The Proof of the Pudding

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:1-10 ESV). There are a number of stories and legends behind Missouri's sobriquet "Show-Me" state. The slogan is not official, but is common throughout the state and is used on Missouri license plates. The most widely known legend attributes the phrase to Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying. Of course, Missourians are not the only folks who require “the proof of the pudding,” before they will believe something. That phrase has some interesting roots too. It makes its debut in the comic novel Don Quixote, when Miguel Cervantes wrote that “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” We use it and others to say that the true value of something can be judged only when it is experienced. So it is with the church. The church has no effect on society or an individual unless the reality of God’s grace is experienced in the transformation of human lives. And though we can see the lives of others change, we cannot be privy to the true nature of that change unless it is happening in us. In other words, we must experience this transformation before we can truly understand it. That’s the foundation of Jesus’ teaching in our reading today. We call these “the Beatitudes.” “Beatitude” is a state of supreme joy, of blessedness. These statements are a description of what life in Christ is to be. They are the blessings that a child of God can expect to experience. The beatitudes are statements of fact, not commands. They are not means to gain entrance into the kingdom; they are the marks of those who are living in the kingdom. They are the proof of the pudding. How’s your pudding?