Majesty Beyond

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:2-12, ESV

These words are like the giant sequoia redwoods. We’ve seen a million trees--but there is something majestic about these words. Spoken thousands of years ago, yet we know they are for today. The little two-dimensional strokes on a page tower high to the heavens, sink roots far deep into the fabric of life and reality and soul. The transparent thin-leaf page on which these words are recorded cannot be grasped by our arms, far wider, thicker, ancient, more ringed by years than we can grasp. And each passing season of church history brings another tree-ring of growth, and countless reflection by those far wiser than I. What words do we have to say in front of a sequoia tree? What words do I have to add about the beatitudes, and all that has been said?

We make trips to the sequoia national forest with expectation (someday I hope to go!). Yet the creased and gnarled ancient trees in our backyards go unseen. And sometimes the beatitudes are unseen--we’ve read them so often, they are tucked in the Bible we have so readily available. We fail to come with expectation. We read them through our own lenses.

So just a fresh perspective, coming with expectation. And a due caveat--I write from my own cultural perspective. But I am seeking to learn from the international church. So come with expectation, with our brothers and sisters.

Come, stand in a Honduran church, where injustice is rampant. The woman clapping her hands next to you has not been able to afford eggs or meat for many months. Beyond her, a woman who has lost her son in the carnage of a shooting. A young man who was sold on the streets to survive stands in worship. Violence and poverty pervades outside the walls. But here they read the beatitudes--how would you read it with them? In their poverty of spirit and materials, their mourning, they celebrate life, vida, and all that God has given them. They celebrate the reality of having the kingdom, the reality of the promises of filling, comfort, seeing God. This is one of the gifts of the Latin American church.

Come with expectation, and pick up the beat of an African worship song. Among AIDS, wars, violence. If you stood here and read the beatitudes with them--how would you read it with them? They celebrate the victory of God that overturns the powers and the orders, that the meek will inherit the earth, the poor will have the kingdom, the persecuted have the kingdom. This is one of the gifts of the African church.

Come with open heart. A small house church of Muslim background believers. They have counted the cost. Many have been rejected by family, and know that their own family would kill them in honor for Allah and the family name. They celebrate the perseverance in light of the promise, that they who hunger and thirst now will be filled, they who mourn will be comforted. This is one of the gifts of the Middle Eastern church.

Come with open eyes. If we went to an East Asian church, many suffering under increased persecution. Uncertain about the future, where the act of going to church is one of complete surrender and trust. How would we read these familiar words in this all-too-unfamiliar setting, of the fear we Americans have not faced? Perhaps we would find another gift: they celebrate the majesty of God, the God who has the kingdom to bestow, the God who has riches to give as an inheritance, the God who is Father, the God who fills.

And in a South Asian church, in its diverse expressions in Nepal, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, etc. If we stopped and read the beatitudes with them, we would yet be enriched by their gift. they celebrate God as the one who walks among us as a teacher. Jesus, who was poor in spirit; Jesus who mourned over the rich young ruler who walked away, wept over Jerusalem, mourned at the ravages of death at Lazarus’ tomb; who was pure in heart and saw God and revealed God to us; who was persecuted. Jesus who walks among us, teaching us the promise in word and deed and character.

The majesty of the beatitudes cannot be captured by one culture, one expression. Our brothers and sisters in Christ can gift us, and we can gift them. Let us see the beatitudes, see the Church, with new eyes, together.

Many of these main themes were garnered from Sandra Maria Van Opstal, The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World.