A Shift in Perspective

“A Shift in Perspective”

  Matthew 5:1-12

  January 30, 2011 

If this sermon is about anything, and that is a big if, it is a comparison of religion and spirituality.  To make this comparison there will be placed side by side scenes from each of the testaments.  This may suggest a comparison of faith traditions coming from the roots of each testament—Judaism and Christianity.  This is not the intention of the sermon.  I do not see the coming of Christ to be an end of the Old Testament and a beginning of a New Testament.  In the Christian Tradition a hallmark is that we celebrate not the end of something but rather a transition.  With that disclaimer let us look at today’s thoughts.

Religion, throughout Scripture, is not usually seen in a positive light.  The prophets, like today’s reading from Micah, speak often and strongly against the legalities and formal observances of and failures of religion.  The prophets, like Jesus in his day, are calling hearers to worship God in spirit and in truth.  Jesus in today’s gospel is calling us not to a new religion but to a spiritual transformation—a shift in our perspective.  It is a transition which, I am afraid, has not been fully achieved.

First, consider the setting for the gospel reading in Matthew.  It is a mountain, hence known as the Sermon on the Mount.  Now the book of Matthew presents the teaching of Christ in what is typically divided into five sections.  Some think this is a pattern reflecting the five books of the law in the Old Testament.  Whether or not this is the intent of Matthew, even a casual reading of this passage in which Jesus teaches the character of kingdom living brings to mind another mountain, Mount Sinai.  That is the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. What images come to your mind of that event on that mountain?  Whether from the words of scripture describing the event or from the embellished portrayals of art or movies, the scenes are pretty vivid.  There is the stony, jagged rock; the dark cloud veiling the top of the mountain; the laws carved into heavy stone tablet.  God is removed, distant, beyond, unapproachable.  Against this image compare the scene from today’s gospel—the Sermon on the Mount.  Any depiction of this scene has a rather pastoral, green hillside with the crowds sitting on a sunny slope and listening intently as Jesus teaches.  This comparison depicts a different perspective.  In Christ, God is now with us.  A fundamental shift in perspective, a transition.  The setting suggests that a new perspective is being ushered in as Christ begins to talk about the Kingdom of God.  It is a perspective that will be based on close, personal and intimate relationship, with God being present among humankind.

Second, consider the language of the words of Christ in this passage.  These opening words of the Sermon on the Mount are known as the Beatitudes.  In this passage the word “Blessed,” is often translated as “Happy.”  Both can be a bit misleading.  The words are sometimes mistakenly seen as a way to find happiness.  The words are meant rather to be, and are spoken by Jesus as, a blessing.  As such the intent is not horatory; they do not suggest “you ought to be meek,” or “you must be poor in spirit.”  There is no “IF.”  Rather, the words are spoken as a BLESSING.  The meaning is more closely translated as “honored by God.”  And as a blessing it is given and exists as a reality in the fact that it is pronounced.  The honor is not given because of the character of living but rather the character of living is in response to the divine favor received.  Kingdom living is a response to divine grace and is motivated because of grace.  Herein is another shift in perspective between religion and spirituality. Religion is a striving after, an attempt to achieve or attain the blessing of God through right action or thought.  Spirituality is accepting the blessing and grace of God and responding with transformed Kingdom living.

Third, consider the timing of the Beatitudes in relation to the response of the followers of Jesus.  The honor of God is pronounced upon them before they had accomplished anything.  They were honored by God from the very outset.  Think of this as an “installation” of the disciples.  They were entering into a ministry with Jesus and at their installation they receive the pronouncement of God upon their lives.  Some of the disciples would achieve being recognized as saints because of accomplishments and feats associated with their lives…but before any of those feats they are pronounced “honored by God.” 

Barak Obama, shortly after being elected as President of the United States was invited to deliver a commencement address at a university.  As the university was prone to do, they offered to President Obama an honorary doctorate degree.  Then, shortly before the date of the event, the university withdrew the honorary degree.  The reason offered for  withdrawing  the distinction was that the university traditionally offered such an honor for what they called a “completed body of work.”  Having been elected to the office of president did not, in their opinion, constitute a “completed body of work.”  President Obama not only kept the engagement but thanked the university for reminding him that his “body of work” was not nearly completed. 

That is another shift in perspective of religion and spirituality.  Religious honor is reserved for the completion and accomplishment of meeting certain standards.  Spirituality sees the inner worth and value, God’s honor, is inherent in any who enter into agreement or endeavor to live by Kingdom standards.

Consider also the substance of the message of the Beatitudes.  Notice the striking absence in the Beatitudes of any religious language. The hearers of Jesus were familiar with the Old Testament laws and knew all too well the ritual regulations for living presented by the Pharisees.  They must have been shocked by the shift in perspective as Jesus taught of a faith that would be best lived out in reordering life into a community of enduring relations of fidelity, of justice and faithful love, that could be best seen in day to day interaction with those around us. But, that was what Micah and the prophets had been calling for all along.  Jesus was saying that any relationship with God will be expressed in practical and life-changing ways that will reveal and expand our sense of relationship with God, with others and with all creation. 

The values presented in the Beatitudes were counter-cultural in Jesus’ day and remain so in ours.  Words like “meek,” “poor,” “hunger,” and the list just goes on…were not and are not headings in any self-help manual on how to attain one’s personal goals.  But, that is the point.  The way of the Kingdom is about setting self aside for the greater good of all others and all creation.  The shift in perspective from religion to spirituality is not about one’s personal goals. Spirituality is not so much about ritual observance and laws, it is not so must about other-worldliness, as it is about the living of life here and now from a whole new perspective.

Consider, finally, the audience of Jesus as he spoke the words of the Beatitudes.  Matthew makes reference to “seeing the multitudes.”  He also speaks of the “disciples coming to him.”

This is a point that has led to much debate about whether the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount were for the hearing of the multitudes or the smaller group of disciples.  The language of blessing suggests that the words were for those already committed to the Kingdom life.  The point may be that the line between the disciples and the multitudes is not clearly drawn and there is always admittance permitted to any from the multitude to step into the circle of the disciples.  Religion is about insiders and outsiders, division and differences.  Spirituality is about inclusiveness and is an invitation to “let all who will, come.” 

We live in a world where religion has divided persons and groups one from another. In the name of religion we continue to be divisive and at odds—against one another.  It is time, if we are going to survive, if we are to ever know peace with one another, that we shift our perspective from religion to spirituality, initiating reconciliation among those who had before seen only differences, who before had feared what they did not understand about each other.  This is a shift in perspective that in necessary for Kingdom living.

Conclusion:  In conclusion consider these questions:

I often see groups concerned about the Ten Commandments being displayed in certain places.  I have not seen nearly as much concern for the display of the Beatitudes. 

1.      Why is there greater passion for the hard and fast rules of the Old Testament than for the open-ended call to live by the Kingdom standards of the Beatitudes? 

2.      Why do we prefer to dwell on a God distant and hidden than a God With Us?   

3.      Why is there more willingness to labor to achieve the favor of God than there is to hear and receive the blessing of God offered freely by grace? 

4.      Why are we so much more committed to maintaining our particular religion than we are to opening ourselves to the power of transforming spirituality?

Jesus was asked by the Samaritan Woman at the Well, “to which mountain should we go to worship?” 

I ask you, on which mountain will you worship?  Where will you meet God in intimate relationship?  Where will you receive the honor and grace of God’s blessing?  Where will you

find the presence and grace of God to transform your life from the inside out? 

We, too, must worship in Spirit and in Truth.  Amen.