Watchful Waiting

Image courtesy of GBOD of the UMC http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/first-sunday-of-advent-a-additional-resources

At almost every retirement ceremony the words of “The Watch” are read.  “For XX number of years this Sailor has stood the watch,” starts the poem which concludes with “Shipmate you stand relieved….we have the watch.”

It’s our way of saying to our colleague that they can stand down from a way of life that we are indoctrinated to from our beginnings in basic training.  I first learned them at RTC in Orlando and again in Newport’s Officer’s Development School: The Eleven General Orders of the Sentry, the last of which says, “To be especially watchful at night, and, during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post and to allow no one to pass without proper authority.”

The idea of being on watch is not unusual to those of us living, or living around, a military culture. So when we encounter the words “Keep awake” and “be ready” there may be a tendency to hear something about being on watch for something bad. Maybe somewhere in the back of our minds we hear Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter shouting, “Constant Vigilance!” to his students of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Even Jesus’ mention of the Days of Noah may have us cringing a bit as we contemplate what this text has to do with our preparations for Christmas.

Because it’s all a little, “Just you wait until your father gets home,” isn’t it?

But Advent is about waiting. 

Waiting to celebrate the Word made flesh.

Waiting to rejoice with the Angels who sang songs of God’s glory and God’s Peace.

Advent is about waiting not in fear of a punishing judge; rather it’s about waiting for the vision of God to be made real in history. As that vision was made real in the birth of Jesus. As that vision will be made complete in the Day of the Lord and Christ’s return.

Advent calls us into a place of watchful waiting.

We are in a time of year when we know all about watchful waiting.  We waited when we were children for the mystery of Christmas morning to unfold, and in parenthood we wait as our children watch the mystery of Christmas morning unfold.  And culturally we still yearn for that child-like wonder of the season, don’t we? Even in Japan we watched the locals get excited about Christmas decorations and Christmas music and Christmas gifts; the shopping arcade in Sasebo had these amazing light displays and American Village in Okinawa would decorate and be ablaze in the feeling of the Holiday.

So, even if it’s at a cultural level, we’re geared up for something wonderful to happen during this season.

I know that for some folks, Christmas, even Thanksgiving, are days of stress and pain because our families aren’t whole, or functional, or kind.  And yet, maybe, even in our pain and sorrow, there is a yearning for hope; a desire for the mystery to unfold.

This is perhaps what the state of the people of God were in when Isaiah speaks in today’s text.  The southern Kingdom of Judah is under siege by the Syrian King and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, 120,000 Judean troops were lost in a single days’ battle, the son of King Ahaz was killed (along with other officials), and others were taken away into slavery.  Isaiah’s vision doesn’t occur in a time of peace; he sees this impossible thing happen while war is being waged all around him.  Our passage says, “The word that Isaiah…saw.”  He didn’t hear this word; he didn’t read this word; Isaiah SAW this word, and I think that’s something worth pointing out.

As the Kingdom of Judah, and the center of worship for the people of God in Jerusalem, is under siege, Isaiah sees a word—a seemingly impossible word—that stands in opposition to the war and terror around him.

Maybe this is timely for us to hear as the clashes around DAPL go into their seventh month and the protestors are being moved off their camp into “free speech zones”, as the divide in our nation shows little sign of healing, as nooses are discovered in middle school bathrooms, as Iraqis flee Mosul in fear of increasing ISIL Suicide bombings…

Maybe Isaiah seeing this seemingly impossible word unfold is exactly what we need.

“The word that Isaiah…saw…In days to come…”

In days to come may not be specific, but it does imply that the transformation seen in this word will come within history. Isaiah doesn’t say, “In the year 2525” like Zager and Evans did in their 1969 song about the apocalypse, he merely says in days to come.  Perhaps it is intentionally vague, or maybe it’s a hope-filled yearning like that felt by Tony and Maria in West Side Story as they sang “Somehow…someday…somewhere!” where they believe that if they live in a way of peace that they can make a place of peace.

Isaiah notices that those who stream to the Lord’s house “will encounter and meet God who speaks not only in words but in acts. They will hear not only with their ears but with their hearts—and this God, whose actions they will see and whose will they will hear in their hearts, will be an all welcoming God.”  Because “the nations” streaming to God offers a sign in this vision that “the instruction of God revealed and hidden in Torah is not only for Israel, but for all the nations.”

