Bible
Passage: Mathew 5: 1- 11
Dr. A P J
Abdul Kalam, the former president and scientist in his book, ‘Family and
Nation’ states his transformation from a scientist to a motivator. “It was a
question by a Sanyasi that made me look deeper into my life”, said Kalam. The
Sanyasi had asked Mr. Kalam what is life. Kalam gave many answers like to lead
a disciplined life, contributing etc. To this the Sanyasi answered, “Can’t you
live a higher life?” Similarly every worship and sermon should be able to
transform the lives of people.
The passage
for our reflection is a beautiful and powerful sermon by Jesus. In order to
have a deeper understanding of this passage, we need to study Ch 4: 23-25 and
ch 5: 13 -15. In Mathew 4: 23-25 we come across a crowd who is being healed
from Jesus and then it is stated that this crowd later followed him. The crowd
mentioned in Ch 5 could not be termed as a new crowd. We can assume it to be
the same crowd of the healed people. Thus we can say that, healing is only a
beginning. This healing should lead one to the state of blessedness and in a mission
call. Following crowd is an important term expressed here which highlights this
aspect (ch 4: 25). One of the greatest failures in Christian Ministry is that, the
ministers deal only on the aspect of healing and fail to transform the lives of
the people.
What
is Blessedness?
The first century
understanding of blessedness was either to be a part of the Roman Empire, or the
established Jewishness or to be a part of the established Business Community.
The biblical and world understanding of blessings are very different. The
biblical understanding of Blessedness is narrated in many of the Psalms like
Psalms 1, etc. There are mainly two Greek words associated with blessedness, Makarios and Admonia. Though both connote the same meaning of blessing, admonia is meant to be successful. The
latter is not so commonly used in the bible, but it gives a higher meaning to
move on from being successful to a blessed person.
Levels
of Blessedness:
A study on
this passage helps us to come across, 8 reflections which could be termed as
different levels of blessedness:
Ø They are
code of ethics of the Kingdom of God
Ø They present
a contrast between the Kingdom and the Worldly values.
Ø They are the
marks of true spirituality
Ø They are the
conclusion of the Old Testament Ethics.
Ø They are a
complete package in itself. It remains incomplete if not studied as full.
Ø It is a
mixture of gift of God and the responsibility of humanity.
Ø It is both
personal and public and
Ø They bring
together the past, present and the future
Blessing:
An intersection of the Gift of God and Responsibility of Humanity:
The values
used in this passage like being meek, mourning, merciful etc are the
continuation of the Old Testament value system. They are the crystallisation of
the Old Testament ethics and values. For e.g. the beatitude of mourning should
not just be limited for a loss. It should be for a higher pain and understanding
that we have yet more to attain in our lives. Also being meek is not to remain
as a timid person. Rather it is to remain confident when we stand up for a
cause. If we are not meek we remain being as a loud person. The trainer in the
video series of ‘The Karate Kid’, is a good example of being meek. Though he is
strong enough to tackle his opponents, he never gets loud in his expressions. We
need to understand that all these values mentioned are our responsibilities.
True blessedness is this responsibility and not the reward we get after we
achieve it. Though this passage speaks about future rewards, it serves as a
perfect intersection of the gift of God and the responsibility of humanity.
We often
hear people witnessing the might acts of God for giving them a job with less
work and more salary. This is a misconception. The bible teaches us to take up
responsibility and lead a responsible life. It is then we become blessed.
We can also
reflect on this passage in the light of the formation of Christian Ministry.
Preach
what you Practice:
The Sermon
on the Mount is a reflection of all the virtues of Jesus Christ. All the
beatitudes stated here are the values which Christ showed in his life. It is
Christology in itself. Here the person himself is becoming sermon. Jesus
preached only those things which he lived in his life. We should not preach
what we are not.
Ministry
should be Hope Giving:
Jesus begins
this sermon with the term blessedness. Famous freedom fighters like Mr. Nelson
Mandela and Ms. Su Kyi though remained in prison for a long term were able to
give hope to millions of people in their country. Our sermon should not be
problem solving or problem making. It should be hope giving to others. In her
Booker Prize winning Novel, “God of Small things” Ms. Arundathi Roy describes a
local parish priest as, “A priest who seldom laughed”. Pastoral ministry should
enliven the lives of others.
From
Healing to Apostolicity:
Our
responsibility should not just culminate in healing. It should lead to
apostolicity. In this sermon we see many people following Jesus. Our sermon
should lead others to live for Christ.
Sermon
should Energise the listeners:
Jesus might
have looked in to the eyes of his listeners and said, Blessed are those.. This
statement could have given a high level of positivity to the crowd. Our sermons
should be such that it should energise the listeners.
Blessedness
lies in responsibility, the gift of God will be received. It is our
responsibility to lead others to this biblical blessedness. May the Almighty
Lord strengthen us all.