First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17
2I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Psalm 149
1Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! 2Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! 3Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! 4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. 5Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. 6Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, 7to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, 8to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, 9to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
1Seeing the crowds, {Jesus} went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Truly Blessed
Bless you. Have a blessed day! Or more commonly, some variation of, I’m so blessed. You hear it more and more these days, notes Pastor Richard Allen. Most noticeably from famous people, and often in acceptance speeches. Clutching a golden statue they say, I’m so blessed to be here today . . . My issue, continues Allen, with such usage, isn’t that it’s flippant, or even untrue.
Actors and politicians can be deeply sincere about feeling blessed. My issue with such usage is that it’s too easy. In a moment of victory, it requires little effort to see oneself as blessed. Perhaps a small dose of humility is necessary, but nothing more. And for those of us watching at home, the un-elected and un-famous, it’s easy for us to nod our heads in agreement. Yep, they’re blessed alright.
I count this particular phrase as one of the many reasons I enjoy living here in the south. Go to the grocery store and the cashier will often be heard saying, “Have a blessed day!” Go to any number of mom-and-pop restaurants, and you’ll often be thanked in the same way as you leave the establishment. These people are sincere in their wishes for you. They genuinely mean they want what’s best for you. The same cannot be said for many other parts of the country.
Terry and I have lived in several other states, and well wishes like “have a blessed day,” gets you an odd look at best. If you’re lucky, in rare cases, you might get a, you too. The question for us to ponder today is, what does it mean to be blessed? Generally, we associate a blessing or being blessed with some kind of material or congratulatory recognition.
Now don’t get me wrong, it isn’t incorrect or a mistake to recognize that God has entrusted into our care and good stewardship various accolades or resources. When we’ve been financially enriched, we need to recognize that God gives us wealth to be used for His kingdom. When we’re blessed with health, we need to use our physical abilities to help others and bring glory to God with our bodies. If God has given us the gift of intelligence, then we need to use that gift to better the lives of others.
In Romans 12, verses 6-8, St. Paul writes, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Of course, too often we talk about being blessed in ways other than in giving thanks to God.
A three‑year‑old, who regularly watched football games with his father, was taken to church one Sunday. When the pastor raised his hands to offer the blessing, the child leaped to his feet and shouted, “Touchdown!” Another pastor was conducting a wedding ceremony. He raised his hand to give the final blessing. The bride misunderstood his gesture and surprised him with a high-five. Not wanting to exclude the groom, the pastor offered him a high-five, too. The wedding guests roared. So, what does it mean to give a blessing, or to be blessed?
When someone sneezes, we say, “God Bless You.” Where does that come from? One source says there’s an old Jewish tradition that sickness was unknown in the world until the prophet Isaac became ill in Genesis. Alarmed by his father’s condition, Jacob asked God to give people a warning of when the end was near, so that a person would have time to repent. The sneeze was interpreted as that warning. So those within earshot of the sneeze blessed the person afflicted. This became formalized in the 14th century, during the Black Plague. In that dark time, Pope Gregory VII decreed that people who heard a sneeze should say, “God bless you.” This reminds me of Henny Youngman’s great line: “God sneezed. What could I say?”
Our Irish friends are famous for their blessings: One goes, “May you be in heaven 30 minutes before the devil knows you’re dead.” Another blessing says, “God is good, but never dance in a small boat.” That sounds more like good advice rather than a blessing. Another says, “May the roof above us never fall in and may the friends gathered below it never fall out.” A much more profound blessing goes like this: “May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.” Speaking of blessings, as I mentioned a moment ago, today is All Saints’ Sunday.
All Saints’ Day is a universal Christian Feast that honors and remembers all Christian saints, known and unknown. Our beloved Saints are a blessing we can count and in our Gospel lesson for today we find a collection of Jesus’ most famous and least understood teachings which we know as the Beatitudes.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” So we ask again, “What does it mean to be blessed?”
Considering our gospel reading, when addressing this question, we can barely get by the first three words, “Blessed are the poor . . .” Matthew reports Jesus’ words as “blessed are the poor in spirit . . .” Luke 6:20 says simply, “Blessed are the poor . . .” Whichever Jesus said, it can be difficult for us to relate.
A few years ago, consumer reporter John Stossel did a report on risk management. Mr. Stossel listed 6 things to consider of great risk. He considered these 6 things as the “greatest risk to life” versus “least risk to life. His question was, how would you rank this list of items in ascending order: Murder, Fires, Toxic waste, Smoking, Flying, or Driving. In terms of days this activity takes off your lifespan, which of these items is the riskiest to human life and health, and which is the least risky? Here’s what the research determined: in order from least risky to most risky, the list should read: Flying, then Toxic waste, then Fires, Murder, Driving, Smoking.
In other words, “Flying” carries very little risk, whereas smoking is very hazardous. But Stossel also listed one other risk factor that proved to be worse than all the others, the one that has the potential to cut the most number of days off a person’s life span, Poverty. Poverty is the single greatest risk factor for a shortened life span. If the average smoker loses about 1,916 days off their life span for smoking, then a person in poverty loses an average of 3,165 days off their life span, nearly twice as many.
“Blessed are the poor . . .” and “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .” are both difficult to affirm in our culture. No wonder the Emperor Julian (“The Apostate”) cynically once said, he wanted to confiscate Christians’ property so that they might all become poor and enter the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are the poor . . .” What how about, “Blessed are the meek?”
