Sermon preached by Dr. Abigail Elizabeth Reynolds, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011, at the United Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd, Grafton, WV.
Matthew 5:1-12
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Good Shepherd Church, Grafton, WV
Dr. Abigail Elizabeth Reynolds
It is often argued among Jewish and Christian scholars that Jesus would have belonged to the school of Rabbi Hillel, one of the leading Pharisees. Jesus has, after all, taught a version of Hillel’s golden rule.
The story goes that some pagans approached Rabbi Hillel and said that if he could recite the whole Jewish law while standing on one leg, they would convert to his religion. SO Rabbi Hillel obligingly stood on one leg like a stork and said: “Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto you. That is the Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and learn it.”
In Matthew 7, Jesus says, “So in everything, do to others, what you would have them do to you. For this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
In these words of Jesus is the sum of all of Christian theology. Everything else is commentary.
I wish to turn briefly to Matthew 5, and share some commentary.
Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“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 merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Pooh and Piglet met one day and Piglet asked Pooh, “What is the first thing you think about when you get up in the morning?” Pooh answered, “What will I have for breakfast?” He then asked Piglet the same questions to which Piglet responded, “I wonder what adventures I shall have this day.”
I hope you came today, asking the question, “I wonder what adventures I shall have this day?”
In Genesis 16 we read the story of Hagar. Do you remember the story of Hagar?
She was the hand maid servant of Sarah in Abraham’s house. Sarah offered Hagar to Abraham to conceive a child with since Sarah was beyond her years. Abraham impregnated her and then Hagar, as the hand servant, began to treat Sarah with disrespect and contempt.
Sarah complained to Abraham who, like any good male, wanted to stay out of the fray between two women, so Abraham directed Sarah to do with Hagar as she pleased. Sarah began then to mistreat Hagar. Hagar ran away into the desert.
In the midst of her suffering, and her attempt to flee from her circumstances, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, confronts her and tells her to go back into her circumstances. With the promise of God, Hagar returns to the tent of Sarah.
SO what was the promise? She was to bear a son and she would become the matriarch of a great nation. Ishmael was born to Hagar, and indeed he became the father of the Arab nations.
As you know, we always see our Judeo/Christian roots as a Patriarchal society. Not so with Islam. Islam is a Matriarchal born society.
This is also the first time that God is named. No one had been permitted to name God for once a name is given; it places the individual in an equal place. And now, it is a servant woman who is permitted to name God for the first time.
Notice here though the name God is given. “You are the God who sees me.” God is known as Atah el ohe or the Living One who sees me.
In the midst of Hagar’s struggles, in the midst of her suffering, in the midst of her rejection, in the midst of her ridicule, God SEES her. Hope found her.
With renewed hope and a promise from the God who sees us, Hagar returns once more to her mistress to suffer at Sarah’s hands.
We also see here that both the religions of Judaism and Islam come from the same father, Abraham. Judaism then comes to be through Isaac and Islam through Hagar and then Ishmael. Subsequently, our own traditions in the Christian Church come from the same source.
For us, our line comes forth from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through the house of David, to Jesus of Nazareth.
And in all of our history, God has continued to “see us” and in the midst of our own suffering, our own failures, our own struggles with life, Hope continues to find us.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.
It is because of God’s tremendous love for us that God brings hope to each of us in the time of our greatest need. Hope enables us to continue on. Hope allows us to see a future. Hope allows us fulfill our calling in life. Hope allows us to love.
The root of faith, hope, and love, is compassion.
Over the years, as I have looked at the Torah and Talmud, the Koran, and the Bible, and as I have studied the principle tennets of each of the three faith traditions traced back to Abraham, I always land at this same place.
Faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love, and the all of this is cradled in the bosom of God’s compassion.
If we see our faith or our religion in absolutes, we miss it. Wars have been fought and crimes committed because of absolutes and black and white thinking. It was the cause of the Crusades in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Islam and Judaism was bad, Christianity was good.
