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Matthew 5:1–12 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Quite frankly, I’d never heard of him before. And I was only vaguely familiar with the Melkite order of the Roman Catholic Church, in which he was now an archbishop. But others in the group seemed to be rather familiar with him and his ministry; so I moved along with a group that now numbered over 50, as we took our places in a large reception room. And in he walked, sat down in his chair, and began a monologue that was only occasionally interrupted by listeners’ questions. His monologue was actually a winsome account of his earlier life, and soon his story had thoroughly engaged me.

His name is Elias Chacour. He is a native Palestinian Christian, and was only a little boy when Israel became a nation. His father featured prominently in his recollections. For even after the new Israeli forces had basically confiscated his family’s land and olive groves for Jewish settlers, the father took pains to tell his children not to forget the past pain and horrible suffering of those Jews, who had seemingly taken their property so unjustly. Elias’ father refused to denigrate or demonize the Israeli Jews who had flooded Palestine. Elias began to see that his father was exemplifying some very precious words: “Blessed are the peacemakers, the meek, the merciful, and those persecuted for righteousness’ sake…”

Elias Chacour went on to tell us that he became a priest, studied in Europe, and that when he returned to serve his Church in Palestine, was assigned by his bishop to an out-of-the-way, cantankerous, and difficult congregation. He repeatedly begged both the bishop and the Lord God almighty for reassignment. Neither harkened to his plea. Eventually he won many hearts in the congregation and started a school, something Palestinians dearly needed for their own. But Elias managed to open the school to everybody – to Palestinian Christians and Muslims, and Jews – all in the hope that by learning truths together, they would also learn about one another and to respect one another. The Israeli government, however, refused building permits and resisted the allocation of funds that Chacour thought should be legally disbursed.

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When court proceedings got hopelessly delayed and bogged down, Elias Chacour had a crazy idea and undertook an amazing journey. He went to Washington, DC, and clad in the garb of a Melkite priest found himself knocking on the front door of the home of James Baker, the United States’ Secretary of State under the first President George Bush. Elias wanted to see if Secretary Baker could not intervene with the Israeli government on the school’s behalf. After some hesitation by the person who answered the door, a woman came to the door. It was Mrs. Baker, who explained that her husband was not at home and would not be available for quite some time; and that although she would normally just love to welcome him in, she couldn’t. She was preparing to host and lead a ladies’ Bible Study that would shortly begin, and she was so sorry that she just didn’t have time…for this short weird-looking priest from a church and place she probably never heard of. “A Bible study?” Chacour asked. “What passage will you be studying?” “The Beatitudes,” replied Mrs. Baker, who was beginning to realize that her perfect excuse was on its way to becoming his perfect entrée. “I love the Beatitudes!” exclaimed Elias Chacour. “Let me tell you what they really say to us…”

As friends and wives of government officials convened that day for their study of the Beatitudes, just guess who was leading the Bible study! You’re right: that short, insistently hopeful, and strangely endearing Melkite priest, Elias Chacour. And when Chacour’s book Blood Brothers was published, guess who had written the forward? Former Secretary of State James Baker, no less! A remarkable relationship and friendship developed, all because of a Bible study of the Beatitudes.

Chacour takes an interesting stance with regard to the Beatitudes. He himself is something of a scholar in Aramaic, the ancient language that Jesus actually spoke. And when Elias Chacour translates Matthew’s Greek version of the Beatitudes back into Jesus’ Aramaic, he concludes that the Aramaic equivalents to “blessed” are not in the passive voice, but in the active voice; and should be translated something like, “Stand up, poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.” “Rise, those who mourn, for you will be comforted.” “Buck up, you who are meek, for you will inherit the earth.” Chacour’s point is that in the language of Jesus’ day, the beatitudes are God’s pronouncement of honor upon those whose condition has been slighted by the world because they have been active , involved, and in his words, “getting their hands dirty” from dealing with the powers of this world. The ones whom the world hopes to dishonor and punish for their interference in things are the ones whom God promises to honor, esteem, and vindicate.

I’m not sure that I’m completely swayed by Chacour’s linguistic argument; I’m neither a New Testament nor an Aramaic scholar. But that winsomely insistent Melkite priest has certainly affected how I listen to Jesus’ Beatitudes and think about where I now have God’s power and honor to buck up and act for Christ’s sake! Those of you who will be able to travel with me to the Holy Land will get to meet Elias Chacour for yourselves, and to see his school. For Chacour, God’s promise is not only a blessing upon the action of the truly good, it is the grace and power for us to act as a blessing.

The very things the world hopes we will avoid and therefore not risk – poverty, grief, want, loss, conflict, pain – are the very things God gives us the power and the honor to face. …the very things the Lord Jesus gives us the honor to face. And this is why the Beatitudes stir us, move us, 3 and are always still treasured by the very disciples out of whom they sure do challenge the living daylights!

But of one thing I am certain: Jesus did not seek to make people become poor in spirit, sad, hurt, or put down for the sake of the Gospel. He saw disciples who already were…poor in spirit because they exhausted too much of it in pursuing the seemingly hopeless causes of the right and the good; those who were mourning what and whom they’d lost because life is so unfair; those who hunger and thirst because they refuse to be satisfied with the sumptuous wrongs the world keeps dishing out; those who grant mercy in a world that only takes… advantage; those who get caught and torn in the middle of our conflicts because they want a peace for us that’s always beyond what our self- righteous rage can envision; and those whose good deeds do not go unpunished – those who are wronged for doing what’s right…by God.

These are the ones whom Jesus beholds as he gazes into the crowd who waits for his word. And what Jesus sees is that they are so much more than what they seem, do, say, feel, or even think. Jesus sees that there is something so much more to them. There is so much more…of God to them than what they think or feel or can even know. There is so much…of God in them; and the world is blind.

Jesus did not seek to make people become poor in spirit, sad, hurt, or put down for the sake of the Gospel. He saw disciples who already were… And I believe He still sees them. I believe He still sees them when he looks out and into your faces. I believe He still sees people who are poor in spirit, hurt, put down, and struggling because they cannot help but live for the justice and right of God in a world that lets no truly good or godly deed go unpunished. I believe Jesus still sees you, and still blesses you, and still gives you the divine honor of sharing His Cross.

So blessed are you who are poor in spirit because you’ve exhausted too much of it in pursuing the hopeless causes of what’s right and good; blessed are you who are mourning what and whom you’ve lost because life is so unfair; blessed are you who are meek and humble in a world where stomping on others is the way to get ahead; blessed are you who hunger and thirst because you refuse to be satisfied with the sumptuous wrongs the world keeps dishing out; blessed are you who grant mercy in a world that only takes… advantage; blessed are you who are ridiculed because you are pure… in a world that finds filth so titillating; blessed are you who get caught and torn in the middle of our conflicts because you want a peace for us that’s always beyond what our self-righteous rage can envision; and blessed are you whose good deeds do not go unpunished – those who are wronged for doing what’s right…by God.

Jesus sees that you are so much more than what you seem, do, say, feel, or even think. Jesus sees that there is something so much more to you. There is so much more…of God to you than what you think or feel or can even know. So get up, stand tall, buck up, and keep getting your hands dirty doing the business of God. Pastor Chris Price Epiphany Lutheran Church Epiphany 4A, 01/30/2011