Micah 6:1-8
Psalm 15
1Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
The President of Louisville Seminary once said that he couldn’t wait to get to seminary himself. He knew that when he was finally able to examine scripture in its original languages, all of the ambiguity, all of the questions would be gone and the light would shine. That ended when he took his first classes in language and scriptural translation and interpretation. He thought that the original languages would give him insight into the text, and it did. It just gave him so much insight that as it gave him answers, it also gave him more and different questions.
I have found this while looking at the Beatitudes, this week’s gospel reading. There is something going on with the language, and the way that the language is structured, that tells us more than we know. So I beg, forgive me this walk through the history of the languages of the Bible. I know that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is important to our reading today.
The first thing that is important to learn is that there are several ways that the verb “to be” is rendered in scripture. In the Greek, it’s a verb phrase that’s slightly familiar because the first word in the phrase has become our word “ego.” In the strictest sense, when we talk about the ego, it is used to talk about “the I” and who I am. Psychology teaches us about healthy egos, and over developed egos. It teaches us about strong egos and weak egos. In the end, it is all about who I am. But there is another way that the verb “to be” is rendered.
Many places in the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures, the verb “to be” is rendered without the verb. In English, this comes across like “Me Tarzan, you Jane.” We understand the sentence should more correctly be rendered “I am Tarzan, you are Jane” but it’s not and still we understand it without the verb. In the Greek and Hebrew, this verbless phrase is not only correct, but is used often. It’s just one of the quirks of the language. Maybe the best answer to why sometimes you use a verbal phrase and other times a phrase without a verb is that the more formal the situation, the more likely it would be to use the verb.
In Hebrew and Greek there is one other time when the verb phrase “to be” is used and that’s when talking about God. In the Hebrew, we would always say “people do, only God is.” This is how the Hebrew Scriptures prevent any misuse of “The Great I AM,” they never used the verb “to be” for any other purpose than for the holy name of God.
The other thing that is important in this scripture is that often when this passage is read, there is an emphasis on reading the words “blessed are.” Often it is read in an imperative voice. Often it is read in a very bold voice saying “they are blessed, blessed are poor in spirit…” and so on. There may even be a lesser emphasis on the specific blessing, “blessed are poor in spirit… for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Well, today, based on these two language gems, I want to share with you a new way to read this gospel message.
You see, the language of the Beatitudes is not built around an imperative verb voice. There is no extra boldness written into the original text. In fact, these blessings are verbless clauses. In the Greek, it is written, “Blessed the ones who mourn because they will be comforted.” The “are” is there, but in the original languages, it’s not written.
I ask this question often, but today it is more apt than ever, “So what, Paul, what’s at stake with this.”
Most simply stated, these blessings are statements, statements of fact. The way the Beatitudes are worded, they indicate who is blessed and why. They aren’t aimed most directly at any community that will be, they are aimed at the community of the moment. Jesus is telling his disciples that the poor and disassociated, the weak and the lame, the widows and the orphans, those who live on the fringes of society are blessed. Not that they will be blessed but they are blessed.
Yes, many, not all, but many of these blessings are rendered in the future, but the fact that these people are blessed is in the present tense. Maybe for the blessings rendered in the future tense it’s kind of like a bank CD. Yes, it’s coming, and it can’t be cashed in until sometime in the future, but the blessing is still yours.
Here’s what’s important. This isn’t so much an advertisement by the Lord asking people to become hungry and thirsty for righteousness. It is a declaration that those who are hungry and those who are thirsty for righteousness are already blessed. Yes, the Lord wants us to be merciful, but the point is that those who are pure of heart are now and will forevermore be blessed.
The Beatitudes are not so much a “how to” of God’s blessings, they are a “who are.” This isn’t a guide for the future, it is a note of the present.
Do any of these Beatitudes sound familiar? Micah tells us that the Lord requires us to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. Using these glorious words that became the theme of the 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) in 2008, the Lord has shown us what is important even in the ancient days of the prophet.
What’s a pity is that this falls at the end of a piece that begins like this, “Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel .” The prophet doesn’t speak these words because he is ready to give the people of God a lollypop. He is sharing with the world what is required of a good disciple, and it wouldn’t be necessary to share this instruction if everything were going according to plan.
The Rev. Dr. David Johnson posted this tidbit on his facebook status yesterday:
Modern heresies contradicted: You can put too much meat on a sandwich. You can pay too much for a bottle of wine. You can be too careful. It can feel right and still be wrong. You can be too thin. You can be too rich (and most of us probably are, given the state of much of the world.)
I believe his point to be that the words of Micah are not always present in the world the Rev. Dr. Johnson knows, and since where he resides in that world is in Austin
But if this seems silly, or at least heretical to the modern world, just remember this, if we are wise by human standards, then we don’t leave a lot of room for Godly wisdom. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians makes this very clear. God chooses the foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chooses what is weak to shame the strong. God uses the low and despised to nullify the high of this world so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
In all of these things, blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers, for they are blessed not for their own benefit, but to the glory of the Lord.
Still, there is a blessing for the people of the Rev. Dr. Johnson’s modern heresies, those who are persecuted for their witness in the Lord, their reward is also in heaven. Just as Isaiah was persecuted, just as Jeremiah was persecuted, just as Micah was persecuted, so are we who bring the name of the Lord to the world.
So let us not revile those who the world says are weak, for they are strong in God’s blessings. Let us not put ourselves above anyone because of who the world tells us we are because our wisdom is God’s folly. In the end too, we will all be blessed in the way of the prophets. We are all blessed, welcomed in the waters of our baptism as the people of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment