Blessed are the Peacemakers

 Matthew 5:1-12 11-5-23  All Saints Day

 

Jesus was a good public speaker, wasn’t he?

Shalom
Youram Raanan

He really knew how to draw people in with his words.

 

Now I think from watching movies, we kind of think

that Jesus had everything all

thought out or it was dictated to him from God.  

And rehearsed and spoken perfectly.

I thought that for a long time.

 

Like he’s Laurence Oliver
standing up and reciting a Shakespeare soliloquy.

“Blessed are the poor. For theirs is the kingdom of God.”

As if he’s moved by hearing his own voice
and dramatics more than anything else.

 

But now I like to think of this sermon of Jesus–

and all of Jesus sermons and parables and

arguments – in a different way.

I don’t think anything was written down,

or rehearsed. I think that Jesus

spoke from his heart and emotions

much more than he seems to in movies.

I like to think that what he said was influenced

by his context. It was changed by the people he was talking to.

 

This Gospel today is the beginning of the sermon

on the mount. This part is called the Beatitudes.

Or the blessings.

 

Now just previous to giving this sermon,

it says that Jesus chose his twelve apostles and they were with him

and that a huge crowd was gathered around him

wanting Jesus to heal them and get rid of their bad spirits.

It says that Jesus healed many people.

It says that he looked over the crowd,

went up on the mountain

and the disciples came and gathered around him.

His 12 new apostles must have been excited and a

little scared with their new role.

And the people there probably would have been poor,

and desperate and disheveled

 

All those faces in need looking up at Jesus

He knows they need to hear something.

Something to sum up this experience,

something to help them understand what it meant.

 

I like to think maybe he planned

on jumping right into the instruction and teaching

portion of the sermon, or maybe he wasn’t

planning on saying anything to them all.

 

But right now, he looks at his disciples

and the crowd around him and his heart is filled with love

and compassion for this ragged crew

and he knows that they need something
more than instruction.

 

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.

I like to think of this sermon

as an unplanned, un-rehearsed verbal hug to the

people that were drawn to Jesus,

 and who Jesus was drawn to.

The saints of God. All the saints of God.

 

Today is All Saints Day, the day that was set aside to celebrate

the people of God. The concept of a Saint is not in the bible.

The practice of honoring of certain people who 

had led exemplary lives and done acts and miracles that were out of the norm

formed as a tradition of the Christian church over the centuries.

The first official saint was

canonized by the Catholic Church in 993.

And by the time of the Reformation,

apparently, it seemed like some communities

were worshipping saints more than God and Jesus.

 

But when Martin Luther came in,

he rejected this veneration of saints and

he said that everyone was a saint,

basically and only, because we were loved by God.

And at the same time we were all sinners.

Simul Eustus Et piccator.

Simultaneous saint and sinner.

 

Which is probably more close to how Jesus saw people.

And probably closer to how he saw the crowds

that day when he gave this sermon on the mount.

Not judging people by what they have done

or haven’t done, good or bad.

But filled with compassion for them, regardless

of the situation of those 5000 and the other people

that he met along the way,

because you know not of them were pure and blameless,

but Jesus calls these people blessed, loved by God,

healed by God, called into the comfort of God’s care

 

And he does this only because he can see and feel their suffering.

They are blessed because they suffer.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn,

the meek, those who are persecuted.

 

When Jesus did this sermon on the mount,

he called the people blessed.

When he went to Tyre and Sidon, he blessed them

when he went to Samaria, or Caesarea Philippi, and Damascus

which is modern day Lebanon, and Jordan, Syria, and Palestine.

 

Jesus didn’t just see gentiles, or Samaritans

or Pagans or other religions or ethnic groups,

he saw their suffering first.

He saw people that needed to be healed.

Where others have had contempt, or hostility,

Jesus has compassion.

 

This is a comfort to us today as Jesus followers.

And it’s also a challenge.

Blessed are all those who are poor, all those who mourn,

all the meek, all those who hunger for justice and righteousness.

Can we see, in others, the blessedness that Jesus sees?

If we can’t, can we at least trust Jesus’s compassion

for others? for all of them? All of them?

 

We have watched the situation in the Holy Land

unfold in the saddest, most destructive way.

This is obviously not the first time,

but it’s one of the worst in recent memory.

 

The situation there is very complex.

If anyone tells you they have absolute the answer, don’t believe them.

 

This is a land that we love because of its ties to Jesus

and his life, and so many other people love it too,

for it’s historical and religious significance,

so many people are weighing in,

emotionally and passionately on this situation

and making declarations and statements

which is surely not helping the situation.

 

Our own South Carolina senator has

called on Israel to ‘level Palestine’

and has said that no amount of civilian deaths

in Gaza is too many deaths.

  

And there’s a bill in the house calling for the

expulsion of all Palestinians in the Untied States.

 

At the same time, in October, there has been

a 140% rise in acts of antisemitism since October 7 

on top of the already scary rise of antisemitism around the world.

 

And there have been protests where people

have called for the destruction of Israel

and for the destruction of the Jewish people.

 

And Christians could be peacemakers in this situation,

but there are some parts of Christianity who are excitedly

anticipating this “holy war”,

(which is an absolute oxymoron in my mind)

because they see it as the precursor to

the rapture and the second coming of Jesus.

(Which is a ridiculous reading of the scriptures.)

So they have this vehemently strong and blind

support of the Israeli government, while often,

at the same time, believing that the Jewish

people have no share in God’s kingdom

because they don’t worship Jesus.

 

And then there is the “blessings” theory

which is based on a literal reading of the book of

Genesis where God tells Abraham that he will

“bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you”

so some Christians feel the more they support the Israeli

government, the more blessings people will accumulate

in their personal life which, I feel, is almost

as insulting to the Jewish people.

 

And there are other Christians who put 100%

of the responsibility for this violence on the Jewish people,

and the settlements that have grown in Israel in the last 75 years.

So, many parts of Christianity are not helping.

 

People seem anxious to lay blame on everyone

and to choose sides and demand revenge and blood

and add fuel to the fire that is already burning.

 

But can we, as followers of Jesus, accept Jesus challenge

of the Beatitudes and the challenge of All Saints Day?

Can we look with compassion at all those who have suffered?

Can we begin with compassion instead of blame?

Can we call all people blessed just because of their suffering?

 

Can we have compassion for the suffering

of Israelis who lost 1400 people in one day,

to a horrendous, outrageous act of terrorism

on civilians, children, babies, old people, unsuspecting concert

goers on a normal fall day. Can we feel compassion

for the families of 240 hostages, whose lives still hang in the balance?

Can we have compassion for their suffering

and even their anger at a time like this?

 

But can we also have compassion for the Palestinians

in Gaza and other territories in Israel who have 

had their land and homes taken by Israeli settlements?

Who have increasingly suffered intolerable conditions, 

who can’t live or travel freely in their own territory, 

who regularly struggle for food and water because of blockades at their borders?

Can we have compassion for a situation that Amnesty International, 

the UN, and even other Jewish organizations have called Apartheid.

Can we have compassion for their suffering too?

 

Can we also have compassion for the

suffering of Jewish people who have been repeatedly

driven out of countries and have almost never in their history

been able to self-govern and live without the

the threat of persecution wherever they’ve been.

Can we have compassion for a people who have suffered,

and just want to have a place that they can call home?

 

And at the same time can we have compassion

for the Palestinian people who are suffering now

like never before, with thousands of deaths and

bombings every day of civilian refugee camps, and schools,

apartments, and hospitals and also have suffered 

from a military block on medical care and aid and water and food,

who have no where to escape to in retaliation for violence

that the majority of them did not choose to inflict on others?

 

And at the same time can we have compassion for the

Jewish brothers and sisters here in the US 

most of who have know someone who was effected by the acts of October 7^th,

or who have loved ones in Israel,

who know someone who was killed or taken hostage.

And can we have compassion for those who are scared

at the rise of anti Jewishness and violence against them

because of the horrors that have been hoisted on them in the past?

 

And can we have compassion for both

Jews and Palestinians in Israel who have suffered

from ongoing wars and violence,

and complete lack of level-headed leadership on both sides,

and who, largely don’t support any kind of violence

but just want to live their lives in peace like most people?

 

Can we have compassion for all the suffering.

Can we call all of them children of God?

 

So instead of pouring gas on an already fiery situation?

can Christians take the challenge of the Beatitudes,

and the challenge of All Saints Day?

Can we start by seeing people’s suffering,

and lead with compassion instead of blame?

 

Can we not draw lines and barriers and borders,

and walls and the divide between good and bad

or holy and unholy, friend and enemy

and instead call all people blessed and loved by God?

Can we be the peacemakers?

 

Yes, there are sinners,

yes there are bad and horrible actions,

but can we take the challenge of Martin Luther

and in the face of every sinner,

can we also recognize the saint?

 

Can we as Christians lead like Jesus did,

with compassion instead of with blame and hatred?

 

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 peacemakers,

for you will be called children of God

 

Blessed are you. Blessed are all of us.

All the Saints of God.