The Beatitudes are well known … their assurance is heartfelt … the cadence of the promise, blessed are those who … and you can fill in the blank, because the Beatitudes cover the waterfront of the human condition … from top to bottom, across the board, it’s all here: our sorrows and hopes, our struggles to live well and to live faithfully … to count for something and be worth someone’s time, so that when the day is done, we lay our heads down with some degree of dignity and satisfaction, that we have fought the good fight, and stood with Christ, in the best of it, and in the worst it.
And the promise of God, a promise for us all … blessing!
God’s hand bending the arc of time and space toward justice and righteousness and peace … and those who follow the bend of time, who heed the call of God, who bear the cross of Christ, who seek God’s kingdom, are blessed, indeed!
And what does it mean to be blessed?
At the core of all blessedness is God …
God’s goodness … God’s love … God’s purpose … God’s kingdom …
To be blessed is to have God.
To bear the mark of God upon the soul …
Jesus appeals to our better selves.
Here’s God’s way, says Jesus.
You can do it.
It can be done.
And for the sake of the world, it must be done!
The way of the world, as it is, is war and poverty and pain and sorrow and death … is there no other way?
Jesus says, there is another way.
Costly.
Demanding.
Dangerous, yes!
But real and good and rewarding!
Jesus invites Simon and Andrew and Peter and John and says to them, Come and follow me, and I’ll make you fish for people …
Jesus says to all the world: Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.
The word yoke is code language, the language of a rabbi, the language of a teacher – take my yoke, accept my teaching, see the way I see things, live the way I live, receive the values I hold, welcome the love I give, take it upon you, take it all … and learn from me …
And in so learning from Christ, we are blessed.
God’s character takes up residence in our soul.
We become a little bit like God.
Jesus says, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect [Mathew 5:48].
The Greek word for perfect is telios – it means complete; all that’s needed is here … the pieces of the puzzle are all on the table … waiting for us to put it together … nothing is missing.
Be complete, as your Heavenly Father is complete.
Jesus spells out.
A part of our spirit refuses the possibility … a part of our spirit says, “It can’t be done; I can’t do it; I’m not up to it; it’s too hard; it’s impossible; things are missing; my parents are crummy; my spouse doesn’t understand me; I’ve had bad breaks; I drink because I’m Irish; I’m stubborn because I’m German; I can’t cook because I’m English!”
But not so, says Jesus.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Near enough to grasp.
Jesus is not talking about the kind of perfection we see on TV, where the host guru always has all the answers, and always knows just what to do.
Nor are we talking about the kind of perfection offered by fundamentalist preachers and their hollow promises of health, wealth and happiness.
Or some kind of moralistic perfection – no drinking, no cussing, no smoking … or some kind of religious perfection - saying our prayers and going to church.
To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, is to practice kindness and generosity toward all, without restraint, without second thoughts.
To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect is to never be a respecter of persons … to never be influenced by good looks or expensive cars when it comes to seeing people.
The guy on the corner with a sign for food is just as precious in God’s eyes as the man in the backseat of the limousine …
Listen to how Jesus puts it:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Everyone one of us is given the choice, a thousand times day … here it is, the high road of Christ.
It can be as simple as keeping a promise to a child:
Michael Josephson tells of a business trip he took, and his young daughter said, “Please don’t go Daddy.”
And when he said, “I have to.”
She said, “Well, then, take me along.”
And when that wasn’t possible, she offered her final deal: she asks her Dad to wear a handmade tie she’d made for him. It was a sweet thought, but he’d feel ridiculous speaking to serious business executives, but it was his only way out, so he promised to wear it.
And he did. He told the executives why he was wearing it, and he made the point: if ya’ want to be trusted, you have to keep your promises.
When he returned the next afternoon, he went right to the office, and his wife and daughter showed up for a surprise visit.
When his five-year old daughter saw that he had the tie on, she beamed and gave him the biggest hug: “I knew you would. You’re the best Daddy ever!”
It can be done.
We’ve all done it, and we’ll do it again, and we’ll go to bed with a sense of satisfaction, because we choose to do it right.
We choose to be like God.
To be like God!
Does that sound strange to you?
In our own way, of course, when we chose the right, when we follow through, when we keep a promise, when we take the high road.
When we love and forgive and make all things new.
Then we’re like God!
It’s not always easy.
But, guess what?
It’s not easy for God either.
Have you ever thought about that?
It isn’t easy for God to be God?
It’s not easy to love.
It’s not easy to forgive.
There are times in the Bible when God would rather smack the daylights out of us … when God would like to fold God’s arms and walk away in a huff and never see us again!
After the Golden Calf incident, God says to Moses, I have seen how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them [Exodus 32:9-10].
Can’t ya’ just see God throwing a hissy fit?
Like Steve Martin in the movie, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” … one of the best hissy fits ever …
And that’s what God wanted to do.
God wanted to throw a hissy fit.
Stomp his feet and throw a few things around.
But it’s Moses who says to God, Whoa, wait a minute God. Didn’t ya’ promise to stay the course with us? Didn’t ya’ bring us out of Egypt, and now only to abandon us? What will Pharaoh think if your project fails? Remember Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God, cool your jets!
And God cools down.
You think it’s easy being God?
I wouldn’t have the job in the all the world.
And neither would you.
Jim Carrey found that out in “Bruce Almighty.”
It’s not easy being God.
And it’s not easy being a human being.
If we’ve been wrong, we apologize.
If we blow it, we make amends.
If we fail a loved one, we work to make it up.
If we’ve been selfish, we change.
If we’re too quick to speak, we learn to listen a little more.
If we’re inclined to judge others, we learn how to be gracious.
If we carry an angry spirit within us, we learn how to manage it.
If we harbor jealousy, we let it go.
If we’re greedy, we learn to be generous.
If we’re self-centered, we learn how to be centered in Christ.
It’s done a millions times a day by millions of people who choose the light instead of the darkness.
I’ve been think a lot this week about a small pharmacy in Florida that has filed dozens of law suits against big drug companies who routinely overcharge Medicare and Medicade.
It’s called Ven-A-Care … created 23 years ago when a young Florida pharmacist named Luis Cobo and a nurse named T. Mark Jones went into the business of supplying intravenous drugs for AIDS and cancer patients.
The company conducts research, comparing the prices it paid for drugs with the prices reported by drug makers to the government for reimbursement. Ven-A-Care files suit, on behalf of the government, when it spots large discrepancies between the two sets of prices.
The spreads can be dramatic.
A 2005 California suit alleged that a 1-gram vial of the antibiotic vancomycin was sold to providers for $6.29, but billed to Medi-Cal for $58.37, while 50-milligram tablets of the blood pressure medication atenolol were billed to pharmacies at $3.04 and to Medi-Cal at $70.30.
Cabo and Jones are doing all of us favor … shining the light of truth on how the drug companies routinely defraud the state and Federal governments.
The Big Boys and Girls at the top have tried again and again to shut down Ven-A-Care, but without success.
Meanwhile, the little Florida Pharmacy has saved Medicare and Medicade hundreds of millions of dollars, and by the way, Ven-A-Care is doing just fine; they collect a portion of the recovered monies. Truth and right can be profitable!
A thousand times a day, in smaller ways, we have choices … to bring light to the darkness, to tell the truth, to keep a promise and be kind …
We don’t always get it right.
But we do it right most of the time.
And that’s what counts.
Doing it right most of the time.
Improve the odds.
Increase the chances.
Choose the ways of God!
And blessed are they who make those choices:
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
They will be comforted.
They will inherit the earth, and they will be filled.
They will receive merc,y and they will see God.
They will be called children of God.
Amen and Amen!
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