“Our Experience of Being Blessed”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – February 17, 2019

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 1; Matthew 5:1-12

 

    This morning we are going to discuss the value of studying the Beatitudes.  These twelve verses set the tone for what was to follow in the Sermon on the Mount.  The three chapters of Matthew 5, 6, and 7 are not a sermon.  They represent a collection of Jesus' teachings that was also used by the writer of Luke.  (Luke 6:20f)

    When we actually take the time to read the Scriptures, we can remain unimpressed by lessons that describe the story of Jesus birth through his resurrection, most of which we have heard before. We know the story.  However, when we study the Bible with others, it can become a remarkable experience.  We become impressed by the honest opinions that others have developed through the years about what was written.

    Our Bible Study class last Tuesday spent the entire hour discussing the meaning of just one verse.  A member in the group said, "I never thought that Colossians was as important as it is." 

    One of my favorite pastimes when I was a student at Albright College was sitting around with a group of guys talking about the purpose and meaning of life. There were times when other guys would overhear what we were discussing.  They would shake their heads in disbelief that we would spend so much time talking about where life was taking us.  These were mostly engineers and pre-Med students who had fairly well-mapped out their life's goals.

    Through our group discussions during my college experience, many of us learned what was obvious.  We were all on a different learning curve in our awareness.  I happened to be one of those who was a very late bloomer. I graduated from college still wondering what I wanted to do to earn a living.  What was worse is that I had a dual major in history and the dead language of ancient Greek.  Not many businesses would be eager to hire someone with that academic background and no work-experience in the company's field.

    Since Wesley Theological Seminary was within driving distance, I decided to try a year to see if I enjoyed the training. The desire to attend seminary came strictly from my curiosity to see if the curriculum was a good fit.

    Almost immediately my life began to open to the world of Spirituality. Spirituality was universal among all people regardless of what they believed.  I became and remained fascinated.  It was then that the Beatitudes became a marvelous study for me about human potential. 

    I learned that a person's happiness would never come by their desire to experience it. Such feelings of well-being and personal confidence develop as a result of stepping outside of one's self-absorption and extending their life's energy toward others without any need for something to come back to them in return.   

    Think about this first attitude of being in our lesson, "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them."  I was completely at home by learning that a person does not have to know anything profound or religious before the spirit of compassion could become something worth developing.   

    I began my journey realizing that it was okay to be out-of-control.  It was okay to have cloudy-thinking with no iron-clad goals in mind.  This thought was contrary to how countless students were planning their lives.  It was okay to drift in whatever way the wind was blowing as long as I was motivated by wanting to be helpful to people.  (John 3:8)

    This was insane thinking. How does a person market themselves by saying to some corporate Human Resource people, "I would enjoy working for you? I want to be helpful in any way that I can." I am sure such an interview would have ended quickly. However, I loved the freedom and comfort that came to me when I had no particular destination in mind. Life was truly an adventure and still is.

    Another Beatitude is "Happy are those who are humble." It was easy for me to be humble because I did not have anything going for me that gave me bragging rights to some success. Likewise, it was easy for me to understand, "Happy are those who are merciful.  I could be merciful because everyone was way ahead of me in almost every category. I respected them. Who was I to judge anyone when my self-esteem was not an energy that motivated me to move toward a specific horizon? 

    While everyone else was striving to find their place in life, I drifted as a pawn in the hands of the chess players known as District Superintendents of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.  They moved me around from church to church always against my will.

    The truth is that among the five churches that I have served during the last 51 years, Centenary is the only church that caused me to say "Yes, I will go." In Bermuda, I am approaching the age when most people are grown-ups and yet I feel like I am still a child that needs guidance. (Matthew 18:3-4).

    I am telling you these things because I wanted you to know that it is okay to drift during certain phases of our life.  It is okay not to know what is waiting for us tomorrow.  It is okay that we do not need to solve all the mysteries of life.  It is okay to experience the freedom that allows unseen hands to be on the steering wheel of our life-experiences and opportunities.

    These qualities that are mentioned in the Beatitudes are part of our life-experience when we transition from one group of tasks to another.  Being at suburban, rural, and inner-city churches, we always had to adjust to completely different cultures. One of the measures of a successful life is remaining happy while we may appear out-of-control in the eyes of other people. 

