Have you seen the little “happiness is” cartoons? At the top of the cartoon are the words “happiness is…” Then there’s a stick figure drawing of whatever happiness is being compared to, and a caption at the bottom. “Happiness is… being at peace with yourself in this big, crazy world.” “Happiness is suddenly realizing that your back doesn’t hurt anymore, finding chocolate in your desk drawer, it’s Saturday and ladies’ night out…” There are endless endings to that phrase.
What about these: Happy are they who have everything movies and television tell us is necessary to be fulfilled. Happy are they who have plenty of money, power, and respect. We probably wouldn’t complete that phrase with those endings, but deep down we’re tempted to believe that’s where happiness is to be found.
What if you replace the word happy with blessed? Blessed are they who have plenty of money, power, and respect. It’s really a short jump from happy to blessed. In fact, some translations of the Scriptures actually use the word happy instead of blessed as a translation for the same Hebrew or Greek word.
When our Lord gave us the Beatitudes, he was using a scriptural form of teaching. The word beatitude means blessed, and we call that section of Jesus’ teachings that begin with “Blessed are the poor in spirit” the Beatitudes. There were other beatitudes that had been written long before Jesus walked the earth. For example, the entire first psalm is a beatitude: “Blessed are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked…”
There are some beatitudes in the Apocrypha. In the book of Ecclesiasticus, is “Happy is he who lives with an intelligent wife (is that ever a loaded beatitude!), and he who has not made a slip with his tongue, and he who has not served a man inferior to himself (my staff can empathize with that one!); happy is he who has gained good sense, and he who speaks to attentive listeners. You may think, Happy are they who get to hear a good sermon, but it works the other way, too. Happy is he who speaks to attentive listeners!
And so, Jesus uses a familiar form in his Sermon on the Plain, from which we heard the Beatitudes today. His Beatitudes are different, though. We might expect him to say something like “Blessed are they who try to live a good life. Blessed are they who go to church regularly, say their prayers, read their Bibles. Blessed are they who tithe, and even more blessed are they who exceed their tithe! We might expect our Lord to say something like that. Those are certainly good things.
But what a shock he gives us by his Beatitudes, especially as they’re found in the Gospel according to Saint Luke. “Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are hated. Rejoice and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
Why would Jesus say that being poor, or hungry, or sad, or hated is a good thing? These things are painful, not joyful. No one desires any of them, and when we’re in any of those conditions, we don’t say to ourselves, “How blessed I am to be poor, hungry, sad, or hated. No, when we’re in these conditions we desire to get out of them.
Why does our Lord equate these conditions with blessedness? It’s because when we lack any of the basic necessities of life, we know we’re in need, that we have an emptiness within us we’re unable to fill. The same is true emotionally when we’re sad or in mourning; there’s a lack of well-being and an emotional void. Likewise, when we don’t have the goodwill of others it’s painful and we realize we lack their friendship and fellowship.
All of these conditions are needy conditions. All of them, therefore, point out that we’re not in control. For persons of faith, they can lead us to the knowledge of our need for God.
I’m reminded of a story of a very successful businessman who decided he wanted to develop his spirituality. He went to a famous spiritual teacher to learn from him. The teacher lived as a hermit high upon a mount and the businessman had to spend a great deal of money and effort just to travel to see the teacher.
Finally, he arrived, and the teacher graciously invited him to tea. When the tea was ready, the teacher began to pour the tea into his visitor’s cup. He filled the cup, but continued to pour. The tea flowed over the cup and into the saucer, onto the table, and then onto the floor. Yet the teacher kept pouring.
The man at last shouted, “The cup is full, and the tea is everywhere. Why are you continuing to pour?”
The teacher stopped pouring, replaced the teapot on the stove, and sat down. He said, “You are that cup. You are full to overflowing. Until your cup is empty, there’s nothing I can teach you.
Are you in need in any way? As painful as that need may be, you’re blessed, for that need can lead you to rely upon God. Do you feel an emptiness, in your life? You’re blessed, for that emptiness is a place God wants to fill. It’s not automatic, however. God will not fill that void if he’s not wanted. But if he is wanted, our gracious Lord wants nothing more than to enter our lives and make them whole.
True blessedness then is ours. For no matter what the need is, no matter how painful and basic it is, it’s bearable, for our Lord is with us and carries us through every trial. May he grant you and me the grace to recognize our need and fill that emptiness with his loving presence.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
6th Sunday after the Epiphany
17 February 2019