As preached by Sister Cecelia Holy Wisdom Church
Matthew 5:3-10
If helpers are to do their work intelligently and
effectively, they must be instructed. In this morning’s gospel, Matthew describes
Jesus instructing his disciples about what they were to teach others. The
sermon on the Mount contained the essence of Jesus’ teaching to his chosen
ones. Scholars have suggested that Jesus had taken his followers to a quiet
place for a long period of time, perhaps a week, perhaps a month, and these
beatitudes are the distillation of that time. There is far too much in these
beatitudes for only one time of instruction. What does this teaching really
mean?
In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, the word that is
translated “happy” or “blessed” is an exclamation of what is, not a future
tense. They are not hopes of what shall be, or prophecies of some future bliss,
but congratulations for what is. In effect, the beatitudes say, “Oh, the joy of
following Christ! Oh, the happiness of knowing Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”
A gloom-encompassed Christianity is unthinkable in the light of the beatitudes.
Makarios, the Greek word translated as blessed or
happy, describes that joy, which is serene and untouchable. A joy that is
completely independent of all the chances and changes of life. From the
Evangelist John in Chapter 16, verse 22, Jesus assured his followers that “No
one will take your joy from you.” The beatitudes speak of that joy which seeks
us through our pain, that joy which sorrow and loss, pain and grief are
powerless to touch, that joy which shines through our tears and which nothing
in life or death can take away. It is the awareness that comes from walking in
the company and presence of Jesus Christ that enables us not to lose our joy
when a change of fortune, a collapse in health, the disappointment of an
ambition for our life, or even an unlikable change in the weather happens.
How does one align this joy with the first beatitude
listed as the poor in Spirit? What might
the word “poor” have meant when Jesus said it? The Greek has two words for
poor. One, penes, means a person who has to work for a living with his
own hands. This person has nothing superfluous, but is not destitute, either. The
second is ptochos, which does mean that the person has nothing at all. Ptochos
means “Blessed are they who are abjectly and completely
poverty-stricken-absolutely-destitute.” In Aramaic, the language Jesus used,
the words Ani or ebion developed into four stages of meaning. The first meaning
was simply poor, the second became having no influence, power, or prestige
because they were poor. The third
development was that because they were poor and had no influence, they were
down-trodden and oppressed. The fourth came to mean that the poor, having no
earthly resources, put their whole trust in God.
While the Greek word is interpreted as destitute, the
Hebrew/Aramaic word dies not. This first “blessed” does not call actual material
poverty a good thing. Jesus would never call blessed a state where people
live in slums or are homeless and do not have enough to eat, or where their
health is endangered due to the miserable conditions of life. That kind of
poverty is the aim of the good news of our gospel to prevent or remove.
For the Jews, then, poor described the helpless person
who puts his or her trust in God. Two things happen when a person puts their
whole trust in God. The attachment to God becomes complete, and detachment from
all other things takes place. This blessed poverty is the poverty of spirit
which enables us to realize our own lack of resources to fully meet life. Ours
is the kingdom of heaven when we find our help and strength in God. This leads
us to trust God, and trusting God leads us to want to obey what we think God
wants of us. The kingdom or reign of God is where God’s will is as perfectly
done on earth as it is in heaven. That first commandment to love God and
Neighbor is God’s will for us.
Today we commemorate all saints. We don’t know who all
of these saints are, but we can be sure they are the ones who did their best to
bring about God’s kingdom. Let us join all the saints who went before us in
learning to put our whole trust in the loving God who made us all.
Christ is in
our midst!
