Blessings that shape our hearts

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' first time teaching in public begins with a series of blessings that have comforted, inspired, and strengthened his people ever since they were first spoken. These blessings have turned the hearers into his people ever since they were first spoken, as he directly addresses the broken places in life with a healing touch. 

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you, when people shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets which were before you. (Mathew 5:2-12)

These are blessings that shape our hearts and kindle our desire for holiness. Here we see that any hurt in this passing world is met with compassion by God. Our small and futile-seeming efforts are folded into God's own blessing of the world in a way that renews our hope and faith in the goodness of God. 

To hold those blessings more steadily in my sight, I have reworked some parts as a prayer: 

Let me be humble.
Let me hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Let me be merciful.
Let me be pure in heart.
Let me seek peace and pursue it. 

When I am spiritually poor, may I hope in your promise of the kingdom.
When I mourn, comfort me.
When I face persecution, remove bitterness from me. May I be mindful of those who went before me, and rejoice in your faithfulness. 

At other times, I may find it more helpful to see them a mission statement or vision statement for the followers of Christ in this world. May it be more and more true, as I grow in Christ, that: 

I am humble.
I am hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
I am merciful.
I am pure in heart.
I am a peacemaker.

Deeper into the Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when people revile you, and persecute you, and falsely accuse you of all kinds of evil, for my sake. Rejoice, and be glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets before you. (Matthew 5:3-12)

The beatitudes are the heart of God. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' teachings begin and end with images of the Last Day, of the kingdom of God fully realized. Here, at the start of his teaching ministry, he shows the Last Day as a day of blessing. There are blessings reserved for the innocents. There are blessings reserved for those who have known grief. Blessings will be poured out on those who have suffered injustice, and on the kind, the merciful, the peacemakers. We have heard the decree of God's healing for this world and for all that is good in it.

When we accuse God of injustice, we accuse the wrong person. We will see the unjust brought to account. Instead of our false accusations, we will see the charges that were right and true.

Between now and then, may I stop myself from adding to the injustice. And may I stop myself from adding a second injustice on top the first, by accusing the wrong person.

Blessing and Rest

There was a man all alone, with neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil ... (Ecclesiastes 4:8)

I am deeply in need of a Sabbath rest. I need more than a day. There is wisdom -- and blessing -- in the cycle of rest in the Old Testament: rest on the seventh day, rest in the seventh month, more rest in the seventh year, and after the seventh set of seven years, a jubilee. The land rests, the people rest, debts are forgiven, and there is an end to toil. There were special prescribed celebrations each year where the people did not work, much like our national holidays, or something like our vacations with the annual pilgrimage feasts and celebrations.

A pause from work is not much of a blessing if it is done for the sake of preparing to work again. The best rest is not taken for the sake of refreshing our work; instead, the work is done for the sake of securing our rest. A pause from work is only restful if it is satisfying: if it is savored, if there is some beauty admired or fellowship shared or celebration, if we have enjoyed a moment of blessing. Without that, our toil seems meaningless to us.

Blessings: The Beginning

I've been in search of ways to bless certain people in my life who are going through a dark time. We have looked before at how God meets us in hardship and blesses us, for instance when we are hungry or thirsty, isolated or sick or in prison, and how we follow in God's footsteps there. But if we are far away, if the main tool we have is words, how do we bless people?

Looking at some things God has done, starting in Genesis: 

"I will bless you, and make your name great." (Genesis 12:2):

I can show honor and respect to a person who has lost much of what he once had. I can recognize his dignity. I can make sure that his former acts of kindness and compassion aren't forgotten, and that his new ones are not overlooked.

And God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy: because in it he rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:3)

Thankfulness is a blessing in itself. Without thankfulness, we have not enjoyed what we have achieved. Even if we have succeeded, it does not satisfy us until we are thankful for it. And if we work, how can we tell when we are done, except when we are satisfied? The one who is not thankful can never rest, can never enjoy, can never take satisfaction in what he has or is or does. 

The poor man who has enough
has more than the rich man who is not satisfied.

Blessed are those who mourn

In the Jewish lectionary, many of the beautiful prophecies of Isaiah are read in the weeks of later summer and early autumn. There is some question about how long ago the readings were fixed to their dates and places in the lectionary, and about variations in exactly what was read that long ago. But there is a possibility that Jesus' sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth took place in late summer or early autumn, the week when either the Torah portion Ki Tavo or Nitzavim was read. In current Jewish lectionaries, those weeks both contain readings from Isaiah that are neighboring to what Jesus read in his sermon, either immediately before or close after the passage that he read.

