The Song of the Resistance [Epiphany 4A]

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Matthew 5:1-12

The Song of the Resistance

He lived in polarized times. And as he ascended the mountain, he knew the crowd was waiting for his endorsement – because that's how things go in polarized times. Both sides want your allegiance; everyone needs to know if you are one of them. One side was the Empire, the most powerful nation on the planet – a war machine with a superior economy – all led by a jealous, insecure Emperor who lined the streets with the bodies of those who stepped out of line, his perceived enemies. On the other side were his people, an occupied people longing for freedom and power, and they were looking for a Messiah to lead the revolution, a king to lead them to victory; their swords were sharpened; they just needed their new King David. And they had their eyes on him, on this Jesus. Both sides wanted his allegiance; both wanted his heart and his soul.

And so the crowds gathered as he climbed the hill. And he cleared his throat and sang the song that no one wanted to hear; he sang the song of the resistance. In a world of black and white he chose colors. There were two choices, two clear options and he chose a third. It was between the kingdom of the Emperor and the kingdom of David and he chose the Kingdom of God instead. He sang the song of the resistance – and he invited them to sing along.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

In a world of desperate grasping: for money, for power, for position, for fame, for respect, for recognition. The lucky ones, Jesus says, are the ones who come up empty-handed. Poor. Despised. Belittled. Mocked. Or maybe even worse: unknown. But the kingdom of God is coming to displace this realm with its power games and its political spin and its golden gods. And when the kingdom comes it will be the poor in spirit who are empty-handed enough to embrace God's dream. Those with nothing have nothing to lose – theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

If you are paying attention this world will break your heart. Because there is not enough love. There is not enough mercy. There is not enough justice or kindness. There are swastikas on garage doors and shootings in our elementary schools and desperate families begging at our borders. Our economy runs on addictions and vices. If you pay attention it will break your heart. But you don't have to pay attention. Because we are perfecting the art of distraction – luxury goods and manufactured rage. So that it is easy to trade in your mourning, to forget your broken heart, to just be numb. But if you can stick with it, if you can hold that broken heart, and mourn what should be mourned, and then place it in the hands of God, God will wipe away your tears – you will be comforted, not sedated, comforted.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

But that's not true, is it? Meek does not make one the president or a CEO or a hedge-fund manager. No one in charge of anything in this country, or on this planet, that matters is meek. The only way the meek inherit the earth is that they are trampled into the earth by the go-getters, by the successful, by the winners. Those who want to own this planet, have to earn it or take it. But the meek don't earn it; they don't take it; they inherit it. The kingdom come will be good news for the meek – but not for everyone; the meek will inherit the earth.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

They hunger and thirst because righteousness is human conduct expected by God; it is living like Jesus. And we are living in a desert. And every time someone decides to really live, speak, dream the kingdom of God into this world, they shake things up. Kingdom living destabilizes the system; it challenges the priorities; it threatens the powerful on their thrones. The resistance is not welcome. Just ask Jesus. But the time is coming. Those who hunger and thirst will be filled.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Sometimes the spiritual life feels esoteric, difficult to grasp. Sometimes we hear these scriptures, read theological texts, and everything sounds good but the practical application part is lacking. But this one is pretty straightforward. Be merciful. Is mercy good politics? I don't know and I don't care. Because it doesn't matter. Because Jesus expects his followers to be merciful; Jesus commands his followers to be merciful. And yes that means that folks will get more than they deserve, people will be treated better than they should. You will have to love those who do not deserve love. You will have to fight for life in the face of death. And it will be unfair because mercy is unfair. But one day, when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, he will show you mercy; he will love you more than you deserve.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

This is our prayer: to love and serve the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart. This is our mandate: to seek first the kingdom of God. In a world of polarities and partisanship, Jesus asks us to devote ourselves to the third way – the only movement that matters: the Jesus movement. This is about our priorities. When push comes to shove, who do you love? There are a lot of things in this world vying for our allegiance. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are those who love and serve the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart, for they will see God.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

Children tend to look like their parents, they inherit their traits. Those who work for peace in this conflicted time, those who work for peace amidst the violence, those who work for peace in this broken world, will be called children of God. Because those who engage the work of peace, begin resembling more and more their heavenly Parent; you can see Jesus in their eyes.

This is the song of the resistance: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Persecution is not the virtue here. There are many ways in this social media age to be slandered, attacked, persecuted. Persecution is easy; it often feels like justification; there are folks who run on that stuff. The virtue here is commitment. Those who are fully committed to the resistance, who have pledged their sole allegiance to Christ and his kingdom, rather than the kings and kingdoms of this world, suffer consequences.

Those who stand somewhere between the Empire and the Revolution, will become the collateral damage. When the lines are drawn and the sides selected, you are called to choose the third option, to see the world not as it is or as you think it should be but as God wants it to be. You are called to be the empty-handed, the broken-hearted, the merciful, the peacemaker. You are called to be a minister of reconciliation in world that runs on division. You are called to be the color poured out on a black and white world.

This is not the path of success. In fact, these are the eight habits of highly frustrating people. This is the path of resistance. This is the path of Jesus, who defied the Empire and challenged the Rebellion, who lived, spoke, and dreamed the kingdom of God all the way to the cross.

On the mountain, before a curious crowd, Jesus cleared his voice and sang the song of resistance. A song that defied the impulse of his age – with all its greedy demands and false dichotomies and stubborn allegiances, polarized parties that want your heart and soul.

But your heart and soul are spoken for. Kings and kingdom rise and fall. Movements wax and wane. But the resistance carries on – in the hearts of women and men who dare to take their cues from a simple peasant from a backwoods village with a wooden cross on his horizon – who just so happened to be the voice of God. This is our song, Jesus' words in our mouths. And we're meant to sing along – even when the audience heckles.

It's true, and Jesus warned us: those who sing the song, like the prophets who were before us, they always seem to lose – marginalized, ignored, crushed, or crucified. But the kingdom of God is coming. The resistance is building. The whisper will one day soon become a roar. So clear your voice and keep singing.