Sermon, 1/29/23: A Case of the Appropriate Vocabulary

4 Epiphany

Psalm 15; Micah 6:1–8; I Corinthians 1:18–31; Matthew 5:1–12

Hear what the Lord says: ‘Rise, plead your case… Micah 6:1

The words spoken by the Prophet Micah, “Hear what the Lord says: ‘Rise, plead your case’” caused me to recall a line which I heard in a TV criminal series, when a witness was admonished with the following: “Before you respond, think carefully.  Choose your words wisely.”  I forget the title of the program, but that does not matter.  That line from the script prompted me to reflect on the value of words, of language in the conducting of our lives, a tool which we use without thinking. 

For decades, either through subscription of my own or via friends, a magazine, The New Yorker has arrived weekly in my mailbox.  I do not live in New York City, nor have I any desire to do so, and nor visit I often enough that the reviews of plays and musical offerings or the newest fad in restaurants have immediate consequences for me.  Because of that fact of life, sadly, I often do not get around to reading an issue, until it is at least four weeks old, when often it matters not, whether the article is current or not.  

And why do I make this confession this morning?  Because in an outdated issue of the magazine, I came across in a essay under “Shouts and Murmurs,” a regular feature of the periodical, that dealt with the new Episcopal Church.  The title intrigued me, as I was not aware that there was or is a new Episcopal Church.  However, the title had fulfilled its purpose.  The use of that vocabulary had drawn me in.

Languages, as you know, fascinate me.  Language shapes the culture out of which it comes and in which it is used; however, that same culture, in turn, shapes the language.  If I were to list regrets in life, one would surely be that I have not learned more of them, for languages assist us not only in finding our way, in giving us physical directions and aiding in the communication between individuals, i.e. in establishing common ground, languages shape also shapes or color how we look at the world, our immediate culture as well as the culture of others.                    

Think about it for a moment.  We American speak English.  The British claim the same, as do our wonderful neighbors to the north.  Australians and New Zealanders cannot be denied their claim to English.  And Pakistani, Indians, and citizens of Hong Kong—are they less entitled to claim to be speakers of English?  For Swedes English is their second language, and I can attest that they do so with greater clarity, fluency and grammatical accuracy than many a native-born English speaker. 

Then of course, we have the printed English instructions that come with appliances made in China or Taiwan or Japan.  To this day my daughters and I chuckle still at directions given them in their childhood, in one case regarding the use of a hair dryer, purchased here, but made in China.  The rubric read: “Caution! Do not use while sleeping.”

This brings me today in my reflections to an observation about today’s gospel and the language which we use to express our relationship to Jesus of Nazareth.  In our language, tending toward shorthand descriptions, we have given that portion of Matthew’s gospel which I have just read the title “The Beatitudes.”  You and I have heard those words “blessed are they…” so frequently, that we tend not to hear what they are really saying to those who heard them originally.  Spoiler alert: Should you read further, you will discover that the issues enunciated in The Beatitudes are restated in other contexts.   

So often have we heard these familiar words that we tend to overlook their context.  Jesus is not talking to a large crowd, but only to those who followed him up the mountain.  It was a small intimate group, those who had already committed themselves to the cause.  Jesus and his disciples had retreated to the mountain, in order to escape the crowd which followed him because of his miracles and heard his speeches.

As people of faith, we never cease to try to understand how words spoken and recorded so many millennia ago affect our belief in and reaction to the words of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.  You have perhaps heard the following words, or something similar: “And just who do you think you are, trying to impose Christ on other people?”  That is a question often put to those of us who call ourselves Christians and who try, often through coercion, whether physically or psychologically, to impose our version, our interpretation of the Good News on others.  We do so under the name of “religion” and of “saving souls for Christ.”

Words are handed down to us and because of the tradition or culture in which they function, words can be restrictive or the seed for a possibly new life.  So it is that we accept the term “Christian Religion.”   However, to say that there is a Christian religion and leave it at that is, in my mind, to miss the point.  It is restrictive.  It boxes us in.  It limits the range which the words of Jesus leaves open for our future development. 

If we do a close reading of The Beatitudes, we may conclude that to believe in Christ is not static, fixed once and forevermore.  To be a Christian is to be in a relationship—a relationship with a God whose compassion lifts individual life to its zenith, to its highest point of fulfillment and satisfaction, both here and in eternity.  And if the words of The Beatitudes are true or prophetic, Jesus warned then, as do his words now, as people of faith we should expect opponents to the Good News that there is a God who desires that we live our true authentic selves, who desires that we live in a life of harmony with each other. 

Understood in this light, Christianity, or being a Christian, is not something that can be kept private.  That is what The Beatitudes teach.  To gather as disciples around Christ on the mountain is to adopt the mission of Christ.  Implied, i.e. not stated, in those Beatitudes, is that at some point, since life is not lived on the mountain, we will have to come down from the mountain and to live our real, daily, often confrontational life, a life in which nature has surprises for us, a life in which our fellow beings have surprises for us.  The Beatitudes prepares us for making the kingdom of God real.  

When Peter and the others first caught a glimpse of who Jesus really was, they immediately heard him call, “from now on you will be catching people.” (Lk 5.10)   In their shouts and murmurs, in their trying to make sense of this new language of Christ, the disciples were left often speechless or in a state of denial, as our Book of Records teaches us.  A new language was being introduced to them while they were living still with the old one.

It was not until Pentecost that they began to understand more fully, and perhaps not even then completely, that God’s call to them and to every future generation included not only the small intimate circle of initiates, but to every nation under the sun.  The fact is the disciples could not and would not understand the language of the Beatitudes, because the culture had not caught up with the new reality.

I would suggest that The Beatitudes is a precautionary lesson which ought to be given greater value than occurs in a liturgical setting.  For the new language which Christ gave to his disciples as he put together his executive team, is not one that assures immediate compliance and comfort.  To be Christian is to understand that when it comes to the mission of Jesus, demands will be placed on us, obstacles and opposition to “Good Will among men” will hinder progress to the building of God’s kingdom on earth.  Still, Christ demands our all, and that demand can be unnerving.

And a new church, a new Episcopal Church?  Rodney Clapp, a member of the Episcopal Church, observes in his book A peculiar People: The Church as Culture, 1996, p.103: “So it is that different cultures teach us different languages and grammars, which in turn cause us to see the world differently.  The church teaches a language and grammar that causes Christians to see the world in a peculiar way.”  If that be true, if languages change—and they do—we may safely say that the church, the Episcopal Church, that Christianity universal is constantly evolving.  The Good News of Christ has provided us with a new light, one which does not allow us to remain mired in traditionalism, but rather allows us to stand within a living tradition, a culture that receives the power, wisdom, and vitality from the one to whom it bears witness from generation to generation.”

In The Beatitudes, Jesus prepared his followers as in a classroom, as it were.  In the fishing expedition, Jesus gave the instructions.  The disciples hauled in the fish, all of them in their nets, and not solely those whose values agreed with their own assessment.  It is our obligation as Christians to go and do likewise.  Amen