It was the hindrance to the freedom of slaves and the civil right movement. Blacks are inferior and whites are superior.
It is the source of violence to Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgender. Our absolute belief that it is a sin denies the possibility of God and the acceptance of violence.
Our absolute belief in the Government telling us of weapons of mass destruction has led us into ten years of war, which show no signs of ending. All in the name of God, those Muslims are bad and we Christians are good and righteous. After all, we ARE God’s chosen people, are we not?
In answer to that, we actually are not. The Jewish nation and the Arab nation are the chosen of God. Read the story of Abraham and Hagar once again. Two nations chosen of God from one source.
Isaac, the nation of Israel. Ishmael, the Arab nation. No mention of the United States of America, or the Christian Church. Our inheritance comes through Israel.
It is time for us to realize that our absolutes have robbed us from the joy, the life, and the hope that God so wishes to bestow upon because we are his people, through a Rabbi known as Jesus, the Messiah.
If we start seeing ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ, and not as Christians, or members of this or that church or denomination, then we open ourselves to new possibilities, new adventures, new thoughts, and new relationships.
Instead of getting up in the morning wondering what we shall have for breakfast, we will get up each day with a renewed sense of hope, a renewed sense of great adventure, a new sense of possibilities in God through Christ.
So, let us go back to Hagar for a minute. Here she is in the desert, pregnant, afraid, running away. She is without direction. She is confronted by the Angel of the Lord, who asks, “Where are coming from and where are you going?”
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself these questions? Where am I coming from, and where am I going?
The Angel tells her to go back to her mistress for God has plans full of hope and possibility for Hagar and her unborn son.
There is that deep sense that Hagar should be running to something, rather than running from something. There will come a time when Hagar is once again forced out of her home with Ishmael. And again, in the desert, isolated and alone, out of options, the God of Abraham will come again and rescue her. Again, the God who sees me, Atah el ohe , will intervene to rescue her and her son. Only this time, it will not be to go back, but to go forward. She will not to be running away, but running to, that which God has ordained.
Others saw Hagar as a slave. But God saw her as a matriarch. And in seeing Hagar in this way, she had the courage to name God. In fact, she is the only person in all of the Torah to do so. Atah el ohe – The God who sees me
The theme is consistent in Psalm 23 as the writer says; surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
The Hebrew text however does not quite say it like that. The text is stronger in its language. It is perhaps better stated as “Surely goodness and mercy will track me down, invade my very being, overtake me in all of life’s circumstances, surrounding me in an impenetrable shield, for as long as I may have life.”
Others may see you as less than worthy, but that is not as God see you. God sees you and me in our full potential. God sees us as we are meant to be, not as we are. God sees us as more than conquers, as God’s children. As joint heirs with Jesus. As the Bride of Christ.
Could we possibly see ourselves in that light? Is it possible for one moment each day to see ourselves full of the possibilities that God sees in us?
Are we willing to lay down our own assumptions, our absolutes, willing to see life through the eyes of a disciple of Jesus Christ and not as a member of the church, looking for God to lead us and impact our life? If so, I say, hope will find you.
To paraphrase Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are the meek, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are the merciful, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for hope will find you.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Rejoice and be glad, for hope will find you.
And I say to you, Good Shepherd Church, obey the Lord your God in all things. Seek justice for the poor and outcast. Offer mercy to the outsider and disenfranchised. Welcome the stranger, and the strange one. And to God, give the glory in all things. Then, I say, Hope will find you!
May God bless you and protect you
May God bless you with wisdom and vision
May you dream great dreams
And may you see them come true
May you be blessed with courage and power to be bold
May you be blessed with kindness, passion, and hope
May you be blessed with love and a loving, resilient heart
May your smile be contagious, your joy outrageous,
May you shine and light up the world
Amen. (from “Hope Will Find You” by Naomi Levy, Rabbi)