So it's possible that Jesus chose that time to read in the synagogue, when he read these words of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Isaiah 61:1-2, see also Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus read that in his sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount seems nearly a continuation of that, on another day in another place. Not only does the Sermon on the Mount continue the theme of proclaiming good news, but its beginning has a reference to the same verse of Isaiah on which he stopped reading in the synagogue:

to comfort all who mourn (Isaiah 61:2)

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)

The question of timing intrigues me, since Jesus in the New Testament was a regular at the synagogues, and his life and teachings were in tune with the Jewish festival calendar and the regular cycle of readings. I'll briefly consider what else was the theme of the Jewish lectionary on those two Sabbaths:

• The Ki Tavo Torah portion focuses on the blessings for keeping faith with God, or the curses for failing to keep faith with God. It also discusses whether the people have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand, which are themes that Jesus takes up again in his own teachings.

• The Nitzavim reading from Isaiah is said to be the seventh and final in a series of readings of consolation or comfort, all taken from Isaiah, in the weeks preceding the Feast of Trumpets and then the Day of Atonement. The focus is on God's redemption, and on how God shares in suffering.

Jesus' teachings seem to be woven together with the weekly readings to make his point. And so here I will continue with what Isaiah said about blessing for those who mourn:

... to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. ... Instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in the land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ... In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed. (Isaiah 61, various)

 

Seeing God ... and seeing anyone at all

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - Jesus

The most beautiful of all blessings is reserved for the pure in heart: seeing God.

Here, among all the blessings that Jesus proclaims, is one blessing that I do not think could possibly be any other way. If we are small and self-centered, we don't even see the people around us, not really. If our lives are all about ourselves, then it's not just the words of God that we don't hear, but even the words of the person talking to us. "He who has ears, let him hear" could be a fair warning whenever anyone is talking to us. Whenever we are self-centered, we do not see our neighbor, we do not hear our own family, we do not notice the person sitting next to us. The beginning of a pure heart is to love our neighbor. The stronger we become in love, the more we are able to see what is around us -- to see who is around us. (There are ways in which love is blind, but hatred is much blinder. And indifference is nearly defined by willful blindness.)

As for seeing God: God's presence is all around us, but when we become impatient or frustrated we do not see it. It is in our quieter and kinder moments that we notice it. Even in this world, the pure in heart see more.

And in the world to come ...

What is the purpose of the New Testament writings -- and how do we know it?

When people write a book or a long work, the last thing that the author says is often the conclusion, or the main point. While an author may have a number of points, there is a single basic motive, the purpose for writing, which helps us make sense of all the other points along the way. Even in a letter, the last thing said may tell us the reason for writing: it is often "Love" or "Best wishes". Generally, everything in a personal letter stems from that love or those good wishes, and they are the true reason for writing anything at all. I'd like to apply that thought to the writings of the New Testament.

The letters and the book of Revelation

Consider the closing words of the epistles in the New Testament, and the book of Revelation:

• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made known, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:  To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. - Romans 16:24-27
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. - 1 Corinthians 16:23-24
• The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. - 2 Corinthians 13:14
• Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen - Galatians 6:18
• Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. - Ephesians 6:23-24
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. - Philippians 4:23
• Grace be with you. Amen - Colossians 4:18
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen  - 1 Thessalonians 5:28
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. - 2 Thessalonians 3:18
• Grace be with you. Amen. - 1 Timothy 6:21
• The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. - 2 Timothy 4:22
• Grace be with you all. Amen. - Titus 3:15
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.  - Philemon 1:25
• Grace be with you all. Amen.  - Hebrews 13:25
• Let him know, that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.  - James 5:20
• Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.  - 1 Peter 5:14
• But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.  - 2 Peter 3:18
• Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.  - 1 John 5:21
• The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen. - 2 John 1:13
• Peace be to you. Our friends salute you. Greet the friends by name. - 3 John 1:14
• Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,  to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25
• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.  - Revelation 22:21

We see a few writings that have a different pattern than the common pattern: some close with a caution, an encouragement, a greeting, or the praise of God. But the general pattern remains: the typical conclusion is a blessing. Specifically, it is the blessing of God's grace or favor through Jesus.

