Hard-core human

 

Matthew 5: 1-12
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
November 1, 2026

Photo of one of the sanctuary walls of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, CA, depicting dancing saints with the risen Christ dancing in the center. Saints include Malcolm X, John Coltrane, Anne Frank,and Anne Hutchinson.

Why does it always seem as though our heroes are gone too soon but the villainous can’t stumble over death soon enough? Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? It sounds like something out of the book of Psalms.



Do not fret because of the wicked;
  do not be envious of wrongdoers,
for they will soon fade like the grass
  and wither like the green herb.


Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
  though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land
  and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The wicked plot against the righteous
  and gnash their teeth at them,

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
  for he sees that their day is coming.



My social media feeds have been full of Walter Koenig and Sir Patrick Stewart, just like they were when it was Tim Curry and Dolly Parton. Just like our hearts are full whenever some beloved to us dies. Risa and Clay. Jim and Cynthia. Iva and Kit. Jane and Tony. All of the people we’ve brought to this Table. We call them saints because even though they weren’t perfect, they too hungered and thirsted for justice, tried to make some kind of peace in their lives, they didn’t make a big show about the good they did, they took hits for the team of outcasts, some of them outcasts themselves, and they loved the best they could.



Even so, no one signs up for sainthood. There’s not a huge draw of volunteers for poverty or persecution or for suffering for the sake of suffering. The people we call saints, what they did sign up for was to follow and serve in the way of Jesus, which is a tall order in and of itself. Remember the selling points:



You might be happy—or you might not.
You might be empowered—or you might not.
You might have more friends—or you might not.
You might have the answers—or you might not.
You might be better off—or you might not.
You may be worse off in every way you use to measure life.
Jesus says, “Follow me nevertheless.
Because I have an offer that is worth giving up everything you have: you will learn to love well.”



But even that is not a guarantee, if you look at St. Mother Teresa, who struggled mightily with feeling abandoned by God and dark nights of the soul. Signing up for solidarity with Jesus is hard-core human. Meeting the criteria for the beatitudes is hard-core human: poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty for justice, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking, persecuted.



Funny thing about hard-core humans is that they are usually misfits of some kind. Countercultural. Nonconformists. Rebels. But they’re also way-showers. Light-bearers. I think of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, without whom we would not have marriage equality and transgender rights. I think of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, among others, without whom women would not have the vote. I think of Judy Heumann, Lisa Carl, Justin Dart, Harold Wilkie, without whom we would not have the Americans with Disabilities Act and the disability rights movement.



This church was started by two groups of misfits, nonconformists, hard-core humans, who wanted to do church differently. Without whom our ability to build affordable housing on this property would not exist.



Jesus was a misfit rabbi who loved without condition those that empire steps on—the poor in spirit, those in mourning, the humble, justice-hungry, peacemaking, pure in heart, persecuted for who they are.



When we come to this Table, we’re signing up to join Jesus once again to be a hard-core human. We’re coming for help to be a hard-core human. We’re asking for forgiveness when we miss the mark, because being a hard-core human is hard. Someone who loves and gives extravagantly without condition, who is deliberately merciful, persistently hopeful, radically compassionate, quietly courageous.



Sometimes it can feel like a losing proposition. Jesus didn’t die on a cross for nothing. And yet as long as Love lives, Love is the winning side. Ultimately, it is Love that makes us so hard-core, love that does not give up, love that keeps showing up, love that bears us up. For all the saints who loved us into who we are, thanks be to God. Amen.

Benediction – enfleshed.com


To do justice...
To practice kindness...
To journey in life attuned to God....
This is what Love desires of us.
May it be so among us as the Spirit leads us from here with peace.