Homily for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

February 1, 2026

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

The joy and danger of preaching at home on Zoom after a week of being ice-bound is that my sermon writing has been intermingled with (and influenced by) my winter pastimes.  I’ve been working on an Icon of Christ…that’s been good for my prayer life., I’ve also made three different kinds of soup with several iterations of bread and rolls to accompany them, digging in my pantry for the things I squirrel away for winter..  I was also using up more dishtowels than usual with all the cooking, so I dug a little deeper into the dish towel drawer.  Whether serendipity or the Holy Spirit, I pulled out a pretty blue towel, a gift from a friend that I’d forgotten all about. And much to my amusement, it delivered a prophetic message of inspiration…which I will paraphrase to keep this sermon at a G rating:  “Sometimes blessings look a lot like BS.”

I admit, I let out a good laugh!  But honestly, I think there might be some theological depth to that expression that goes far beyond what the design team at Blue Q intended.  We are quick to think we know what “blessings” are, but our interpretation might not be spot on.  In today’s lesson, blessings are refined through the revolutionary wisdom that Jesus the teacher was offering up to those who followed him as they listened to his teaching from the mountain.

I want to remind us here in the 21st century that there were no microphones or sound systems or remote Zoom links involved in Jesus’ teaching ministry.  One reason to have disciples…his close followers accompanying him up the mountain was so that the message that was preached could spread to others who had followed Jesus to take in the lessons and the learning. A large crowd was following Jesus along the shore of Galilee, eager to hear a message that would give them hope in the midst of the events of their lives and the world in which they lived. Their faith taught them to know and believe they were covenantal people, beloved by God.  This was a God who chose them and led them through the wilderness and exile to a promised land. This was a God who heard their cries through history and who reminded the Hebrew people through Prophets like Micah, as we heard in today’s lesson, what God required of them: 

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

But in the land where they lived, God’s beloved people found themselves under Roman authority, which did not look or feel like a peaceable kingdom.  They were seeking a Messiah to liberate them, to put an end to the unjust laws and ungodly actions of Empire under which they lived every day. They followed Jesus, in hopes of hearing and seeing more about the teacher they heard might just be this Messiah.  Jesus would teach and word would spread from those closest to him through the crowds, from the mountain top through the messengers who shared and spread the words and wisdom.  The people of God were craving God’s blessing.

Sometimes we hear this passage read as if we were sitting at the feet of Jesus.  But I invite us to stand with the multitude who were gathered in the hope of a blessing of good news in their broken world.  We are also people who are craving good news to counter the daily dosing of the world’s brokenness that inundates our senses and overwhelms our sensibilities.  I think we feel today like the crowds who gathered then, knowing that the evil schemes of Empire were alive and well; that people were being mistreated; that bullies seemed intent on winning; that showing compassion was a mockery; that absolute power ruled absolutely.  God’s people were…and are…seeking divine hope in the midst of human struggles against oppression.  

Jesus’ message comes to us and up-ends what our human hearts expect to hear.  The blessing did not sound like victory, vengeance, retribution, individual prowess or political overthrow.  The blessing sounded like God’s justice, God’s kindness, God’s humility, God’s desire to be present with us and to help us recognize that presence of God with and in each other..  

The words they heard reminded and realigned them with God’s revolutionary blessing:

“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.

Were these the words that the crowds expected or wanted to hear?  I think on first hearing, probably not.  They might have also had some choice thoughts upon hearing Jesus’ words describing this vision of blessing. But Jesus, the teacher, goes further and invites them to understand how the very nature of this blessing reveals something about the nature of God.

Jesus’ message of Good News for the the poor, the grieving, the hungry and the persecuted gets spoken about and enacted repeatedly and poignantly in the Gospels.  The Good News evident in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Prophets of God who understand that God’s presence is greater and beyond any human threats, any human fear, any human grief.  God’s presence with us gives us not only comfort and promise, but a re-alignment to seek the righteousness, the mercy, and the humility that come through being in relationship with God who will guide our steps, who will order our days, who will be present with us when we are mourning, hungering for justice, actively working to promote peace, and standing firm for the righteousness of God’s reign of mercy, justice and love. We are not alone.

Yes, we live in a world where power is abused, leaders are corrupt, and people are suffering. But we also live in a world touched by God’s belovedness.  We see it in acts of caring that value people before profit; we experience it while standing with our neighbors for justice; we see it in the determination of our interfaith neighbors, the Buddhist monks who are walking a 2,300 mile journey for peace…a journey that moves into Richmond today.  This Peace of God is with us.

We are not alone walking this road with others in the family of God.

Walking in humble relationship with the God who has called us to do justice, to love kindness, to embrace relationship with God and one another is transformative and in itself, counter-cultural.  We will experience God’s blessing when we engage whole-heartedly with the poor in spirit; when we comfort those who mourn; when we side with the meek, when we are sharing our food and life-giving water with those who hunger and thirst, when we show mercy and practice peace, even at the risk of persecution. This is an instruction manual for beloved community.

We will know we are blessed when we are made fun of, mocked, belittled, told that we aren’t important by the voices who seek to replace God’s reign with regimes of power, hate and greed.  But the voices of this world are never stronger than God’s voice reminding us of our belovedness.  That steadfast presence of God is the blessing, not in an abstract way but through every action of kindness, mercy, justice and love in which we immerse ourselves as a congregation, as a people, as members of the household of God. Because in those actions…giving and receiving…we are experiencing the blessing of God’s transformational love.

Wealth, power, privilege, possessions, influence: you’ll notice these are not to be found amongst the beatitudes.  These are markers of how success is defined in the individualist and capitalist society in which we live, where securing power and might for one person or privileged group is contingent upon the lesser regarded labor of others.

We may live in that society, but that is not God’s economy.  And Jesus’ sermon on the mount…each of the beatitudes…remind us that God has a different design for our lives..

When we consider our own call to live fully into this Way of Love, maybe we are seen as foolish on the world’s terms.  But God chooses and uses what appears foolish, weak, low and despised on the world’s terms to reveal a greater truth: God lavishes present, persistent, transforming love to all the places, spaces and people in this world, and no where is that more evident than during the situations and places when we are most in need of God’s love. 

The places in this world where we are called to love and serve…listening, loving, caring, peace-making, justice upholding with those who are poor, oppressed, hungry, thirsty, grieving, standing for righteousness…these are the places where God’s blessing resides.  God’s blessing does not remove us or rescue us, but instead invites us to live into the Beloved Community which God intends for us and invites us to experience.

So live boldly into God’s blessings, friends.  They actually look a lot like belovedness.