The Biblical Gospels

How do the gospels end? Let's look at each of the four Biblical gospels in turn.

Matthew ends with these words:

• Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all things I have commanded you. And I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen. - Matthew 28:19-20

The book does not end with the writer's personal thoughts, but what the writer says are Jesus' own final words to his disciples. Those words include instructions, but finish with a promise that he is with them. We have seen the same parting thought at the end of most of the epistles, with different forms of the blessing "The Lord be with you" or "The grace of the Lord be with you". Here we see what may be the original behind them: "I am with you." It is a blessing. It may be the blessing on which all the other blessings are based.

We will not be able to form conclusions about Mark for this purpose, since the ending text of Mark is too uncertain for us to draw conclusions based on exactly how it ended.

In Luke, the writer separates the last time Jesus spoke from the end of his own narrative. The last time Jesus spoke to them is summarized rather than quoted:

• And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he was parted from them. - Luke 24:50-51

As I've mentioned before, Luke says Jesus left while blessing them, and it leaves room to wonder whether he stopped. 

The end of Luke shows the disciples waiting as Jesus had previous instructed them. Their wait was not an empty wait. (We may even take it as an example for ourselves, during our long wait.) 

• And [the disciples] were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. - Luke 24:53.

If we take the last words of the Gospel of John, we have this conclusion:

• And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. - John 21:25

Is that meant as an explanation that a writer has to stop somewhere? If we take the end of the previous chapter, which many scholars take for the ending of the original work (or the ending of the first draft before it was circulated, depending on your school of thought):

• These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life through his name. - John 20:31

From that, we see that knowing Christ is meant to be a blessing to the reader, and so reading about his life is meant to be a blessing to the reader. It is something all of us would do well to remember when we think of telling other the good news: knowing Christ is a blessing, and showing Christ to another person should be a blessing to them.

Conclusion

If a writer's last words show the purpose for writing, what does it mean that most of the writings in the New Testament end with a blessing? If we are to believe the New Testament, then the purpose of the New Testament, and the purpose of Jesus, and the purpose of God is to bless us. If we take the New Testament as our starting point, then the purpose of religion is to bless us with the presence of God, as a foretaste now, and as completely fulfilled in the world to come.

Jesus' departure and mission: a second look at the end of Luke

To understand the mind of God, we have to understand the idea of blessing. The creation account portrays blessing as a basic concept in God's purposes: the first thing God does after creating man is to bless him (Gen. 1:28). The call of Abraham is portrayed as an avenue for blessing the whole world (Gen. 12:1-3). One of the fixed purposes of the Jewish priesthood is to proclaim God's blessing to the people and to be a means of blessing (Num. 6:22-27).

In the Beatitudes, the Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus proclaiming, first and foremost, the God who blesses (Matt. 5:2-12). Paul understands the mission of Jesus Christ in terms of God blessing the world through him (Eph. 1:3-14). From the first chapter of the first book of the Bible to the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, blessing is a recurring theme. We do not understand God unless we understand his purpose to bless the world, and with the world, us.

So then I am not surprised at how Luke portrays Jesus at the end of his gospel, when Jesus leaves the disciples:

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he left them ..." (Luke 28:50-51)

If he left while blessing them, it leaves room to wonder whether he ever stopped.

Spiritual exercises v. spiritual rest

There is renewed interest in spiritual exercises these days. There is interest in prayer and fasting, meditation and lectio divina. All of these have their precedents in Scripture by precept and by example. But the most neglected of all spiritual pursuits seems to be spiritual rest. Life is compared to a battle, or a race, or a journey. One of the most needful things is simply rest.

Some people worry that rest equates to laziness. But sometimes that suspicion of rest is a mask for an unwillingness to rest, to let down our guard. The comments I hear sometimes make me wonder: do people feel guilty for enjoying a moment of quiet rest? Are we so surrounded by hyper-achievers who are constantly overscheduled that we consider it not only normal but right? Do we think of rest as a sign of weakness, or lack of ambition, or lack of dedication?

My favorite part of Psalm 23 is where the Good Shepherd makes the sheep lie down in green pastures by still waters, and in doing this he restores their souls. So I think that if we want to restore our souls, then the spiritual "exercise" most needful is to rest.

