"Mobilizing Hope"

Matthew 5:3

 

May 10, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

           

 

 

For years scholars have debated the distinction between our New Testament scripture for this morning from the Beatitudes found in the gospel of Matthew,  "...blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..." with Luke's version of the same words, "...blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20).  

            The gospel of Matthew consistently presents the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew expectations for a new Messiah while the gospel of Luke emphasizes the revolutionary consequences of Jesus' life, death and resurrection for social transformation, especially for Gentile peoples.  Academics have suggested that the writer of Matthew is concerned about spiritual poverty while the writer of Luke is concerned about social justice.

            These are fascinating discussions for the classroom but for us every day folk the distinction between "blessed are the poor in spirit" vs. "blessed are the poor" may seem like a matter of semantics.  Not that that's unimportant.   

Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet were members of two rival clans.  Although sworn enemies they fall in love in Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”.  Juliet asks:  "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 1-2)  It’s a classical insight into the power and meaning of words.  While Romeo is her father’s enemy, to Juliet he is her love.  One name...one word…representing two entirely different meanings.

            Anthropologists have long argued that the ability to communicate abstract concepts through language is one of the characteristics that distinguishes human community.   But that doesn’t mean that we always get language right.  

            This collection of actual church bulletin and newsletter bloopers continues to get circulated around the internet:

 

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

 

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door.

 

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

 

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

 

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

 

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

 

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double doors at the side entrance.

 

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

 

            All to illustrate the power of language!

So “Blessed are the poor” or “Blessed are the poor in spirit”?  Was Jesus speaking about social poverty or spiritual poverty?

            Most of us know people of significant wealth who are miserable spirituality.   Some of us know materially poor folk who are wealthy in all the things that really matter in life; love, compassion and spirit.   Whether "poor" materially or spirituality, God's love revealed to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus addresses our greatest emptiness and yearning.  On that the two gospels agree.

            But in saying that, let’s not succumb to romantic notions of the dignity of poverty and the corruption of wealth.   However spirituality mature, there is nothing simple about not knowing if your children are going to eat tomorrow or if there is a safe place to sleep at night.   And just because we are rich doesn't mean our souls are automatically bankrupt.  [As a reference, I define "the rich" has anyone living on more than an annual income of $ 9,733 a year, which is the gross average income of an earthling (Gallup, 12/14)]   In our biblical traditions, both social status...poor or rich...offer unique spiritual challenges.

              "Blessed are the poor...blessed are the poor in spirit..."?   Our celebration of family and home on Mother's Day gives us an opportunity to explore Jesus' words by asking the question “Why would either poverty be a blessing?”

            Today in the United States, 26% of all children are raised by a single parent (US Census Bureau); 41% of all births are to unwed women (Center for Disease Control).  Such statistics describe huge changes in our economic structures and social mores but before we add our value judgments to such numbers consider the typical single parent (US Census Bureau):

-84% are women

-45% have been divorced

-80% are employed

-40% are 40 years old or older

-27% live in poverty

-only 24% receive government assistance

            The typical single parent in the USA is a working Mom.

 

            Do you know the story of Janet Jones and her son National Football League star James Jones?  He played seven years and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers and has recently signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders.   He comes from a Bay Area family.  More than twenty years ago, the Jones family had to live in local family shelters as they became homeless.   Mr. Jones had to live with his grandmother for quite some time as his Mom worked multiple jobs to keep the family going. The Jones family regularly visits with other families at the San Jose Family Shelter to encourage them and support the program in part because they were once residents there.   James Jones' 'rag to riches' story inspires us all and points to the power of a loving parent. 

Jones and his wife Tamika have set up a foundation to help children in poverty living in the Green Bay Wisconsin area.  "Growing up in a homeless shelter has helped me be a better man and appreciate the little things a lot more.  Any time I can help and give back to kids, I try to do that."  In spite of the challenges of his up-bringing, he remains deeply committed to his family.  "Every time I go open my locker, I could be having a bad day or a bad practice but you look at the family and it puts everything in perspective.  I truly am blessed."  (Simon Evans, Reuters, 2/2/11)

            He credits his mother for keeping him on track by her example and faith. 

            The cynical among us might be quick to dismiss such a sentimental illustration.   After all the numbers of those able to pull themselves out of poverty through professional sports is miniscule.  It may seem easy to count your blessings when everything has gone your way.

            But the same devotion, courage and faith can be found in millions of families all over the world who count on the women in their lives to survive and grow.         Such women rarely make the headlines but it is the same hope and faith that drives them to provide the best for their children as did Janet Jones for her James.

            How can poverty...spiritual or material...end up being a blessing?

            Eugene Peterson may have framed it best in his paraphrase of our Beatitude for this morning:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope.  With less of you there is more of God and his rule.  (The Message, NavPress,2007)

 

            For the entitled and privileged, such as you and me, it takes a lot to get through our illusions of self-sufficiency to the point when we really need God in our lives.  When it happens, however it happens, it is a blessing indeed!   And in that sense, "poor" or "poor in spirit", may be an artificial distinction.

            Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was the first American to propose the recognition of Mother’s Day.   ​She had seen the worst of war first hand, not only for the combatants but for the survivors on both sides.  She saw the social and economic devastation following the Civil War and was appalled as the world rose up again in the Franco-Prussian War not long after.   In 1870, she called for women to gather for a global meeting to oppose war in all of its forms.  She dreamed of a day when women of all languages and cultures would recognize that which they had in common was more important than what divided them and commit to finding peaceful solutions to problems.  

            Julia Ward Howe would fail in her idealistic attempt to unite the women of the world for peace.  But years later, the daughter of her friend Anne Jarvis would succeed in organizing the first Mother’s Day in the state of West Virginia (1907).  The tradition caught on and President Woodrow Wilson would make it a national holiday in 1914.  

            Of course by then it had been sanitized of any overt agenda for social change.

​            Today Mother’s Day in the United States is the number one day for greeting card, flower and restaurant sales and second only to Christmas in gift giving. (about.com/women’s history) [This is not to suggest that appreciating the positive women in our lives is not a good thing to do…it is…everyday….I love you Mom!]

            Maybe to reclaim the purpose of Mother's Day and take in the meaning of our Beatitude this morning, wouldn't be appropriate for those of us who are rich to give a gift to those who are poor in honor of the special women in our lives?

            Even if it’s simply a financial a donation to programs like The Gathering Place in Monterey, a homeless women’s shelter or simply taking your rummage items to Joining Hands  so they can transform it into dollars for homeless programs in our area.

Do something good for somebody else.   If you had a loving parent and a nurturing family, they did...and are most probably still doing...that for you.

            After all, whatever the state of our own poverty, isn’t love ultimately the true definition of our wealth?

 

Amen.

 

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