The Beattitudes - Introduction
September 28, 2008
Matthew 5:1-12
I would like to do an informal survey. I have one very simple question . . . Who would like to be blessed by God today?
That’s it . . . simple isn’t it? Okay, if you want to be blessed by God, then I need you to raise your hands! Most of you raised your hands, and I can only assume some of you don’t want to be blessed by God, or you know me well enough and you know I have something up my sleeve.
So, if you want to be blessed, what does it even mean to be blessed? After all, when someone sneezes we bless them. In fact, we kinda feel guilty if we don’t say “Bless you” or even “God bless you.” Sometimes after a conversation with another Christian we may say “God bless you.” How about when we eat a meal . . . we ask God to bless this food into our bodies. But how reasonable is it to ask God to bless that oil soaked delicious looking pepperoni pizza into our bodies. I mean, is God going to take out all of the fat and salt and replace it with great hardworking vitamins? Just because we’ve asked Him to bless the food. What about the quick prayer after we’ve ordered that Big Mac, fries and coke? Is God going to take that 75% fat content and reduce it to nothing? Okay, you know where I’m going on this one.
Then we proclaim to others, “God has really blessed me.” And we mean it, and I’m not being sarcastic about that. But what does it mean to say God has blessed me. Are we simply saying, “As of this moment in time, I am living comfortably.” Or maybe after enduring some hardships, we say it knowing we have not suffered as much as others have, so we somehow sense, in some strange way we think or feel, God has blessed us. But does that mean the person who is suffering is not being blessed by God? It seems to me that a really clear understanding of what it means to be blessed by God, seems to get away from us.
So, what does it mean to be blessed? Well, God gives us some ideas, and in all honesty it is not the manner in which we normally seek blessings. For the next 8 weeks, we are going to look at what it means to be blessed by God in very specific terms. We are going to look at the very beginning of the first major sermon Jesus gives. Some have said that this sermon, called the Sermon on the Mount, is kind of like Jesus’ platform speech. If you were watching the presidential conventions last month, it was like Jesus coming up to the platform and giving one of the most amazing messages ever. The first part of His message is called “The Beatitudes.”
The word beatitude comes from the word BEATIFY which means to have supreme blessedness. So, let’s look at the beatitudes, at what Jesus said, and as we do so, I want us to read the scripture together. We are going to read Matthew 5:1-12.
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat
down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will
be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Now, think about what Jesus is saying here. Who are the blessed?
The poor in spirit the merciful
those who mourn The pure in heart
the meek The peacemakers
the hungry and thirsty the persecuted because of Christ.
When this happens to you, what does Jesus say you are to do? “Rejoice and be glad.” Anyone want to say a collective “uh-oh!” That’s not our idea of being blessed . . . is it?
Lots of people have translated the Beatitudes to be what Pastor Robert Schuller called in the title of his book The Be-Happy Attitudes. We seem to transfer the word happy, for the word blessed. We need to understand that the word happy comes from the word HAP, which is a Middle English word from around the 1400’s which means luck. It’s where we get the word happenstance. In other words, happiness is dependent upon circumstances and luck and with a roll of the dice. However, the Beatitudes are in no way a roll of the dice or chancy. There is no sense of uncertainty to them. When Jesus said, “Blessed are they . . .” there were no qualifying phrases, like “In most situations, blessed are they . . . or Given the right conditions, blessed are they . . . or if you are over 55 blessed are you . . .”
Yet, we attempt to pigeon hole blessings or happiness into our way of looking at them. We think,
“If only I had more money, I would be happier.”
“If only I had my health, I would be happier.”
“If only I were successful, I would be happier.”
“If only I had a spouse . . .
“If only my kids were . . .
“If only my spouse were . . .
“If people were nicer . . .
“If God was nicer . . .” And our list goes on and on about how we would be happier or feel more blessed in this life IF ONLY.
Yet, what occurs to me is the fact that we look at blessings and happiness only on our terms, not according to God’s terms. McDonald’s had a stroke of genius when someone invented the Happy Meal. What kid doesn’t want a Happy Meal and what parent would deny their child the thrill of receiving that nutritious meal, which includes a cheap plastic toy which usually breaks within days or is forgotten about. Just as our children look forward to Happy Meals, we too, are conditioned to look for our Happy Meals of life.
