Joel D. Kline
January 30, 2005
Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren
Joint Worship with Second Baptist
Some time ago I heard the story of an old preacher who, while talking with a couple of youngsters, inquired of them, “Would you like to go to heaven?” One responded immediately and enthusiastically, “Yes, indeed!” while the other, after some time and thought, answered “no.”
The preacher was troubled, and asked further, “Do you mean that you do not eventually want to get to heaven?” This time the youngster responded, “Oh, yes, I’d like to go eventually, but I thought you were getting up a load to go today.”
Many people of faith look upon heaven exclusively in terms of the after-life, as that place to which, by the grace of God, we go following death. But a reading of the Gospels makes it clear to us that Jesus spoke far less about the after-life than he did about life here and now. Still, Jesus is inviting us to go somewhere we’ve never been before, to experience a new quality of life present day. When Jesus began his public ministry with the invitation and challenge to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Jesus was talking about this markedly new way of living—something beginning here and beginning now. It was as if Jesus is saying to us, “You can begin now to taste life in God’s kingdom, life in the realm of heaven.” We need not wait until some future time, by-and-by, to experience life with God at the center of our living. Instead we begin now; indeed, our calling as followers of Jesus is to live in such a way that we point others to the reality of life in God’s kingdom.
We who form the church—we who embrace the gracious gift of God’s love made visible in Jesus Christ—together we have the lofty calling to be a living, growing, vibrant dynamic, energetic body of Christ’s disciples, bound together as a sign of God’s forgiving, renewing, redeeming, healing, reconciling love. We are called to go where we’ve never been before. We are called to be a visible reminder to the world around us that there is another way of living, that there is an alternative to the greed and self-centeredness, the materialism and the violence, the shallowness and the injustice that characterize so much of life in our culture.
Truth is, were we to embrace fully life as Jesus envisions it for us in the kingdom of God, everything would appear topsy-turvy. It is an upside-down world to which Jesus calls us, or perhaps more correctly, a right-side-up world. In the kingdom of God the poor are blessed; the rich are sent away empty-handed. In God’s realm the proud are scattered; the meek inherit the earth. The hungry are satisfied; those who think they “have it all together” may well find themselves on the outside looking in. The least are the greatest. The immoral are the ones who receive forgiveness. Adults become like children. The religious miss the heavenly banquet. And along the way, who among us is not caught off guard by this challenge of Jesus to see and experience life with a fresh set of eyes, with an entirely new heart?
New Testament scholar J.B. Phillips speaks of the revolutionary quality of Jesus’ teachings as representing a “complete reversal of worldly values.” Were we to create our own list of beatitudes for life in contemporary culture, perhaps they would be something like this list suggested by Phillips:
Happy are the pushers, for they get on in the world.
Happy are the hard-boiled, for they never let life hurt them.
Happy are those who complain, for they get their own way in the end.
Happy are the blasé, for they never worry over their sins.
Happy are the slave-drivers, for they get results.
Happy are the knowledgeable men [and women] of the world, for they know their way around.
Happy are the trouble-makers, for they make people take notice of them.What a contrast with the words of Jesus,
How happy are the humble-minded, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs!
How happy are those who know what sorrow means, for they will be given courage and comfort!
Happy are those who claim nothing, for the whole earth will belong to them!
Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for goodness, for they will be fully satisfied!
Happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them!
Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God!
Happy are those who make peace, for they will be known as sons [and daughters] of God!
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the beatitudes is that Jesus himself personifies what he preaches and what he urges us to consider. As Jesus begins his ministry, he is announcing that this new world is unfolding before us. We are being led somewhere we’ve never been before, and Jesus is our guide. Jesus our guide is poor in spirit, humble and placing his full trust in God; Jesus our guide knows what it is to mourn, to grieve over the brokenness and short-sightedness of us human beings; Jesus is meek, displaying the humble strength of one who lives for God’s glory and for the good of his neighbors; Jesus yearns for us—and for all creation—to know the gift of right relationship with God; Jesus extends mercy and compassion to those in need; Jesus is pure in heart, single-mindedly serving God; and Jesus embodies the way of peace and reconciliation, opening the door for us to experience the fullness of life with God, urging us to seek those things that make for peace and justice and right living. And through it all, Jesus does not draw back from his calling, even in the face of opposition and persecution, even when confronted with hostility and resistance—even when the cross looms before him.
And the very one who embodies this revolutionary way of living lifts up these qualities for us, not as rigid laws and demands, not as tasks we must accomplish in order to attain God’s approval, but rather as a gift. Jesus invites us to receive this new quality of life as gift from God. Jesus invites us to go where we’ve never been before, to live here and now as if God’s kingdom were fully present. Jesus invites and challenges us to be servants and peacemakers in a world of need, to be single-minded in our devotion to God, to deny self, take up the cross, and follow in Christ’s footsteps.
The word translated in the series of beatitudes as blessed speaks of a remarkable experience of joy far deeper than the superficial happiness of our day. It is a joy that comes, not through getting our own way or through accumulating more and more possessions for ourselves; it comes, not through building larger houses and purchasing the latest technology, but it is a joy that comes as we embark upon a new relationship of trust and love with Christ Jesus at the center of our living. To experience the blessedness of God is to be in right relationship with our Creator; it is to know, deep in our souls, a peace that comes from the assurance that you and I have been created in the image of God and that we are deeply loved by God, that we are held in the gracious arms of God where we are nurtured and encouraged and empowered by God’s Spirit to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Some of you will remember Clarence Jordan, founder of Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia. It was an interracial community begun back in 1942, with the goal of living out the teachings of Jesus amidst the poverty and racism of the rural South. In spite of firebombs, death threats, hostile KKK rallies, and ex-communication from neighboring churches, Jordan and fellow members of the small interracial group held steadfast, convinced that Christ was calling them to put on a higher righteousness in living, to live by a new set of priorities and values for life. And central to Jordan’s vision was the Sermon on the Mount, that largest single collection of Jesus’ teachings we have, recorded in Matthew, chapters five through seven. Isn’t it intriguing how, in all too many Christian traditions, these challenging words of Jesus are little heeded. In some Christian circles, the words are seen as a lovely description of an ideal future, but as little more than that, as they are seen as having little relevance for life now. Truth be told, I rather suspect that some of the most vocal opponents of Jordan’s Koinonia community no doubt saw themselves as Christian, even as they acted in racist and violent and destructive ways.
In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Clarence Jordan takes a far different position, seeing the Sermon on the Mount as central to who Jesus is as God’s Son and as descriptive of the life of discipleship. Jordan asserts that a primary purpose of the Sermon was “to present the good news of the kingdom so clearly and so convincingly that the people would repent and make the great decision. Viewed in this light, it is the most evangelistic Sermon ever preached.”
And the Beatitudes form the soul of that Sermon, don’t they?—revealing the very heart of Jesus and the core values of Christian discipleship. It’s a matter of living, not for self alone, but as servants; not as those who lord their power over others, but as those who reach out with compassion to persons in need; not as takers and as hoarders, but as givers and as sharers. One author labeled his study of the Sermon on the Mount Now for Something Totally Different, and that’s precisely what Jesus offers—a new way of thinking, a new way of relating with the world around us, a new way of experience God’s gift of life.
I remember reading the story of Martin Niemoeller, a German pastor who, because of his faith in Jesus, became an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime and therefore spent many months imprisoned in a concentration camp. Dr. Turner, then pastor of the American Church in Berlin, visited the aging father of Martin Niemoeller, himself a pastor. Dr. Turner expressed regret to Heinrich, Martin’s father, about Martin’s imprisonment, and Heinrich responded with these words:
When you go back to America, do not let anyone pity the father and mother of Martin Niemoeller. Only pity any follower of Christ who does not know the joy that is set before those who endure the cross despising the shame. Yes, it is a terrible thing to have a son in a concentration camp . . . . But there would be something far more terrible for us: if God had needed a faithful martyr, and our Martin had been unwilling.
Sisters and brothers in faith, you and I are called as witnesses to God’s amazing, incredible, astounding love made visible in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. And this morning, as together we share the familiar symbols of the bread and the cup, we remind ourselves of that great love. At the same time, we affirm our intention to walk the path of Christian discipleship, to proclaim the ways of peace and hope, to go the extra mile in relationships, to live for God’s glory and for the good of our neighbors. In a world far more accustomed to a message of fear and suspicion, of terror and violence, you and I are affirming our intention to go somewhere we’ve never been before, to embark upon life in the kingdom of God.
Come, let us live here and now as if God’s realm of heaven were among us. Come, let us live and proclaim the ways of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Come, let us walk in the footsteps of Christ our Redeemer. Amen.