And as this instruction comes forth…the nations will be transformed from a people who are at war in their hearts and in the world, to a people who are at peace.  And all it seems to require is a willingness to be transformed, a willingness to say, “Let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”  It seems that even though the future belongs to God, “the first step toward that future belongs to those who have glimpsed that light.”

So maybe we live in between times, then.  We live in between the vision of God’s future and the completion of God’s future.  We believe that in the birth of Jesus, and in his life and teachings, that we have seen God’s word in actions and that we have heard God’s will.  And maybe this is the what that Jesus calls us to be awake for, to be alert for.  Moments of unfolding.  Moments that are ripe for us to step into God’s dream.

Okay, so now what?  So what?  We live in between Isaiah’s vision and it’s fulfillment.  We live in between the birth of Jesus and the the return of Christ and the Day of the Lord.  What’s it have to do with Christmas?

I think it has this to do with Christmas (and you’ll learn that I say “I think” a lot, because I really don’t think my word is the final word…I’d rather my voice be part of an ongoing conversation.)  I think it has this to do with Christmas.  the very birth of Jesus was the beginning of the fulfillment of the vision Isaiah saw.  As one pastor says, “To live between the times is, above all, to trust and hope that God has begun, and will continue to transform, us more and more into the stature of Christ.”  And if the life and teachings of Jesus are the visible actions of God, then as we become more like Christ our actions will be more and more in line with the dream of God seen in Isaiah’s vision.  

Last week Chaplain Minyard mentioned evangelism as the #1 thing on the Church’s to do list, remember? The list on a sticky note on God’s Fridge? I agree, and I think that visible acts of love are some of the best methods of evangelization out there.  

I’m reminded of a Peanuts comic strip where Charlie Brown and Linus are trudging through the snow. The wind is blowing; the snow is falling. They are bundled up in their snowsuits with fur hats and scarves and gloves and boots. They encounter Snoopy, shivering, naked — as dogs ordinarily are, in front of his doghouse, his dish is empty; he looks cold and hungry and just miserable. Charlie Brown says “Be of good cheer, Snoopy.” Linus echoes: “Yes, Snoopy, be of good cheer.” And off they go leaving Snoopy with a wonderfully quizzical look on his face.

So maybe the reality that God is calling us to live into comes one bowl of soup, one kind word, one kind greeting at a time.  Maybe the reality of God comes when fear and anxiety of the other stops dominating our lives and Faith and Hope take over.

Come, people of God, let us walk in the light of the Lord, watchful for moments to be active in God’s will.

Christ the King Sunday -- Year C -- 2016

Pantocrator,Montreal Cathedral, Sicily

It was on every email he sent. It was said at every formation where he spoke. “It’s the price you pay for the life you choose.” The company First Sergeant was a good man who believed in the Corps and who believed that choosing a life with the Corps meant you chose a life that would have its fair share of challenges.

What does it mean for the Church to say things like “King of kings” and “Lord of lords”? What does it mean for the Church at the end of every liturgical year to celebrate the Reign of Christ, or Christ the King Sunday?

All of the Gospel writers tell us that when Jesus was crucified that the words “King of the Jews” were inscribed over him, usually shown as a placard over his head. What kind of King meets this kind of end and who would choose to follow such a king? “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.” Spoken by Cersei Lannister to Ned Stark in the first season of The Game of Thrones. The thought seems to summarize how most people view being a successful ruler of people.  Successful rulers win the game of thrones; they don’t end up dead.

But we’re presented a crucifixion text for the Reign of Christ and that means that there’s something for us to learn from this text as it relates to this particular day in the liturgical year.  Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; we celebrate the Reign that was inaugurated with his death and resurrection, so what can the Church draw from this to help us become more fully formed as the embodiment of Christ’s reign?

One theologian says, “The ruler of this kingdom does not help himself, but he helps others who need his help (Luke 23:35). Still more: he does not meet evil with evil, but repays evil with good. Indeed, he forgives the people who do not know the evil things they arrange by asking his Father in heaven to forgive them (v. 34).” (Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 12454-12456). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.)

