Who will Inherit the Earth?

The sermon preached by Fr. Ernie on Sunday, January 29, 2023.

Who Will Inherit the Earth?

by Ernest Boyer 

Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the peacemakers. These are just part the Sermon on the Mount, which forms today’s gospel. This is the only actual sermon that the Jesus preached — or at least the only one that the gospels tell us about — and for that reason it’s justifiably famous. Even people who aren’t Christians have heard of many of these sayings, and nearly everyone who reads them comes away thinking, “Boy, it’s not easy to be Christian.”

And with good reason too. I mean just look at some of these statements. In addition to the ones I already named there are, “blessed are those who mourn.…blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.…blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you …on my account.” I mean, really. You read all this and think, “Are you serious? This is how I’m supposed to behave? That doesn’t sound like much fun at all. And who can actually do all that?! It’s impossible!”… I think even devoted Christians largely dismiss these words of Jesus, assuming that they might apply to saints, but not to ordinary people.  

The thing is, I also believe that those who think this are missing the point. They assume that what Jesus is doing here is laying out the guidelines for a Christian ethics. That is, he’s telling us what we should do. That’s not actually the case. Jesus’ actual ethics might not be easy, but they are really very simple, and he doesn’t describe them here, but in two other places in Matthew. The first is in Chapter 22 where he says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind …and your neighbor as yourself.” He then goes on to describe how we go about this in Chapter 25 where he says that loving our neighbors means that we are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and those in prison — doing this even for the least of our brothers and sisters — the poor, the stranger, and the outcast. That’s what we’re supposed to do. The Sermon on the Mount is talking about something a little different. It’s not so much about what we as Christians should do. It’s about who are — and about how God supports us in this.

Let me show you what I mean.

First, there’s “blessed are the poor in spirit.” For a long time, this one really confused me. What did it mean to be “poor in spirit”? I wondered. Did it mean that you’re … not very spiritual? Did it mean that you’re … discouraged or depressed? Only slowly did I come to see that the phrase “poor in spirit” is meant to describe a person deeply aware of how dependent on God they truly are. It’s someone who knows how much they need God. Such an awareness is essential. Without it, we really have no sense of why we need to turn to God in the first place. The great theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher said that all religion begins with one thing: a feeling of absolute dependence on God. How true that is! No wonder Jesus said that those who have this will inherit the kingdom of heaven!

Next there’s “blessed are those that mourn.” Here Jesus is simply reminding us that, just because we’re Christian, that doesn’t mean that we stop being human. Sooner or later we’ll all have reason to grieve — every one of us. We will experience loss. We will encounter death, and both will hit us as Christians just as hard as they do everyone else. What’s different is that we will also have God to comfort us.

Then there is “blessed are the meek.” This too is often misunderstood. It’s frequently ridiculed.  People seem to assume that this statement means that we have to act timid …or even mousy, and neither one of these are particularly admirable. But Jesus doesn’t mean this. The Greek word which is here translated as “meek” also means gentle. It describes a person who is kind …calm… and humble. These are all wonderful qualities, and let me tell you, they’re badly needed. When I look around our country today, what I see is a lot people who are being cruel, violent and egotistical. So, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that, it in the end, it won’t be they who inherit the earth. It will instead be these others— people who are kind, gentle and humble. Frankly, can’t wait. How about you?

The next few statements are more straightforward, so I can move through them quickly. There’s “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Jesus says that these will win out in the end. In other words, ultimately justice and righteousness will triumph, despite how it sometimes seems.… There’s “blessed are the merciful.” Here Jesus is telling us that God will offer to us the very same mercy that we offer to others. There’s “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” That’s self-explanatory. …Then too there’s “blessed are the peacemakers,” which merely reminds us that, as Christians, we will naturally want to resolve peacefully any differences and misunderstandings, and that by doing so others will recognize us as children of God, a title which I have come to see as one of the most beautiful things you can say of a person.

That takes us to the final two sayings, though, and they’re harder. There’s “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” Here Jesus is saying that true Christians don’t simply “hunger and thirst after righteousness. They’re also willing to stand up for it. They’re brave enough to speak out if the rights of others are violated. They’ll do this even when it means they’ll suffer for it. Jesus clearly sees such a willingness as required not only for a courageous few, but as a necessary trait of all Christians. For him, it’s as much a part of being a Christian as recognizing our dependence on God. We know this because, like the “poor in spirit,” those who stand up for justice will also inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

Finally, there is “blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” This certainly takes persecution to a whole new level, and perhaps this is the one quality that does describe saints more than ordinary people because Jesus compares such individuals to the prophets of old and says that they will receive a special reward in heaven. I have to admit that I myself doubt that I have the stomach for such treatment, and frankly I’m ok with that. Heaven itself will be enough for me. I don’t need medals.

So, this one alone may be the exception, but I believe that each of the others are qualities that we can all aspire to. We can all:

·      We can, first, recognize our profound dependence on God.

·      We can, second, accept that we never stop being human.

·      We can, third, cultivate an attitude of kindness and gentle humility

·      and, fourth, do this while also taking a stand for justice,

·      while working, fifth, to keep our motives honest

·      and, sixth, our relations with others loving.

·      We’ll do this, finally, even when it means that some will attack us for doing so. 

So yes, this seems like a lot.… And yet, it’s what it means to be a Christian. It’s more than just what we do. It’s who we are. Or more precisely, it’s who we are constantly aiming to become … and who, with God’s help, we can become. Such people are wonderful to be around, which is why I love to come to church. I love it because I love to be around people like this, and a vibrant, loving, and open Christian church is where I am most likely to find them. It’s also why I especially love St. Stephen’s. It’s because everyone here is genuinely striving to be the sort of Christian Jesus describes. And as Jesus tells us, that means that we are blessed. And we are. Truly. We are truly blessed. AMEN  

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