All Saints’ (Observed): Matt 5:1-12

 

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them…

 

Politics has its own beatitudes, its measure for success and happiness. Blessed is the political party that comes out on top this Tuesday, for they will be in power. Blessed is the person who wins the presidential nomination, for they will rule the nation. They will rejoice and be glad, for they know their rewards will be great, even lucrative. Blessed are you who align with the winners, for you will now have real hope. Blessed are you who get what you want from this election, for you will now have the policies and programs that make you feel secure. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in your own mind.

 

If your candidate comes out on top, will you really be blessed? If your candidate loses, will you really be cursed?  Are the blessings and curses of your life truly oriented toward national politics, economic structures, and political identity? How will this election, or any other, address the real issues of sin and death? The struggles in our lives that  we face every day-our selfish choices, our pride, our addictions, our sloth, our lust, our hatred, our anger, our idolatries, our fears, our anxieties-will not be overcome by this election or any other. There is only One who can truly save us, our Lord Jesus Christ. In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus opens up this reality for us.

Matthew tells us that Jesus makes his way up onto the mountain, the new and greater Moses, offering a speech that has endured for nearly 2,000 years. In effect, our Lord stumps for his disciples. There, he preaches a message that runs contrary to worldly expectations. He preaches a message that calls His followers to a different way of life. He preaches a message that directs them to His campaign, a campaign to defeat sin, death, and damnation. When Jesus opens His mouth to teach, we do well to listen. 

 

Jesus preaches the poor in spirit are blessed for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The proud, self-sufficient, and self-righteous do not belong to the kingdom. No. The kingdom belongs to the humble. Jesus is the humble one, who deigned to take on human flesh for the sake of our salvation. He bent down for sinners. He condescended for you and me. The kingdom belongs to Him. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches those who mourn will be comforted. There is no comfort for those oblivious and ignorant. There is no comfort for the content and distracted. No. Comfort belongs to those who mourn. Jesus is the mourning one, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, lamenting the violence of sin and death. Jesus shed not only His tears, but His blood on the cross to defeat sin and death. He mourned for our situation and gives the comfort of forgiveness and eternal salvation. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches the meek will inherit the earth. The haughty, the powerful, the prideful, the arrogant, and the self-serving will inherit nothing. Nothing. The earth belongs to the meek one, Jesus Christ. Jesus was gentle and compassionate. He came to serve others. He did not serve Himself, but gave Himself as a ransom for sinners. Jesus now reigns over all creation and this is His inheritance. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Those who hunger and thirst for money, fulfilling their lusts, power and positions are stuffed full of death. Jesus hungered and thirsted for righteousness. He hungered on the cross. There His thirst was quenched with vinegar. This hunger and thirst was for our righteousness. He took our sin and death and gave us His righteousness, filling us with eternal life. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches that the merciful are blessed for they will be shown mercy. The merciless and pitiless, who live for themselves, receive no mercy. Jesus, however, is the merciful one who forgives the sinner, not giving us what we deserve. Rather, He was shown no mercy on the cross, sacrificing Himself. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches the pure in heart will see God. The person who is devious and successful at any cost, the wicked and greedy, will see nothing in the darkness of death. The innocent one will see God. Jesus is the holy, innocent one. He is the way to the Father. No one comes to the Father except through Him. No one will see God apart from Him. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus preaches the peacemakers will be blessed for they will be called sons of God. The adversarial, the violent, the hateful, the proud remains as sons of Satan. Jesus is the peacemaker. He reconciled us to the Father by His death and resurrection. While we were yet enemies of God, sinners at odds with our Creator, Jesus made peace through His body. Blessed are those who belong to Jesus.

 

Jesus opens His mouth and teaches us that our life and blessedness is found in Him. Politics and politicians; banks and bankers; laws and lawyers; science and scientists; education and teachers; religion and prophets all offer competing ideals and promises for happiness, contentment, and salvation. They will not endure. They cannot take care of our sin and death. They can only distract and misguide us from the divine life in Jesus Christ. Our life is in Jesus Christ, the man of humility; the man of meekness; the man of sorrow; the man of justice; the man of mercy; the man of purity; the man of peace. Jesus, the man who is also God, is the one who takes away our sin and death and gives us life and salvation. There is no other.

 

We would make a mistake if we understood these Beatitudes to be a new type of a law that require us to work for the Kingdom, as if we can make ourselves meek enough or poor in spirit. Rather, Jesus gives us these Beatitudes to point us to Himself and His Kingdom. As baptized Christians, we belong to Jesus and His Kingdom. Since we belong to Jesus, everything that He was, is, and ever shall be is ours. As we live in His Kingdom, these things are present in us and around us through Christ. Yet they are not perfected in us. As Luther said, “We are not able properly to fulfill one tittle out of our own strength… but must always crawl to Christ.” This is Christian faith.

 

It is because of Jesus Christ and His campaign that we are able to proclaim this morning, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.” On All Saint’s Day, we give thanks that Jesus Christ has perfected those who have fallen asleep in Him. Velma, Laurie, Lucy, Wanda, Bill, and Steve now enjoy the perfection that comes through Jesus Christ. We thank Christ for His goodness to them and their faith. They have joined the great multitude and now join in the heavenly liturgy, singing praise to the Lamb on the throne. We also are mindful for the day when the bell will toll for us. It is why we crawl to Christ and come to the Divine Liturgy to receive His gifts.

 

Humble yourself in repentance and go to Jesus. Through His word and His sacraments, Jesus opens up the kingdom of heaven. In these gifts, He comforts us with His forgiveness as we lament and mourn our sin and death. Remember your Holy Baptism where you were made God’s child. At the font, Jesus has granted us an inheritance of the heavenly promised land, just as He did this morning for our four young people. Hunger and thirst for the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Sacrament. In those precious gifts eternity is yours. Nothing can overcome Jesus for He has made you pure in heart and you possess the sure promise that you will see him as He is. This is far more certain than any campaign promise we will hear in the days ahead.