“Jesus spent more time talking about the Kingdom of God than any other topic or issue,” says another pastor. And while we may want to imagine that Kingdom as a future reality that will only come to fruition in the sweet by and by (as if it were a post-dated check), Jesus spoke of the Kingdom as both a present AND a future reality. “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”

So for those of us who would consider ourselves subjects of this Ruler, or citizens of the Reign of God, or followers of this King, our model is One who prays to the Father for the forgiveness of those who have done him harm and who welcomes the justifiably condemned thief into Paradise. These are not easy things to do, but it's the price we pay for the life we choose.

I can’t help but encounter this text with humility because, while we may want to say that the ‘King-ship” of Jesus is demonstrated in his resurrection and exaltation, it is in his crucifixion and death that he is named King. And I believe there is something for me (for all of us) to learn from this.

Jesus is challenged multiple times in this passage to prove that he is the Messiah (God’s chosen one) by saving himself, the crowd and the first thief both say, “Save yourself if you are God’s chosen one, but the thief adds that Jesus also rescue him from his demise.” So the proof of Jesus’ Messianic role is not in his stopping of his own death, but in his embracing it. 

For followers of this Messiah, then, we have a few marks to emulate: forgiving those who have or would do us harm; embracing a path that may not lead to exaltation; and welcoming the obviously “unworthy” into God’s reign. It's not an easy way to follow, but it's the price we pay for the life we choose.

It is interesting that somehow the second thief recognized the Messianic nature of Jesus in his humiliation and death and maybe that’s what the world needs today from people of faith.

“Somehow he has found the hermeneutical lens that permits him to recognize salvation that intrudes into the absolutely hopeless moment where no one is saved from suffering and death, which is also exactly the moment when salvation breaks through.” (Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 12604-12605). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.) 

As followers of this Messiah, as a people who claim Jesus as Lord, where are the places where we allow salvation to intrude into the “hopeless moments” of others? It seems that the world is ripe for moments where God’s Realm can interrupt the tide of hopelessness and despair with real and holy presence.

So often I hear or read on social media, statements of frustration or sorrow or pain. I hear stories of heart ache and heart break from people who wander into my office. And something I frequently hear from these people is that they don’t want “If God brings you to it, he’ll bring you through it” statements said.

What people want to hear is that their pain, their fear, their sorrow is real and valid in the moment, AND that they are not alone. That they have not been forsaken or abandoned and would someone please, demonstrate it by sitting with me in my sorrow.

Jesus says to the thief, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Today, God’s reign is real. In this moment, God is fully present with you. In this moment you are remembered. In this moment you are beloved.

May we choose to follow, follow in faith in the same valley places that our Lord has walked.

Amen.

Shut Up and Dance

Over the July 4 weekend the Grateful Dead played what was billed as the "Fare Thee Well" Shows. As a way of celebrating fifty years of their music, the Core Four came together one last time to thank the fans for half a century of dancing, singing, and shaking the bones.

For those who could not attend the shows in Santa Clara, California the last weekend of June, or Soldiers Field over the July 4 weekend, YouTube offered pay-per-view streaming, as did MLB.com.  Sirius XM streamed the shows' audio feeds and Twitter was blowing up with multiple hashtags so that techno-savvy Deadheads could get play by play, song by song updates and share in the moment even if they couldn't be there in person.

It had been twenty years since Deadheads have been together in this way and it was truly a moment to be remembered.

But even with so much to celebrate, I was surprised by the negativity and judgment.  I guess even Deadheads can be trolls, sadly enough.

"Why is PHIL singing vocals on this song?"

"Why isn't TREY singing vocals on this?"

"Why is the mix off? I can't hear Bruce (or Bobby) (or Trey) (or Jeff)."

"Why didn't they play [insert favorite song title here]." (This one blew me away because after 30 years of playing together (1965-1995), the band had amassed a catalogue of 317 cover songs and 184 original tunes!) Like they could possibly hit everyone's favorite song...

What I really enjoyed, though, were the replies that said something along the lines of "How about you just live in the music and dance?!" I also noticed that the positive tweets got retweeted and favorited, while the negative stuff just kind of disappeared into the Twitterverse.

I encountered a text this week for preaching that I've come across before (the lectionary is good for that, right?) but following the Fare Thee Well shows I listened to it a little differently this time around.

