Brave to be Blessed [Regional Confirmations 2025 - Matthew 5:1-12]

 The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Matthew 5:1-12

 

Brave to be Blessed

Regional Confirmations 2025

 

You must be brave to be blessed.  Because it is no small thing to allow the beautifully dangerous words of Jesus into your heart and into your life.  The Beatitudes, what we call tonight’s Gospel passage, if you take them seriously, will set you at odds.  You will wear them like brilliant colors in a black and white world.  St. Oscar Romero said of this Gospel: “all the Beatitudes subvert what the world believes in, and they sow the seed of a transformation that we will not see finished until the kingdom of heaven…becomes reality.”[1]

 

And so you must be brave to be blessed.  Because Jesus is calling you to change an entrenched and stubborn world into the kingdom of heaven.          

 

And to do so, to sow the seeds of transformation, to change the world in Jesus’ name, you will need to be:

 

poor in spirit.

 

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 and its power games and its political spin and its golden gods. And when the kingdom comes it will be given to the poor in spirit, those who are empty-handed enough to embrace God's subversive dream. Those with nothing but Jesus have nothing to lose – theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

And you will need to be willing to mourn.

 

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.  So sometimes it is just easier to not pay attention. And that is why this world is 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, stay 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.

 

And you must risk being the meek in this world, for the meek will inherit the earth.

 

But that doesn’t seem to be true, does it? Meek does not make one a world leader or a tech giant or a titan of industry. Power on this planet rarely wears meekness. Typically the 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 – though not for everyone, because it is the meek who will inherit the earth.

 

And you must develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness.

 

And you must do this in a desert.  In an age of unholy appetites, we are filled by the body and blood of Christ. To the untrained eye that doesn’t look like much.  But it is making you holy, making you look like Jesus.  Because the more you eat, the more you will become what you eat.  And that will be more than enough.  It is the promise of the heavenly banquet in which we share: those who hunger and thirst will be filled.

 

And you must be willing to be accused of being merciful.

 

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 a good political strategy? 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. Our merciful Savior will love you more than you deserve – like he always has.

 

And you must be the pure in heart.

 

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 a different 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 your 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.

 

And you must be known as a peacemaker, 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.

 

And you should know: those who are blessed are also persecuted, for righteousness' sake, but 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, and 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 way and words of Jesus, who have pledged their allegiance to Christ and his kingdom, do suffer consequences.  But it’s a long-term investment: they also make their home in heaven.

 

The point is: you must be brave to be blessed.  It takes courage to stand firm amidst the push and pull.  It takes courage to see the world not as it is or as others think it should be but as God wants it to be.  You are a follower of Jesus.  And Jesus is calling you to be a minister of reconciliation in a fractured nation.  He is calling you to be a peacemaker in a world fraught with conflict.  He is calling you to be merciful in a ruthless age.  He is calling you to believe in hope when all hope seems lost.  Jesus is calling you to transform this world with love.  To be an unsung saint of this age, to be the brilliant colors poured out on this black and white world.

 

This is, admittedly, not the path of worldly success. It is, however, the path of Jesus.

 

We can build a better world – a kinder, more beautiful world.  With God’s help, we can make this realm a little more like Heaven.  Christ is calling us to live the values of the Kingdom of God here on earth, to embody his goodness and grace, to defiantly combat the power of evil with the stunning strength of love.  We don’t need to be perfect or powerful to change the world.  We just have to be brave. 

 

 

   

 

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[1] Oscar Romero, Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), 29 January 1978