St. Paul’s Lutheran School
Enid, Oklahoma
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A reading from Matthew 5: 1-8
5 Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Devotion: “And he taught them…” –
I am the son of Lutheran school teachers. I am the husband of a teacher. My sister is a teacher. Uncles and aunts were teachers, from preschool thru seminary. I am the product of a Lutheran school. I tell you this so that you know that I know how there are days when working in a school is hard work. They don’t want to be there, they won’t engage, the clock ticks ever slowly, and getting them to participate is practically impossible. And that’s just the teachers! Add in the kids and, well, it can be quite draining.
In my vocation as pastor, to a greater or lesser extent, one of my responsibilities is teaching. I teach kids once a week in confirmation class, or in chapel, or if you ask me to pop in and teach a class for you. You do it all day, every day. Not only are you engaging children, but you are also interacting with parents, fellow staff, administrators, school board members, and state agencies. While the task of teaching and educating young minds is laudable and noble, it is a challenge and becoming more and more each day.
I know – it’s the beginning of a school year; why are you being such a downer. The kids haven’t even shown up yet! Fair; and I’m not trying to rain on your parade. The goal of this devotion is TTTWBAT - that the teacher will be able to - have a Word to fall back on for strength, guidance and hope when THOSE days do happen.
I would like to refer you to those words I read earlier in Matthew 5. You probably know these as the Beatitudes, the “Blesseds,” that Jesus speaks. While those blessings are wonderful, and are the source for many sermons and devotions, I want to focus your ears on four small words that are often overlooked. Those four words are these: “And He taught them.”
Jesus is truly a highly qualified Master Teacher. His eternal certification allows Him to teach on all grade levels. He used stories, manipulatives, crafts; He used differentiated instruction; He used dissimilar settings; He used divergent strategies; His high rigor challenged doubters and believers both; His command of data driven analysis led Him to use five loaves and two fish to feed 5000. Yet, again and again, the Gospels say that the people, even His own disciples didn’t understand. At the risk of overly personifying Jesus, I wonder how often He felt like smacking His head after dealing with the disciples, the pharisees, and even the crowds. “Why don’t you guys get this,” He must have thought that more than once. “How can you possibly misunderstand this?” “Why can’t you see what I am showing you?” “How many ways do I have to state this?”
Throughout the Bible, we are reminded of God’s great kindness, mercy and compassion. He does not give up on His people, even those who are stubborn, who think they know it all, who think they have it all figured out, who think they don’t need Jesus. There is no greater example of that than in these four words, “and He taught them.”
“And He taught them.” I offer those words of encouragement as we stand on the cusp of a new school year. You are doing the vocation God called you to do, in classrooms, in the front office, in meetings, in phone calls and text messages, and maybe even in aisle 12 at Jumbo Foods when you run into that family. Whatever the moment, wherever the place, it is to continue doing that very special work that Jesus Himself did. You follow His footsteps as you seek to do what Jesus did with His own students (disciple, by the way, means “student”): “And He taught them.”
But if that’s where I left you, it would only be with the model of Jesus-as-teacher. That’s useful, to a point. But who of us can live up to that standard? Instead, let remind you what it was that Jesus taught. He taught that His people are blessed. Not becoming blessed, not to keep working to become blessed. Not, almost there. Simply, they are blessed.
While all of the Beatitudes are – literally – blessings, these three seem most apropos to you who do this noble and sometimes thankless task:
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
You, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus calls you blessed. Not because of what you have done, but because of whose you are. You are His. You are His beloved. He died to rescue and redeem you. He blesses you with His Word, with His grace, with His mercy, with His compassion, with His pure heart, with His peace that passes all understanding. These blessings He pours on you abundantly and richly. Therefore, you are blessed. Present-tense, present indicative active if you are a grammar person, a present-tense reality. Not something to strive toward, to live up to, to get more blessed. The fullness of His blessing abides on you.
Armed with that blessing, in this calling, you stand in the stead and the place of Jesus. To those kids, to those families, you have the opportunity to be Jesus to them, to speak and act with His mercy, with His heart, with His peace. In your words, Jesus speaks. In your actions, Jesus acts. In your lessons, Jesus teaches. He is literally moving in and through you to those kids and their families.
I know, there are days when that will be tested. You will have one nerve left, and Little Johnny or Joanne will take great pleasure in stomping on it. And there may be days when that nerve snaps, and you do to, and you sin against your student, against Mr. Burdick, against me, against each other. With faith in Jesus, repent – apologize – and receive that peace of Jesus for yourself. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. When you feel overwhelmed and empty, stand at the font of Jesus mercy and be refilled. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. When your heart is frustrated and aches, let the heart of Jesus beat within you. When you are stressed and struggling, let the peace of Jesus calm you and fill you with the peace of God that passes all understanding. When tears flow because of your compassion for these kids and their families, you are comforted with His love. When your spirit feels broken and bankrupt, Jesus fills you with the promise of heaven. As you yearn for the day when you will get to sit at the foot of the Master Teacher Himself, you are satisfied with the work you do today.
As you do this task as educators, with the mercy of Jesus, with the pure heart of Jesus, with the peace of Jesus, my prayer for you is that you are renewed with God’s mercy, that you see God’s hand in your work and in the work of your peers, and most of all, that you remember you, too, are His children whom He continues to teach, love and bless.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, over and over, you sent prophets, apostles, and even Your Son to teach Your Word to Your people. We thank and praise you for those who teach, work in, serve, and lead St. Paul’s. We ask your blessing on this place of learning. May Your name be hallowed and your Kingdom come among us, and may it ever be a place of learning and sanctuary for those who need it.
While days quickly unfold for the new school year, we pray that Your Spirit abides here, guiding, directing and leading those who teach and those who learn. Fill the teachers with mercy, pure hearts, and a sense of peace. Fill students with curiosity and open minds. Give our administrators wisdom and understanding. In all things, may Your will be done.
This, we pray, for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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