In 2 Samuel 6 David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant home from its captivity with the Philistines. The Ark, the sign of G-d's presence with the people; the thing that helped the people of G-d remember they are the people of G-d. It held the tablets with the Ten Words and, according to the letter to the Hebrews, it also held Aaron's rod and a jar of manna.  After being gone for so long (at least seven months) David was happy to have the sign of the covenant there. So happy in fact that as the procession of 30,000 people moved along with lyres and tambourines and cymbals, that he breaks into dance.

Maybe not quite what David looked like, but you get the point.

I imagine in the movie in my head that David is dancing in his linen ephod and only mindful of his joy before G-d so when he accidentally offers up..."The Full Monty"...he offends at least one person.

As the saying goes, "Haters gonna hate." And maybe something like, "If you don't offend at least one person you aren't doing it right."

But the person he offends is the daughter of the former King, Saul.  Saul, you may remember was let go from being King because he didn't observe the command given by Samuel, and made a wrong offering before G-d.  He had good intentions, I really think that Saul had good intentions, but he wan't following the Law. So he's let go, so to speak, and David is anointed King. (It's not quite as complicated as Game of Thrones, but close.)

And this new King is marching into town, dancing, spinning, shaking those bones with all manner of lost dignity and rather than catch his joy, Michal gets caught up in judgment. "Saul would never act that way...I can't believe we have just a fool for a king...doesn't he know what he looks like? Doesn't he know we can see EVERYTHING? How embarrassing for him! How embarrassing for us all!"

I can't help but feel a little sad for Michal, and not just because she's missing out on the joy.  I feel bad for her because she's feeling all the guilt and shame for being "the former King's daughter."  We excel at shaming the families of people who are guilty of something. Somehow we feel like it's not just the fault of the person but that the guilt is shared by the family too.  I've seen family members shamed by others because they are "guilty by association" some how.  It was painful to witness.  So I feel for Michal because I'm sure she felt that same guilt by association shame.

And as is wont to happen, people in pain lash out at others.

Once the celebrations are done, and David has made and shared the offerings, Michal catches him and tells him exactly what's on her mind. "How the King of Israel honored himself today..." Sarcasm drips from her words as she tries to help David understand how a King is supposed to act.  Kings are supposed to act like her Father, Saul, did.

David replies with a bit that Matt Redmon turned into a song that the Crowder Band made hugely famous, "I will be even more undignified than this."

And then the text ends with a really crummy bit, "And Michal the daughter of Saul had not child to the day of her death."

I'll be honest, I wanted to leave this line out.  The assigned pericope didn't even go as far as the Undignified comment, so who will notice if I leave out that sad little bit out Michal not having any babies?

But I have a friend who likes to say, "Everything is in Torah for a reason, even the stuff we wrestle with or don't like."

So I had to find out...

I had to find out because I didn't like it.

Here's what I've come up with this time around.  Maybe what we can get from the text is that judgment isn't meant to bear fruit.

David's joy had 30,000 people in procession (and yeah, maybe it helped a little that he was the King) but at the end of the day, Michal's judgment left her fruitless.

I'm always hesitant to say that texts warn us because then we're prone to look at reasons to be afraid; but I think the text warns us that judgment isn't fruitful. Not that if we're judgmental we won't have babies, but that it's judgment isn't supposed to be contagious.

It's easy to see how difficult that might be when so much of what we see is finger pointing and judgment.  The left says the right is wrong and the right says the left is wrong and Bill O' Reilly says Jon Stewart's wrong and vice versa. And the evangelicals are labeling the progressives and the progressives are labeling the evangelicals and even the middle/centrists are jumping onto the bandwagon and saying what's wrong with both ends.

Or maybe we're wondering why church can't be traditional or why it can't be contemporary and hip.  Or why we have to celebrate the Eucharist AGAIN (or wondering why the pastor/priest did the fraction there??? when it so obviously goes AFTER the great thanksgiving not DURING.)

And so we're back to the mix being wrong.

And we're back to wondering why Phil's singing and not Trey or Bruce.

And we're back to wondering why, out of the 500+ songs in the catalogue, the band isn't playing OUR favorite song.

When maybe what we really being invited to do is just live in the music and shut up and dance.

The Grateful Dead and Fare Thee Well

When I first saw/heard the news I was instantly sad that I wouldn't be able to go to Chicago and get in  even one final show.

Then I started reading the comments...you know, like you aren't supposed to...I began reading the comments.

Trey playing Jerry's parts? Say it ain't so!

Okay...back story time.

Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995 and the Grateful Dead haven't played as a cohesive unit, all of them together, for more than a handful of times in twenty years.

2015 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Grateful Dead. What a great time to put on three final shows at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL over the July 4th weekend.  

Why Chicago?  Chicago is close to the center of the country, making it somewhat accessible to the majority of fans.  Additionally, Chicago is the location of the final show the Dead played prior to Jerry checking into rehab and his death.

There were a few choices to choose from in terms of guitarists and vocalists, but the band went with Trey Anastasio (of Phish Phame) and at that point the haters started hating.

I admit it; I tried getting into Phish back in the day, and never really acquired the taste. But I wasn't familiar enough with Trey's playing--even though he's played a few times in one or maybe two iterations of the Post-Grateful Dead Grateful Dead--to make any kind of a judgment about whether or not he was good enough.  Mostly I was concerned with hearing the band perform live post-Jerry Garcia, and feeling sad and not being able to appreciate the music regardless of who got to play in Jerry's place.

So, for once, I was glad to be living in Okinawa and unable to even entertain the idea of seeing these shows. Then I saw the live-streaming Pay Per View option and, since I was actually going to be home for a few days, purchased the three night stand of the Fare Thee Well shows in Chicago.

Yesterday--July 3rd--the band played their first of three shows and they played well.  They played more than well.  It was amazing.  Today they played a monster second show and it was even more amazing. 

Another bit of back story: In 1994 and 1995 I dropped out of work a few times to chase down the Grateful Dead at Shoreline Amphitheater, LA Sports Arena, and in Las Vegas.  Then Jerry died in August 1995, and as far as I could tell, so did the music.

But I learned--in those few shows--about family that happens where you least expect it, and I learned about a communal vibe of happiness and joy. And I feared that with the death of the music so would be the death of that community.  And for about 20 or so years, for me, it was. 

Except when people would nod and smile at my Steal Your Face ball cap; and the nods and smiles from the Okinawan couple that owns my favorite bagel place just down on the sea wall who always say how much they like my shirts when I walk in wearing a tie dye or a Grateful Dead Tee.  I knew the family was there, but the shared joy was missing.

There have still been recordings and CD's and podcasts, but all the listening has been without community. And my biggest fear of watching shows as Pay Per View live streams was of watching the shows from afar and missing my "Grateful Family." 

Enter the hashtags...and no, not that kind of hash...

#dead50
#FareTheeWell
and #couchtour (for those of us watching and dancing from home)

these helped me find my family again as we called songs out of improvs and shared the joy of the music.

Even if there were times when it was like reading the comments after an article, I loved reconnecting with the community of Deadheads.  I didn't know I missed them so much.

I missed the acceptance of strangers--all because we were seeking joy in music.
I missed the communion of the song--when the band and the crowd is in sync and you look at what someone close to you is saying or feeling and you know that you're in the same place that isn't really a place at all.
I miss strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hand...

So back to what I meant to say at the beginning.  I'm happy that I jumped in and opened my ears and my heart and my soul to the music again (even if I wasn't sure if I could do it in a post-Jerry world) because the music is beautiful, even if "we" (the collective we of the band and the audience) are getting old and missing words.  It's beautiful.

The band pulled out one of my absolute favorite songs tonight, "Standing on the Moon." A song with Jerry's vocals, sometimes tender sometimes tired, and Jerry's lead guitar, with scorching solos. And as I lost myself in the song, I fell in love with it all over again for the very first time.

I hope we can all get back to a place where we can share in the joy of the music, even if we don't know what to expect. I hope we can all get back to a place where we see some kind of shared experience in the smile of a stranger.

Maybe there's a metaphor in here for something bigger, I don't know.  I'm just happy to have experienced that extended family of Deadheads again.  I've missed you. 

More than anything, I'm happy to have the music again.

Photo-a-Day Number Six: Covenant

What is a covenant? A covenant is a promise between more than one person, or a person and God, or more than one person and God.

At the core of covenant for me is my family.  I wish I could have gotten a photo with my now grown son, too.

We're a bit of a mess, but we're true to one another; we do our best to love each other without condition and we're hopeless wanderers.  

So when I see the day's word of covenant, I think of Abram and Sarai who are told, "Go to the land I will show you...I will will bless you...and you will be a blessing."

I try to keep it simple when it comes to knowing my purpose, so I just try to be a blessing.