Blessing, promise, and the desires of God

In the beatitudes, each blessing is accompanied by a promise. Each one is tied to the good that God has planned. The beatitudes are a glimpse of the world to come, a glimpse of the future where the promises are fulfilled. Does heaven fulfill God’s own desires as much as our own? The beatitudes, then, show us God’s own desires. He is pleased to give us the kingdom of heaven. He desires to comfort us. He has always planned to give us the earth. He intends for us to be well satisfied with justice and righteousness, and he desires to show us mercy. He plans that the pure in heart shall see God, and has always desired for us to know him.

The foundation of blessing

When Jesus spoke the beatitudes, he proclaimed the blessing of God. On what does the hope of our blessing rest? What is the basis for the blessings?

Some blessings are grounded in God's compassion. God sees our mourning and honors our tears.

Some blessings are based on God's delight in the good. He takes note of the merciful. He remembers the pure in heart. He singles out the peacemakers for a special honor, and plans good for those who have honored his name. It follows that God is seeking out the good, searching for it carefully. We have learned that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who found a treasure in a field, or like a merchant who found a pearl of great price, and in this we see God as our treasure. But in a moment like this, contemplating the God who seeks us, we may remember the day that he saw us as the treasure in the field and no price was too great for him to pay. We may well be surprised at this, since he could have bought us at a discount in the condition we were in. The blessing of God does not only delight in what is already good, but he sees more in us than we have yet become.

Some blessings leave me wondering. Do the meek inherit the earth because God has compassion for the meek as he has compassion for the mourning? Or do the meek inherit the earth because God delights in the meek as he delights in the merciful and the pure of heart? And those who mourn -- are they only objects of compassion to be pitied, or does God also delight in them for the love they have shown?

The practical realities of love

Although there is much talk about "love", I am not sure that we have a clear idea of what love involves. We "love" a candy bar, a movie, an idea, a job, or a person. But when a Christian considers love, we consider the very nature of God. We consider the actions by which God defines himself, and the actions and attitudes he calls us to have. What defines love in this sense of holy and creative love?

Love is determined to be a blessing to the beloved.
Love delights in the good found in the beloved.
Love desires fellowship with the beloved.

If we consider love this way, it becomes more obvious that some of the things we call "love" do not meet this definition. The trivial example of a candy bar falls at the very first point: we have no goal of being a blessing to the candy bar. Instead, we will use it for our own enjoyment and will devour the candy bar. Even though the example of the candy bar is silly, it illustrates an important point: in human love such as romantic love, sometimes one person loves another in very much the same way. One person may enjoy the other, but without any wish or plan to be any help to the other person at all.

I am afraid that much Christian charity does not meet the full definition of love either. If Christian charity does not delight in the good found in the other, if it avoids fellowship, it is not fully love. There is a sense in which this kind of charity can be dehumanizing, a patronizing insult which denies any value to the object of charity. Love, by definition, seeks involvement. Any action which seeks only minimal involvement has only minimal claim to be considered as love.

Human nature being what it is, we may find ourselves tempted to stop this kind of minimally-loving charity because it only meets one of these three practical realities of love. However, one of three is better than none. The better goal would be to directly touch the lives in a human way rather than through impersonal means of a cash donation. That would involve our time and our presence -- the kinds of things which are much more likely to change lives than money which comes and goes without leaving behind even a memory of a face.

Love within our families is much the same way. Someone who does the chores but resents the people who benefit from them, or helps another person from duty but does not delight in them, or enjoys the other person but never helps them -- these are not the love to which we are called. The love to which we are called seeks out ways in which to be a blessing. It is glad for the other person, and wants to be with them.

These actions and desires that define love are the way in which God loves us.

"Miracles violate the laws of nature" -- or do they?

It is fairly common to hear atheists say that miracles violate the laws of nature. It is more irksome when Christians actually repeat that claim as if it were the right and valid definition of a miracle rather than an opponent's slur.

Nature and the Miracles of Healing
Most miracles recorded in the New Testament are miracles of healing. Such a miracle is not remotely about "violating" the laws of nature. Instead of being anti-nature, the healing miracles are restorative, putting nature right again. The healing miracles and resurrections are also, without exception, a benefit to those who receive them. They are not random or capricious acts, but acts of blessing. The power at work here is not opposed to the natural order but a source of renewal for it, returning it to its originally right state or healthy pattern.

The most common type of a miracle recorded, then, is a restoration of nature. In a healing miracle, God acts to bless people by restoring their natural human bodies to full natural health. That is hardly the transgression of the law of nature proclaimed by Hume and company.

