Jesus honors the dishonored: all saints a

El santo evangelio según San Mateo (5:1-12)

¹When 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“Honored are the poor in spirit,

                        for theirs is the dominion of heaven.
                 ⁴“Honored are those who mourn,

                        for they will be comforted.
                 ⁵“Honored are the meek,

                        for they will inherit the earth.
                 ⁶“Honored are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

                        for they will be filled.
                 ⁷“Honored are the merciful,

                        for they will receive mercy.
                 ⁸“Honored are the pure in heart,

                        for they will see God.
                 ⁹“Honored are the peacemakers,

                        for they will be called children of God.
                 ¹⁰“Honored are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

                        for theirs is the dominion of heaven.
                 ¹¹“Honored 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.”

El evangelio del Señor.

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Honor is a word that carries a different weight for me than the word blessed—maybe it just feels more serious.  We honor those who risk and sacrifice their lives for others, we honor people for their service to others, and judges who make decisions about justice that impact people’s lives and futures are called “Honorable.”  There is a sense of life or death, deep commitment and deep willingness to risk connected to the word “honor.”  So it makes a different kind of sense to me than “blessed” does.

When Jesus says, “Honored are the poor in spirit, ⁴“Honored are those who mourn, ⁵“Honored are the meek, ⁶“Honored are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, ⁷“Honored are the merciful, ⁸“Honored are the pure in heart, ⁹“Honored are the peacemakers, ¹⁰“Honored are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, ¹¹“Honored are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,” I am struck by how much we not only don’t honor, but even actively dishonor those same groups of people.

We live in a culture that scorns those who have the spirit of the poor,

that diagnoses grief that lasts “too long” as a psychological disorder,

that rants and raves, throwing power around to intimidate the meek into losing their land, possessions, and rights,

that dismisses right relationships in favor of prestige, access, or sexual advantage,

that seeks harsher punishment and mandatory minimums instead of mercy,

that dismisses hopeful visionaries as naïve,

that increases military spending and threat around the world instead of finding nonviolent ways to create and nurture peace,

that persecutes and dismisses cries of pain by claiming all lives matter instead of being in solidarity with the persecuted, affirming that Black Lives do Matter,

that lies and spews hatred, reviling, persecuting, and uttering evil falsely against those who seek to live with integrity, following God.

We live in a culture that doesn’t honor the characteristics and people that Jesus honors.  This is easiest to see at both ends of our baptismal journeys, which we lift up especially today for All Saints Sunday.

You only need to look as far as television commercials for beauty products or plastic surgeons promising to make you look years younger in order to know that our culture doesn’t honor death.  Instead of honoring it, our culture denies it and tries to avoid it no matter the cost financially or in terms of quality of life.

That is not God’s way, though.  God’s way honors death and those who mourn.  We carry the names of loved ones who have died close to our hearts with the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, especially in the thin place that is communion. 

We hold memorial services and funerals, creating space to honor those who have died and those who love them.  And as we honor people’s lives and deaths in these ways, we honor the God of death and resurrection—the one who joined us in death on the cross so that we might join Christ also in the Resurrection.  Mourners receive Jesus’ special honor.

And so do the pure in heart.  And who is more pure in heart than those just beginning their baptismal journey, many of whom are babies, those who are most vulnerable—unable even to care for themselves.  Yet we, as followers of Christ and as a community of faith, surround them with love and claim them as family in the body of Christ.  We honor them.  We make promises with them and on their behalf.  We call them to ministries of peacemaking, we lift up a hunger and thirst for righteousness, we call them to mercy.

Jesus honors those who are not at the places of honor and in so doing invites us to honor those who would otherwise receive scorn, or even be ignored or dismisses altogether.

Jesus honors them.  Just before today’s sermon on the mount, Jesus sits with them.  Jesus heals all those in need of healing.  And then Jesus calls us to follow him, to seek out the meek, the peacemakers, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and those about whom all kinds of lies are told.  Jesus calls us, in fact, to seek out the ones who truly deserve—and in fact receive—honor from God.

Today during communion, we’ll have the opportunity to light a candle to honor those who have died, completing their baptismal journeys, and those who are just beginning them.  In these ways we honor those who mourn and we honor the pure in heart.

And, as you feel moved by the Spirit, I invite you also to take a piece of origami paper on the back table and write the name of one of those Jesus proclaims as honored: the peacemakers, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted.  They can be dead or alive.  Then leave the paper there and throughout this week, we will honor them in prayer, folding them into origami cranes as prayers also for peace throughout the world. 

As we do this, we join with God in honoring those whom God honors, we join in solidarity with those who are marginalized and whom the world derides, trusting that God’s honor is not earned, but freely given in baptism and in communion. 

We follow Jesus, who showers honor on the unexpected and dismissed.  The Holy Spirit then sends us out to locate ourselves with those most marginalized and to honor the ones whom God honors.

The dominion of heaven is manifest when God’s standards for honor and blessing are enacted here on earth.  As Jesus proclaims who is honored, Jesus also invites all of us into relationship and solidarity with them.

Thanks be to God.