Will The Middle Passage Kill You?

Pastor Sam, this past Sunday, brought together an amazing juxtaposition of two themes. On the surface they may have seemed unrelated, but in fact they hold hands. So, all you doctors out there, put on your masks: we're headed for some surgery here.

Before the sermon began, he spoke about Black History Month and the physical and mental strength that was necessary for enslaved Africans to survive the Middle Passage as they traveled in ships, bound in chains below deck, from Africa to the Caribbean and America.

Then, during the sermon, Pastor Sam reminded us of the challenge of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes have a literary 'middle passage', those hard words that appear between the "blessed are"s and the "for they will"s. And we cannot survive those 'middle passages' unless we have spiritual strength, given to us by the Holy Spirit, to live a lifestyle that the world ridicules and abhors.

It's a funny thing. We all want to be blessed, and we all want to enter the kingdom of heaven and be called sons of God and inherit the earth and all that other good stuff. But who wants to embrace the words in the middle?

Can you say these things, with the help of the Holy Spirit?

Yes, I will be poor in spirit. I will acknowledge that I have nothing to offer outside of the grace given me by God.

Yes, I will mourn, because I recognize my own sinfulness.

Yes, I will be meek, and accept the truth from the throne of God and from the mouths of people who God has sent to speak to me.

Yes, I will hunger and thirst for righteousness. There is nothing I want more than to know the presence of God and live for Him.

Yes, I will be merciful. God has been merciful to me: how can I withhold mercy from others?

Yes, I will demonstrate purity of heart. My personal agenda has been abandoned in favor of God's agenda.

Yes, I will be a peacemaker, pursuing peace, that fruit of the Spirit found in the children of the kingdom of God.

Yes, I will endure persecution and be cool with it: it's an indicator of my alignment with Jesus, who suffered greatly on my behalf, as well as prophets who suffered for the sake of the kingdom long before I was ever born.

Yes, Lord, we will do these things! Not on our own, but with Your help. Thank You for saving us, helping us, keeping us, loving us. In Jesus's name, Amen.