January 29, 2023: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
What a year this has already become.
As I wrote this sermon, there were already 42 mass murders in our nation – 42. That’s nearly 2 every single day. A 6 year old shot a teacher. A toddler was wielding a gun in an apartment complex. People were killed while ballroom dancing in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Good Lord, deliver us!
A savage dictator in Russia reigned down bombs on civilians in Ukraine, and in the Middle East, Israelis and Palestinians are killing each other. The carnage is difficult to comprehend.
On Friday afternoon a video was released of the assault of Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul – a violent attack to his head with a hammer. All because the attacker wanted to imprison and put on trial his wife, because he had fallen victim to horrific partisan vitriol and purposeful misinformation.
And if that were not enough, we witnessed the brutal murder by police officers of Tyre Nichols. The video, released later Friday night, was heart wrenching. It was difficult to watch such absolute inhumanity as they beat him to near death while he cried out for his momma, and the callous indifference they and the EMTs showed as they stood around and let him suffer on the street.
I was not alone in feeling angry, disgusted, fed up, horrified, and exhausted with tears.
We may all want to “Rise, plead our case before the mountains, and let the hills hear our voice.” as we hear in Micah.
For we are tired of the violence.
Tired of the hatred.
Tired of the inhumanity.
Just plain tired.
But we also hunger and thirst for righteousness.
We are also mourning and are poor in Spirit.
And there is good news for us and for the world.
We all know the beatitudes of the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and I have talked before about how they are different, and why that matters. But most of the messages are the same, and one in particular is resonating amidst the horror we have witnessed in this month alone. Jesus tells those listening on that mountainside “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
“Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
There are two things that jump right out at you. The first is that Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are those who agree with one another.”
At the root of many of our partisan divides, our vitriolic behavior towards those who are different, our violence, hate, and oppression – is that we want everyone to be like us: to think, love, vote, speak, and look as we do. What Jesus is saying topples that arrogance and squares it with the next part of what he says – “they will be called children of God.”
But are not all people children of God – made in God’s image?
Yes! And that is his point.
We may all be children of God, but unless we are peacemakers, we are not living into who we truly are. We have become only a superficial shell of our true identity. Because we do not see the other as being a child of God too.
And it is in Micah that we come to discover how to change – how to be the people that will be called children of God – how to be the peacemakers in a world filled with hate and violence.
Now, as I have mentioned before, the full reading is really a courtroom scene in which we, the people, are on trial before God. Just as a reminder, it goes like this:
First, we are told to “rise, plead your case before the mountains (or gods of judgement), because the “Lord has a controversy (read: indictment) against you” Of course we are stupid, didn’t lawyer up, and you know what they say about those who serve as their own lawyer – they have a fool for a client. And so there we are, the people, when God opens with a great first argument…and a really snarky one at that .
God says “What have I done for you?”…
Oh I KNOW what I did… “Let’s see now…freed you from your captivity, delivered you from persecution to a land of freedom…” “Shall I go on?”
Sensing this trial is not going well, we ask “With what shall I come before” God?” In other words, we are down on our knees confessing –see, that is why attorneys get paid the big bucks. So we ask “What do you want God?” “How to I make amends?”
Then God reels off loads of crazy things people were doing that they actually thought God wanted, like…you know…sacrificing their children & animals – delightful stuff like that. We still do that today? How many so called Christians turn around and persecute others? Look at what we do to the earth and all the creatures who dwell in it – the ones we were charged by God to care for. Honestly, we deserved to be put on trial – then and now – we are sometimes that stupid.
And then we get to God’s “punishment” which is the verse beloved by all. God says that all that is required of us is “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
“Whew!” right? I mean…coulda been another flood or something like that right?
But like the beatitudes, this isn’t a sweet little thing to needlepoint for a wall hanging, or tattoo on your, wherever, and leave it at that – it is a clear message about what we are called to do. So let’s think about what God is telling us to do.
What does it mean to do justice?
It means we not only work for justice for others, we live a just life. We treat people fairly, and work to ensure that they are treated that way by others.
What does it mean to love kindness?
Well, what does it mean when we love – it is something we embody. Think about the way you felt when you fell in love, or first saw your newborn child. That was a love you felt in the depths of your soul. We are to love kindness in such a way too – to embody it to feel it in our core.
Imagine that – what would that be like, and how might that change the world?
And then there is one more thing…
We are to walk humbly with our God…which is really, if translated directly from the Hebrew, more like walk intentionally with our God. What would that mean to us, to the world, if every step we took, we took with God (we do, of course, but what if we were mindful about it – conscious about God being right there)?
This charge by God to do justice, love kindness, and walk intentionally with God isn’t an easy out, but a call to a radical change in our lives – for ourselves, for the world, and for God. It is to truly become who we really are – Children of God – and that will mean we are living that beatitude life of the peacemaker.
And if there was ever a time to be the person God needs us to be, to live the life Jesus laid out for us, IT IS NOW!
God in Micah, and Jesus in the sermon on the mount, are putting in very simple terms, terms that we don’t need a lawyer to parse for us, that we must live into our identity as children of God. And that isn’t about getting on our knees, though I think doing that from time to time, and bowing in reverence, are good ways to remember that we are not the be all, end all, of the universe.
It is not about the church building, high or low liturgy, or any other thing.
Rather, it is about having empathy with our brothers and sisters everywhere, treating them with kindness, and always seeking justice for them no matter who they are, the color of their skin, where they are from, what language they speak, who they love, what gender they claim, or how they vote.
It is about being Jesus in the world – being the peacemakers in a world at war, among a people divided, amidst the violence born of hate.
And this is the message for each of us today…
This call to be peacemakers, to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God – that is our call today. It is for all people. For you, and for me. For we are children of God, and we need to live into that identity – now, tomorrow, and every single moment of our lives.
Each of us must do our part, because people’s lives are at stake, and as Christians, as a people of God, we cannot sit on the sidelines.
This is NOT a time to stay on the sidelines, because being a person of faith, a follower of Jesus, means we follow his example. He didn’t stay back in Galilee, but went out into the world to teach, to heal, and by his death and resurrection, remind us that love is more powerful than hate – God’s love most of all. And so we must be the body of Christ we were baptized to be, the children of God that we are, the peacemakers. And that means we must do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
We must do justice!
Speaking against those who seek to marginalize and promote fear, and be a voice for the voiceless among us.
Standing with those who are oppressed and in danger.
Working peacefully to destroy walls of hate and violence and build bridges of love and peace.
We must love kindness!
Seeing and welcoming the stranger in our midst.
Opening our hearts to the meek, the poor in Spirit, the persecuted.
Offering up what we have in love to those in need.
And, we must walk intentionally with our God!
Praying for guidance and strength.
Coming here in community to be nourished by the sacraments of our faith.
Remembering always that we are loved unconditionally, and letting that love and grace shine through us every moment of every day.
If we do this, if we do justice, love kindness, walk intentionally with our God, then we will truly be beatitude people, the peacemakers, we were meant to be.
If we do this, then all who encounter us will know what it means to be children of God.
If we do this, then all the world will be blessed, and we will exchange our tears for joy.
Amen.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
January 29, 2023
The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany
1st Reading – Micah 6:1-8
Psalm 15
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12
