When was the last time you went somewhere and were unsure of what was happening? What were you supposed to do? How things worked in this space? Many times in college and Seminary, we heard about the importance of so-called “cross-cultural” interactions. Courses with this designation took students all across the country and around the world, basically anywhere that wasn’t Farm Country, Midwest, USA. Mine took me to Milwaukee for urban ministry and to the Holy Land. Yet, I’ve often wondered why we always thought that we had to travel so far in order to witness other experiences of life. I’ve learned that even in Seattle, one neighborhood is different than any other neighborhood. Maybe this is just a city thing, but from my experience in small towns and suburbs that can be just as true. Even when we attend the same church, none of us are living the exact same lives.
That’s one of the most beautiful things I think church has done throughout history. Since the beginning churches have gathered together all sorts of people from every walk of life to be present in the same space together. We heard in Paul’s letter last week about the fighting that can sometimes happen when you bring people with different life experiences together, but that is to be expected when life in the church is so vastly different from life outside the church. God was up to something new, and it was not like anything anyone had ever experienced before.
We hear these themes again today in both Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and in Matthew’s Gospel. Both writers are explaining how this new thing works because the disciples and early followers needed someone to explain it to them. They needed someone to explain that these things seemed unbelievable! That the ways of the world were being flipped on their head, and that was going to take some getting used to. I think about what it would be like today, if someone walked in here and said, “everything you think you know about how the world works is actually the opposite…good luck!” It’s like when we were kids and would try to annoy our siblings and teachers by randomly declaring that it was now opposite day… Usually this happened when we were assigned something we didn’t want to do.
While that is a bit of a stretch for what God is up to, God is doing something similar. Paul notes that God isn’t choosing to show God’s power through the rich and intelligent, but rather God is entering the midst of everyday humans. The ones who didn’t have much control over their lives. The ones who were poor. The ones who were never able to read. The ones who would be cast down by society because they didn’t have the typical qualities of the ruling classes. God is doing a new thing in their midst!
While noticeable at times still today, in early Christianity, the differences between how society lived and worked and that of the Christian groups would have been extremely noticeable. It was an adjustment that would take some getting used to as people from all walks of life began to gather together and hear the message that each and every person in that space was loved and created by God, no matter their race, gender, social standing, economic status, etc. This was radically good news, and still is today, that the kingdom of heaven is open to all people, not just the people who had money or power or the ability to read. The people who were not seen as blessed suddenly were able to enter the community that received God’s blessings; this was a monumental change that was often met with backlash by the larger community. Because God was changing everything!
Jesus is noting something similar in the Gospel reading. Unlike the other version of the Beatitudes that we heard last year, Matthew’s version doesn’t include any “Woes.” Jesus isn’t talking to the crowd, at least he doesn’t appear to be, but is just talking to his disciples. He doesn’t use the language of “you,” but it seems like he is instructing the disciples on what to be on the lookout for. These are the people who will be blessed. Look for those who are buried under everyday life. The ones who are grieving. The ones working towards peace even when war and violence seem inevitable. The ones who are oppressed and longing for justice. Those are the people who are blessed. The people who do not match with the prosperity gospel version of “#blessed.” The people who are in the midst of struggles, who don’t know what the next day will bring. Those are the people who are blessed. Even still today, we need a lot of help making sense of this, because this is not how our world seems to operate. We have been fed too much of the idea that we are only “blessed” when we are happy, healthy, and wealthy.
One of my most memorable church experiences while traveling in the Holy Land was sitting in Redeemer Lutheran Church in Jerusalem. The congregation had three parts: an Arabic speaking congregation that was worshiping on the Mount of Olives, a German speaking congregation that met in the large Sanctuary, and the English speaking congregation that worshipped in a small, stone chapel. One of the most beautiful things about this English speaking congregation (at least from my perspective as a visitor) was that it seemed to be everybody’s church. So many people were only there for a day or a week or a few months that it was a conglomeration of people gathered together across language and cultural norms. And, it was the place where I have felt the most welcome and myself in worship…ever. Nothing compares to sitting in a Sanctuary full of people all speaking the Lord’s Prayer in their mother tongues and feeling completely at home. That is the power of the both the gospel and what church can be. And, of course, I knew none of this would happen this way when I walked into that space for worship on a Sunday morning. I also didn’t know that it would be one of the foundational moments that actually got me to consider going Seminary as a real option and not just a never realized someday.
So when was the last time you entered a space where you didn’t quite know what was going on? A space where the way of being was so different than what you experienced that you didn’t know what to do right away? Did you approach it with caution or blaze ahead, determined to figure it out? I ask this because I think this is what a lot of the community during our readings was wrestling with. Trying to make sense of a new way of living, of being together. I think God is still calling the church back to that. Not that we are uncomfortable or feel out of place in church, but that it is a space where we don’t have to fit a certain mold to belong. Where we get to learn and grow from one another as different experiences help shape our view of God. Because Christ’s love is for all people and the church should reflect that. What would happen if we truly lived into that, not just as a congregation, but as a whole church? Imagine the type of world that could be!