Embracing Humility, Patience, and a Gentle Spirit for Personal Growth

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany  Year A, RCL

Micah 6:1-8Psalm 151 Corinthians 1:18-31Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the snowy mountain and said to them: Blessed are those who have winter parkas, for it is cold outside. Blessed are those who have money to purchase one if they do not have one. Blessed are those who have a roaring fire or a furnace to heat their home, for you might freeze to death.

We might like to hear blessings such as these, but clearly, Jesus didn’t say anything like them. Those who have plenty of clothes and a comfortable house are not the ones Jesus is blessing. Jesus offers blessings to the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, hungry, and merciful. Even the pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted receive blessings. This is not the message the world gives us. These are not the words we want to hear. Often, we don’t think of those suffering or in need as being somehow blessed. We never say, “Oh, how blessed you are for morning the loss of your spouse.” We may offer comfort to the widow, but we don’t often think of them as blessed. When was the last time you saw someone on the streets, looking for a handout and utter, “How blessed are they!” We don’t. And we don’t want to be in their position. We strive to avoid discomfort. We tend to avoid, if we can, the unpleasantries of life. If Aunt Milly is dying, society tells us that we should put her in the hospital. We remove our loved ones from their familiar and comfortable surroundings, where they have easy access to friends and family. Thus, we see no need to be part of their “Blessing,” their suffering, their dying.

Many of the blessings Jesus offers today go to people who are choosing a way of life. You have a choice to be meek. To have humility, patience, and a gentle spirit. It may take practice, but we can choose this way of life. Many of us don’t want to choose this lifestyle, for we know what happens to the meek in our world. They get beaten up on the playground. “They don’t have what it takes to make it in business.” We often look toward strong leaders. People who have brute strength. Rarely do we look to people like Stephen Hawking as strong leaders.

We have a choice to be pure in heart. To have a clean conscience and be free from selfish motives. This may take practice. It may take therapy. It will take a lot of prayer. But those who strive to model their lives in Christ can do this. We can also choose to be merciful. To help those in need or to forgive those who have hurt us. We also have a choice to be peacemakers, and boy, do we need more of these today.

Some of these blessings are given to people who are experiencing something in life that is beyond their control. Being poor in spirit could be a choice, but it could also stem from trauma or hardship. Mourning the loss of a loved one or being persecuted are things that happen to us emotionally or physically, and we usually don’t ask for them. Some might say being persecuted could be a choice. If you perform a certain action, you will experience pushback or backlash. This may be true, but if you are taking a stand for equity and justice, things that are righteous in the sight of the Lord, then the people are persecuting you for being a good person. Then, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” We witness this type of persecution all the time. When victims are blamed to justify the perpetrator's actions. When a whistleblower speaks up and the corporation does whatever it can to diminish that person. When we look at a person and make presumptions about who they are based on what they are wearing, the color of their skin, or their sexual orientation.

Minority groups are often persecuted simply because they do not fit the societal mold. If this is you, or if you are suffering, then you are blessed. God is present with you through this suffering just as he was with Christ in his crucifixion. Jesus may have felt abandoned while hanging on the tree, but he was not. Sometimes it is hard to find God when we are in torment, yet we are assured that God is with us, especially in such times.

This is why Paul tells the Church in Corinth that the world is foolish. The world does not recognize what is truly important in life. The wisdom of the world does not know God. While the world wants tangible signs that point to God, God gave us a preposterous sign. A preposterous story. Christ was crucified and rose from the dead, bringing salvation to all who believe. The Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering says, “God calls us to follow a more arduous way, that of the cross. A path that looks foolish to a world bent on ambition and violence.”^[i] None of us would win a court case with this kind of logic. This is the world at work around us, not God.

Our Presiding Bishop wrote, “We no longer live in a time when we can expect to practice our faith without risk, and we are confronting what vulnerable communities of faith have experienced for generations.” I will not say that Christians are being persecuted. But I do believe that when we hold up true Christian values, the world around us does not see them as being Christ-like. Much like some of the Jewish leadership in the first century saw Jesus as weak, not the military leader that they believed the messiah to be. They saw Jesus as unfaithful to God, much as the Roman Church saw Martin Luther. Holding up a true faith, speaking against dubious teaching and theology, and breaking the corruption of hierarchy, is not seen in a favorable light by those in authority. When Jesus spoke the truth about God, the establishment didn’t want to hear it. Instead, they wanted Jesus dead. These same conflicts are not unique to the Church. We see similar reactions to truth when those in power do not want to hear how they could do better.

We, as The One Church, the small “c” catholic Church, need to look at the world around us and stand up for the truth. Jesus tells us the truth without qualification. We are to love God, without exception, and love our neighbors as ourselves. We all know this. We just need to do it.

^[i] The Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering: Letter for a Day of Prayer, 1/30/2026