#RethinkChurch #UMC #Lent #Covenant

Photo-a-Day Number 5: Celebrate

Maybe I'm a cheater, but as soon as I saw "Celebrate" as the word for Day 5 I knew it was going to be a picture of the bread and wine.

At my home church in Eureka, we ended every gathering with Communion. After we had been to the table we formed a circle around the sanctuary, holding hands and sang together.  Most of the time children would dance while we held hands singing.  It was a wonderful celebration.

#rethinkchurch
#umc
#Lent
#Celebrate

Reflecting on the Beatitudes

Image courtesy of Hermanoleon Clipart
http://www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon/

A few months ago when Chaplain Carlton sent out the preaching schedule I was happy to see that I had an opportunity to kick off the season of Lent and our series of teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. I was even happier to see that the section of the Gospel he had given me included verses 13-16 from Chapter 5, because the Beatitudes are always challenging to preach from and maybe this time around I would just go with salt and light. A few weeks later an updated schedule was sent out and all I had was the Beatitudes. So I reached in my drawer of pastoral care supplies and grabbed a straw so I could suck it up and learn something new while I got ready to share. Truth be told, I’m glad it changed and that this was my text. It’s been a blessing to study and reflect and learn as I got ready for this talk. “Blessed are those who wrestle with texts…God will open their hearts and share the Kin-dom of Heaven with them.”

Looking at the previous chapter sheds some light on the Sermon on the Mount and, more specifically, the Beatitudes.  In Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus calls his first Disciples (Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John…all four of them fishermen).  

In Matthew 4:23-25 Jesus is teaching throughout Galilee; he is curing disease and sickness, which causes his fame to spread and soon all manner of “needy” people are brought to him and now, what started as Jesus and four fishermen, is described as “great crowds” following him.

Take a moment and think about what it would be like to have great crowds of “needy” people following Jesus.  Matthew describes it like this: “they brought to him all the sick, and those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.  And great crowds followed him…”

We were ready to go beyond merely serving the poor; we were stepping into the realm of being in ministry with the poor.  It’s a fine line between ministering TO and ministering WITH, and we were ready to take a step over that line.  One Sunday a woman showed up with her daughter and her son and during the joys and concerns she asked for prayers for her children’s father who was in prison. This was her first time worshiping with us, and you could feel the tension in the room after she voiced this need for prayer. After the service she introduced herself to me over a cup of coffee and shared with me that she was HIV positive. Again, this was her first time joining us for worship and fellowship. Monday morning my office phone rang, “Pastor, I’m just not sure how comfortable I am having children in the nursery who have a Daddy in prison and mother who is HIV positive.  The other children aren’t going to know how to relate. It’s going to scare them.” Opening ourselves to the lives of others in our community creates growing edges; we encounter situations we may not know how to relate to.  

And Jesus recognizes this as he looks at the crowds who follow him.  And Jesus recognizes this as he looks at the lives of those he has called to be his disciples. Here are people pulled together by their need for him; people pulled together by their need for grace and healing and wholeness, but they are from vastly different realities.  So Jesus steps away from the crowds and goes up the mountain (which I always take as a sign that he’s drawing near to God in prayer) and his disciples come to him and he teaches them by saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…blessed are those who mourn…blessed are the meek…”

One translation says, “Happy are the people who are hopeless…happy are people who grieve…happy are people who are humble…”

In the book We Make the Road by Walking Brian McLaren reminds us that “In Jesus’ day, to say “Blessed are these people” is to say: “Pay attention: these are the people you should aspire to be like. This is the group you want to belong to.”

So Jesus is saying to his disciples, “Alight guys, listen up.  This is what the dream team looks like.” Or he’s just revealed his fantasy football team (I realize the season is over…but it works!) and I can imagine that the disciples are looking at the crowds of broken people and they get this confused dog tilt to their heads as he says, “Blessed are hopeless and the grieving and the humble.” 

Because in their heads the disciples are thinking, “Jesus I know you’re saying this is your Dream Team, but it looks more like the Bad News Bears or the Island of Misfit Toys!”

And as their confusion becomes evident, Jesus says, “Blessed, too, are those who are hungry from injustice and who are thirsty for righteousness; blessed, too are those who pour out mercy and those who have pure hearts and those who make peace with their neighbors!”

