All Saints A: Transformation
Dear Partner in Preaching,
A few thoughts on Jesus’ beatitudes and our celebration of All Saints Sunday, which this year falls just a few days before a bitterly partisan election and as we enter into the early weeks of what may prove to be a dark and difficult winter as the pandemic surges across our communities, nation, and world.
First, I find it helpful to remember what Jesus is up to this passage. It’s located, of course, in the larger narrative of his “Sermon on the Mount.” And that sermon – far from being simply another, if extended, homily is, especially in Matthew, a description of, and summons to, a new kind of life, kingdom-life. That is, as in his parables, so also in his teaching from the mountain, Jesus is trying to help us imagine what life looks like when we live according to God’s will and rule. It is a set of teachings that absolutely contains ethical instruction – some of which challenges long-held (as in, even up to today!) notions of right action, but even more overflows with promises. And this section is particularly promising (in both senses of the word!).
Second, perhaps the dominant promise in this passage is that, when God is present and we live according to the logic of the kingdom, all is not as it seems. Note that the list of those “blessed” does not align even remotely what a typical list of the blessed: those who are mourning, or are humble, or extend mercy rather than exact revenge, or strive for peace rather than exert their will through violence, just to name a few.
Third, in this promise and blessing there are also challenges. We’ve already named one – imaging that Jesus calls many conditions we seek to avoid “blessed.” In addition, we many of us tend to associate “blessings” in largely material terms, and Jesus’ words stretch our imagination to see God present and at work in so many other – and often counter-cultural – ways, particularly in our service to others, but also in the dark and difficult elements of life.
Fourth and finally, if I were to choose a word to capture the tone, character, and import of Jesus’ sermon, it would be “transformation.” We are invited to transform our sense of where God is at work. Not simply, or even primarily, in places of strength, but in places of vulnerability – amid our grief, alongside those who exercise mercy and work for righteousness, and in so many other activities the world considers not just meek but weak. The God we know in Jesus always shows up where we least expect God to be: in a feeding trough in a stable rather than in a jeweled crib in a palace, among the poor and destitute rather than with the rich and powerful, and on the cross of an outlaw rather than astride the war horse of a conquering hero. Similarly, God shows up in our acts of sacrifice and mercy rather than through assertions of will and attempts to collect worldly power and goods.
This, in turn, invites us also to stretch our notions of what God’s presence means. God promises not to remove our grief, but rather to transform it as we see in the resurrected Christ the promise that God’s love is more powerful than death and that, therefore, life, rather than death, will have the last word. Similarly, what can feel like “small gestures” of being merciful in a world where “an eye for an eye” still reigns, or working for justice in a world where injustice rages, are precisely the places where God is at work blessing, sustaining, and supporting God’s beloved children and world. In light of God’s character and promises, that is, there are no small gestures and we are reminded that nothing done in love is ever lost or attempted in vain.
Given where we are just now, and noting that so many of our people are grieving untold losses – of loved ones from the pandemic (as well as all the usual causes), of livelihood, of hope, of confidence about the future – perhaps we can anchor ourselves and our folks both in the invitation and command to live according to God’s kingdom-ethic but also, and even more, to allow God’s kingdom-promises to transform our thoughts, words, and deeds this Sunday and always. In this effort, we are joined, and join ourselves, to all the Saints across the centuries redeemed by the grace of the God we know in Jesus.
This is such a challenging and important time in which to share God’s Word, dear Partner. Please know how grateful I am for your partnership in the Gospel and my prayer and hope that you find yourself rooted again in the faith-creating promise that God is present and at work in and through you, including through the gesture of your faithful preaching. Blessings to you on this All Saints week and Sunday.
Yours in Christ,
David
Post Image: All-Saints, by Far Angelica (c. 1424).
I joyfully sense reinvigoration at your centering attention on “transformation,” recognizing God’s loving and unconquerable power to turn the meaning of death into life, grief into a joyful greeting of the risen Lord, and small gestures into kingdom-life power. In these facets of divine activity that produce wonder, awe and praise, we are allowed to see our activity as “New Obedience” at work, our faith-filled response to the Grace with which we perceive God has blessed us. A wonderful All Saints proclamation of gospel is so refreshing! Thanks!