“God’s Saints”

Nov. 1-2, 2008

Matthew 5:1-12

Pr. Tom Schoenherr

      We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I believe that Jesus may have had these words also in mind when he spoke the Blesseds in the Sermon on the Mount, for they speak about the way it is in the Kingdom of heaven.

      Can you think of a time in your life when you felt “blessed?” If we each could share something, we may say, “I have been blessed with good health,” or “I am blessed to live in a free country,” or “I am blessed with a career or job that I love.” “Blessed” is something good, and it means “favored” or “honored.”

      Now we hear the words of Jesus on this All Saints weekend, that shake our understanding of “blessed.” Jesus turns upside down what we normally think is “Blessed”, like being healthy, strong, secure and prosperous. We think those people are “blessed.”

      But Jesus says that the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and those who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness are the “blessed” ones. We might characterize all these people as having no cause for hope or joy, powerless and hopeless. In God’s Kingdom they are honored, favored. When god’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven, there will be no more poverty of spirit, mourning, hopelessness or injustice.

      Former Bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod, Rev. Steve Bouman, shares a true story of one of these powerless, hopeless people in his book, Grace All Around Us. He tells of a visit that he made with other religious and political leaders after 9/11 to an immigrant detention center hear Kennedy Airport. The visit was set up by the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service to show how refugees, including children, are treated when they come to America. Bouman says that we basically put them in jail.

      Lisa was a 15 year old girl from the Congo in Africa. She fled from the Congo when the rest of her family, except her mother, were killed for supporting President Mobutu. Lisa’s mother had fled to Canada, and Lisa was on her way to Canada to be reunited with her mother. At JFK Airport to change planes, she was questioned by authorities, was determined to be an adult, and was put in the detention center and given an orange jump suit to wear. She was brought out to meet all of these religious and political leaders, and all she could do was to bow her head, stare at the floor and look scared.

      Bishop Bouman asked her if anyone had offered to pray with her, to meet her spiritual needs. Lisa began to cry as he folded his hands, giving the symbol for prayer. She was a Christian but no one had come to offer her spiritual help in this fearful and desperate time. Lisa had been there for 4 months.

      Lisa is one of those poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungering and thirsting for justice and righteousness people who Jesus calls “Blessed.” Lisa represents so many people in our world whom the world and the church may ignore or reject. They have no apparent reason for hope or joy.

      Jesus is seeking to open the eyes of the church and all of our eyes to those whom he calls blessed. As we focus our eyes on Jesus Christ, we see him weeping over Jerusalem. He was poor and mourning the condition of the world. He was humiliated and thought to be powerless, having no reason for hope and joy. Jesus Christ is the one who shares our suffering and the suffering of all those who are hopeless and powerless in the world. He is rejected and goes through death with us and for us. Jesus Christ is the immigrant, the outcast who dies and rises again for us so that we, and all people, may rejoice and be glad wherever we see the kingdom of heaven being lived out by God’s people in the world.

      Jesus Christ is already in the world blessing the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and those who hunger and thirst for justice. Through faith in Jesus Christ we are empowered, through the Holy Spirit, to live and care for all of God’s powerless people.

      After meeting with Lisa, Bishop Bouman gathered with the Swahili and Lingala-speaking people of a Lutheran congregation in New York to visit Lisa every day. They prayed with her, listened to her and helped her spiritually, giving her hope that the love of Christ was still for her. The people of the congregation went with her to intercede for her to the authorities, and finally she was released to go to Canada to be with her mother.

      Blessed are the peacemakers.

      Blessed are the merciful.

      Who is blessed? You are; Lisa is, I am and so are all those saints who have gone before us. Life may not be full of what the world may call blessings, but we are filled with the Promise of God’s love in Jesus Christ. He is there with us so that we may cry at the pain that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are feeling. He is there with us to wipe every tear from our eyes, and to lead us in being peacemakers and his merciful people in the world.

      We are God’s saints by his grace. Each of us have had times in our lives when we are poor in spirit, meek, mourning, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, powerless, and hopeless. Jesus Christ speaks to us and includes us in the Kingdom of heaven. Through faith in Christ there is reason for us to rejoice and be glad as we follow Christ, grow in faith and share God’s love with all of his blessed people. We continue to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” May it be so! In Jesus’ name. Amen.