Today’s Old Testament lesson can sound confusing. The setting is a court of law. The Lord is bringing a suit against the people of Israel. The judge and jury are the mountains and hills and the foundations of the earth itself. And God says, “What have I done to you that you treat me the way you do? I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. I saved you from the Moabites and look at the way you treat me. What do you have to say for yourself? Plead your case before the mountains and the hills.”
Then the voice of the people of Israel answers, and they don’t have an answer, so they plead – asking, “what kind of sacrifice does God want to atone for our behavior? A calf, a thousand rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? What about my first born child, would that appease God?”
The prophet, Micah answers for God. “He has told you, O Mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God…” The Lord doesn’t want sacrifices – he wants your heart – and for you to treat everyone as if you were dealing with the Lord himself.
So, even though the Old Testament is full of information on how to atone for our sins by offering sacrifices, we learn here that there is something that is more important to God than the sacrifices we make for him. That something else is found in the way we treat and respond to the people around us. But by the time Jesus came along, the people had mostly forgotten.
The leaders, the priests and the Pharisees and Sadducees had become arrogant and prideful. But Paul tells us to “let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” The problem with the sacrifices is that some people take great pleasure in boasting about those sacrifices. They become a source of pride and pride always draws us away from God.
Let’s take a look at our Gospel lesson. This is the famous Sermon on the Mount from the gospel of Matthew. Matthew has five sermons built into his gospel. This is the prologue to the first sermon, that portion that has become to known as the Beatitudes, which is simply Greek for blessings. One writer has said that this is the instruction manual for how we are to behave.
It starts out by saying that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. But the teaching seems to be to his disciples. In those days, the teacher always taught sitting down – it says, he sat down and his disciples came to him and he taught them.
Blessed are the poor in spirit - Blessed are the meek – Blessed are those who mourn – blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – Blessed are the merciful – Blessed are the pure in heart – Blessed are the peacemakers - Blessed those who are persecuted – Blessed are you when you are persecuted for my sake…
As Jesus talked to the people, they probably thought he was crazy – these people lived in a time and under a regime where they were persecuted, they mourned the loss of their loved ones at the hands of the Romans, they had to remain meek because if they didn’t they would be crucified as rebels. That was a way of life for them and they didn’t feel very blessed for it.
Are any of these things that you might be able to boast in – well, we would sound awful silly boasting over the first four. “I’m poorer in spirit that you are…” “I’m meeker than you…” I have more to mourn about than you do…” “I hunger and thirst more than you…” And yet at seminary, I remember people who did just that – “I’m more persecuted than you…”And it became a source of pride to be persecuted.
But look at the others – “Blessed are the merciful” – doesn’t God call us to be merciful every day? Isn’t that what Micah is calling us to do in the first lesson? To do justice and to love mercy? “Blessed are the pure in heart – for they shall see God.” And that is the whole point of why we are here, why we are sitting in this building this morning – to be able to see God – both here on earth and eventually in heaven.
So how do we become pure in heart? According to Micah, we do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. According to Matthew, we are meek, and we are merciful, we are peacemakers, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Even the Psalm gets into the mix here – the psalmist asks, “Who may dwell in your tabernacle, who may abide on your holy hill: those who lead a blameless life and who speak truth.” God holds us to a pretty high standard.
Matthew really turns the world upside down - what the world believes is the opposite of God’s reality and that’s the most common theme in the gospels. But Jesus doesn't issue this as an order but, instead, he gives a blessing. He promises that, when our need is greatest, whether we mourn, or hunger and thirst, or find ourselves persecuted -- there we will find God--and there we will find blessing, and our lives will be made stronger.
Paul tells us that this didn't make any sense to either the Jews or the Greeks. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn't believe the signs that Jesus gave because they weren't showy like parting the seas or raining down manna from heaven. The Greek Stoics and Epicureans found it foolish to think that a "god" would be meek and mild or would come down and die willing.
But for those who are being saved – (Christians who believe) - it is the very power of God and the wisdom of God to choose the lowly, the foolish, and the despised of the world, so that no one could boast in the presence of God. Jesus’ sacrifice was God’s doing, not ours. So if we are going to boast, let us boast in the cross of Christ, and walk humbly with our God; this God who loved us so much that he sent his only son to be an example, to show us the way, -- and to be the final sacrifice for our sins. Amen.
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