Blessed isn't always happy: Feb 2 2025

 Year C, The Presentation                                Luke 2:22-40                                                                        

                The summer after my senior year of college, I interned in a tiny town outside of Harrisburg.  The youth in this town were bored and one of the churches decided to bring in someone who would work with those youth just for the summer.  It was a good opportunity for someone like me, someone who was not sure if I wanted to work in the church or not.  However this was before cell phones were common and I didn’t know anyone in the town except the people who hired me and the youth I was working with. It was a lonely time in my life and I was depressed.  I was still Roman Catholic and so I went to a Bible study at the Catholic Church.  The priest was talking about the sermon on the mount, also called the Beatitudes. He said that being blessed is not the same as being happy.  At the time, that was a revelation to me.

          One need look no further than the version of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke to prove this. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.” Every time I see some social media post with a #blessed next to a picture of a beautiful family or an update on a major accomplishment or goal achieved, I want to post these words from Luke’s Gospel.  For Luke, being blessed had a lot more to do with being in relationship with God and finding hope in that relationship  than just having good things happen that you can brag about on social media.

          The Gospel reading for today tells the story of the Feast of the Presentation.  Jesus’ parents (Mary and Joseph) were observant Jews.   Thus, they followed the customs and laws of the Jewish faith.  One of those laws was presenting the child at the temple 40 days after the birth.  In that act, they were dedicating their son to God.  Of course, this was no average child. This was the Son of God.  Mary and Joseph knew that, but they still followed the laws of their faith. 

          When they entered the temple, they encountered a devout Jew by the name of Simeon.  We do not know much about Simeon, except that he was devout and righteous and led by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is mentioned three times in relation to Simeon.  He had been told that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.  He immediately recognized this infant as the Messiah. He was so moved, he made this beautiful speech which is known as the Song of Simeon or the Nunc Dimmittis. He essentially said that he could die now, because he had seen salvation. 

          You might think, well this should not have come as a shock to Mary and Joseph. They had heard all this before.  But according to this Gospel, Mary had heard very little. This is only chapter 2 of Luke.  At this point, Mary had been told by the Angel Gabriel that she would bear a son who would be the Son of God.  Mary’s conversation with Gabriel had been affirmed by her cousin Elizabeth when she met her.  Upon seeing Mary pregnant, Elizabeth greeted her as the Mother of the Lord.  Mary and Joseph also received additional news about their son from the shepherds who visited them right after she gave birth.  The shepherds told them that angels had appeared to them and told them this child would be the Messiah, the Lord. 

This was all Mary and Joseph had, a few short conversations that probably left them a little confused.  Then out of the blue comes this man who was a complete stranger but was able to shed more light on this tiny baby they held in their arms.  The text says that they were amazed by what Simeon said.  Then Simeon blessed the child and they probably thought that was the end of that interaction. 

Simeon had more to say: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Can you imagine how the atmosphere must have changed with that one comment?  They received a beautiful blessing from this devout and inspired man and then he told them that their sweet little baby will be opposed and a sword would pierce their soul. Sometimes when I read that, I feel that sword.

          I want you all to try to picture something.  Think of the most wonderful thing that has happened or something you hope will happen. Maybe you just got some wonderful news—a baby was born, someone recovered from a horrible illness, the Eagles win the Superbowl.  Just think of something incredible…and then you hear that someone who you love will suffer, will suffer so much that you will feel like your soul is being pierced.  Try to wrap your mind around that. It would crushing.

          I just can’t get past the fact that Simeon would hold this child in his arms, bless him and then provide that very traumatic prediction.  If this was a normal couple, they could have walked away and said, “Well that guy was crazy.” But they knew that it all fit.  Nothing about their lives had been easy thus far.  Why would it be now?  For Mary and Joseph, the blessing came with opposition and heartache.

          Jesus would affirm this strange blessing decades later when he said, “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”  I think many of us already know, that even the most blessed life can be full of opposition, pain, fear and death.  Hashtag blessings belong on social media, but not in our Christian faith. 

          A part of me says this with some trepidation because I think, why would anybody sign up for this?  Why be a Christian when it’s so damn hard?  Because of hope.  You see the other person in this story was named Anna.  She was 84 years old and had been living in that temple for most of her life.  She also recognized Jesus for who he was.  But the funny thing is, it doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit guided her like it did Simeon. It says, “At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” As soon as Simeon said that a sword would pierce the soul, Anna started praising God and reminded Mary and Joseph that this child would bring redemption. 

Hope always has the last word in our faith.  Hope swings in after the blow that brings us to our knees and says, “Redemption is near.”  Not only is redemption near, but Mary and Joseph held the child that would bring redemption. Salvation was that close to them.