Blessings for many occasions

I have been enriched over the years by some traditional blessings. If you have ever felt a rush of gratitude towards God for any certain goodness or gift, but have lacked a blessing to give voice to it, these may be helpful. The blessings below are from Learn Hebrew Today: Alef-Bet for Adults by Paul Michael Yedwab with Howard I. Bogot. I've altered "Adonai our God" to "O Lord our God" to put the translated blessing fully into English, and their "Ruler of the Universe" to "King of the Universe" since it seems more Biblical and less sterile. I've also made them uniformly "Blessed are you" (direct address to God) rather than some to God and some praising God in the third person but not addressed to him. Other alterations from the originals are mentioned individually.

Blessing over wine: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

Blessing over bread: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Blessing for Bible study: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who command us to study His Word. (Originally: who commands us to engage in the study of Torah)

Blessing over pastry (count me in): Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of many kinds of food.

Blessing over fruit that grows on trees: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the tree.

Blessing on seeing lightning or other natural wonders: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, the source of creative power.

Blessing on hearing thunder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, whose power and might pervade the world.

Blessing on seeing the ocean: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, maker of the great sea.

Blessing on seeing the beauties of nature: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, whose world is filled with beauty.

Blessing on seeing trees in blossom: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created lovely trees to enchant the heart. (Abridged.)

Blessing over the spice box: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of all the spices.

I've left out a few from the book, such as blessings for lighting candles and for putting the mezuzah on the doorframe of the house. But I think there are other blessings missing from the collection. A blessing for children is foremost in my mind, but I'm sure there are others.

A different view of Scripture

The Torah
The Torah has been studied as the word of God for thousands of years. At some point during that long history, someone noticed:

R. Simlai expounded: Torah begins with an act of benevolence and ends with an act of benevolence. It begins with an act of benevolence, for it is written: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin (Genesis 3:21), and clothed them; and it ends with an act of benevolence, for it is written: ‘And He buried him in the valley’ (Deuteronomy 34:6). (Talmud Sotah 14a)

I know it's easy to pick nits; it's easy enough to see that Torah actually begins a couple of chapters earlier with creation, and ends a few verses after Moses' burial. For all that, the observation is basically correct: at the beginning of the Torah God acts with loving kindness towards people, and at the end of the Torah God acts the same way.

The Gospels
Do you know what happens when you apply the same perspective to the Gospels? At the beginning of the Gospels, the Lord blesses us, ("Blessed are the poor in spirit ..", Matthew 5:3). At the end of the Gospels, the Lord gives us peace, ("Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," John 14:27). That works out to the Gospels beginning and ending in the same way as the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24-26):

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Coincidence or providence? God's perpetual blessing over his people is fulfilled in Jesus.

The God Who Blesses

And he began to teach them, saying: “Blessed …”

The beatitudes – the series of blessings Jesus spoke at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount – are at times taken as moral instruction. While we certainly can take moral instruction from them, they are first and foremost blessings. Jesus begins his teaching ministry with a revelation of God: the proclamation of the God who blesses.

Genesis records that the first time God spoke to man, he spoke a blessing. As the God who blesses, he is the God of Abraham whom he blessed; the God of Isaac whom he blessed; the God of Jacob who would not let him go until he blessed him. He is the God of Sinai, who commanded that his mediator, a priest, should pronounce a blessing is his name: “ ‘The LORD bless you and keep you…’ They shall put my Name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Jesus’ blessings, like all of God’s blessings, are a promise. They are a promise that God takes notice of us, that God remembers us. They are a promise of God’s faithfulness to his creation. The blessings of the beatitudes are focused on proclaiming God’s goodness to those who do not now see it: the poor, the mourning, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted. The beatitudes proclaim God’s promise that their faithfulness and hardship are known to God and will not be forgotten. Jesus’ proclamation of the God who blesses is the ground of our hope.

What is doctrine for?

Continuing a conversation with Japhy, a Roman Catholic blog neighbor. This is a spin-off conversation about the nature of the church, in which Japhy is basically pursuing an angle about the nature of doctrine and its relation to salvation.

Is adherence to Lutheran doctrine necessary for salvation? If so, by whose authority? Luther's (or his successors')? And if Lutheran doctrine is not necessary for salvation, what is its purpose? I do not mean to sound inflammatory, but I am curious what Lutheranism holds as true that may or may not be necessary for salvation. And which Lutheran denomination retains the proper doctrine...?