    There is a delightful man who is employed at the Esso station down the street from our church.  He is always a pleasure to meet when I fill my tank. I've watched him glow around every customer that comes into the station.  I asked him what keeps him happy all the time.  He responded, "I am always excited to get out of bed in the morning and realize that I have a new day to live." 

    It does not take much to remain happy in life when gratitude is the source of a morning-meditation as soon as our feet hit the floor. This is what it is like to feel blessed. No one else can give us this spirit. It grows from trusting completely that normal" the river carrying us downstream knows exactly where it is going. 

    Jesus did this very thing in one of the most obscure parts of the world.  The Gospels are clear that he was a wanderer teaching anyone who would listen to what he had to say.  There were times when he may not have known where his next meal was coming from or where he would spend the night. (Matthew 8:20)

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was equally in unknown territory during the last phase of his life.  During the last speech that he delivered on April 3, 1968, he said:

When I arrived in Memphis, people began to tell me about the threats that were out there, or what would happen to me at the hands of some of our sick white brothers.

 

Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter to me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.  Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will.  And God has allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so, I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not afraid of anyone.

    The next day, Dr. King's life ended when he was assassinated by James Earl Ray, an unknown man who would only be historically remembered because he pulled the trigger of his Remington 30-06 rifle killing a man whose influence is still spreading.

    Dr. King's last words were said to Ben Branch, a musician who was to play at a function that night.   He said, "Ben, at the rally tonight, please play, Take My Hand, Precious Lord on that saxophone of yours.  Play it real good."

    The point of this remembrance is that no one has the ability to see what God can do with a single life that simply sowed seeds of fairness, justice, inclusiveness, equality, and equal opportunities, after coming to the realization that all of us in the world are really brothers and sisters who have never realized that fact.

    Dr. King began his ministry never aiming that it would become larger than his current church. He had his PhD.  He had been trained by excellent professors at Boston University. He had a fabulous church when one evening, people came to him and asked him to lead all their people once the match toward equality had been ignited.

    A fifteen-year-old girl, Claudette Colvin, refused to give her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested for violating the law.  Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the same thing.  Suddenly, Dr. King had something stir in him that could no longer remain still or silent. The world has never been the same.

     When a single life makes a global difference, it is the result of unseen hands causing someone to walk into a moment with a message whose time had come.  No one needs to strive for perfection, notoriety, or having a massive influence over millions of people.

    The Beatitudes are correct by starting every sentence in our lesson with "Happy are those who . . . or Blessed are those who . . ."  It is also okay to remain blind about what becomes of our lives.  Happiness is one of the ways we feel blessed. It is an attitude of being that makes our spirits glow in the dark.  Those invisible hands will do the rest.

      

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

We thank you, God, for creating us with the potential to leave our world a better place because we have lived.  We know that you are the potter and we are the clay. Yet, we are also aware of the tension within us when self-interest competes with the attitudes of being that Jesus taught. Enable us to realize that every aspect of life has the ability to help our spirits to mature. The path is filled with many challenges. Help us to recognize that there is a purpose for everything that comes up for us.   How blessed we are to have so many teachers once we understand how our clay is being molded. Amen.

      

PASTORAL PRAYER  

Thank you, God, for being the inspirational source of our lives.  We want to make thoughtful decisions.  We want to wear smiles and carry ourselves with joy-filled attitudes of being.  We want our spirits to communicate that this world is not the only one that gives us confidence. We trust in the invisible hands that guide our lives. We confess that many of us turn off our glow because of hurt feelings, frustrations in our relationships, and health issues that can produce anxious moments.

We seek healing for the areas of our lives that evoke worries and rob us of our peace.  Guide us to use our Sabbaths as days for rest. Guide us to take better care of ourselves.  Guide us to saturate our minds with the words of thoughtful authors, to spend more moments in physical exercise, and more quality time reserved for our families.  Guide us to understand that our spirits need nourishment if we are to bear fruit. 

Today we pray for people who find themselves caught in financial challenges.  We pray for the leaders of our country who daily find themselves bombarded with issues that have no quick-fix solutions.  With so many nations in rebellion against their leadership, how often the world's people need to remind themselves to turn their spears into plows, and their venomous words into words that are filled with solutions. In all of our pursuits, guide our memories to recall the words of our Master "Love one another."  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . .