Qualities of the Kingdom

The scriptures referred to are Micah 6:1-8, Psalm 15, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, and Matthew 5:1-12.

Last week I spoke of the explosion of superheroes in the 1930s and 40s as a reaction to the Great Depression and with the rise of Fascism on the eve of the Second World War. While Superman was not the first costumed hero, his appearance in 1938 opened the floodgates to others. They were either non-humans like Clark Kent, enhanced humans like Captain America, or humans who used technology and well-developed athletic abilities like Batman. They fought criminals, slum lords, abusive husbands and increasingly the Nazis. People loved them because they had the power to do things ordinary people couldn't. In a world where might makes right, we love to see people use might to make things right. It is a fantasy that goes back to figures like Hercules, King Arthur and Robin Hood.

The problem is that people with actual human powers like wealth, influence, charisma, military and political power rarely do use their strengths to help the less powerful. They use them to enrich themselves, often at the expense of the powerless. They are more likely to oppress the downtrodden than to liberate them. And thank God that people with superpowers don't exist. There is a horror film called Brightburn, which is a disturbing but more realistic picture of what an adolescent boy with Superman's powers would do.

Unfortunately some who call themselves Christians don't actually worship the God who is love revealed in Jesus Christ. They worship power. And not God's moral power but his power to control the world. They would be just as happy to worship Zeus or even Kali, the goddess of death and destruction. Because that is the godlike power they crave.

Last week we talked about ways in which the kingdom of God is different than the kingdoms of this world. And as we get into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we see that Jesus is not praising power but highlighting things that we associate with not having power. He pronounces as blessings stuff we see as the opposite of being blessed.

The Greek word translated as “blessed,” makarios, means “happy or fortunate.” So it is ironic that Jesus uses it to describe states of being that we would see as unfortunate and that would make us unhappy. So why does he say that? Let's look at these statements and see if we can discern his reason.

First he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit...” The Greek doesn't just mean poor but destitute. It refers to someone who is a beggar, who is absolutely dependent on the charity of others. These are people who are under no illusion that they are self-sufficient. J.B. Phillips translates this phrase as “Happy are those who know their need for God...” The rich and powerful may think they don't need anyone else, not even God. When disaster, injury or illness takes away their control over their own circumstances, it comes as a rude awakening. It turns out they are not masters of their own fate. But folks who acknowledge their spiritual poverty know that the only person they can turn to is God. And the reason this is good news is that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” God will give them his kingdom. It is made up of people who are not arrogant and who don't think they can do anything they want. God's kingdom is made up of people who know that all that they have are gifts from God. We cannot take credit for our brains or bodies or talents or the position in society into which we are born. The powerful are fooling themselves if they think they achieved everything on their own or that they had no help. The people who realize that God is the source of all goodness and all gifts, and that these are on loan from him to use for the benefit of all, are the fortunate ones.

Next Jesus says that those who mourn are fortunate. Again the Greek is more specific. It means those who are grieving, especially over a death. It could be the death of a person or the death of a hope or dream. When a person dies, the plans that their loved ones had with them also die. When a person becomes disabled, the dreams they had for achieving certain things may die. The same is true when a disaster radically changes your life. And the reason that is good news is that “they will be comforted.” The Greek means not only emotional comfort and encouragement but also actually receiving help. God's kingdom is made up of empathetic, supportive people who embody Jesus' compassionate Spirit. When a member of my congregation became disabled after a series of small strokes, we took turns helping her husband care for her. I used my nursing skills. Others sat with the woman as her husband went shopping or just took a break from being her full-time caretaker. When he got her a place in an out-of-state nursing care facility that also had homes for the spouses of the patients, we helped load her into their RV so he could take her there. This had not been the couple's plan for their lives but it would have been worse had not their friends from church given them comfort in the form of concrete acts of help and support.

Next Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek...” The Greek means not weakness but strength expressed in gentleness and humility. This world idolizes those who just burst into a situation and disrupt everything to get what they desire. The world mistakes arrogance for confidence. It says, “Yes, he is rude and crude and a real S.O.B., but he gets things done.” And thus those who get pushed out of the way and trampled in the process are seen as just collateral damage. Recently a government offical dismissed “international niceties” to say “...we live in a world, in the real world...that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.” And that has been used as an excuse for others to do whatever they want to do using force: invading countries, breaking laws, separating families, and killing people. They not only assert that this is the world we live in but this is the way they think the world should be. The powerful do whatever they want and that is fine with folks like that official and his ilk. But as our reading from Micah says, “...what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”

Jesus says that the humble and gentle “will inherit the earth.” How is that possible? The powerful are volatile and surprisingly fragile. Those who are strong but not gentle often break things that they later need to continue to function. And the ambitions of the powerful cause friction between them. Eventually they go after each other. Emperors and kings are assassinated or overthrown by other ambitious men. Powerful empires overextend themselves and collapse or fight one too many wars of conquest and are themselves conquered. The humble and overlooked often survive. The Jewish people have survived the empires of the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and even the Nazis. Similarly, the church grew from a tiny persecuted group of believers in Judea to a faith that knows no borders.

