Today’s Gospel lesson is one of many which we prefer to study only in the past tense. That is, we are interested in what Jesus meant by the Beatitudes, and how they fit, or did not fit, into Jewish theology. We wonder about the reaction of his disciples, on the one hand, and what the “multitude of people from the coast of Tyre and Sidon” thought, on the other. But as soon as we bring these sayings into our own lives in 2007, we begin to get uneasy. The reason for our uneasiness is that these sayings challenge us to ask whether "we" can expect a blessing or a woe. Some of us who are poor, will participate in the Kingdom of God, according to Jesus; but those of us who rich, have already received their reward. Suddenly we are eager to know exactly what definitions of poor and rich Jesus was using. He says that those of us who are weeping now, will be blessed; but the majority of us who are either content or laughing now, will mourn and weep. In these sayings Jesus was, and is, challenging our assumptions about who is blessed by God, and "why" they are blessed.

Allow me to share with you how I have experienced one of the blessings, and two of the woes, which will help you understand just what a complex sermon Jesus delivered, and how you might interpret it for yourself. At the beginning of my ministry in the 1970’s, I experienced the blessing in verse 22: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man”. As I wrote in the recent issue of our newsletter, "Beyond A Doubt", I was right in the middle of the controversy over the ordination of women. I was the second woman to go through the ordination process in the Diocese of Olympia, in 1973 & 74. When the steps of the process were nearly completed, Bishop Curtis didn’t want to ordain me, and gave the excuse that he had no job for me. To his surprise and dismay, I was offered the position of Asst. Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, so his excuse vanished. He sidestepped the issue by arranging for a retired bishop to ordain me to the diaconate in 1975.

In those days, many people found the idea of the ordination of women profoundly disturbing, especially once ordination to the priesthood and episcopate were being discussed. There were people who hated me, excluded me, and reviled me in the name of Jesus. It was common in those days for people to avoid the communion rail where I was administering the bread, and go to the other side. You have heard me describe the objection that was raised at my ordination on Feb 9, 1977 by an unknown member of the congregation. In 1978 I did a 3 month sabbatical in England, where I was excluded from functioning as a priest, and many clergy I met informed me that I was not a priest. What Jesus said a person should do when receiving this blessing of being hated and excluded, is “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for your reward is great in heaven”. Well, I don’t remember rejoicing or leaping for joy at all.

But I think I was blessed in a different way, somewhat like Jeremiah. Do you remember the Old Testament lesson 2 weeks ago, when Jeremiah told God that he couldn’t be a prophet because he was too young? And God’s reply was, “Do not say I am only a boy, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am there to deliver you, says the Lord”. God strengthened me, and gave me to understand that it made no difference to God that I am a woman. In effect, God said to me, Go, and speak, and do not be afraid. God gave me the ability to focus on the ministry to which He called me; and not to be personally wounded by the hatred and the exclusion.

Now, I am experiencing two of the woes, because many people do speak well of me, and I am happy now. The Greek word which is translated “woe” is "ouai", which sounds like the Hebrew “oy”, and is close to the Latin “vae” which translates alas. All these words mean, “how awful it is, how painful”, so the contrast could hardly be greater. When Jesus spoke of those who are laughing now, he was probably referring to people who are content with their lives: perhaps happiness would be the best English translation. Therefore his words meant, “how awful for you when people speak well of you” and “how awful for you when you are happy”. Why would he say such things?

These woes fit right in with all the other reversals which Jesus taught, and acted out. Think of his promise that the sinner will not be punished by God, but instead be forgiven. Think of his frequent demonstration that sickness is not a punishment from God; think of his teaching to love our enemies, to care for those in distress even if they are religiously or ethnically different. Think of what he says about losing one’s life in order to save it. All of these sayings serve to draw a sharp contrast between God’s way, and the way of human culture--any culture. Throughout history, people who are wealthy, who have power, who are famous, are considered to be fortunate and blessed. Jesus is saying that people who are wealthy are in danger of mistaking money and property for the true wealth of relationship with God, and service to others. He is saying that people who are famous, have in the past been deceivers, saying what the public wants to hear. And he is saying that people who laugh now, are fools for thinking they have earned their reward.

