Father Gary’ Sermon

Inspired from Matthew 5:1-12

Proclaimed on January 30, 2005

We know of Calvin Coolidge, as he was once the President of our nation. Before taking this office, however, he served as Vice President. In this capacity he presided over the Senate. On one occasion an altercation between two of the Senators grew very heated. At one point one of the Senators became so angry that he told his collogue just where he could go. After a period of stunned silence out of shock that such language had been used in this chamber, the offended Senator stormed up to Coolidge. He heatedly asked, “Mr. President, did you hear what he said to me?” After what seemed a long period of silence as Coolidge leafed through the pages of a book, he finally responded, “You know, I have been looking through the rule book. You don’t have to go.”

This same message is in our Gospel lesson today. Jesus had been identified as the long expected Messiah. This followed a long period in which the Hebrew nation had neither King nor prophet. These had ended after a long line of failed Judges and Kings. It had all started with Moses who had established the first national covenant between God and the people of God. Within this covenant were the first established standards called the Ten Commandments. These focused on what should not be done. Now in today’s Gospel we see Jesus, like Moses before him, proclaiming new standards to his followers. This was to be expected as it was expected that the new Messiah would establish a new covenant. What Jesus delivered are the Beatitudes. They differed from the Ten Commandments in that they focused more on what should be done. The biggest problem, however, is that if the Hebrews failed to keep the old commandments, they found these beatitudes to be impossible. Biblical scholars to this day continue to complain that Jesus could not have been serious to have established standards that were entirely too lofty. Christians today must likewise agree in that you can witness many church groups pushing for the posting of the Ten Commandments in our nation’s courtrooms, but never once do you hear an inkling of having the beatitudes of Christ given such a place of respect.

Even so, Jesus took the Beatitudes very seriously. These nine statements perfectly describe his ministry. Practically, they succinctly describe how Jesus overcame sin. While the original covenant was revolutionary in that it limited just retribution to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the coming new covenant would be even more revolutionary. When anyone did evil to Jesus, he did not repay it in kind as permitted by the Law. Rather he absorbed it. He not only took the evil into himself, but he responded with something good or positive in its place.

In essence, what Jesus did was to completely break the cycle of sin. Indeed, his goodness seemed to act like a magnet for our human sin. Ultimately, we as humans had him killed. While hanging on the Cross, he literally absorbed all of our sin. He took our sin upon himself. This resulted in God having to turn his eyes away Jesus out of judgment. This was the genius, however, of the ministry of Christ. By Jesus taking our sin upon himself in his death, we literally sent Jesus to hell. His crucifixion was the living out of the Beatitudes. His death absorbed our sin and hatred. His death won for us the victory over sin and death through the resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit we are granted the power and the ability to live out the Beatitudes in our own lives. While we absorbed the evil of others, the Holy Spirits empowers and comforts us.

How does this work for us today? The popular Twelve Step Programs of many self-help groups holds the key. The first two steps are especially important: first to admit that we are powerless and secondly to acknowledge that a Higher Power can restore and empower us. Another way of describing this comes through the words of Mother Teresa, who once stated, “We are pencils for God.”

In responding to this quote an anonymous writer composed The Parable of the Pencil. It began with the great pencil maker speaking to his pencils before packing them in their boxes and sending them off. Here are his admonitions:

1. “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

2. “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you will need it to become a become a better pencil.

3. “You will be able to correct many mistakes—but only with humility.

4. “The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.

5. “On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write. Do this with all your heart.

This, therefore, is the epiphany in today’s Gospel. WE DON’T HAVE TO GO TO HELL. We sent Jesus in our place. Any success we have now comes through him who overcame hell that we may live and overcome the evil of the world.