Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-11
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
All Saints Day Sermon: The Upside-Down Blessings of Christ
By James Huenink
Opening Blessing
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Remembering the Saints Who Have Gone Before Us
Today, our readings point us to the great celebration of All Saints Day. We celebrate this day as a way to remember those who have died before us in the faith—those who have gone to be with Christ now—and to remind us of the great blessings that they have, and we too have, in Christ. We remember those who are dead, those who are received to Christ, and take comfort in the life that they have with Him now. We look forward to the great day of the resurrection, when all of us are united with them on that great last day to live forever with Christ.
For us, it's a great challenge as we think about those who have gone before us—the faithful who have died in the faith. It is a challenge to stay true to the gospel they believed and the gospel that we believe in the face of so many difficulties. Even sometimes, thinking of those we have lost leads us to despair, leads us to wonder and question.
Where Is God in Our Suffering?
Combine that with all the suffering that we see around us—in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us—we often ask: Where is God in the midst of this? Where is God's blessing? Where are His promises? Where is the hope that we're supposed to have?
This is one reason why our lectionary chooses the Beatitudes, the blessings of Christ from Matthew chapter five, to remind us what blessing truly is like in the kingdom of God.
The Strange Beatitudes: Blessings That Don't Make Sense
Because these Beatitudes are super weird. They don't make any sense if you look at the world that we live in now. I know you're used to them. We read them every year, at least once, maybe more than once, and so they sound pretty great because we're used to the way they're said. If we translated them a little differently, you'd be like, "Pastor, that's not the way I remembered it when I was a kid." But our familiarity with them actually makes them seem less weird.
Because when Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," we hear that and we're like, "Oh yeah," but we don't really accept what that means. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" means blessed are the people who have been broken by life. Well, that's weird. We don't normally think of someone who's been broken down and beaten and hurt by the circumstances of their life as blessed.
Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn." He says blessed are those whose loved ones are dead. That's not blessing.
"Blessed are the meek." This isn't an attitude or an idea of humility. Blessed are the bottom rung of society who've been crushed by their life circumstances. It doesn't sound like blessing to me.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"—not the ones who look for power or money.
Jesus gives us a blessing that is upside down from the way the world thinks about it and the way our hearts think about it. Most people would not look at the reality of the Beatitudes and call that blessed.
The World's Version of the Beatitudes
I wonder what a Roman would say in a Beatitude—someone who lived in that ancient pagan worldview—or maybe one of the Pharisees. Could it be something like this?
Blessed are the bold, for they strive and get what they deserve.
Blessed are those who defend themselves and their household, for they will remain vigilant.
Blessed are the rich and powerful.
Blessed are those who know how to work the system and will compromise to get what they want.
Blessed are those who fight for what they deserve.
Blessed are the worldly, for they live in reality, not this ivory tower that you Christians live in.
Blessed are the conquerors, for they receive glory.
Blessed are those who defeat their enemies.
That sounds a little bit right, doesn't it? That is a little bit like what people think—not even just sometimes the Romans or the Pharisees, but sometimes even in our own churches. We think blessing comes when you fight and conquer and win, not when you are defeated or broken and you remain faithful to Christ.
Jesus calls blessing something that is completely upside down from what our hearts think is blessed, which is a huge challenge for us—a huge challenge for Christians everywhere—because every time something bad happens, we think, "Where is God's blessing?"
Christ's Blessing Has Nothing to Do with Circumstances
And instead, what we need to do is look at the blessing that Christ gives us, because the blessings of Christ have nothing to do with our circumstances. They have nothing to do with whether we are doing well or poorly, but have everything to do with the Savior who keeps His promises to us. Whether high or low, broken or strong, He comes to us to give us life.
And we see the amazing blessings in Christ, because He lives out this upside-down blessing Himself—a God who did not come down as a king or live in a palace, but grew up in a poor household, who gave up power and might, never used a miracle to defeat His enemies, never decided that He would go in and stride as a conqueror. He used His power to heal people, feed others, and to teach.
But most of all, the blessing of Christ is seen in His suffering and death, when Almighty God decided He was going to let the Pharisees beat Him up, the Gentiles whip Him, and then nail Him naked to a cross. That is the blessing of Christ: sacrifice, suffering, and death.
The Resurrection: Blessing Through the Grave
What an upside-down world with an upside-down Savior! How in the world could anybody call that blessing? But He shows that it is, because on the third day, He rises from the dead to give us life. And He appears to His disciples to show us that life in Christ is life through the grave, awaiting the resurrection.
This is the upside-down blessing of an upside-down world. Our Savior shows us what it means to be blessed in hurt and pain and even in death.
The Witness of the Saints Throughout History
And we can look at the history of the church—the people who have gone before us, the great, amazing heroes of the faith—they show us exactly that same thing. All Saints Day was made to celebrate people, not those who conquered, not those who fought, but those who stood there calmly and serenely while the sword came for their neck, while the lion opened its jaws, and while they were nailed to a cross upside down like St. Peter.
Because Jesus says, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely."
The blessing of Christ isn't associated with the good things of this world. It is just in His faithfulness, in His peace, and in His Word and Sacraments.
The Example of St. Paul
We can see it in St. Paul, who left a powerful job. He was one of the great ones, the great rising Pharisees in Jerusalem, sent out to persecute Christians and arrest people. And he saw Jesus on the road and gave it all up. He ended up living as an itinerant preacher, sometimes so poor that he had to work making tents to make sure he could live so he could preach on the weekends.
If you read his story, he writes about being whipped and beaten and stoned, being chased from town to town, and he ended up dying for the faith. Nobody would call that blessing—unless you're a Christian, unless you know that a man who is strengthened by Christ can face all those things, knowing that our life is not about our circumstances now, but the joy of the resurrection. Knowing that in the future, when Christ returns, He will judge the living and the dead and raise us to new life so we can live forever.
Our Challenge Today: Clinging to Christ's Promises
And so that brings us to today, to you and to me, where our challenge is always remembering that the blessing of Christ looks the same throughout the years: the Word and Sacrament, despite our life circumstances. And as we face difficulty, pain, hurt, health problems, mourning, and suffering, we have to cling to the truth that these Beatitudes give us.
Christ is there with us through all of it. Christ is there with us in every pain and hurt and circumstance, because the blessing of God is not what the world says—not riches and wealth and strength. The blessing of God was delivered to the world in the weakness of Christ and is there with us in our own weakness, our own pain.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
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