Next Jesus says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...” Again the Greek is more intense. The word for “hunger” doesn't refer to those who have eaten a few hours before and are ready for their next meal. It means those who are famished. Likewise, the Greek word for “thirst” doesn't refer to those who would like to take a sip of something. It means those who are parched, who are suffering from thirst. And the word for “righteousness” also means “justice.” So Jesus is talking about those who are starving and desperately thirsty for God's justice. They want to be like those described in our psalm: “Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right, who speak the truth from their heart; they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil to their friends; they do not cast discredit upon their neighbor...They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes against the innocent.” They long to see everything and everybody put right with God.

And the reason this is good news? “...they will be filled.” They will be fully satisfied. God will make them righteous and bring justice to the earth. The kingdom of God is made up of people who want to get right with God and with other people. They are fair and gracious in all their dealings.

Jesus now switches from talking about attitudes found in those who populate God's kingdom to the actions they take. He starts with “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” Some people only point out what others do wrong and do not acknowledge it when they themselves do something wrong. But we all screw up. If you are unforgiving of other people, they will also be unlikely to forgive you. However if you forgive others they tend to be forgiving in return. The kingdom of God is made up of people who are merciful to each other because they have received God's mercy.

Next Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” In the Bible the “heart” doesn't refer to the organ in the center of your chest that pumps blood but to the center of your being: your mind, will and emotions. The problem is that no human being has a pure mind or heart. But the Greek word for “pure” basically means “clean.” Dirty things can be cleaned. And only God can clean our hearts. The kingdom of God is made up of people who have let God clean up their hearts and minds. The good news is that those who seek and serve God without mixed motives will see him in themselves and others and one day will see him face to face. (1 John 3:2)

Next Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” There are those who thrive on chaos because it creates opportunities for them. They exploit those who are caught up in the mess and who are fearful and stressed out by it all. But God desires peace. In Genesis 6:11 we read, “The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.” When God reboots creation after the flood, our part of his covenant is to not shed each other's blood because God made humankind in his own image. (Genesis 9:6) He doesn't want us murdering each other. He wants all those made in his image to be at peace. There are lots of people who like to fight and harm and even kill others. The kingdom of God is made up of people who make peace between people. After all, Jesus, in whom we most clearly see the image of God, made peace between God and humanity and made peace between different peoples. (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14-17) The good news is that there is peace and wholeness for those who live in God's kingdom. It is made up of people who are peacemakers.

The most ironic thing Jesus says is “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness...Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.” How is it fortunate to be persecuted for doing what's right in God's eyes? Because there are plenty of people in this world who will do the right thing if there is no cost to them. But few people will put themselves at risk to do the right thing, like helping someone who is in trouble or who can't repay them. Just this week an ICU nurse at a VA hospital helped a woman who had been shoved to the ground and he was murdered for doing so. And now people are saying all kinds of evil and false things about him because they do not want to admit that a good man was murdered for doing a good thing. The good news is that God's kingdom is made up of people who are good even when it is inconvenient or dangerous.

And the ultimate example is that Jesus was executed for doing what's right: healing people and telling them that God loved them and was forgiving. In fact Jesus displayed all of the beatitudes. He was completely dependent on God, grieved over the coming destruction of Jerusalem, was strong but gentle, was fueled by his commitment to righteousness and justice, was merciful to sinners, was singleminded in serving God, was a peacemaker and was persecuted for doing all this. And this is good news because the kingdom of God is made up of people committed to becoming like Jesus, God's self-sacrificial love incarnate, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The beatitudes turn the values of the world upside down. They make no sense to the powerful and worldly wise. Which is why Paul says in today's epistle that “...God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are...” A world ruled by strength, force and power is one of the things that are. A world governed by the values Jesus preached is not. Or not yet! The schemes of the violent will fall upon them. (Psalm 7:16) God's plans for us, though not yet complete, will triumph in the end, just as Jesus Christ who was killed by the state triumphed over death. And his kingdom of justice and mercy and peace will prevail.