Matthew 5:1-13                              1.7.23

            As we begin a new year, I would like to issue a challenge to us all.  Can we make a commitment to live generously this year? I define living generously as the kind of living that involves my whole self—my attention and focus, my relationship with God, my interactions with others and my care for this earth.  It involves careful stewardship of resources I have at my disposal:  bank accounts and tangible items like clothing and household items, as well as my body parts like eyes, legs, arms and mind. Living generously means living the kind of life God desires for us— sharing and serving, self-care and spiritual health.

            Last week at our brunch worship I shared that I prefer to set commitments rather than goals or resolutions at the beginning of a new year. For me, a commitment makes my intention clear to me and to God while at the same time recognizing that commitments or intentions are always a work in progress, part of the overall trajectory of my life. Use the word that makes the most sense to you—commitment, goal, resolution.

            Should you choose to accept my challenge, I suggest that you first define for yourself what living generously means in your context and stage of life. Then you might take some time to reflect on why living generously is important to you.  There may be something that catches your attention in this very familiar list of beatitudes found at the very beginning of Jesus’ sermon on the mount in the gospel of Matthew.  Let’s take a look!

            This list of eight statements is referred to as the beatitudes, or the “blessed be…” statements.  The title we use comes from the Latin word for blessed. In the original Greek, the word used at the beginning of each statement can be translated either blessed or fortunate.  You may have come across an English translation that begins each statement with “happy”.  It is a way to set Jesus’ words in the pattern of the phrasing found in the Hebrew scriptures, as in “Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise; happy are those whose strength is in you….” found in Psalm 84.  Blessed, fortunate, happy. Clearly each of these groups of people (or are they different ways to describe the same group?) is understood to be in close relationship to God. Each statement describes people who are on God’s side, following God’s instructions, and I might add, living generously. 

            Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  It seems that they are promised to be the “keepers” or “stewards” of the kingdom of heaven.  Because of the holiness of God’s name, Matthew follows the Jewish practice of using kingdom of heaven to mean kingdom of God. The poor in spirit know God’s kingdom backwards and forwards because they know that they must depend upon God for all things. They are not soaked in hubris or pride.  They recognize their weaknesses as well as their strengths.  They acknowledge their need for God.  I love the paraphrase of this verse in The Message: “Blessed are you when you are at the end of your rope, for you will see that less of you is more of God and God’s rule.” Living generously.

            Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  I have always understood this as mourning the death of a loved one.  And surely those in mourning need comfort and hope for tomorrow. We know that mourning can show up at times of various kinds of loss.  I have a daughter in law who deeply misses her children’s baby-like innocence.  Even as she celebrates and enjoys their development and current activities, she acknowledges what once was. Empty nesters mourn the days of transporting kids and teens all over the place, the extra smile at the dinner table, even the more frequent need for laundry.  I even experienced a little bit of mourning when we recently sold the car we had been driving for 16 years.  Mourning happens, for loss and change are part of life.  When you mourn the loss of something important to you, it appears that you have been living generously, because you placed a high value on someone or something—being generous with your time, your attention, your love. 

            Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  These words echo a psalm written in Hebrew for the people of Israel—it is a promise from God that “the meek will inherit the land”, meaning the land of Israel for the people of Israel. Christians have broadened the interpretation to apply to the earth as a whole. Maybe this is a way to call us to care for the earth which we have inherited.  Eugene Peterson frames it in The Message: “When you are content with just who you are. No more, no less.  Then you are owners of everything that can not be bought.”  Meek has nothing to do with being gullible or spineless or afraid and everything to do with living generously, being gentle and content with ourselves.

Blessed are the merciful, forthey will receive mercy.  What goes around, comes around, your mom used to say. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Give mercy generously and you will be surprised to be on the receiving end as well. Peterson writes:  blessed are those who care.  When you are full of care, you find that you are completely cared for by the Caregiver for us all—God.  Caring is definitely a part of living generously—caring enough to listen to the same story one more time, to offer to pick up soup when a friend is sick, to send a note or make a phone call or even a text, all of which communicate, “you matter to me”. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  We find multiple references in the scriptures to God as the provider for those who are hungry and thirsty. Jesus goes even further than that dependence on God for our very sustenance—remember what he said to the devil when he was tempted before he began his ministry: “humans do not live by bread alone….”  You could say that those who are seeking what is right are those who have an appetite for God.  Having an appetite for God, for growing closer to God, for better connecting with God, is living generously with our whole selves.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. We usually have a hard time every seeing ourselves as pure in anything.  Peterson’s words here are helpful:  You see God in the little things and the big things of life when you have the inside set straight. When what is going on inside is healthy and clean, you are more easily able to see God at work in the outside world.  You see, living generously starts with attitude, perspective, thoughts.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. You are a peacemaker when you show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.  Our HRPC book group is reading a book right now about Jennifer Doudna, an amazing biochemist who has been doing a lot of work to help us better understand how viruses work. She is described as bucking the typical competitive race to be the first to discover new science, instead fostering cooperation.  We had a fascinating experience this week with our children and grandchildren.  There is a new community art installation on the grounds of the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh.  It is a swing set, but not your ordinary swing set.  As you swing on one of about 10 swings, you hear the sound of musical notes from either a piano, a harp or guitar. Back and forth you go, amazed at what you hear when you move.  But it is not until you work to be intentionally in sync with the swing next to you that you actually will hear a beautiful melody being played.  Cooperating and working together, bring vastly different results than simply working (or swinging!) alongside one another.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for they will be “owners/keepers/stewards” of the kingdom of heaven.  This circles back to the first beatitude—blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When we depend on God we can face persecution. Being visible followers of Jesus, unmistakable lovers of God, can be costly.  Your boss may not like it.  Your neighbor may not like it.  Your family may not like it.  It is living generously, living God’s way, ever drawing closer.  Peterson puts it this way:  When your commitment to God provokes persecution, you are driven even deeper into God’s kingdom.

            As we start the new year, it seems a good time to hear once again the words of the medieval Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”  So let us use our bodies, our very selves, generously, freely, wisely, carefully, lovingly.  Amen.