We try as hard as we can to force fit God’s blessings into our concept of happiness. Do you get that?! This is really an important point for us. We try to fit God’s blessings into our concept of blessing. Understand this folks, think about it, we take our view of what it means to be blessed, and we automatically think it should be equal to God’s way of blessing us. Yet, it is not.
You see, when we think of being blessed, we think of gaining God’s favor, or we think somehow we are in God’s good graces. So, we do all we can, or at least all we think we can according to human standards and our way of thinking to gain God’s favor or blessing.
And this is exactly why the Beattitudes fly right in our face; and are counter-cultural. So we struggle with them, because we don’t consider those who are persecuted, poor, hungry, meek, those who mourn as blessed. Instead, we consider the strong and mighty, the rich and successful, the attractive and famous as blessed . . . but Jesus asks us, are they blessed or happy?
The Greek word for blessed is, makarios, it’s the same word the Greeks used to describe the island of Cyprus, which is nicknamed “the Happy Isle.” The Greeks believed Cyprus was so beautiful, so rich in resources, and so fertile, that a person would never have to leave the island, because everything you would ever need for happiness was contained on that island.
In the same manner, William Barclay wrote about this same word, makarios, saying, “it describes that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self contained . . . completely independent of all the chances and changes of life.”
So, when we say the Beattitudes describe the happy life, we are talking about a special kind of happiness. It is the type of happiness that has nothing to do with chance or circumstances, and it doesn’t depend upon health, wealth or achievements.
Instead the Beattitudes are about learning to experience God’s blessings in a new and different way. Remember the Declaration of Independence states people are “endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We not only think we have a right to happiness, we have the right to pursue it.
Yet, when we start examining the Beattitudes we realize that in Jesus’ view of happiness, it is not something we get by pursuing it; instead it is actually the opposite. What I hear Jesus telling us is that we can experience true happiness and blessedness if we live life according to the Beattitudes. This means we need to make a declaration of dependence. We put ourselves in our rightful place; as God’s servants; ready, willing and able to serve God in whatever way He deems necessary. And when we give God everything we have and everything we are, we will find we are blessed beyond what we could ever imagine. We will still go through difficult times, but we will have that makarios, God’s blessing.
Again, it’s not looking around your home and saying, “Wow, look at all I have, I am really blessed.” Maybe you have an abundance materially, but what are we doing with that blessing? Isn’t that the real call of God! Many wealthy people have cursed their wealth, because they were never content. When asked how much money was enough, John Rockefeller said, “just a little bit more.”
When some consider the Beatitudes they think they are only about us, but when I look at the Beatitudes I see the very life Jesus was willing to live - - - so I see God’s character within these difficult words of Jesus. The Beatitudes reveal more about God and more about the very people we should strive to become.
Jesus is proclaiming to all who are willing to listen that the old order is gone, the new has come. Those who are being persecuted for His sake, those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the hungry, those who thirst for righteousness, those who put aside their power . . . . have an opportunity to experience a greater presence of Christ. Why? Because they are following the call and way of Christ.
The Beatitudes are more about us opening a new window of opportunity through which we may view the new landscape that Jesus calls the kingdom of heaven. If we are to be truly blessed, it will not occur as the world dictates. Through faith, we must come to grips with the reality of God’s kingdom, His kingdom on earth and in heaven. And we need to be ready to have our hearts and minds transformed . . . His way, not ours.
If we want to know and experience God’s blessings, then we need to give up the self-centered ways of thinking and living we are used to. The way of Jesus is more about self-denial. This is why the Beatitudes are so foreign, so alien to us. The more steeped we are in the values of popular culture, the more difficult it is to grasp what Jesus means.
This morning, my prayer is that we would all say, “God, as I study this sermon of sermons. Teach me. Transform me. Help me to live out these beatitudes. Make Me a humble servant. Make me a merciful individual. Everyday remind me how dependent I am on Your grace. Enable me to be a peacemaker. Help me to love people . . . even annoying, demanding, sinful people . . . even people that hurt me. God, help me to live my faith - even if that brings hardship and persecution. Help me to be a living version of this sermon. Help me to bring You the glory and honor, as I experience Your version of living the blessed life of Jesus. Who considered each one of us worthy of the shame of the cross.”
Now - don’t answer right away - but if that is your prayer would you raise your hand? Let us pray.
Invitation
Father God, You have seen our pledge. Help us to keep it. Help these blessings Jesus preached about to become ours because of our faith, trust and belief in your call in our lives. Let our attitudes and actions stand out in this county. Let our light shine before others that they will know we are Your children. In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN
