Text: Matthew 5:1-12Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Beatitudes
5 Seeing the crowds, he 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 obtain mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when men 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 men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
Jack had been a compulsive worrier for years, to the point that it was ruining his life. He finally went to a psychologist who recommended a specialist who could help him.
After Jack had been to a few sessions with the specialist, his friend, Bob, noticing a dramatic change in his behavior, asked him, “What happened? You don’t seem to be worried about anything anymore!”
“I went to a psychologist,” Jack answered, “and he recommended that I hire a professional worrier – I did, and I haven’t been worried since!”
“Wow,” said Bob, “that’s great – but it sounds expensive.”
“It is,” answered Jack, “he charges $5,000 a month!”
“$5,000 a month!” Bob exclaimed, “How in the world can you afford to pay him?”
Jack replied, “I don’t know – that’s his problem!”
Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, those who are reviled when they stand in Jesus’ corner…
How does it make you feel when you hear these words of Jesus? Did these words make you feel good? Did they help you forget, if just for a moment, the worries and cares of your daily existence? Did you perhaps feel that Jesus was addressing his words directly to you?
If so, you are not wrong. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus leaves the crowds behind, climbs a way up a mountain with his disciples behind him, and then he delivers this Sermon on the Mount to them.
Professor David Lose tells us that this is a teaching moment in which Jesus shows his followers how to recognize blessedness – not, surprisingly, how to become blessed, or even how to bless others, but how to recognize blessedness. And he tells us that the significant thing here is that those who are blessed are not necessarily the ones whom we would consider blessed: “Every community has its own definition of what constitutes blessedness. We may not always use such a pious word, preferring instead to call it ‘the good life’ or ‘success.’ But we all have definitions of what it means to have made it, and usually it’s not those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek or pure in heart or thirst for righteousness and all the rest. In our world, when we think of someone who is blessed we most often think of someone who is wealthy or powerful or famous or successful or beautiful or enviable. Blessing, at least according to the standards of this world, is most often of the material kind.”[1]
This is hardly a surprise to any of us. In fact, that is an attitude that was very evident among the people of Jesus’ own day – those whom others called “blessed” were exactly the people who had achieved success in life, either politically, financially, even militarily. A couple who had several healthy children – generally male children – were considered blessed. It went without saying that the rich farmer we’ve read about in the Gospels was blessed. David and Solomon were blessed. The Bible – Old and New Testaments – is full of the words “blesses,” “blessed,” and “blessing” – variations on “bless” and “blessing” occur over 400 times![2] The first word of the first verse of the first Psalm, for example, is “blessed”:
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers.[3]
But it was not assumed that the people Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount were blessed – Lose writes, “Jesus teaches something different. Jesus teaches us to see how God calls blessed those who are down and out, distressed by their circumstances, passionate about promoting righteousness and working for peace, or persecuted for doing the right thing.”[4]
This kind of gives a new twist on the concept of “blessing.” It reminds me of the hymn, “There Is a Wideness in God’s Mercy.” The first verse goes like this:
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
The blessings of God are showered on common people – people like you and me.
One thing we have be clear about regarding the word “blessed” as Jesus uses it – Elizabeth Shively, of St. Andrews University in Scotland, tells us that “the word ‘blessed’ does not mean ‘holy,’ and neither does it mean ‘happy’ in the sense of being in a good mood. Rather, the word, ‘blessed’ refers to a fortunate state of life.”[5] Yes, it really is possible to be blessed in the sense that Jesus means it, even if you’re not exactly euphoric about your current circumstances.
I’ll never forget our trip to Zimbabwe back in 2014. You might recall the Pastor’s Message from the September 2014 Chatter. One day, we visited people who were economically worse off than almost any of the poor in our country, but I never got a sense of despair, or even sadness, from anyone living there. Everyone we met projected great dignity, pride, and determination. Regardless of their earthly state, these people intimately grasped that they were indeed blessed by God. It was heartening to see, and very, very humbling.
Being blessed is about much more than your present feelings. It’s about your total state of being. Jesus tells us that we’re blessed because we are even now part of God’s Kingdom, which eclipses and completely overpowers this world – and that not just in the future, but right now. Remember that he says, for example, “blessed are the poor in spirit,” not “blessed will be the poor in spirit,” and “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” not “theirs will be the kingdom of heaven.” The promise is not going to be given in some unknown future time; the promise is given to us now.
Think about this for a minute. I would be willing to bet that every one of you has had in the past week at least one moment when you were confused, unsure, worried; when you felt compelled to step in maybe and bring a little calm into an argument (I think particularly of the parents and grandparents among us); when you asked yourself, “What am I doing?” or maybe “Where am I going?” or even “What does it all mean?” Maybe you didn’t use those exact words, but the feeling of anxiety was definitely there.
Well, here’s the good news: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is talking about you and to you. Which means that God’s got your back. As Elizabeth Shively puts it, “Jesus insists that God has the final word, bringing assurance into the present…Jesus gives his followers eyes to see that the future is certain and this transforms the present.”[6] The key phrase here is “and transforms the present.” Our present.
Have you ever wondered just why the Bible exists in the first place? However you believe it came to be, the Bible is, from start to finish, the record of God’s interaction with us, His children. The Bible is the record of how God breaks into our history and guides us, pushes us, cajoles us, leads us to Himself. God is not an aloof bystander, like some guy standing on a street corner who witnesses a car accident and claims later “I didn’t see anything.” God is a first responder, who dives into the situation. That’s the God we encounter time and time again in the Bible. That’s the way Jesus lived his life.
The takeaway for us today is twofold: First, let’s take to heart the fact that God blesses us and truly does have our back; and second, let’s take a cue from Jesus and be first responders ourselves in helping to make our world a better place!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1]Lose, David, “Epiphany 4A – Recognizing Blessing,” “In the Meantime,” http://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-4a-recognizing-blessing/
[2] http://www.stpancraschichester.org.uk/content/pages/documents/1207643550.pdf
[3] Psalm 1:1, New International Version
[4] Lose, David, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-4a-recognizing-blessing/
[5] Shively, Elizabeth, “Commentary on Matthew 5:1-12,” January 30, 2011, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=863
[6]Shively, Elizabeth, “Commentary on Matthew 5:1-12,” January 30, 2011, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=863