I have a confession to make. This Sunday, I’m ditching the Gospel lesson appointed for All Saints’ Day and preaching on a different one altogether. Please don’t out me to our Bishop. The Gospel I should be preaching on is Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes, which you can read here.
The Beatitudes paint a portrait of Christ and a portrait of saintliness, which is a state of being that aligns with the heart of God. I love them and have preached and written about them many times. Although I don’t know that I’ve ever had something as powerful to say about the Beatitudes as Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz Weber. In her treatment of the Beatitudes, she imagines some new ones that Jesus might offer based on the simple fact that he lavishes his blessings on everyone, even and especially those who aren’t feeling all that blessed.
What follows is Nadia’s Beatitude Benediction, which she has given in worship and at speaking events all over the world. I hope you are blessed by it as much as I am.
Blessed are the agnostics.
Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren’t sure, who can still be surprised.
Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information.
Blessed are those who have nothing to offer.
Blessed are the preschoolers who cut in line at communion.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction.
Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean.
Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like.
Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.
Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted anymore.
Blessed are they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else.
Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it yet.”
Blessed are those who mourn. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables. The laundry guys at the hospital. The night-shift street sweepers.
Blessed are the forgotten.
Blessed are the closeted.
Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented.
Blessed are the teens who have to figure out ways to hide the new cuts on their arms.
Blessed are the meek. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard, for Jesus chose to surround himself with people like them.
Blessed are those without documentation.
Blessed are the ones without lobbyists.
Blessed are foster kids and special-ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved.
Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people.
Blessed are the burned-out social workers and the overworked teachers and the pro bono case takers.
Blessed are the kindhearted football players and the fundraising trophy wives.
Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak.
Blessed are they who hear that they are forgiven.
Blessed is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I didn’t deserve it.
Blessed are the merciful, for they totally get it.
Adrian+