Padraig O\u2019Tuama, Myself, and Doug Gay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear friends, Padraig and Doug[1], each preached on the beatitudes. The event was called Sermons on the Mount and it was my very favorite thing about the festival.<\/p>\n
I spoke that day about how I think it can be easy to view the sermon on the mount as pure exhortation. It can be easy to view the beatitudes \u2013 the \u201cblessed ares\u201d we just heard \u2013 as Jesus\u2019 command for us to try real hard to be meeker, poorer and mournier in order that we might be blessed in the eyes of God.<\/p>\n
And since the Beatitudes are always the Gospel reading on All Saints \u2013 the day each year that we set aside to honor the saints, and remember our beloved departed it makes it even worse. I mean, people who are called saints seem so unattainably good and the fact is, most of us feel unworthy. Plus, it can be easy to look at a saint like Mother Teresa and think \u2013 well, she is a saint because she was meek and so if I too want to be blessed I should try and be meek like her. Don\u2019t get me wrong, we could use a few more people trying to be like Mother Teresa, I just don\u2019t think that her virtue of meekness is what made her considered blessed by Jesus.<\/p>\n
Because, what if the beatitudes aren\u2019t about a list of conditions we should try and meet to be blessed. What if these are not virtues we should aspire to but what if Jesus saying blessed are the meek is not instructive \u2013what if it\u2019s performative? \u2026meaning the pronouncement of blessing is actually what confers the blessing itself. Maybe the sermon on the mount is all about Jesus\u2019 seemingly lavish blessing of the world around him especially that which society doesn\u2019t seem to have much time for, people in pain, people who work for peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance. So maybe Jesus is actually just blessing people, especially the people who never seem to receive blessings otherwise. I mean, come on, doesn\u2019t that just sound<\/em> like something Jesus would do? Extravagantly throwing around blessings as though they grew on trees?<\/p>\nSo for this All Saints Sunday, a time when we remember and celebrate the lives of those who have gone before us \u2013 those who Jesus would bless, I thought maybe it was time to have some beatitudes for this day, for this place, and these people.<\/p>\n
Because I like to imagine Jesus here standing among us saying<\/p>\n
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the agnostics. Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren\u2019t sure, who can still be surprised. Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information. Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are they for whom nothing seems to be working. Blessed are the pre-schoolers who cut in line at communion. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you<\/p>\n
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction. Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears are as real as an ocean. Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like. Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried. Blessed are they who don\u2019t have the luxury of taking things for granted any more. Blessed are they who can\u2019t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else. Blessed are the motherless, the alone, the ones from whom so much has been taken. Blessed are those who \u201cstill aren\u2019t over it yet\u201d Blessed are they who laughed again when for so long they thought they never would. Blessed are Bo\u2019s wife and kids and Billy\u2019s mom and Amy Mac\u2019s friends. Blessed are those who mourn. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you<\/p>\n
\u201cBlessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables. The laundry guys at the hospital. The sex-workers and the night shift street sweepers. Blessed are the losers and the babies and the parts of ourselves that are so small. The parts of ourselves that don\u2019t want to make eye contact with a world that only loves the winners. Blessed are the forgotten. Blessed are the closeted. Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented. Blessed are the teens who have to figure out ways to hide the new cuts on their arms. Blessed are the meek. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard \u2013 for they are those with whom Jesus chose to surround himself. Blessed are those without documentation. Blessed are the ones without lobbyists. Blessed are foster kids and trophy kids and special ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved and never does. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are they who know there has to be more than this. Because they are right.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people. Blessed are the burnt-out social workers and the over worked teachers and the pro-bono case takers. Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak. Blessed are they who delete hateful, homophobic comments off their friend\u2019s Facebook page. Blessed are the ones who have received such real grace that they are no longer in the position of ever deciding who the \u201cdeserving poor[2]\u201d are. Blessed is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I didn\u2019t deserve it. Blessed are the merciful for they totally get it.<\/p>\n
