God Our Joy, God Our Blessing

For twelve years, I taught scripture to sixth and seventh graders on Wednesday evenings. Each year, when we got to the Beatitudes,  they would roll their eyes and go “duh.” They’d heard it before:  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” 

I tried another tactic; I created a debate. One of you convince us that the Beatitude is true. Your opponent will persuade us that it is not true. For example, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Yes? Show us how that works. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” No? Hmmm. 

Now they were excited. Twelve-year-olds like to win arguments. The next Wednesday, you could feel the energy in the room. When we came to “Blessed are the clean of heart,” a girl walked confidently to the front. I had heard the boy who was to debate her practicing in the hallway: “Clean of heart—hah! Gangsters get away with all kinds of things! Who needs to be clean of heart?” He was ready. The girl told a story. “When my grandma was a teenager, she said that she was really mean. She deliberately hurt people. She didn’t want anything from anybody. She never listened to her parents. She liked to live wild. One day, she was bored. She just sat and watched the clock tick. She watched the second-hand move round and round  . . . and suddenly she realized if that clock kept moving, her life was going to end. She’d be gone. Dead. And what would she have done with those minutes? Something moved inside of her heart.  She thought about God. She didn’t want to be mean anymore. She wanted to be clean. So she changed. She started to pray. She went to church. Now, for me, she’s the most loving and wonderful grandma any girl could want, a real saint. ‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for  they shall see God.’ It’s true.” 

The boy stood up to begin his rebuttal. He sat back down. “How can I argue with that?” he said. 

Consider/Discuss 

• There are plenty of arguments about why Christianity is only for the foolish. Clean of heart—ha! Merciful—that’s only for the soft. The meek— they get walked on. But one living example of a saint, someone who lives a good and kindly life, filled with the Holy Spirit, is like a mountain peak that rises radiant above the clouds. That one life outshines any negative arguments. On this All Saints Day, what do you know of ordinary saints who have had their “robes washed” by the Blood of the Lamb? This week,  share with someone a “before-and-after” story about what the Lord has done to create a saint you know.
• Every saint is called to conversion, allowing the Lord to purify him or her.  Some conversions are abrupt, like the grandmother in the story, who turned a sharp corner in her life toward goodness and God. Some conversions come like a long slow curve that takes you gradually around a bend to set you on a different path. What has your conversion story been like? As you strive toward holiness, what change are you currently working on? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Jesus, thank you for surrounding us with saints. Some have gone  before us and are worshiping you forever. They were poor in spirit,  pure of heart, merciful, peacemakers. Some live among us, still  working their way toward you. We thank you for them all. Lord, we  too want to be saints. When all is revealed, we want to be like you,  for we shall see you as you are. That is so great. Thank you! Help us  to turn the corners of conversion and lead us in the paths of holiness.  Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus Christ!