Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Righteousness
is one of those words that appears often in scripture, but the meaning seems
nebulous to us. I think in our culture it sometimes freighted by our
individualistic sense of needing to be right—we have a clearer picture of what
it means to be self-righteous, than we do what it means to be righteous before
God and our neighbor. Righteousness in the final Beatitude means justice or
creating right relationship with God and neighbor. Each Beatitude before this
one describes a step in rectifying broken social relationships and systems. Those
who have been oppressed are called to claim their dignity and inheritance. Oppressors
are called to repentance and acts of mercy. The restoration of justice must be
more strongly desired than the safety of submission and compliance or the
fruits of power. Above all, those who would co-create a just world with God,
must be pure in their motives and peaceful in word and action.
The
Beatitudes are a pattern for creating social change. We can see the pattern in
the peaceful resistance that was the hallmark of the civil rights movement in
America, and in the truth and reconciliation movement in South Africa. We also
know that even the most peaceful resistance can elicit a violent response which
lays bare the brutality behind oppressive systems. The culminating Beatitude
warns Kingdom workers that they will in all likelihood face persecution and
perhaps even death. It was true for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Mahatma Gandhi. It was true for a young man facing down tanks in Tiananmen
Square and for Rachel Corey, a young woman from our state who tried to block
Israeli bulldozers from demolishing Palestinian homes and paid with her life. It
was true for Archbishop Oscar Romero and four American churchwomen, two of them
Maryknoll nuns, martyred in El Salvador. It has been true for whistle blowers
throughout history who have revealed corruption and the abuse of power. And it
was true for Jesus. As we prepare to enter Holy Week next Sunday, I want to be
very clear that I do not believe that the God of peace sent Jesus to die for my
sins or your sins. I believe he was killed for speaking truth to power and for
his commitment to co-creating the Kingdom of God. Jesus was killed by human
beings for very human motives. Jesus warned his disciples that following his
teachings may cost them their lives.
The
good news is that love wins in the end. That’s
the God part. God’s love wins. It is more powerful that greed, or power, or
evil, or death. Anyone can believe statements about Jesus. It’s another thing
to believe what Jesus said and to live it. Following Jesus can be dangerous,
but it’s the best way I know to create lasting justice and peace.
Let me
read the final Beatitude from Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message. Peterson
leaves out the connection to neighbor in his paraphrase—I’m going to add it:
“You’re
blessed when your commitment to God [and your neighbor] provokes persecution.
The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every
time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit
me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are
uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though
they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in
good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of
trouble.”
Those
prophets and witnesses claimed that God’s love is for everyone; God’s provision
is for everyone; the goodness of Creation is for everyone—it is the inheritance
of every human being. And some of those prophets and witnesses paid with their
lives—and some changed the hearts of rulers and systems like segregation and
apartheid. I keep the season of Lent and Holy Week as an invitation to consider
seriously the cost of discipleship. I am so often aware of my own lack of
commitment and courage as well as my complicity and comfort in the status quo. I’ll
tell you that I believe with all my heart that love wins. But it’s like the old
story of the tight rope walker who dazzled crowds by walking a wire stretched
high above the churning waters of Niagara Falls. After performing several
spectacular stunts, he asked the amazed crowd below if they believed that he
could push a wheelbarrow across the Falls. The crowd cheered its affirmation. Then
the tight rope walker extended his invitation, “If you believe I can do, who
will get in the wheelbarrow?” That’s my challenge during Lent and Holy Week—to
put my belief that love wins into action; to risk following Jesus and getting
into trouble. God, grant us courage!
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