Epiphany 4A

beatitude.jpg


524: 1/29/2023



Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon

Scott Maderer Christianstewardshipcoaching.com, @stewardcoaching

Musician: Bryan Sirchio, “What Does Our God Require of Us?” from the album, “Something Beautiful for God”, @BryanJSirchio, Bryan Sirchio Music, sirchio.com


Matthew 5:1-12

Initial Thoughts

  • There is SO much in here - be careful and focused in your preaching and teaching

    • However, verses 13-20 are Inseparable from the Beatitudes - Expanding on the call to discipleship

  • The Beatitudes by the Life of Brian (explicit words warning)

  • One of the most well known and most confusing/misunderstood pieces of scripture

  • Warren Carter Interview- 10:51-12:02 includes “The beatitude is actually an intensification of poverty rather than a spiritualization. The poor in spirit are those who are literally poor and facing the devastating impact of poverty, not just externally, but in their very being.”

Bible Study

  • “Beatitude” - Latin

  • Makarism (Greek) - happy, in a privileged circumstance, well-off, fortunate.

    • Religiously known as Blessed by God

  • “A statement in the indicative mood beginning with a form of the adjective makarios declaring certain people to be in a privileged, fortunate circumstance.”(W. Carter, NIB VIII)

  • Occurs in Jewish and pagan literature

  • “The theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Spicq) gets to the core of this word and its striking use in the beatitudes. After a long summary of the Greek understanding of what it means to be blessed (pretty much what average Americans think, namely, healthy, wealthy and wise), the Lexicon finally assesses Jesus' use: “It is impossible to insist too strongly on the meaning of this μακάριος …This is much more than contentment; it is an interior joy that becomes external, elation translated into shouts, songs, acclamations. …Secondly, the new faith implies a reversal of all human values; happiness is no longer attached to wealth, to having enough, to a good reputation, power, possessions of the goods of this world, but to poverty alone.”” (Rob Myallis, Lectionary Greek)

  • Happy or Blessed?

    • Not a subjective feeling of happiness but a declaration of an objective reality - hence “Blessed”

  • Marks of the Church - declaration of what is: indicative, not should be: imperative

    • Indicative - declaration of a simple fact or statement

    • Imperative - command

    • Read a great commentary on this by David Lose, “God Bless You”: “There is a trap hidden in the Beatitudes that I know I have fallen into countless times, and perhaps you have, too. The trap is a simple as it is subtle: believing that Jesus is setting up the conditions of blessing, rather than actually blessing his hearers.”

  • Richard Rohr, (adapted from Jesus’ Plan for the New World) - “The Eight Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3 - 12) offer us a more spacious world, a world where I do not have to explain everything, fix everything, or control anything beyond myself, a world where we can allow a Larger Mystery to work itself out through us and in us. These things are done to us more than anything we can do. The Beatitudes are about changing me, not changing other people. Wonderfully, it is not about being right anymore. Who can fully do the Beatitudes “right”? It is about being in right relationship, which is a very different agenda.”

  • Frederick Buechner on Beatitudes

  • Eight Blessings:

    1. Poor in spirit - is - kingdom of heaven

      • Literal poverty and a lack of arrogance and sense of one’s own need rather than endless desires

      • The poor in Spirit are those who find their identity in true relationship with God, not in material possession or self aggrandizing.

        • Cf Isaiah 66:2

    2. Mourn - will be - comforted

      • “Christians are never urged to seek suffering; they are, however, encouraged to recognize that suffering is an extraordinary teacher…Mourners endure suffering and the bless-ed ones among them experience the comfort of God.” Ken Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, p.70

        • See also Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

      • Not personal grief, but those who lament the current state of the world and how far we are from the fullness of God’s kingdom.

      • What does it mean to mourn and not suffer compassion fatigue? “It is easy to develop armor to protect ourselves from feeling the pain of others; and as that happens we cease to mourn for or with them.” Bailey, p. 71

        • Cf. Isaiah 61:1-11 and Matthew 9:15 (personal mourning is not a blessed characteristic)

    3. Meek - will - inherit the Earth

      • Right out of Psalm 37:9, 11

      • Not about being a holy doormat

      • When caught between the powerful (Rome, Herodians, etc) and the militaristic liberators (Zealots) it is neither, but the meek who are set to inherit the land.

      • Fascinating combination of the Hebrew word for meek, anav, and the Greek word, πράος.

        • Anav refers to obedience to God’s will and following God’s guidance

        • Πράος refers to “the one who becomes angry on the right grounds against the right person in the right manner at the right moment and for the right length of time.” Bailey, p.73

      • Meekness identifies “those who are aware of their identity as the oppressed of God in the world, those who have renounced the violent methods of this-worldly power.” (W. Carter, NIB VIII)

    4. Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness - will be filled

      • Righteousness - actively doing the will of God, not about following an ethical ideal, but a state of being in authentic relationship with God

      • Not a foolish hope- their desire to see the Kingdom of God will be satisfied

    5. Merciful - will be - shown mercy

      • Mercy- eleamon refers to acts of mercy, not an attitude of mercy

      • Example of mercy includes 1:19- Joseph’s merciful act

    6. Pure in heart - will - see God

      • Psalm 24:3-4

      • Purity of heart is not in response to being impure, but rather pure as in refined and focused and undiluted - single minded devotion to God

    7. Peacemakers - will be - children of God

      • Peacemaker and Son of God was given to Roman Emperors who established the “pax romana” through brute force and domination

      • This is a new peacemaker and son of God who works through acts of mercy, devotion to God and anticipation of the Kingdom for acts of reconciling justice and grace.

    8. Persecuted for righteousness - is - kingdom of Heaven

      • What about vs. 11-12? Not considered a separate blessing but a commentary on the eighth beatitude

  • Eschatological:

  • “It is first and foremost a blessing promised by God to those people who already are what the beatitude describes. The meek, the mourning, the merciful hear the text as a word of encouragement and reassurance… The blessings are eschatological, and yet in terms of the eschatological perspective of Matthew, they are not entirely future.” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year A. p. 125)

  • The first and last of the beatitudes are historical declarations of the culminating, emerging kingdom of God - the middle six are eschatological vision of what that Kingdom will (not could, but will) be.

  • The Beatitudes “do not describe nine different kinds of good people who go to heaven, but are nine declarations of blessedness, contrary to all appearances, of the eschatological community living in anticipation of God’s reign..” (W. Carter, NIB VIII, emphasis added)

Thoughts and Questions

  • Who in your congregation needs to hear that they are blessed when all else seems to declare them cursed?

  • Many of us find ourselves on the endless treadmill of “should”. The Beatitudes are not a list of should but a declaration to be responded to - not how can I be a peacemaker, how can I become poor in spirit, but rather- what does it mean if the true reality of the world is a place where those who mourn are blessed? Where those who are meek inherit the earth? How does that change my view of the world given these 8 statements of fact?

  • Clear rejection of the prosperity gospel. Note the verbs: are and will be. Those who are living in Christian community (poor in spirit, focused on God, anticipating the kingdom, working for reconciliation, showing mercy) will receive vindication eventually, but not now.

  • According to Psychological studied children need to hear 10 affirmations for every negative comment. 

  • David Lose (workingpreacher.com)“Children, to put it another way, become what they are named. Call a child bad long enough, and he or she will believe you and act bad. Call a child (or teen or adult for that matter) worthless or unlovable or shameful, and eventually he or she -- all of us! -- will live into the name we've been assigned. In the same way, call us good or useful, dependable, helpful, or worthwhile, and we will grow into that identity and behavior as well.”


Micah 6:1-8

Initial Thoughts

  • Don’t skip ahead to verse 8

  • Think about using three different readers. One for verses 1-5, one for verses 6-7, and another for verse 8.

Bible Study

  • Micah as a whole

    • “‘Justice, peace, and Messiah: Though the Book of Micah is itself little among the prophetic writings (7 chapters, and usually no more than 5 pages), it deals with these great biblical themes.” (James Limburg, Interpretation: Micah, p. 159)

    • “We can see a pattern of alternation between sayings which announce doom and those which express hope.” (Limburg, 159). Limburg goes on to express that this week’s lectionary text is found within a hopeful portion, built around the model of “distress/deliverance”

    • “ It could be said that Micah is among the angriest of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He is apparently a rural farmer, furious at the depredations of folk of the big city, calling them thieves (2:2), false preachers, more interested in lighter problems like drunkenness while injustice is rampant in the city (2:11), greedy for wealth, who "hate good and love evil, both tearing and eating the flesh of the poor, breaking their bones in pieces, chopping them up like meat for the kettle, like flesh in a cauldron" (3:2-3).” (John Holbert, Opening the Old Testament)

  • Courtroom setting - John Holbert, Patheos

  • “Just where is YHWH summoning the people to be as the punch line of verse 8 is delivered? And the answer is: a courtroom. The legal language winds its way through the passage as a way for us to locate ourselves in it. Micah 6:1 is clear enough: "Stand, plead the case before the mountains; let the hills hear your voice." The scene is thus set immediately. We are in a courtroom.”

