Holiness and the
Nearness of God
Reflections on Matthew
5.1-12
RCL Proper 4A
29 January 2017
Saint Faith's Anglican
Church
Vancouver BC
Some years ago when I was teaching in
the Native Ministry Programme of Vancouver School of Theology, a student shared
a story with me about the challenge of translation. It seems that an aboriginal community was
visited by two groups of missionaries, one Roman Catholic, the other
Anglican. Both groups were eager to
translate their worship services into the local language. So, the Roman Catholics asked a member of the
community, fluent in English, how to translate In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In quick order a translation
was provided. The Anglicans asked the
same member how to translate In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost. The translator
looked at the missionaries curiously, repeated the phrase and asked if this was
what they wanted translated. When the
missionaries assured him that this was indeed what they wanted translated, the
translator dutifully provided a translation.
Both groups began worship services in
the community, but the Anglicans noticed that the Roman Catholics were drawing larger
numbers. The Anglicans also noticed that
at certain points in the liturgy, especially when the name of the Trinity was
invoked, there would be some titters and curious looks among the worshippers.
So the Anglicans went back to the
translator. After a bit of prodding he
pointed out the problem. The Roman
Catholics had asked him to translate the word Spirit. This was easy because his
community had a high opinion of the Spirit of God which they felt guided the
world. But, he pointed out, the
Anglicans had asked him to translate the word Ghost. Now he knew that spirit and ghost
have different connotations in English.
So, he followed his instructions and provided a translation of the word ghost
in his native language. But ghosts, in
his culture, were considered foolish, because they were the souls of the
departed who were unwilling to leave this world. His people pitied ghosts and prayed to the
Spirit that they would move on to a better life. When Anglicans prayed, his people heard them
describe God as Father, Son and that foolish Soul who doesn't know what's
good for it. The Anglicans quickly
adopted the Roman Catholic translation.
We face a similar challenge in today's
all too familiar passage from the Gospel according the Matthew. 'Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,' he says. 'Well enough,' say we. 'Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,' he says. 'Okay,' say we, becoming a bit more uncertain
about where this is going. 'Blessed are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth,' he says. 'Ah, wait a
moment,' we say, 'that's not our experience.'
And as Jesus goes on, we become more and more concerned that what he is
saying turns our world and our expectations upside down.
Perhaps the discomfort grows because of
the word blessed, the
English word used most frequently to translate the Greek word makarios
which Matthew uses. A more recent
translation, the Common English Bible, translates makarios as happy. I find that this translation makes things
even more difficult. Blessed are the
poor in spirit becomes Happy are those who are hopeless. Now I have never thought of hopelessness as a
happy condition, so I find myself wishing that we had simply borrowed makarios
to make the text a bit stranger to our ears:
Makarios are the poor in spirit.
Why might I want this? Because, in the time of Jesus, to call a
particular group of people makarios was to describe them as being 'in a privileged, fortunate circumstance'
(The New Interpreter's Bible VIII, 176).
These people are makarios because, despite all evidence to the
contrary, in them God has acted, is acting and will act to reveal God's
purposes for us and for all of creation.
They are makarios because, in them, God has drawn near to us and
is with us. Perhaps we should call such
people holy because they have become 'thin places' where creation as God
truly wills it to be becomes present to us.
Recently I began reading Diana Butler
Bass's book, Grounded: Finding God in the World. One of her concerns is that the
God whom we worship has often been described as a distant judge who is
unapproachable, incomprehensible and, as a consequence, increasingly
unbelievable. She challenges Christians
to read the Bible from 'the perspective of divine nearness' (Grounded
2015, 13), so that we can experience 'a God who comes close (and who is ) compelled
by a burning desire to make heaven on earth and occupy human hearts' (Grounding
2015, 13).
This is what I believe Jesus is saying in
today's gospel. Holy are the poor in spirit --- because they
show us how to walk humbly with God. Holy
are those who mourn --- because they show us how precious each human life
is and how interwoven our lives are. Holy
are the meek --- because they show us how violence only begets violence and
destroys both the victim and perpetrator.
Holy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness ---
because they show us that resistance to evil and injustice is never
futile. Holy are the merciful ---
because they show us how reconciliation is a path to wholeness. Holy are those who are pure in heart
--- because, in their faces, we see the face of God. Holy are the peacemakers --- because
they show us that we are all children of God.
Holy are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake ---
because they show us that, despite all the evidence to the contrary, God is at
work transforming this world. Holy
are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account --- because when we are treated thus we
know that we are living faithful to our calling.
Those of us who have chosen to follow
Jesus as our Lord, our Teacher, our Friend, have no illusions about the
difficulty such a choice brings. Our
faith is not a magic wand that we can wave and banish all the ills that we
encounter. But it is a faith that
proclaims that God is near to us, God is with us, God is for us. We know this because God makes the divine
presence known in the ordinary lives of ordinary people who try to do justice,
who try to love kindness and who try to walk humbly with God. Blessed are they; blessed are we. Holy are they; holy are we. For the kingdom of God has drawn near --- and
it is ours.
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