Today we Christians also hold that blessing, the blessing that feels like a burden at times, but also brings redemption and salvation to world that is sick of empty promises and superficial blessings.  Will our message bring opposition? Yes it will and if it doesn’t, we might not be proclaiming the right message.  But the good news is this---hope always has the last word.  Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

All Saints is Complicated: November 6, 2022

Year C, All Saints                                  Luke 6:20-31                                                                           

            It’s complicated. All Saint’s Sunday is complicated. This is partly because the understanding of this day has evolved over the years. It was originally meant to be a day to commemorate all the Christian martyrs (those who had been persecuted and died for their faith).  In the first few centuries of the church, they would commemorate a martyr with a specific day. But by about the 4^th century, with the increased persecution of Christians, it became clear that they were going to run out of days.  Finally, by the 9^th century, they picked one day and called it All Saints Day.  This was to be the day that would not only commemorate all Christian martyrs, but all Christians who had died.  With all of these changes, the understanding of what it was to be a saint shifted to what many people perceive as the original intention of the New Testament—to mean all Christians who have died and all Christians still living.

            When Paul used the word saint, he was almost always referring to those who were alive. In his letter to the Ephesians he wrote, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints…” Here at St. John’s, and in many other churches, we attempt to embrace both perspectives. In the evening, our choir provides a lovely Evensong where we read the names of those in our parish who have died in the past year. 

            At this service we sing, “I sing a song of the saints of God” and we talk about how we can meet them at school, on the sea, in church, in trains and at tea—and then we end by singing, “…and the Saints of God are just folk like me and I mean to be one too.”  I don’t know about you, but I have always interpreted that as, I mean to be one in this life.

            But that is the thing about the Christian life, the line between the living saint and the saint that has died is blurred.  We live in this life—it’s all we know.  But we live this life with a promise of what is to come.  We live knowing that life as we know it could end at any moment. We have all experienced that too many times, someone we love dies unexpectedly or even a personal health crisis that has taught us how incredibly fragile life is and how narrow the line is between life and death.

            A lot of people think that we come to church or read the Bible to learn how to be good Christians/saints, so that we can get into heaven when we die.  But the Bible isn’t a how to manual on heavenly acceptance.  Jesus was a lot more concerned about how we live in the here and now—how we love the saints in our midst. 

            Our gospel reading is often referred to as “the beatitudes.”  You can also find the beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew.  However, Matthew’s beatitudes are a little tamer, more palatable. Both gospels contain blessings (which in Latin is translated to beātitūdō). However, Luke contains fewer blessings and balances them with woes. Like All Saint’s Day, Luke’s beatitudes are complicated. 

            First of all, they contradict what we think of as being blessed. Usually when someone says that they are blessed, they are talking about something good that has happened.  They just had a healthy child.  They got a new job, a nice house, a clean bill of health.  No one ever says, “I just lost my job. I am so blessed.   Everyone is mad at me. I am so blessed.  I am so depressed…and blessed! I have never heard anyone say anything like that.

            But that was what Jesus was telling his disciples—“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh…”  Another way that blessed is translated is to be happy. That makes even less sense.  The best translation that I have found is “unburdened or satisfied.” While that is better than happy, it still makes this text complicated. Usually when people are struggling with money, they don’t feel unburdened or satisfied.  People who are grieving are not unburdened. Sometimes you can tell someone is grieving by the way they walk as if they are literally sinking under this invisible weight. So what in the world is Jesus talking about?

            We aren’t blessed because we are poor or sad or persecuted. We are blessed because in our grief or poverty, we are (hopefully) able to reach out to God, we are able to acknowledge that we need God and that we are nothing without God. That is where the blessing comes in. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

            Luke also has a woe section—“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” This doesn’t mean you aren’t blessed if you are rich. In means that if you find your consolation (or your comfort and security) in your wealth, then woe to you.  Alas, that doesn’t really make me feel a whole lot better because most of us find comfort in financial security. That is why it’s called financial security. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  But if we put too much faith in that and not enough in God, then our priorities are askew.  Because in the end, money can only do so much. It can’t protect us from grief or illness.  It definitely cannot protect us from death. And when we face those things, we better have some other place where we can find comfort and strength.

            That’s why I think Jesus said that the poor, hungry, weeping and persecuted were blessed.  It wasn’t because their life was easy. In fact, it almost guaranteed that their life was hard. It was because their hope was in God.  Remember who Jesus was talking to in this text—the newly chosen disciples, who had just left their homes, their family and any chance of financial security. They needed to hear this. While I find the beatitudes a lot more challenging than comforting, I bet the disciples found comfort in these words. 

            All Saints Day was first created to commemorate the lives of Christians who were persecuted for their faith and died as a result.  There was a time in the church when sainthood was exclusively connected to martyrdom and how you died.  Today, I think most of us want to be remembered for how we lived. 

            I’ve buried a lot of saints since I have been at St. John’s.  Many of them inspired me with their faith and service.  Yet I think the ones that inspired me the most are the ones who found blessings even in the midst of trials, those who never gave up on God. This isn’t to say that they didn’t question or struggle, but they found strength in their weakness, they found God’s strength.  I have seen that in many of our living saints as well.

And if I have just one hope for each one of you, it would be that—to find blessings not merely in the success and security that life can bring, but also the hard and scary times when we can see glimpses of God’s presence in our lives and the lives of those around us. When we are overcome by darkness, the blessings come in narrow rays of light that break through the broken places in our lives.  Those narrow rays of light might be the most beautiful and life sustaining light we’ve ever seen.