Check the box that applies to you

      I sat with a group of people the other evening on my friends patio. It was a very pleasant gathering and there were several conversations and side conversations going on.  When  read today's passage here and thought about the people at that gathering, how many of us would check off the boxes of mourning or meek or hungering and thirsting for righteousness.  How many are peacemakers or pure in heart.  I'm not diminishing the crowd of truly wonderful people but few of us I imagine have problems such as Jesus was speaking about.

        And then I thought of one side conversation, a man who was from South America, an illegal immigrant apparently who had escaped torture and abuse in his homeland. He had escaped long ago and was forever on the run here so to speak, especially now. He ate carefully and selectively, a middle aged gentleman who had some underlying illnesses that warranted attention, not eating fatty foods or too much starches. I thought, my God, he's afraid that in today's atmosphere, if he had to go to a hospital, he'd seriously run the risk of being outed so to speak, and deported. How horrible to have to live with that fear. Many people today have such a legalistic view of life, black and white, no grays at all. He would be legal or illegal. There is no  empathy for the situation that deals with real lives, fear, torture and death. There is no appreciation that what is 'legal' or illegal was not always such a strict question. Do we realize that the hordes of huddled masses that Lady Liberty embraced were quite often without papers? We are a nation that welcomed everyone and we were not always as strict and legalistic as we seem to be today. 

       The hordes that seek freedom and reliefs from tyranny have always sought us out as a bastion of opportunity and inclusiveness. How is it today that the Christian right embraces such unchristian policies that clearly do not follow either the literal word or spirit of Scripture all while quoting obscure passages to support their agenda?

     If Jesus were to give this sermon today there would be another box for us to check,

blessed are the displaced, weary, war torn immigrants for they shall inherit an eternal homeland of love in heaven.

       How can we be the hands, heart and eyes of Jesus in loving those that are on the fringes and are ironically called by some Christians as 'illegal'. An illegal person

         

       

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called 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 utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.