A cartoon from a newspaper shows a corporate board sitting around a long table. The CEO says, rather sarcastically, “The meek shall inherit the earth. That’s okay,” he says with a sneer, “We will still own Congress.” There’s probably some truth there. How about “Blessed are those who mourn . . .” or “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”? That’s tough. Author and pastor Barbara Brown Taylor calls her sermon on the beatitudes, “Blessed Are the Upside Down.”
Pastor Taylor remembers what it was like to be a little girl and stand on her head to liven things up a little. She writes, “Grass hung in front of my eyes like a green fringe. Trees grew down, not up, and the sky was a blue lawn that went on forever. For as long as I kept my balance, I could tap dance on it, while birds and clouds flew under my feet. My swing set was no longer an `A’ but a `V’ and my house seemed in danger of falling off the yard‑-just shooting off into space like a rocket‑-leaving the sidewalk lined with pansies that led to nowhere . . . In a world where trees grew down and houses might fall up, anything seemed possible . . .
“I think Jesus should have asked the crowd to stand on their heads when He taught them the Beatitudes,” she continues, “because that’s what He was doing. He was turning the known world upside down, so that those who had been fighting for breath at the bottom of the human heap suddenly found themselves closest to heaven, while those who thought they were on top of things, found themselves flat on their backs looking up . . .” It’s an interesting idea: maybe we need to turn our thoughts, perceptions, and our views upside down as we contemplate Jesus’ teachings.
Pastor Anthony Evans offers a different perspective on the word blessed. He notes that “the Greek word for blessed, mak-ar-i-os was the name of an island off the coast of Greece, the Makarios Island. It was known as the blessed island because it was self-contained. The residents didn’t need to leave the island in order to get their needs met. The island offered everything they needed. The natural resources of the blessed island were so thick, so rich, so fruitful, and so productive, that everything they needed to enjoy their lives was already built-in. Sounds amazing! Why would anyone want to leave?
“All the stuff you get is outside of you,” continues Evans. “The new car, the new house, and the new money are all fine . . . but they are all extra. They are a bonus. In the biblical world of being blessed, you should be okay being on the island. Just being in the Kingdom with the King ought to put you in a blessed location. One of the ways you know that you aren’t blessed yet, in the biblical sense of the word, is that you keep leaving the island for stuff and to have fun. You need more than your relationship with God to have peace.” [You covet more than your daily bread.] You crave more than communion with the Father to have joy.” Evans concludes by saying, “The blessed person finds their sufficiency with Him.”
A thought-provoking explanation of being blessed comes from rock star Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2. Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast years ago, Bono was asked by then President George W. Bush to give the homily. Bono gave an honest and moving sermon, quoting Scripture in several places, about the need for the world to focus on the needs of the poor, especially the poor in Africa. At one point Bono began to share the turning point in his own faith story which brought him closer to God. He said that years ago he met a wise man who changed his life.
“In countless ways,” Bono says, “I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have this new song, look after it. I have a family, look after them. I have this idea. The wise man said, ‘Stop.’ He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. [Instead,] get involved in what God is doing because it’s already blessed. Well? God is with the poor,” Bono continues. “That, I believe, is what God is doing.”
So, you say you are blessed. I have no doubt you are. Everyone here today is blessed in some respect, but let me offer up a new perspective on how we’re blessed from our First and Second lessons for today. First, in Revelation chapter 7 verses 15-17, St. John gives us a vision of what being blessed will be and can be like: “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Picture this scene, Jesus Himself is sheltering us with His presence. And in His presence, we will hunger and thrust no more, nor will tribulations afflict us because He is our Shepherd and will “make us to lie down in green pastures, lead us beside still waters and restore our soul.” To be blessed is to be led, fed, and refreshed by Jesus Himself. Being blessed is to have everything we need, food, shelter, all our needs met, and safety. To be blessed by God is to have no worries, no sickness, and peace. Next, St. John gives us another reason to say we are blessed.
In our Second reading St. John writes, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us, is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” To be blessed is to be called a child of God. And what’s more, St’ John reminds us that this is already a reality: “Beloved, we are God’s children now.”
So how do you explain to your friends that you are blessed, by what do you measure the quantity or quality of your blessings? Is it by the material goods that we possess, by the job we have, the size of our yard? All these are indications of what God has entrusted into your care. Or, do we see ourselves as blessed in the way Christ would have us see ourselves as blessed?
In 1670, Blaise Pascal published Pensées, which was a defense of the Christian religion. In that book, he has this quote: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there, the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.” Sin created a hole in each of us that drives us to fill it with the things of this life. But as Dr. Pascal so aptly points out, this void can only be filled with the infinite and immutable, with God.
When we stop and consider our blessings, how do we measure that? Do our values reflect God’s values, particularly with regard for love for your neighbor? Finally, are we involved in what God is doing bringing a new world into being, a world of peace and justice? How do we remember the Saints on this All-Saints Sunday?
Do we see them for the material possessions they enjoyed, or do we see the many ways in which they pointed us to Christ and of the ways we were blessed by them being in our lives. Saints are people who know what it is to truly be blessed, not in the upside down way the world understands blessing, but in the way Christ modeled blessedness for us. When we model our life after that of Jesus, and we seek to live our life for Him, we can then recognize that we are a child of God, and then we know that are truly blessed.
Amen.