The Ladder of the Beatitudes and the Saints
Live audio File
2nd Sunday after Pent. The Beatitudes (Matt. 4:25-5:12), June 18, 2023
Today our second Gospel reading should be very familiar to us. The beatitudes. We read this passage for the Gospel reading for many of the major saints. Mahatma Gandhi in his autobiography said after reading the Beatitudes that “The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes by Jesus is the greatest thing ever written.” Unfortunately he also said when he searched for Christian representatives living by this precious teaching, he found only the most terrible representatives. He should have searched harder for the saints are truly the fruit of the Church, and as we celebrate the saints of our homeland today, we find those who truly do live the life of the beatitudes! When we gather to serve the Liturgy, for the third Antiphon – at least in our Slavic tradition – the Beatitudes are sung. This is very appropriate, for as we are singing the beatitudes, we are processing out of the Altar for the Little Entrance we are carrying the Gospel held high in reverence.
The beatitudes can be considered a summery of Christ’s teaching, describing our life in Christ’s kingdom and the qualities and characteristics that are marks of our transformation, into the very image of Christ…Theosis. They are both a description of what life in Christ looks like, and instruction as to the path we need to follow, or the ladder we need to climb, in order for our hearts to be truly converted.
Addressing the wisdom and depth of the Beatitudes in a short homily is quite a challenge. They are really better considered in a weekend retreat or book. There are dozens of books written on the Beatitudes. I would recommend “Climb the Ladder of the Beatitudes” by Jim Forest for a good Orthodox perspective. He describes the Beatitudes as a ladder, where each beatitude represents a rung leading to the next one. If any of them are missing we are stalled out on our trip up the ladder. There is no sense in wishing, or worse pretending we are already at the top of the ladder, while we are still standing on the 1st rung – the 2nd rung is the one to focus on.
In our wealthy North American culture we often confuse wealth with blessedness. The “self-made man” is greatly admired, but in reality he has everything to lose. We are only stewards of what God has given to us, we really own nothing of our own, not even our breath. There is a saying that “When you die, you carry in your clutched hands only that which you have given away.” And St. John Chrysostom said “…not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth but theirs.” So to be blessed has nothing to do with material wealth. Neither should it be translated “happy”, as we will certainly often be in anguish and tears already by the second rung. We should translate “blessed” in our minds as “Being on the right path, on the path to God” There can be times of great consolation as we experience the love and energy of God, but as our hearts are softened, they will also be broken as we awaken to the great pain and suffering that our sin has inflicted upon us and our entire world. The opposite of blessed, is the path of sin, of missing the mark, of falling off the true path. You may be quite happy for a short time on this non-path, but it is the road to destruction and great sorrow and there is no blessedness there to be found.
These eight blessed be’s, are progressive. They start at the very beginning of our entering through the door of Christ into an awareness of the kingdom of God in awe and humility. Blessed are the poor in spirit: I want to spend some time on this very first step because this is where most of us live. St. John Climacus or St. John of the Ladder tells us, “If we worry about something, we have not yet become poor.” So I think this first step is where most of us still have a little work to do. Until we wake up to the reality of our spiritual poverty, of our utter helplessness without God, we are not even firmly standing upon the first rung. No matter what our worldly and material success, the very start of the journey, the very first baby step begins with humility, and realizing our utter dependence upon God. Humility is the antidote for the greatest illness afflicting mankind, the very sin that brought down Satan, Pride. Realizing our great poverty is the start of sanity. This is where we all must start on our journey to unite with Christ – by realizing no matter how successful we might think we are; we are lost and poor if separated from God.
Blessed are those who mourn: Up the ladder to the next rung. Once we begin to see the great glory of God, we begin to mourn for how far we are from this glory. The first 3 steps in the AA program are essentially realizing that we are helpless and lost, but that God will help us if ask Him and let Him. We often are reluctant to do this until we have really messed things up enough that we realize our need, and cry out with fear. This gets us started, and as we encounter God, we become aware of our sins and mourn about how far we have fallen as we learn to humbly come to God in tearful repentance.
Blessed are the meek: This understanding then in turn leads us to meekness, to realizing how little we actually know, as we begin to allow our proud and confident opinions to fade and to simply trust that there are only two possible outcomes; God’s perfect will or God’s permitted will. As Christ prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” becomes our constant prayer.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: By now on the fourth rung we have tasted something of God, and we want more. Nothing else in our experience is as fulfilling and sweet and tender, and we hunger – more than for banana cream pie or a bacon double cheeseburger during Great Lent – like a man dying of thirst in the desert, we thirst and hunger to be filled with Christ. We have now become aware that we have a God shaped hole that only God can fill. Blessed Augustine said, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
Blessed are the Merciful: When we are filled to overflowing with the grace and mercy of God, we can not help but to give mercy to those we meet. Even those difficult people we meet, we see in a compassionate way, as those who are suffering under the burden of being isolated from the life creating and heart softening love of God. We see that they possess the image of God within them, even though it has been covered and hidden by the stains of sin, it is always there, and we pray; “Lord have mercy and bring them to life.”
Blessed are the pure in heart: Closer to the top of the ladder, our hearts start to fill with the mercy of God for all, and our thoughts are full of His goodness and love for everyone and everything. The blessed Mother Gavrilia explains, “Only one thing is important, the quality and quantity of the love you give to all – to all without discrimination.”
Blessed are the Peacemakers: Once our hearts are softened and purified, allowing God through His energies to dwell in them, then we can start to be His peacemakers. We can be effective peacemakers only when we have no personal agenda, when we see all parties as being children of God whom He loves completely, even when they are behaving with tortured and insane motives. When we have no desire for recognition or praise, but only wish to bring the peace of God to all we meet. When we start to love God in everyone we meet, we truly love God. The apostle and evangelist John said, (1 John 4:20) “If someone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” This peace is the great gift that Christ brings to his disciples when first appearing to them after his resurrection He greets them, “Peace be with you.” And then, “Peace be to you.” How many times during the Liturgy does the Priest turn and bless the congregation saying, “Peace be with you all.” Peace is a very great and tangible gift. Soak it up when it is given as a blessing.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake; when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you for My sake:
Once we have arrived at this last rung, once we can love the outcast and the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable, then we can certainly expect to incur the wrath of the world and the evil one in full force. When this happens, we can expect to be attacked without cause, reviled and persecuted and have our words twisted into lies. When we are able to forgive with true Godly compassion, and to allow the love of God to be our answer to those attacking us. To say as St. Stephen said as they were hurling stones at him, “Lord do not charge them with this sin.” We rest in the ever-waiting arms of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. ut for now, most of us will have to see this possibility in the lives of the saints, as we keep trying not to fall off the bottom couple of rungs.
And so when we sing the glorious verses of the beatitudes every Sunday, let us take heart. This is the path that Christ would lead us on; this is the glorious destiny He has called us to. But let us always remember as we struggle to grasp at the next rung, that He is there loving us equally, no matter which rung we are struggling to grasp. He is like the proud daddy climbing the ladder and protecting his 3-year-old as they shakily climb a ladder for the first time. Catching them in His protective arms when their foot slips. Encouraging them to try again, until finally they reach the top. We are happy for our children as they grow up and learn to climb the ladder of life, no matter which rung they may be working on. We love them just as much when they have a great success or need comforting from a fall. Infinitely more does our Abba Father love us, His dear children, right where we are; right here, right now! For He truly loves us and all of mankind! Glory to Jesus Christ!