't serve us for the long haul, in fact, may not even serve us at all.

I say "diversion" quite intentionally because the point is to divert us from looking too deeply at our own lives.  These diversions serve to keep our focus somewhere near the surface of our lives through addiction to one thing or another.  It could be something with obvious damaging potential, i.e. drugs which give us a boost or edge that life as it is just doesn't afford, or so says Andre Agassi.[1]  Or something less obviously so, our work or television or even people keeps us occupied.  It is sad enough that we want to escape our lives, but worse that we choose to do it in these ways.

Of course, we know this.  It is no great secret that many "diversions" of our lives do not help us live our lives better.  Still we persist because for the moment, they divert us enough to give us a chance to breathe.  And we may not know enough to do much else.  It is one way to do life, not one I would recommend but it is a way.

But how else can we get respite from the darker moments of our lives or our thoughts about them?  Well the gospel of Matthew has some beatific advice for you this morning, that doesn't divert you from life but takes you more deeply into experiencing it.  It is, not coincidentally, called the Beatitudes - Jesus' advice to his disciples.

"Blessed are," says Jesus, "the poor in spirit," "those who mourn," "the meek," "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," "the merciful," "the pure in heart," "the peacemakers," and then a double dose of blessing for "those who are persecuted," "reviled," and "falsely accused" for God's sake.

How would you like to be on this list?  I can't see folks clamoring to get on it.

How are they blessed?  They will receive whatever they need.  They will receive "the kingdom of heaven," or "be comforted," or "inherit the earth," or have their hunger and thirst for God "filled," or "receive mercy," or "see God," or "be called the children of God," or receive the "reward" of the prophets.  They receive in kind of their need. 

Now some of you, maybe many of you - certainly the man on the street - would look at this list, scratch his head and say, "what's all the fuss about? What's so great about these things?"  There is no promise of anything we can put our hands on, or spend, or eat, or will make us important in the eyes of others - really nothing is promised that we ordinarily seek.  Enduring bliss from a source that turns our expectations upside down is all that is promised.  Promises of things we have not even thought to want, but so desperately need.  Blessed are. 

What I notice about these promises of "bliss" or the Beatitudes, as they have come to be known, is that they provide what is needed to those who demonstrate gentleness as evidence that the "fruit of the Spirit" is working in their lives.  Each of the "blessings" comes at the end of a demonstration of gentleness.

Gentleness is a biblical idea, often associated with the cute, cuddly, but hapless sheep.  Sheep follow easily; they know their place and that place is wherever they are told to go.  They wait for the next instruction; so pliable they really don't have a direction of their own.  It is not surprising then that gentleness is thought of as a trait of weak character.  Someone who is gentle can be pushed around, swayed without difficulty; manipulated readily, used with ease by those who are not.  At least that is what many believe.

If this is so, why is it evidence of the working of the "fruit of the Spirit" in our lives?  Is God's best hope for us to serve as a doormat for those that don't follow the Lord's path?  Are Christians called to yield weakly to whatever desires others have for them?

Something is terribly wrong here.  What is wrong is our idea of gentleness.  The biblical idea of 'gentleness' is not what it may seem.  We may think of gentleness as wimpy, weak of character, unwilling or unable to stand up to be counted.  The world outside the Church certainly does.

The world is partly right.  Gentleness is a yielding character, but from strength not weakness.  The gentle of Spirit do not lack an inner compass but possess the strength of wisdom to recognize the foolishness of self-sufficiency and appreciate the sole source of enduring "bliss" that they need.

This same yielding wisdom allows the gentle of Spirit to serve the mission of God in the world.  God makes a covenant with Moses, a humble sheep watcher, to benefit Israel and then with a humbled Israel to benefit the world, not that Israel was always so humble that took some convincing.  But as Isaiah argues, although Israel is slow to "get it" in the end it yields to the Lord and becomes a "light to the nations" as it "brings [the Lord's] justice" to them.

Notice how it does so - without a loud voice, without breaking a bruised reed, or putting out a wick that barely flickers.  Israel brings justice to the world through gentleness not aggression.

Israel is our example.  Israel may have immense power at its disposal as the people of God but lasting peace will never be achieved in a show of power.  Peace comes to the world only through the humility to restrain strength in order to teach others who are in some sense weaker, those who don't know what we know.  Peace comes to the world when God's people humble themselves to pursue God's mission "with gentleness born of wisdom."  "A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace."

This means to set aside the urge to follow the conventional wisdom to pick up a club and start bashing our way to peace and justice.  This worldly approach just doesn't work to bring an end to war and even if it does it is not the "blissful path" to a peace that endures.  Remember the words of our lesson, "earthly" and "unspiritual" wisdom will lead ultimately to disorder and discord.

Still it is human nature to test our limits.  The Israelites struggled with self-sufficiency just as we do.  They try to "go it alone" and fashion their own solutions to the problems they make for themselves; just as we do.  But in the end they "get it," a long time coming for sure (they were a stubborn bunch), but finally they realize that the "good life" requires humility before God and a willingness to yield to the source that delivers what they need. 

If the enduring "bliss" that produces the "good life" is to be within our reach then we must humble ourselves to understand that our problems are born of our own "earthly" diversions and yield also to the only wisdom capable of delivering to us what we need.

Humility and a willingness to yield to the source of blessing these are the keys to bliss.  Blessed are . . . the gentle of Spirit.  They will have their needs met in an enduring way.  It is really what the Beatitudes say.  It is good advice - beatific advice - the kind that comes only from above.

This is how I see "gentleness" - evidence that the "fruit of the Spirit" is working in our lives.  Amen.