Makarios

MAKARIOS

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

In her memoir, An American Childhood, Annie Dillard writes about her growing years spent in a church much like this one-upper-middle class, well educated, a bit formal. She did not accept uncritically the teachings of the Sunday school at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, but was drawn to what she heard there. She heard the prophetic words of the Bible and they took root in her heart. But she has this to say about her Christian formation.

"The adult members of [the church] adverted to the Bible unreasonably often. . . . Why did they spread this scandalous document before our eyes? If they had read it, I thought, they would have hid it. They didn't recognize the vivid danger that we would, through repeated exposure, catch a case of its wild opposition to their world. Instead they bade us study great chunks of it, and think about those chunks, and commit them to memory, and ignore them."

THE BIBLE AND POLITICS ~ A RADICAL MESSAGE

The Beatitudes fall into the category of beautiful and powerful words, often committed to memory and diligently ignored. And why not?

We heard the choir sing Matthew's text which is the more familiar and seemingly spiritual. Matthew's version may even sound quite beautiful and comforting-"Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers." But in Luke they are unnerving and radical. Luke's version-our reading for today-is rooted in socio-economic reality. We'll be seeing a lot of this social critique as we make our way through the Gospel of Luke this year. It is his emphasis. From Mary's song when she first learns she is pregnant-"God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." (1:52-53) to Jesus' manifesto at the beginning of his ministry-"God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free." (4:18b-19)

You've heard me say this a hundred times, but one cannot possibly read the Bible and divorce it from politics. Jesus was executed as an enemy of the state. His message had political content then as it does now. When you mess around with issues of poverty, health care, and criminal justice as he did, you are in the realm of politics. Of course, the reason so many people say politics shouldn't be mentioned in church, is that they equate politics with conflict and wish to keep divisiveness out of the church so that it can be a sanctuary of peace.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLITICS AND PARTISANSHIP

But when we use the term "politics," we need not mean "partisanship." Politics is simply the means by which we structure ourselves to be a society that works. And as Christians, part of our definition of a society that works is a society that works for everyone. We bring the values of our faith to this process. Christian ideals exemplified by Jesus, can be implemented through programs and platforms conceived by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, and Socialists. We bring our faith into real life as citizens every time we evaluate how well a party or candidate is living up to Biblical ideals and vote accordingly. Conversations about these issues belong in church.

Today, Luke has some very interesting things to say about the social order. Notice the setting. It's not the sermon on the Mount but the sermon on the Plain-the level playing field.

Luke 6:17-26

17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

"Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

BLESSEDNESS WAS RESERVED FOR THE GODS AND THE ELITE

Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the reviled. . . . blessed. The word in Greek is makarios, the sermon title. In the ancient Greek thought that so influenced the New Testament world, makarios described the gods. They were the blessed ones.

Having achieved a state of happiness and contentment, they lived apart from the cares and worries of ordinary people. In time, that term came to be applied also to the elite, the ruling classes. They too, were perceived to be insulated from the cares of everyday life by their wealth and power. Makarios. When the peasants of Jesus' time heard that word, that's where their minds would go. Makarios. Blessed. Those terms belonged to the realm of the gods and to the privileged classes who surely had gained their position because they were the recipients of God's favor.

BUT JESUS SAYS THAT GOD BLESSES THE POOR, THE HUNGRY, AND THE OUTCAST

And then this Jesus came down and stood on a level place with the multitude, met them eye to eye, and said "blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the dregs." You are the elite in God's estimation. And even more shocking, he looked also into the eyes of the leaders, the so-called blessed ones and said, "But woe to the rich, the full, the laughing ones, the people held in high social esteem." Woe to you!

AND WOE TO THE RICH

Ouch. Woe to the rich. In comparison with 97% of the world now, we would fit in that category. I don't know about you, but I don't come to church to hear Jesus insult me like that! Actually, that's not true. That is why I come to church. I do need to be reminded often of where God's priorities lie and of exactly how much my accomplishments are worth in the kingdom of heaven. I don't want to be the pastor in the story I heard this week.

A young man purchased a new Lamborghini and decided he wanted to have it blessed. He first approached a priest at the small Catholic church in his Chelsea neighborhood. "Of course, my son," he said. "But what's a Lamborghini?"

Well, Father, if you don't know what a Lamborghini is, I don't think I'd want your blessing."

So he drove a little farther to a Baptist Church in Cambridge and caught the pastor at the after-school program feeding the children a snack. "Sure, I'd be happy to do that for you," she said. "But what's a Lamborghini?"

Frustrated with these Philistines, he drove further down Mass. Ave and finally found himself in Lexington where he stopped in front of a beautifully cared for church and hailed the pastor. "Sir, I'm looking for a clergyperson who would say a blessing for my Lamborghini."

"A Lamborghini! Wow. Leather interior? Overhead cam?" the pastor was delighted. Then there was a slight pause ... "But what's a blessing?"

HOW CAN THIS PASSAGE BE "GOOD NEWS?"

So what does this troubling passage have to say to us today? Must we hear those "woes" as an indictment? Does Jesus automatically place the rich in a less favored category than the poor? No, I think there is a way of making this good news for all of us.

First, Jesus does not say that poverty should be embraced because it confers blessings. No, this is a description of how God intends society to be the new realm that Jesus is initiating. The poor, hungry, mournful, and rejected will participate in a kingdom of plenty where they will be full, happy, and accepted. Jesus talks about this realm as present (the kingdom of God is among you) and yet to come. It is the church's job to be creating that ideal realm God keeps talking about. Blessings come in the form of sox and sandwiches and also as movements, activism, and legislation.

And about those "woes." Many times they are translated as a curse. In fact, one version of the gospel has "Damn you who are rich!" But that need not be the way the Greek word for "woe" is interpreted. It might, in fact, be an expression of sorrow for them, similar to Jesus' compassion for the rich man who could not follow him because he had to many possessions.

"The Greek word for "woe" ouai (oo-ah-eeee) is the cry of the professional mourners who were a customary part of funeral processions in the ancient world. It is the wail of a heart that torn by grief. 'Woe to you' can be read as 'Poor you.'" (From a sermon by Rev. Sydney V. Jackson, Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio.)

Poor you who are full and stuffed with so many things, because there is no room left for God. Poor you who are happy and laughing now, because sorrow inevitably comes, and you will be unprepared. Wealth and status do not protect, nor do they guarantee happiness. Poor you, no matter how wealthy and comfortable you are, you do not escape sorrow, privation, losses, and times of deep loneliness. And if wealth is all we have, "woe," indeed. The sad life of Anna Nicole Smith is evidence of that.

But if we have attended to the first part of Jesus' sermon and know that God blesses us richly and abundantly especially when we are most down, then we will be better able to survive when adversities arrive. Ernest Hemingway wrote, "The world breaks everyone and afterward we are strong at the broken places." I think the Beatitudes would put it, "God is strong at our broken places."

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