  • Jury: Mountains, hills, foundations of the earth.

  • Defendant: Israel (us).

  • Prosecutor: God

  • Case: God saves. God has tried over and over. God tried a prophet, a priest, a woman(who was arguably both), and a gentile. Nothing worked

  • The case is made, so the defendant begs mercy. What should I do?

  • “Yet, the verdict is clear enough; we are and remain guilty of denial of YHWH until we begin to focus our full attention on the doing of justice for all of God's people.”

  • What follows is the sentencing

  • Not a courtroom setting - Terrence Fretheim

    • “The language of “(covenant) lawsuit” is sometimes used for this text, but that is an unlikely designation, for such language tends to reduce these verses to matters of legal import. The fundamental issue at stake between God and Israel has to do with a relationship that needs close attention. The repeated use of the word “what” (6:3, 5, 6, 8) serves to raise questions and issues that are to be addressed by both people and God.”

    • The language suggests that the people have been complaining - that they are the ones that are prosecuting God, who they claim to be silent. God’s response is a quick recap of the saving actions of the past.

    • Given this story of God’s saving grace, the people should be grateful, not complaining.

    • “The openness of God to engage in such a dialogue with the people is remarkable (cf. Abraham, Genesis 18:25-33; Moses, Exodus 3-7). God interacts with the people about their concerns; God does not dismiss their complaining as inappropriate or bring them into court because they have dared to question God! Quite the contrary, God develops reasons as to why they should be appreciative of God’s activity in their story even though life has been difficult.”

    • “The orientation toward both neighbor and God is clear. In effect, give yourself on behalf of others, particularly those who are needy, by doing justice and loving kindness (“steadfast love”). At the same time, walk humbly (or attentively) with your God. The “walk” with God (4:2; see Deuteronomy 26:17; 28:9) has to do with life’s journey and the shape thereof. That God’s call for action on behalf of the less fortunate is joined with the call to journey with God is important; the one will deeply affect the other. “

  • Justice or charity or politics? What does it mean to do justice? This is an important question that we must face squarely. Charity alleviates suffering, but does not get to the disease. Charity should and must be undertaken, but the purpose of justice work is to make charity obsolete. Justice is about building communities of caring, where all lives matter to one another as much as they do to God. Politics may be a means to working for justice, for government yields much power, but the politics cannot be the end. Winning a political battle does not mean justice has been reached. Working for social justice in political realm without also doing the work of building relationships with those whom you advocate for is a recipe for replacing one unjust system with another.

  • “The verb darash has undertones of affection, or the healthiest sort of dependency, as in “the child requires his mother’s love,” or “the flower requires rain and sunshine.” There is a mood of seeking in darash; lovers seek each other out, and a shepherd seeks his lost sheep—and in the Old Testament, both situations use darash. So when the Lord “requires” justice, kindness and mercy, it isn’t that the Lord “insists on” or “demands” these things. God seeks them, yearns for them, and frankly needs them from us as intimate partners in God’s adventure down here.“ (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)

  • Possible connection between “Walking humbly” and “Blessed are the meek.” 

    • “A genuinely holy humility is hard to come by. There is a kind of humbled smallness that is unhealthy: Maybe I feel I’m no good—but that isn’t divine humility. Then there is a self-indulgent, cultivated humility that isn’t much different from good manners—or even a smug, vain form of spiritual pride that struts about as humility” (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)

Thoughts and Questions

  • Justice or charity or politics? What does it mean to do justice? This is an important question that we must face squarely. Charity alleviates suffering, but does not get to the disease. Charity should and must be undertaken, but the purpose of justice work is to make charity obsolete. Justice is about building communities of caring, where all lives matter to one another as much as they do to God. Politics may be a means to working for justice, for government yields much power, but the politics cannot be the end. Winning a political battle does not mean justice has been reached. Working for social justice in political realm without also doing the work of building relationships with those whom you advocate for is a recipe for replacing one unjust system with another.

  • “The verb darash has undertones of affection, or the healthiest sort of dependency, as in “the child requires his mother’s love,” or “the flower requires rain and sunshine.” There is a mood of seeking in darash; lovers seek each other out, and a shepherd seeks his lost sheep—and in the Old Testament, both situations use darash. So when the Lord “requires” justice, kindness and mercy, it isn’t that the Lord “insists on” or “demands” these things. God seeks them, yearns for them, and frankly needs them from us as intimate partners in God’s adventure down here.“ (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)

  • Possible connection between “Walking humbly” and “Blessed are the meek.” 

  • “A genuinely holy humility is hard to come by. There is a kind of humbled smallness that is unhealthy: Maybe I feel I’m no good—but that isn’t divine humility. Then there is a self-indulgent, cultivated humility that isn’t much different from good manners—or even a smug, vain form of spiritual pride that struts about as humility” (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)


1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Initial thoughts

  • This passage appears in lectionary in Epiphany Year A, Lent Year B and in Holy Tuesday every year.

  • How does reading it paired with Beatitudes change the reading from when it is read in Lent? 

Bible Study 

  • Context:

    • Corinth, according to David Deffenbaugh in Working Preacher is: “Situated between two seaports. It was a place where traditions converged, where various languages were spoken and ideas were exchanged as eagerly as money for exotic goods.

    • Corinth also had more than its share of corruption and vice: the disparity between rich and poor was painfully evident and, as one might expect under such circumstances, prostitution was rampant. In the first century, Corinth was where fortunes were made and where more than a few lives were sacrificed in the process.”

  • Wisdom and Foolishness

    • Passage contains both universal truth and particular application

      • Corinthian church must have been diverse.  Evidence that while most Christians were poor and uneducated, not all were.

      • What do our churches look like?  The makeup of many mainline, middle class congregations is the opposite - mostly comfortably wealthy, with some poor mixed in.

      • Truth remains, “God did not choose you because you deserved to be chosen.  God chose those who are undeserving, by the world’s logic, in order to confound the logic of the world.” Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 124

      • Is there room for intellectualism in the church? “Our faith is 2000 years old, our thinking is not”

    • God’s wisdom is different than the world’s wisdom

      • “Paul asserts that the cross of Jesus Christ reveals the power of God.  While for Christians some twenty centuries removed from Paul, and accustomed to the cross as a symbol in churches and even in jewelry, this assertion may seem inoffensive, it must have struck some of Paul’s contemporaries as the ravings of a madman.  The cross was, in fact, the antithesis of power - except as it revealed the power of the Roman Empire to crush those regarded as opponents.” Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 123

      • “The Jews” looking for a Davidic monarch

      • “The Greeks” looking for esteem, power, and beauty.

  • Frederick Buechner (from his book Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons): 

    • “The message that a convicted felon was the bearer of God's forgiving and transforming love was hard enough for anybody to swallow and for some especially so. For hellenized sophisticates-the Greeks, as Paul puts it - it could only seem absurd. What uglier, more supremely inappropriate symbol of, say, Plato's Beautiful and Good could there be than a crucified Jew? And for the devout Jew, what more scandalous image of the Davidic king-messiah, before whose majesty all the nations were at last to come to heel?

Paul understood both reactions well. "The folly of what we preach," he called it (1:21), and he knew it was folly not just to the intellectually and religiously inclined but to the garden variety Corinthians who had no particular pretensions in either direction but simply wanted some reasonably plausible god who would stand by them when the going got rough.

Paul's God didn't look much like what they were after, and Paul was the first to admit it. Who stood by Jesus when the going got rough, after all? He even goes so far as to speak of "the foolishness of God" (1:25). What other way could you describe a deity who chose as his followers not the movers and shakers who could build him a temple to make Aphrodite's look like two cents but the weak, the despised, the ones who were foolish even as their God was and poor as church mice?”

Thoughts and Questions

  • What is the folly that we must preach? In the midst of American Civil Religion, it is imperative to reclaim the foolishness of the Gospel.

  • What does the world reward?  The system of the world has created a situation where 85 people have as much material wealth as 3.5 billion combined.  Where is the wisdom in such a system?

  • Sometimes the only way to be a disciple of Jesus is to do that which makes no sense.  Do the beatitudes make any sense? Does Jesus teaching make sense? Does an empty tomb make sense?  Do grace, mercy, and justice make sense?  

  • The Christian message- that of a crucified savior is foolish and doesn’t make sense- are we ok with that? Why do we keep trying to convince people this is not the case

    • Who are you looking for? A Davidic monarch who will overthrow the oppressors and guide you into an era of powerful autonomy? A Wise person who will answer your questions or fix your problems? Or a savior who shows you that what you need to be saved most from is you and that faith is not about sustainability, popularity, wealth, power or even survival- it is about love.

    • Faith is not fair or rational- doesn’t mean it isn’t true

    • We believe in the impossible: pigs can fly, the dead can come back to life and the Kingdom of God is at hand


Thank you listeners and get in touch!

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Nola’s First Dance” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).