God creates complexity

Continuing our series on favorites, all three of the passages for today were favorites of at least one person.

 

The first reading was Ecclesiastes 3:1-13.

The psalm was Psalm 23.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (5:1-12).

When Jesus saw the crowds,

       he went up the mountain;

       and after he sat down,

              his disciples came to him.

       ²Then Jesus began to speak,

              and taught them, saying:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

       for theirs is the dominion of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn,

       for they will be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the meek,

       for they will inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

       for they will be filled.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful,

       for they will receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart,

       for they will see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers,

       for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

       for theirs is the dominion of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you

       and persecute you

       and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

              ¹²Rejoice and be glad,

                     for your reward is great in heaven,

                            for in the same way they persecuted the prophets

                                   who were before you.

The gospel of the Lord.

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The readings for today are probably some of the most beloved readings found in the Bible.  They are poetic, comforting, and fairly clear.  There is “a time to be born and a time to die.”  “Those who mourn…will be comforted.”  These iconic pairings are much more easily understandable than some of Jesus’ other sayings.

Or so it seems.  They appear clear and common sense, but on closer exploration, they are much more complicated than we give them credit for.

Ecclesiastes separates the times and seasons into their own spaces, making the distinctions seem clear.  Psalm 23 is a comforting reminder and prayer of God’s presence even as it acknowledges that we at times “walk through the darkest valley,” or as is more commonly quoted, “the valley of the shadow of death.”  Jesus, however, brings things that seem distinct together.  Not only are all of the blessings stated together, they run into each other.  The merciful probably also have a pure heart.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness also probably mourn the pain of injustice and suffering.

The Beatitudes actually remind me of the movie Inside Out.  The movie came out a few weeks ago and takes place largely from inside a soon-to-be teenager’s head.  In the control room are the emotions, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger.  These characters each have a color, which controls or determines each of the girl’s memories.  Most memories are the gold of Joy, but as the family moves to a new place, Sadness starts turning memories, especially Joy’s golden memories, blue.

Now, spoiler alert here.  In the end, the memories become multi-colored with Sadness’ blue and Joy’s gold, with the green of Disgust, the red of Anger, and Fear’s purple all mixed together on different memories.  And the memories become richer and stronger because of this greater complexity.  Like Jesus’ words that “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” we are richer and our experiences are richer when our emotions are fuller.  When we take time to really experience the many emotions we feel every day.

After all, if I don’t mourn, how will anybody know I need comfort?  If I don’t vocalize or express my anger, no one will know I’m upset or that anything is wrong.  If I don’t express my joy, how will anyone know to celebrate with me?

Just like day and night are not so different during twilight or dawn, our emotions and situations are rarely as clear-cut as we like to make them.  So how do we tell the difference?  How do we actually interpret Ecclesiastes and the Beatitudes?

When is the time to be born and the time to die for a baby who is stillborn or a person who survives after their heart has stopped?  What about the time to kill and the time to heal?  When is the time to mourn and the time to dance?  Or can those be the same times?  Have you ever found yourself weeping and laughing together?  In your bulletins is an insert with part of our readings today.  In the next few minutes, I invite you to split into small groups and share a time or two when one of the pairs from Ecclesiastes have both been true for you at the same time.

(time for sharing individually and then with the larger group)

Now, when have you experienced one of the Beatitudes?  Have you been comforted in your mourning?  Has your hunger and thirst for righteousness been filled?  I invite you to share again in your groups.

(time for sharing individually and then with the larger group)

We are complex people and that is precisely how God creates us.  God’s intention for us is to be complex beings who can experience many emotions at once.  It enables us to feel compassion and empathy for others.  It creates space and ways to be in relationship with those who are different from us.

God creates us for these complexities and relationships and in so doing, God creates us for love, the most complex of them all, which holds all of our contradictions and all of our emotions together at once.

Thanks be to God.