This morning we mark Remembrance Sunday. This observance began of course after the First World War, when it was still known as the War to End All Wars. There was an honest belief that simply remembering the horror that was inflicted upon the world in those four years would be enough to stop it from ever happening again. Sadly that has not proven to be the case, and those of you who were here last year may remember how devastating it was to hear the litany of wars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Even as we are here this morning, conflict is tearing apart Ukraine and the Middle East and East Africa, while the governments of China and Afghanistan continue to perpetuate violence and oppression against swathes of their own populations. That is why it is not enough simply to remember, we must also reimagine. It is right that we look back with compassion and sorrow, but we also need to look forward with hope to shalom, the peace and wholeness that is God's design and desire for creation, and so we shall let those words lead us into prayer.
We remember the soldiers who gave their lives in service, trusting for right or wrong that it would be for the greater good.
We reimagine a world in which their weapons are beaten into gardening tools, and they train for war no more.
We remember the civilians who lost their lives to conflicts they took no part in, victims of horrors we cannot imagine.
We reimagine a world in which all shall live in freedom and safety, and no one will make them afraid.
We remember the leaders who spent their lives making hard decisions, faced with unbearable responsibility and impossible choices.
We reimagine a world in which nations work together in harmony, and power is used for life and not for death.
We remember the aggressors who poisoned their own lives with hatred, and destroyed the lives of others with violence.
We reimagine a world in which love overcomes all that seeks to stand against it, and grace sweeps away all that seeks to cause harm.
We remember the peacemakers who risked their lives to try another way, whose convictions took them defenceless into danger.
We reimagine a world in which those who work for peace are honoured, and their ways of nonviolence are followed.
We remember and we reimagine, in the name of the one who is called Lord of Lords and Prince of Peace. Amen.
Matthew 5:1-16 (NIV)
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
It's not been so long since we studied the beatitudes together, and even less time since we reflected on the call to be salt and light, but I said when we began the beatitudes that the sermon on the mount is the greatest lesson never learned, and we should perhaps hear it on repeat until we truly understand it, and so I hope you will forgive me for coming back to this passage so soon.
Often on Remembrance Sunday we have heard a passage from the prophet Micah: “He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid”. It is a beautiful vision of the world we are invited to reimagine, but it gives very little clue as to how it will be realised.
Last year, I suggested that we need three core principles of prayer, protest and prophetic living. Prayer means grounding all of our being and doing in connection with God, the example of Christ and the power of the Spirit at work in us. Protest is fundamentally about speaking for truth and justice, being unafraid to challenge the harm we see in the world. And prophetic living means modelling the kingdom values of peace and compassion, living in such a way that other people understand that another kind of life is possible and seek to join in. I still believe in those principles, but this morning I want to go a little further in exploring how we realise the vision of Micah. And this is where the beatitudes come in, because I think they contain much practical wisdom to support those principles, as we reimagine the world and all it could be.
The world that the beatitudes tell us about is a world where there is wholeness for those who are broken and comfort for those who mourn, where those who know how to use power well are trusted with it and those who desire righteousness are satisfied, where mercy is given and received and God is seen by simple and honest hearts, where peacemakers lead the way and truth is proclaimed without fear. How very different the world we are reimagining is to the world we are remembering. And not just because of the conflict and violence that Remembrance Sunday brings to mind, but also because this is a world where the powerful take advantage of the vulnerable and the rich build empires on the suffering of the poor, a world where people and planet are abused for profit and pleasure.
Those two worlds can feel irreconcilable, but I came across an image this week which I found quite helpful. I want you to imagine a postcard. On one side is a beautiful picture, and on the other side is an ugly scribble. As you turn the card over in your hands, you can only see one side at a time. The gap between them is thin, only the width of the card, but still they seem entirely separate. The scribble makes the whole thing feel spoiled, but then you drop it into a tray of water, and as the card gets wet and becomes more transparent, the beautiful image on the other side begins to show through, until the ugly scribble is lost in its lines and shapes. Do you see where this is taking us? As we soak in connection with God and the example of Christ and the power of the Spirit, as we drench the world in truth and justice and peace and compassion, the beautiful world of the beatitudes will show through the ugly mess of our mistakes.
So what about that practical wisdom I mentioned? Well the word beatitudes means blessings, but I have also heard them described as beautiful attitudes, and I think that is a really helpful way of looking at them. They are not qualities that we have or not, and it's great if we do but bad luck if we don't. They are attitudes that we can choose to practise and cultivate, that we can commit to shaping our lives around. We can choose to be poor in spirit, which I think means being honest about what we lack. We can choose to mourn, to care enough about the world around us to have our hearts broken by it. We can choose to be meek, using whatever privilege we have for the benefit of others. We can choose to hunger for righteousness, committing ourselves to the work of justice. We can choose to be merciful, showing grace to those who hurt us. We can choose to be pure in heart, meditating on whatever is good and true. We can choose to be peacemakers, doing the hard work of reconciliation. And we can choose to make ourselves vulnerable to persecution, standing by what we believe even when it will make us unpopular.
The sermon on the mount can feel at times a bit like a “greatest hits” of Jesus' teaching, and that is perhaps how this written form came to be, but I think it is intentional that the teaching on salt and light follows the beatitudes, because it tells us that these beautiful attitudes are not just about our own character or our own salvation, but about our witness in the world. The Message interprets these verses beautifully: “You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?...You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept.” Just as salt changes the flavour of a meal, and light changes the way we see what is around us, so we can change the world we live in with our beautiful attitudes. Let us remember that this week, as we go out to reimagine all that we can be.
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