The Mystical Body
ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY
Revelation 7:9-17 • Psalm 34:1-10, 22 • 1 John 3:1-3 • Matthew 5:1-12
Considering that God knits us together in one mystical body, we might expect to hear “Blessed are you who worship weekly; Blessed are you who rejoice in the spirit; Blessed are you who advertise your church affiliation, are justified, and exude your blessedness ... you who ignore those who speak ill of you because the kingdom of heaven is at hand and is yours now!” Wouldn’t this naturally flow into our blessedness? The economy of blessing may have been co-opted a bit by those who believe that to be blessed means to have abundance and not to suffer. Wouldn’t Evan’s and my job be easier if we told you that being a faithful child of God means you will live a comfortable life and have your heart’s desire? Dear ones, especially the parents and godparents of those to be baptized, I cannot promise you or your babe a life free of suffering, but our hearts’ desire . . . we can say more about that.
We want to be faithful children of God, saints of God even. I found comfort in our epistle reading. While we are children of God, “what we will be has not yet been revealed” (1 Jn 3:2b). The future lies wide open before us, no more so than when we are baptized as children. Through the nurture of parents, godparents, and the church, together we walk alongside one another, helping to recognize the gifts we have by the fruits of the spirit they bear. We long for those “ineffable joys prepared for those who truly love God,” and at our best, we do want that for one another. As children of God in one family, we are a mystical body, being in communion with one another and God, living in fellowship. This mystical union is our heart’s desire, even if we’re working on the logistics and how best we can do our part.
Why, when Jesus is beginning his ministry, doesn’t he lead with that?
Instead, what we have, according to Matthew, is Jesus heading up a mountain to deliver what will become some of his greatest preaching hits, and he begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In case those listening thought they heard him incorrectly, he continues: “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.” With silence perhaps broken only by listless shifting, what do you imagine the disciples and others were thinking?
Was their concept of “blessed” akin to ours? Would the beggar outside the gate post a selfie captioned “#blessed” because he was so pitied? Would anyone expect the beggar to hold or behold the kingdom of heaven? What about those grieving? From where would their comfort come? How on earth would the meek inherit the earth when the imperial army stood at guard? And those yearning for righteousness? Keep waiting.
The reality of the human condition of the first century mirrors some stark resemblance to our condition today, and Jesus saw it . . . still sees it . . . and names the reality they and we face. Jesus sees all and calls by name those who others ignore, abandon, or revile. In our polarized way of thinking, we might be quick to identify those Jesus blesses as only those who are outcast or oppressed. We want to know whose side Jesus is on when perhaps the most mystical thing about the Body of Christ is that there are no sides: it is one whole.
God saw fit to become incarnate to teach all those who are cast out, looked down upon, oppressed, judged, and acted toward in all manner of unrighteousness . . . to teach these children that they, too, are beloved, worthy, and blessed because nowhere were they being assured that they, too, were or are created in God’s image. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They are not excluded.
Those who are pure in heart, well, they could recognize the truth in Jesus’ radical inclusion perhaps more readily than others, whether they were outcasts or those who ranked somewhere in society. To be pure in heart, to see God, isn’t that to be attuned to God’s will? Likewise with the peacemakers and the merciful–they are building up the family of God instead of trying to break it down. Blessed are they.
In the beatitudes in the Gospel according to Luke, the “woes” are added, offering caution to those who have wealth, fullness, laughter, and status. Certainly to have these things is no affront to Jesus or to God. Blessed are they, too. We want these things for ourselves and one another, but we don’t want them at the expense of one another.
The mystical body of Christ is revealed in our communion and fellowship, yet the many ways we continue to deprive, overpower, and even outright kill one another reveals how afraid and insecure we are that our success, our happiness, our honor, our blessedness is assured.
On the drive back from Little Rock, my husband and I were talking about many things, as car rides lend themselves to dreamy conversations. Casey and I talked about life and events unfolding, still thinking of the friends we had just visited. He cited the cliché, “The world is your oyster,” and in a strange turn of conversation, he said that he always wants to add “you shall not want” to the phrase, citing that it reminds him of “The Lord is your shepherd.” I giggled, and we compared the meter of the words, trailing back into silence and our own thoughts. Then he said something to the effect of, “Why is it that we want at all?” We sat in silence again and never really came back to the question, though I told him I’d work his “The world is your oyster, you shall not want” into a sermon at some point. 🙂
Pondering want and desire, I heard the words from Psalm 84 come to mind: “My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the LORD” (Ps. 84:1b, BCP). Perhaps we are born with desire. We want to be united, reunited with the source of all being. This union is not a competition or race. Blessed as we are in the family of God, wherever we are and whoever we are; we are loved, we are welcomed, and we are encouraged to seek our way toward the kin-dom of heaven, finding it and living into it in communion and fellowship. Isn’t this the mission of the Church?
Our separation from God, our sin, is made all the worse by misplaced longing, wanting those things that our fellow humans have created and attached value to, namely worldly power motivated by wealth and might that fuels greed and devalues others. Is there a war right now not motivated by power over another or a desire for more at the expense of others? Isn’t there enough in this world for everyone if everyone truly loved God and their neighbor as themselves?
Blessed are we all who receive grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy to begin again to follow the saints toward the kin-dom of heaven, wanting nothing more than the ineffable joys that God has prepared for us when we are united as one. We can . . . we will . . . with God’s help.
© 2023 The Rev. Sara Milford
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Fayetteville, Arkansas