Jeff, you'd have to get a whole lot more riled than that before you came across as inflammatory. Inflammatory is just not your habit. Besides, you're well within the area of "questions you're bound to ask".

Starting with the least theologically important question first:
Q. Which Lutheran denomination retains the proper doctrine?
A. The one(s) still holding to the original Tradition of the church, that handed down by Christ through the apostles.

Next,
Q. What is necessary for salvation?
A. Christ is necessary for salvation. Doctrine, in its best sense, is a full life-giving knowledge of God and his kingdom. Unfortunately, "doctrine" often becomes a set of propositions to be memorized whose content (in theory) could convey some knowledge of God and his kingdom if only people weren't so busy mistaking doctrine for salvation. It would be like mistaking the nutrition label on the can for a nourishing meal. (See, it says right there, "100% iron, 100% calcium ... and I already read the label so I'm set! I read it twice, so I'm more nourished than you!") What Christ said about Scriptures could easily be said about doctrine: You eagerly search them because you think that by them you have eternal life. These are they that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me and have life.

There are all kinds of things that are true (Lutheran doctrines, Roman Catholic doctrines, doctrines of all kinds of other groups too numerous to name) that are not "necessary for salvation". There are things that are true about God, but knowing them is not "necessary for salvation". If doctrine isn't necessary for salvation, then what is the purpose of doctrine? To bless us through knowledge of the Holy One. I have often asked myself, "Is there really any other blessing besides God?" To know God is to have peace and patience and perseverance. To know God is to have the fullness of love. To know God is to have complete freedom from fear. To know God is to have all wisdom. To know God is to be joyful. What good thing is outside of him? That is what doctrine is about: there is no higher blessing than God.

The kingdom of heaven is like ...

The flowers shown here are in my yard, not far from the fig tree, after a recent rainstorm. Christ compares the flowers of the field to Solomon in all his splendor -- and tells us that in comparison, Solomon falls short.

One thing I appreciate about Christ's teachings is that they are very much in touch with life and in touch with the earth. He explains faith with images of wildflowers and birds. And the kingdom of heaven, he tells us, is like fishermen at their nets, like shepherds with their sheep, like farmers planting grain. The kingdom of heaven, he tells us, is like an herb garden, or like a woman baking bread, or like workers in a vineyard. The kingdom of heaven is like a rare pearl; it is like buried treasure. It is like a wedding feast. The pictures he uses are very much alive, and stir up in us the desire for this kingdom of heaven.

This is not only to explain the kingdom of heaven in ways we can understand. It is also to remind us of the good in this world. Despite all the ways in which we have harmed the world and each other, still many things in this world remain like the kingdom of heaven.

To compare the kingdom of heaven to these things is to pronounce a blessing on farmers and fishermen and wedding feasts as things that already foreshadow the kingdom of heaven.

Women's Liberation and Love of Family

This continues the series about whether feminist theology is neglecting the voice of the woman in the pews. First, Christian feminism must reclaim Christ's priority of love for our lives, contrary to secular feminism's disdain of family. Second, social justice must be applied to our own homes and workplaces; in a Christian sense this includes bringing justice, love, mercy, blessing, and rest into the equation.

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Bricks without Straw: Feminism and the Workload Problem

You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. (Exodus 5:7-8)

Women's liberation has been both a blessing and a curse to the average woman. While many women have taken on work outside the home, the workload at home was not reduced. Exhaustion and frantic schedules are among the most common complaints, along with less time for the family.

Feminists v. Family and the Priority of Love
When someone speaks dismissively of "women's jobs" and "women's roles", much less "making sacrifices for the family," it's a safe bet that the one voicing disdain is a feminist. The feminist has often insisted that family life is at worst demeaning, at best unnecessary, and at any rate undesirable. The liberal women's movements can give the impression that staying at home and raising children is a benighted throwback to an unenlightened age, an oppressive condition from which someone could only wish to be liberated as from a prison, something that amounts to embracing a second-class subservient status. Here the feminist has not only failed to understand the voice of the average woman, but has considered it unworthy of consideration.

As long as feminism is antagonistic towards family life, it will be opposed to large numbers of women who enjoy family life at least as much as their careers. A healthier and more mature feminism must make room for women's dignity to include a love of family. Feminism, as it comes of age, must become comfortable with the other members of a family: it must become comfortable with children, and it must become comfortable with men. The assessment of children must be expanded beyond "expense" and "career distraction." The assessment of men must be expanded beyond "oppressor" and "competitor." The feminist assessment of life must also expand to include love as a legitimate part of life in addition to accomplishment and status. Failing to do so handicaps feminism's applicability to real life, and handicaps the lives of those who embrace feminism above love. Christian feminism -- especially in the form of Christian feminist theology -- could easily elevate itself above secular feminism by embracing a solid family model. It is difficult to see how a view based on Christ's teachings can avoid the priority of love for very long; one of Christ's most prominent and distinctive teachings is the priority of love.

What can the leadership do?
Back to the day-to-day issues of exhaustion and frantic schedules. There are some practical contributions that the church leadership -- whether pastors or theologians -- can make in this situation. We can follow the Bible's lead of including family and household concerns among the pastoral and social justice concerns of the church:

• Encourage employers and managers to be compassionate about family time, not to set obstacles for parents caring for children, not to begrudge adequate leave to workers who have children.
• Encourage Christian employers to seek out ways to make their family policies a blessing to their workers. For example, employers could make arrangements for part-time workers still to have health insurance coverage under employer-based group plans, or could grant an automatic half-holiday for a child's birthday or an anniversary. I wouldn't want to limit the conversation to ideas that suggest themselves to me based on my own situation. As Christian employers, not only justice and hard work but also kindness and grace should be evident. We should make our management policies such that all people wish they had a Christian manager, CEO, or HR Director.
• Make justice in the home a priority. Encourage parishioners to review home workloads whenever exhaustion is a problem for anyone in the family. Have each household make sure that the workload is distributed fairly and that unnecessary work is eliminated.
• Encourage realistic measures of how fairly household chores are distributed. Here is one possible test for whether work is distributed fairly: if one person is often still doing chores after the rest have sat down to rest, then that person is likely doing more than their share of the work, and the others less than their share.
• Make mercy in the home a priority. Encourage people to take notice of tiredness, to take seriously the need for rest, for sleep, and for peace and quiet.
• Making blessing in the home a priority. While not descending to a legalistic view of the Sabbath, be the good shepherd who makes the sheep lie down in green pastures and leads them by still waters. It restores their souls. If the sheep look harassed and helpless, that's the shepherd's cue to do something about it.

These themes have roots that go deep in Scriptures. It is time we take note of them until they take root in our lives. Justice, mercy, blessing, and rest are not optional in our homes or our workplaces. We need to receive these for our own well-being; we need to embody these in a useful ministry of love and mercy to the world.

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

When bad things happen to good people, as they say, too often the good people begin to doubt God's love. Sometimes even our "comforting friends" begin to doubt God's love for us, begin to suspect God's opposition (or just as bad, God's indifference) behind a dark streak of misfortune running through our lives. In our minds, we have an assumption that my sociology professor used to call the "just world hypothesis": we suppose the world is fair, that actions and results tie together, that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. It works often enough for us to use it as a working premise. When things are going well this is a comfort to us because it strengthens our assumptions that we're good people and that the world makes sense. But when things are going badly this distresses us because we search for the cause of it in our lives. Seeing no plausible reason brings out the cry of "Why?"

When we suffer, it is too easy to doubt God's love. We wonder if we have been abandoned. We wonder if God cares about our troubles. We wonder if God has set himself against us. In our short-sightedness, we are tempted to think that those who suffer are cursed.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4) Jesus sets this against all of our empty and fearful thoughts. Suffering and sadness are not a curse. In fact, God promises to bless those who mourn. We will be comforted. He does not promise that we will be wiser, though possibly we may. He does not promise that we will not have trouble or sorrows; in fact he reminds us that in this world we will have troubles. But he urges us to take heart; he has overcome the world. (John 16:33)

"Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered." (James 5:10-11) We look at those who have suffered in the faith. We know that those who had little to endure are not considered as blessed, because the power of God was not shown as much in their lives. Those we see as the greatest examples of the past are not those who had the easiest lives, but those who had the hardest.

Some of God's most beloved servants suffered terribly. The darker the sorrow that we endure, the more those around us will be startled by the light. Christ lives in us powerfully when we suffer, especially when we suffer in fellowship with him. His grace is plainest in our weakness. If the light inside us is nothing but a smoldering wick, he will not snuff it out.