See, I like to imagine Jesus here blessing us because I believe that this is our Lord. Maybe the first time he blessed all the things we try and hide or make up for, or the things we insult in ourselves and others wasn\u2019t in the beatitudes, maybe it was in his life. Because after all, it was Jesus who had all the powers of the universe at his disposal but who did not consider his equality with God and something to be exploited, but instead came to us in the most vulnerable of ways \u2013 as a powerless, flesh and blood newborn. As though to say, you my hate your bodies, but I am blessing all human flesh. You may admire strength and might, but I am blessing all human weakness. You may seek power, but I am blessing all human vulnerability. This Jesus whom we follow cried at the tomb of his friend, and turned the other cheek and forgave those who hung him on a cross. He was God\u2019s Beatitude \u2013 God\u2019s blessing to the weak in a world that only admires the strong.<\/p>\n
So if you are here tonight mourning, or feeling forsaken, abused, unseen, or no-longer-useful. If you, perhaps like myself, are all too aware that it is not your strength and virtue that qualify you to be called a saint, but your need for a God who makes beautiful things out of dust, then this meal we are about to eat is for you. It is as much for we who believe we have no need for it as it is for we who believe we are not worthy of it. And know that it is not your ability to do for yourself, but your hunger that qualifies you to be fed. For it is a beatitude meal: the broken, blessed and given body of Christ. So as you come, behold who you are. And as the blessings Jesus pronounced on the mount so long ago \u2013 know that it is here that you become what you receive.<\/p>\n
[1] Doug Gay preached an awesome sermon that was a series of beatitudes \u2013 the idea from which this sermon came.<\/p>\n
[2] Richard Rohr said this \u2013 not sure where.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear friends, Padraig and Doug[1], each preached on the beatitudes. The event was called Sermons on the Mount and it was my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nadia Bolz-Weber\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/files\/2014\/11\/IMG_0122-286x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nadia Bolz Weber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nadia Bolz Weber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/\",\"name\":\"Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/602ef06d0946784fd95ba1ca3c6a66ce\"},\"description\":\"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Some Modern Beatitudes – A Sermon For All Saints Sunday\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/\",\"name\":\"Nadia Bolz-Weber\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/602ef06d0946784fd95ba1ca3c6a66ce\",\"name\":\"Nadia Bolz Weber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1760bb1e7403c597849d2a1dc1661793?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1760bb1e7403c597849d2a1dc1661793?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nadia Bolz Weber\"},\"description\":\"I am the founding Pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. We are an urban liturgical community with a progressive yet deeply rooted theological imagination. Learn more at www.houseforall.org\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.sarcasticlutheran.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/author\/nadiabolzweber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday","description":"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday","og_description":"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/","og_site_name":"Nadia Bolz-Weber","article_published_time":"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/files\/2014\/11\/IMG_0122-286x300.jpg"}],"author":"Nadia Bolz Weber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nadia Bolz Weber","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/","name":"Some Modern Beatitudes - A Sermon For All Saints Sunday","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-06T17:48:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/602ef06d0946784fd95ba1ca3c6a66ce"},"description":"Click above to listen along This Summer when I was at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, I stood on the top of a tall grassy hill and I and 2 of my dear","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/2014\/11\/some-modern-beatitudes-a-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Some Modern Beatitudes – A Sermon For All Saints Sunday"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/","name":"Nadia Bolz-Weber","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/602ef06d0946784fd95ba1ca3c6a66ce","name":"Nadia Bolz Weber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1760bb1e7403c597849d2a1dc1661793?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1760bb1e7403c597849d2a1dc1661793?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nadia Bolz Weber"},"description":"I am the founding Pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. We are an urban liturgical community with a progressive yet deeply rooted theological imagination. Learn more at www.houseforall.org","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.sarcasticlutheran.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/author\/nadiabolzweber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nadiabolzweber\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}