11-1-96	Blessed Be . . .	Revelation 7:9-17

1 John 3:1-3

Matthew 5:1-12

Over the years that I have been a pastor of United Methodist churches, there is one thing I have noticed, in particular. It is easy for members of a church to get into the thinking that they are the only church in the world worth thinking about. It is kind of an "us vs. them" kind of mentality. But, we forget that we as Christians are not alone; that in fact there are good Christian people of many different denominations worshiping God, not only in this town, but all over the state, and country, and world. In fact, we are linked together, as it were, by virtue of our membership within the Body of Christ. And it is the belief of United Methodist Christians that it is by our baptism that we are ordained into that Body; and called into the ministry of all disciples of Jesus Christ.

So, we are not alone in this ministry that we do. And we are certainly not limited to doing that ministry only from this church building. But, that ministry is something that we are called to do every day of our lives, no matter where we are, and no matter who we are with. And, most of all, it is a ministry that we share with other United Methodists all across the country, as well as with Christians of other denominations – Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, and many more.

But, there is something even more amazing that comes out of this morning's reading from the seventh chapter of Revelation. We are reminded in that reading that worship isn't just something that we do here, alone, on Sunday morning. Rather, as we worship, we join the company of those in heaven, standing before the throne of God, worshiping God in heaven. Thus, when we worship, we simply join or plug into a ongoing cosmic event that never ends; as the universe, itself, proclaims: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

So, indeed, we are all a part of this ministry, linked together not only by denominational and inter-denominational ties, but also with the saints in heaven, because of our link to Christ, himself.

And Jesus, himself, knew how important this would be. And he knew that being a disciple of Jesus wouldn't be easy; that there would be many in the world that would oppose those who followed Jesus; that being in ministry would be a humbling experience for many; that being in ministry would be a life of yearning for righteousness in a world that would be very disappointing in that regard; that being in ministry requires mercy and acceptance of others, rather than judgment and exclusion of others; that ministry easily invites ridicule and rejection and judgment from others who refuse to accept the Good News of Jesus Christ.

And, so, that is why Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples and told them; "Blessed are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn, and the meek, and those who yearn for righteousness, and the merciful, and the pure, and the peacemakers, and the persecuted and insulted." Those who were poor in spirit, Jesus said, would inherit God's kingdom. Those who mourned would be comforted. Those who were meek would inherit the earth. Those who yearned for righteousness would be filled with it. Those who were merciful would be shown mercy. Those who were pure in heart would see God. Those who were peacemakers would be called "Sons of God."

You know, it is so easy to get into an us vs. them mentality in this world, even among those of us who are Christians, and especially now with all the campaigning going on for the elections coming up this week. Isn't it amazing how so many supposedly nice, decent people who just wanted to serve in public office, have to blast each other and discredit each other and accuse each other of dishonesty and crookedness and all sorts of awful things just to get elected? Isn't it sad that people who simply disagree with each other, or who just want to have the same job as someone else think that they have to be that person's enemy?

But, I think that society, itself, is getting to be that way, more and more. Are we finding it more and more difficult to accept those who have a different opinion from our own, or who may root for a different baseball, or football, or basketball team, or go to a different school, or have a different way of talking from what we're used to, or have a different lifestyle than what we may have grown up with?

A few years ago, as I was serving a rural parish, I actually ran into farmers who actually wouldn't talk to other farmers who didn't have the same brand of tractor or combine they had. And now we have youth in many of our cities who won't talk with each other, and even hate each other, because they wear different color clothes and live in different neighborhoods. There are even Christian churches that teach people to stay away from other Christians who attend other churches. And there are even people in the same church who won't talk to each other simply because they have disagreed on something in the past. Certainly, Jesus and the saints, themselves, would be very sad if they saw these things. For, it was because he realized the importance of unity and wholeness that Jesus presented the Beatitudes to his disciples.

As we look at the Beatitudes, one might notice that there are actually ten of them – the same number of commandments that God gave to the people of Israel. Isn't that interesting? But, of course, the Beatutides are different from the Ten Commandments. The Beatitudes were principles for daily living, not rules, not laws. Jesus actually laid down very few laws for his disciples to follow. Instead, he gave them a examples of love and acceptance that they should follow and teachings that they should learn, a lifestyle they should endeavor to follow.

I think that perhaps one of the problems we face as a society, today, is that instead of using Jesus' guidelines or principles in our lives, we are more and more looking for rules and regulations to follow. Remember that honor roll student that was thrown out of school for taking a Midol tablet? She was accused of taking drugs and suspended from school. And remember that six year old school-boy who got put into detention because he kissed a little girl on the cheek? He was accused of sexual abuse. I think both of these instances point to how our society is replacing principles with rules and regulations; and turning its back upon grace in favor of judgment; and turning away from the Christly goal of acceptance of all persons to the worldly classification of persons as either acceptable or unacceptable. Yet, if we are to take the Beatitudes seriously, as well as the other teachings and examples of Jesus, we would know how wrong this is.

Today is what the Church calls "All Saints' Sunday." For some people the word "Saints" brings up pictures in the mind of St. Mary, and St. Joseph, and St. Paul, and St. Thomas Acquinas, and other persons who are so good and holy that we know there's no way we could be like them. But, in fact, the word "Saint" simply means "holy one." And, my friends, the fact is that we are all made holy by God by our faith in Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ washes us from our sin. So, indeed, we are "all saints!" Turn to your neighbor and you'll see a saint sitting there. Look in a mirror and you ought to see a saint there, as well. Turn to someone who you don't like because he might have said something you disagree with, and if that person is in Christ, forget your differences, for that person is more than likely a saint, as well – worthy, accepted, and loved by God.

My friends, if we can't live the Beatitudes in our life together as Christians, we will find them to be extremely difficult to live anywhere else. But, if we will live them and practice them with one another, our personal lives will benefit, our life together will be prosperous, and the kingdom of God will grow.	Amen.