Loved and Blessed

February 1, 2026. Saint Barnabas Lutheran Church, Howard Beach, Queens, N.Y. 

What is charisma?

In 1971 Philip Roth wrote Our Gang, a political satire featuring President Richard Nixon (dubbed Trick E. Dixon) and populated with characters who resembled real politicians of the era. For example, the mayor of New York appears as John Lancelot.

In the novel, President Dixon is plagued the memory of President John F. Charisma and his stylish widow, Jacqueline Charisma Colossus.

For those of us of a certain age, the sly manifestation of the Kennedys is all we need to know about charisma.  The Kennedy’s had it. We saw it.

In theological terms, charisma is a charism, a spiritual gift, an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit. Webster describes it as a “personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure.”

Did Jesus have charisma?

Frankly, it’s hard to see it if our knowledge of Jesus is derived from the antiquated Elizabethan language of the King James bible or the meticulously accurate translation of the New Revised Standard Version.

But who can doubt that Jesus had charisma? In the opening verses of Matthew there is something extraordinary about him, an undefinable aura that makes him irresistible to people. In a chance encounter with Peter and Andrew, Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people” and “immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (MT 4:19-20)

Then he saw James and John in a boat with their father Zebedee and “he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” (MT 4:21-22)

The unhesitating decision of these men to turn away from everything they know suggests that Jesus had a magnetism that far exceeded the power of the force, “these are not the droids you are looking for.”

“So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” MT 4:24-25)

Some biblical scholars note how astounding it is to attract crowds in a sparsely populated area where people are preoccupied with putting food on the table, finding water to drink, and surviving the daily degradation inflicted upon them by their imperial overlords. And hundreds or thousands of people – whatever number constitutes a “great crowd” – turn away from their daily tasks to follow Jesus. Jesus Charisma.

Jillian Nelson of Texas Christian University, writes that it’s not only charisma that attracts the attention of the crowd. “Matthew shows Jesus to be an active agent of God’s power among the people and an authoritative teacher, highlighted by what is arguably the most famous of Jesus’ teachings, the Sermon on the Mount.” 

This comes at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has come through a period of testing. He has been baptized by John. He outsmarts Satan who comes to him in the desert to show Jesus how he could benefit from his Godly powers. 

He reveals the nature of this otherworldly power when he calls his first disciples and they find it impossible to say no to him. He has tested his mettle by proclaiming the good news of the empire of God in the synagogues. He is astounding people by curing sick. 

Now he’s ready to begin his ministry in earnest. As a crowd gathers around him, he begins to speak. The sermon he will give is his manifesto, his declaration of how he will conduct his ministry, how he will interpret the law, and how he expects people to respond to him and each other.

The overture of this powerful declaration are the Beatitudes.

We’ve read and recited the Beatitudes so often we can almost repeat them by heart. But what did they mean to the crowds who listen to him. What do they mean to us in an age and culture that is so very different from first century Palestine?

A few examples:

Blessed are the poor in spirit. 

These are the people – in Jesus’ day and in ours – whose bodies and spirits are crushed by poverty. These are the people who can’t put food on the table because SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) has been cut back. These are the people whose spirit is crushed when millions of dollars that could have gone to health care are diverted to hire ICE agents.

Now Jesus is declaring that in the Kingdom of Heaven God will set things right. 

This is not a version of “Pie in the Sky When you die,” an empty promise made by oppressors, union busters, and oligarchs to keep their minions under control.

Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is here now, and those of us who claim to be members of that Kingdom have the responsibility to set things right: to organize food programs, to advocate for universal health care, to lobby government to provide safety nets for persons living at the poverty line, to open our arms and hearts to the poor in Spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn.

“Grief comes for all of us,” writes Jillian Nelson, “but mortality rates were higher in the ancient world. Parents simply could not expect their children to survive infancy, let alone make it to adulthood. It was not a given. War, food and housing insecurity, and infectious diseases could cut a life short.”

When Matthew’s gospel first appeared the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. had already happened. They knew very well what it was like to mourn. 

So do we know what it’s like to mourn. We’ve watched the genocidal retaliation against Gaza, the clandestine invasion of Ukraine, and deep political and spiritual divisions in our own country. Yet to those of us who mourn, Jesus proclaims release and comfort.

Blessed are the Meek.

“The third beatitude continues this emphasis on both human misery and divine activity,” writes New Testament Professor Warren Carter. “The beatitude’s blessing on the meek derives from Psalm 37, where four times, the meek are promised that they will inherit the land. The psalm defines the meek not as the humble or wimps but as the literal powerless and poor who lack the life-giving resource of land. The wealthy powerful have plotted against them, used violence, and oppressed them. God promises to remove the wicked and to give the land to the meek.”

As Jesus continues his sermon, his message is clear. The Good News is that the travails and struggles of hungry, grieving, meek, and oppressed peoples will be wiped away in God’s kingdom. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted 

Contrary to a popular trope, American Christians are not persecuted because we proclaim Christ. Millions gather congenially and safely in churches all over the land. 

“But do not be deceived,” warns Professor Carter. “When we live a life for justice for the oppressed and marginalized, when we extend mercy to the outcast, when we live the values outlined in the beatitudes, the rulers of this world will resist us. 

“For those of us living comfortable lives in the wealthiest nation the world has ever known, how can we embody the beatitudes? How can we pursue justice, righteousness, and peace? How can we embody God’s promises to those that are poor, mourn, and oppressed?”

Even if we can’t always see God’s kingdom around us, God calls us to be active members of the kingdom with all people we meet and in every thing we do.

Thirteen years ago the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America declared an annual day of service, usually in early September. 

The day is called, “God’s work. Our hands.”

The day declares “that all of life in Jesus – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life – flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s Grace.”

That is how we embody God’s promises. Every day. Every hour. God’s Work. Our hands.

Amen.