On the whole, therefore, it may not be a good things in the eyes of Jesus, for me to say how happy I am to have served God as a priest for 30 years, and how happy I am to be here at St. Thomas as your rector! And it is probably a mistake to tell you that I feel these are my best years of ministry: that I have learned and benefitted and matured from all those other congregations I have served: Stanford Memorial Church, St Clare’s Pleasanton, St. Jude’s Cupertino, Trinity Menlo Park, All Saints Palo Alto, and Christ Church Los Altos.

But perhaps it "is" all right for me to say how much I love the ministry I have been given, and how I feel privileged to serve you, to help, to teach, to listen, to counsel, to work on committees, to respond to problems, to lead worship, to visit the sick, to baptize, marry and bury, to bless and to work with you in building up the church. And I hope it is all right for me to say that I am thrilled to have played my part in one of those reversals Jesus was talking about. Most of the evidence we have from the early church says that women were accepted as equals, and functioned as leaders along with men. This fact explains why there were so many women attracted to Christianity from the beginning. In most other parts of their lives, women in the ancient world were treated as children, as people of no account, who should stay home and keep silent.

But Jesus treated women with respect. He had friends and disciples who were women. The apostles chose to baptize women as well as men, and when St. Paul converted the businesswoman Lydia, she became the head of the church in Philippi. Thirty years ago when the debate was raging about the ordination of women, very little was known, beyond what we read in Acts and in the letters of St. Paul, about the ministry of women. Now that the ancient documents have been studied, we know the names of 103 deacons who were women, along with about 15 others who are un-named. We know the names of 8 priests who were women, and 2 others who are un-named; and there is a gravestone of one bishop who was a woman, Episcopa Q, who died about 390.

At my ordination, the sermon was given by my sponsoring rector, David Dunning. He said, “a new tradition is being created tonight. God has confronted us in this issue; God has pushed, cajoled and stretched us into action”. I propose to you that it is "not" a new tradition, but an ancient one which we have rediscovered and renewed. It is a source of joy to me to be part of that renewed tradition. Along the way, I have been in a position to counsel and support a large number of women and men, as they discerned their call and have gone through the ordination process. The church has been changed by having women in ordained ministry: there is less competition and more collaboration, there is more awareness of group process, more sensitivity to pastoral needs, and a greater openness to diversity. Some of that reversal which Mary proclaimed in the Magnificat, and Jesus proclaimed in today’s reading, has happened, for God has exalted those of low degree. Having participated in that renewal of tradition 30 years ago, it was a great privilege for me to vote in the House of Deputies, to accept the election of Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori as Presiding Bishop.

Although her election has caused a great controversy in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, she seems to be calm in the midst of the storm. The reason she is calm, I think, is that she is taking Jesus’ call to care for the needy very seriously. Before the General Convention, she said that the top priority for the Church is to focus on the Millenium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations, and do our part to achieve those goals. Now as Presiding Bishop, she has asked every parish to learn about these goals, and begin thinking about what we can do. Today is the first of eight Sundays, in which there will be 2 pages at the back of your bulletins, describing one of the Millenium Development Goals. I have tried to match them up as well as I could, to the lessons for each Sunday. So today, as we think of Jesus blessing of those who are hungry, we also think about the goal of eradicating hunger, which is actually possible. I give thanks for the leadership of Bishop Katherine, and I ask you to pray for her as she meets this week with 37 other Primates of the Anglican Communion, one-third of whom say they will not participate if she is there. As she experiences the blessing of being reviled and excluded, may God strengthen her, as God has strengthened me. Amen.

(The names of women who were deacons, priests and a bishop, can be found in: "Ordained Women in the Early Church": A Documentary History, by Kevin Madigan and Carolyn Osiek, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005)