Scripture Readings: Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12

The gospel of Matthew reports that "when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain." (Mt. 5:1) The crowds, however, don’t follow Jesus up the mountain. They remain below, as the Israelites did when Moses went up Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God (Ex. 19-20). Yet, Jesus isn’t alone on the mountain. What we call the "Sermon on the Mount" is given by Jesus to his disciples. These teachings are to prepare them for their ministry among the people.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus sends his disciples out to minister only among Jews (Mt. 10:5-6), so a setting that reminds Jews of Moses and the mountain where the core teachings of the Torah were received from God is especially powerful. Jesus, speaking for God, reaffirms the Torah and urges his disciples to go beyond its commandments in their ministry among Jews. "Do not think," Jesus says, "that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." (Mt. 5:17-19)

Heaven and earth have not passed away, yet we are not keeping the commandments of the Law of Moses. Why? Elsewhere in the New Testament, the commandments of the law are set aside. Paul writes at length about the shortcomings of Jewish law, but we need only quote Romans 10:4 to sum up his position: "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who has faith." Faith, and not keeping the law, Paul says, is saving, because of the grace of God.

The gospel of Luke shares Paul’s view, but takes a more subtle approach. Many of the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) are also presented in what is known as the "Sermon on the Plain" (Lk. 6:17-49). The setting in the gospel of Luke is quite different than that in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus has spent the night praying on a mountain, but the next day he chooses his disciples and then, "on a level place," (Lk. 6:17) he delivers a sermon to them and a great crowd as well. The gospel of Luke says that this crowd includes people from "Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon." (Lk. 6:17) That is, Gentiles as well as Jews are present, in the account of the sermon related by the gospel of Luke, to hear what Jesus had to say.

If you were to guess that in the gospel of Luke the disciples are sent to minister not only to Jews but to Gentiles as well, you would be right. A ministry that begins on a plain, with Jews and Gentiles mixed together, is quite different than one that begins on a mountain, with teachings only for the disciples, who are told to restrict their ministry to Jews.

But that isn’t all the difference. Consider the first "blessing" in each version of the Beatitudes. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 5:3) In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God." (Lk. 6:20) In the gospel of Matthew, the phrase "kingdom of God" is generally replaced by "kingdom of heaven," as the name of God among Jews was only to be spoken in prayer. But the more fundamental difference in the two versions of this blessing occurs in the beginning of each. The gospel of Matthew says "the poor in spirit" are blessed, whereas the gospel of Luke says "you who are poor" are blessed.

It is no accident that the blessings in the gospel of Matthew are remembered and quoted more regularly than the blessings in the gospel of Luke. We can easily include ourselves in the first blessing in the gospel of Matthew, for we know we are "poor in spirit" and would like to think a blessing might be coming our way. However, it is much harder to embrace the teaching in the gospel of Luke, for it promises a blessing to those who are poor ¾ and we are not poor.

Not much more than a week ago, I watched poor Palestinians walk around the checkpoint on the Hebron Road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem and through the property of Tantur Ecumenical Institute, where Nancy and I were staying. Some of them carried goods to sell in Jerusalem, others tools to be used in labor. Men, women and children walking to work or to the market, whether it was snowing, or raining, or warm and sunny.

As I thought about how much more difficult their lives are than mine (and I suspect than yours), I wondered how there could be any blessing in being poor? After all, most of us fear being poor and have struggled to ensure that we won’t be poor. But maybe it isn’t being poor that’s a blessing, but not being wealthy when so many are poor. Those of us who are wealthy needn’t fear being poor, but we may well feel guilty for being wealthy when so many are so poor.

As Christians, we trust that God will forgive our sins, and being wealthy when others are poor seems to be a sin. By sin, I mean anything that separates us from God. Surely, being wealthy in a poor world does separate us from God. So, perhaps being poor in a world with many poor brings one closer to God. Maybe that is the blessing that Jesus says, in the gospel of Luke, the poor have.

That might be a blessing in this life, and/or it might be a blessing after death. I don’t know. But I hope those who are poor are blessed, because there are so many who are poor. If the poor are not blessed, how can we have any faith in God?

The reading from the prophet Micah for today is not about God’s blessings, but concerns what God requires. Micah is writing at the time of Isaiah, about 700 BCE. He has witnessed the conquest of the northern tribes of Israel by the Assyrians and is aware that Judah’s freedom is also threatened. So, Micah calls on the people of Judah and Jerusalem to heed God’s commandments. Looking back at their history, the prophet says, what have they learned? And what does the LORD require of them now? Is it sacrifice? Lambs for the slaughter, or "my firstborn…for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:7)

No, Micah says, that’s not what God requires. God calls us to "do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with [our] God." (Micah 6:8) Amen.