And maybe the confusion becomes more like discomfort because Jesus has just said that the hopeless and the hope-filled are meant to dwell side by side on his dream team…and the broken tangled masses (the people afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics) are meant to sit side by side in Church with those of us who want to think we have our lives in order.

We are comfortable with socially compartmentalized lives, in part because we are taught that there are people in this class and there are people in that class. Think about all the great stories built on social conflict. Romeo and Juliet have families at war with each other, which makes the two lovers star-crossed; many of us were required to read The Outsiders in high school, which reminded us of the conflict in social groups with the Greasers and the Socs. And who can forget that pivotal moment in a different story, when the letter jacket rides up from inside the wishing well and Troy shouts, “Andy, you Goonie!” The lists are plentiful and we are taught to believe, if we read these tales with frequency, that crossing social lines is doomed, at least fictionally speaking.

But this exists in reality as well. A few weeks ago, when Audrey was sharing about Gospel for Asia she touched on a people in India called the Dalit. Literally translated, Dalit means untouchable. If you are Dalit, you are Dalit; nothing can change that. If you are Dalit, you cannot draw your own water, nor can you ask someone to draw water for you. You rely on the initiative and charity of others. The belief is that the uncleanness of Dalit is somehow transferable, and that’s why Dalit are untouchable. To drink water, they use unfired mud cups that can be returned to the earth after drinking from it—because it can’t be reused or touched by anyone else after being touched by Dalit.

Jesus says, “Blessed are the untouchable…for the Kin-dom of Heaven belongs to them.”  Jesus says in this teaching, if the poor in spirit and the mourning and the humble happen to overhear, “There is room for you here in this movement of God!” And what a relief to know, that when no one else will take us, Jesus is there with open arms! And let me say that again, just in case you need to let it soak in, when no one else will take us, Jesus is there with open arms.

And then Jesus adds, the ones who show mercy to those who dwell on the other side of the tracks are also blessed, and to love with God’s love (to be pure in heart) is to be blessed, and to make peace and live side by side with those no one else will live by, that is to be blessed. When those who know they are blessed, choose to live in a way that shares that blessing with those who do not know they are blessed or those who feel they are not blessed, the Kin-dom of God expands.

After the decision was handed down in Ferguson and the protests erupted, signs popped up across the country and hashtags popped up on social media declaring: “Black Lives Matter.” And they do. The Beatitudes call the church to stand with those who declare this.

After two Police Officers were killed in their patrol car, signs popped up across the country, and hashtags popped up on social media declaring: “Cops’ Lives Matter.”  And they do. The Beatitudes call the church to stand with those who declare this.

And recently, with the execution of twenty-one Coptic Christians by ISIL, a new hashtag has popped up declaring, “Coptic Lives Matter.” And they do. The Beatitudes call the church to stand with those who declare this.

And in between all of this, there have been declarations that “All lives matter.” And they do. This is the message of the Beatitudes.

If there is no clearer declaration we can find in the Beatitudes, it is this: “Those who try to follow Jesus are blessed. They are blessed if they know it; they are blessed if they don’t. They are blessed if they believe it; they are blessed if they don’t.” All lives matter.

Jesus makes it clear: “If we want to be his disciples, we won’t be able to simply coast along and conform to the norms of society. We must choose a different model of success, a new identity with a new set of values.” 

But this new identity and new set of values, this non-conformity to the norms of society, may well come at a price…and that, too, brings a blessing:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

Do you feel the progression in this text? Jesus starts out by welcoming the unwelcome, by making a place for the untouchables; then he says that when we join him in that we are blessed by seeing his love change lives and hearts. And then he says, “And when nobody else gets what you’re doing, keep on keeping on, even when you’re persecuted, even when you’re hated…in fact, keep on keeping on and rejoice in the midst of it all because then you know the cross, you REALLY know the cross. And it’s only when you know the cross that you can know resurrection.”

At the end of it all maybe the Beatitudes is a model for the Church. The Church isn’t meant to be homogeneous—it’s certainly not meant to be the most segregated hour of the week; we aren’t meant to be “shiny happy people holding hands” or “people who are faking it till we make it.” We’re meant to be people in various stages of wholeness, and sometimes some of us are at the stage where wholeness feels like a pipe dream. And if that’s you, that’s okay; there is room for you in the Kin-dom. As you figure it out, we will be with you.