“Blessed are they…” ~ The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:1-12
(quotes taken from the NKJV unless noted)
Wakelee Church ~ January 30, 2005
Theme: When we are willing to love humanity as God does, then we do things differently in spite of the persecution, knowing that true happiness is our reward.
Introduction – Tread mills, weight machines, and reality!
This past week I had the joy of taking a “health assessment.” Has anyone ever taken one of these? When you start out at a gym or exercise place, they want to get some idea of how healthy or not you are. This way they can set you up with the right work-out/equipment etc.)
Well, instead of skipping mine, as some others have done. I boldly stepped forward and did the deed. And through bicycling, push-ups, flexibility tests, and the like, I found that not only was I not essentially “fit” according to their standards (this is why I joined in the first place), but that I had plenty of areas that quote-unquote “needed work.”
Needless to say, some changes have to be made…Amen? So, at the Buchner home, we’re going to be doing some things differently, hopefully to achieve a blessing once all is said and done.
I believe this is the same kind of idea that Jesus lifted up in this passage, commonly referred to as the Beatitudes.
There were some areas that needed work, that called for a change in how things were done. And once changed, blessing would be the result.
Jesus’ list of eight in this passage stood and still stands in stark contrast to what humanity often seems to value. In our society our beatitudes may read something like this…
Blessed is the man who makes a fortune.
Blessed is he who kisses the boss’ posterior.
Happy is the man who has a palace in the city and a summer home in the mountains and four cars in the garage.
Blessed is he who has won the applause of his pears.
Blessed is the woman who is recognized as a darling in society.
Blessed are those who avoid criticism and worship the status quo, for their reward will be “normalcy.”
The problem here is that the standards that Jesus lifts up are completely the opposite of what is most comfortable and most accepted.
As Jesus was starting to gain in popularity, He took his disciples into the rolling hills of northern Israel by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd followed. Instead of just twelve, Jesus looked over acres and acres of human faces.
They were rich and poor, young and old, varied races and ethnic backgrounds, some were a great success by human standards, others were failures. The crowd represented a cross-section of humanity…the world in miniature.
Yet, as different as they all were, Jesus understood that they were call on the same quest. They were all after the same thing. They wanted something more than what their world offered at the time…Jesus offered blessings.
And I fully believe, that there are some here this morning, if not a majority of us, who want something more…who want to strive for something greater than ourselves. In this passage, Jesus shares with us a greater way.
He shares about the kingdom of heaven and how we can start building that kingdom even in our own midst. This is practical stuff, useful, applicable material. The only difficulty is that we need to get some basics under our belt.
Jesus knew, that when it came to kingdom of God dynamics, especially loving God and loving others, that most people fell into the “needs work” category…Amen?
I – Humanity are people too! (verses 1-2)
The first thing I see in this passage is that Jesus shared the sermon in action before sharing the sermon in words.
If one checks out the semantics of this passage, we can find an interesting story in the first two verses. When I first read the passage, I assumed that it was because Jesus wanted to speak to the crowd that he went up into the mountains, but the Bible never says that.
In fact, if you look at the passage immediately preceding, Jesus was healing a great multitude of people. These people had been following Jesus from Galilee to Decapolis to Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan…Jesus just didn’t automatically realize in 5:1 that they were there…they had always been there.
Jesus saw the multitudes and went up into the mountains by himself. Heresy you claim!!! Look at the text….the NIV shows it the clearest.. “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.”
Once he had done that, THEN, “His disciples came to him…”
Did you see it? Jesus went up on the mountaintop to get away from the crowd. They followed. So Jesus began to teach, what I believe to be one of his best sermons because it came straight from his heart. He showed his love and compassion as he preached about love and compassion.
When the crowd followed, Jesus took the opportunity to share with everyone. When we share that love for humanity as a whole, our perception may change and our actions may follow!
The message we have to share is a message that everyone needs to hear…Amen? Jesus reached out to all humanity, because he knew they were people too.
II – Jesus challenged them to do things differently. (verses 3-10)
The second thing Jesus did was to challenge this persistent crowd to do things differently.
I think it must be noted here that Jesus never said that “in order to be a Christian you must.” We’re not talking about salvation here, but about discipleship.
Jesus said that those who stepped out on faith in these areas, would see an extra blessing, a reward, if you will, but it requires the disciple to think about things differently. Each of these beatitudes are rooted in our humility, hence the need to be poor in spirit…humble.
The change that Jesus is asking us to make may be well beyond what is comfortable only because it is so personal.
The Life Application Bible offers in its explanation of this text some interesting insights…
You cannot mourn without appreciating how insufficient you are to handle life in your own strength.
You cannot be meek unless you know you have needed gentleness yourself.
You cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness if you proudly think of yourself as good
enough.
You cannot be merciful without recognizing your own need for mercy.
You cannot be pure in heart if your heart is full of
pride.
You cannot be a peacemaker, if you believe that you are always right.
You cannot identify with Christ in the face of negative reactions from others without dying to yourself, renouncing your own rights, and taking the risk.
Somewhere Mark Twain commented that the sections of the New Testament giving him the most trouble were not those he couldn’t understand but rather the sections that he could.
The beatitudes are like that…They are simple, yet controversial. They are a “guide to life that throws down the gauntlet to popular human values” (Mickey Anders, “The Beatitudes Are Not Platitudes.”)
These items are challenging, outside of our comfort zones, and often at odds with the world around us. Jesus offers this higher standard to attain. And let’s us know that there are blessings in attaining them.
III – Jesus promised that joy and gladness would come as a result. (verses 11-12)
And what happens, when we try to follow these in our lives?
I can guarantee you that you will be looked at like an outcast, that in the midst of conversation people may give you the strangest looks when you talk about this God stuff, and that you will experience persecution…just like the prophets who went before us. There are times when we are foreigners in a strange land…Amen?
But even in the midst of all we deal with…and all that deals with us…Jesus offers a blessing to those who decide to do things differently.
I’ve found in my study of the Scriptures that Jesus offers very few quick fixes, but rewards are promised. Our rewards may be deepened relationships and a feeling of purpose today or they may be what we will receive then.
Our reward might not come immediately, but is guaranteed to be “great” in the future
kingdom of heaven. Just like the prophets you were persecuted in their day, we too face the same immediate circumstances.
But we can rejoice and be glad knowing that our true happiness rests not in what we have now, but what we’ll have then!
Conclusion – Having Lost All, All is Found
In conclusion, I want to share a remarkable man’s story. This past week we mournfully remembered the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auchswitz, the German concentration camp which became of the Nazi symbol of hatred for the Jews.
One man who died in one of those camps was named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a pastor, a spiritual writer, a musician, an author of fiction and poetry, and a reformer within the Christian church when reformers weren’t welcomed.
Out of the many books he wrote, two of them, The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together are probably the two most known and most read books.
In conclusion this morning, I want you to hear what Bonhoeffer had to say about our topic…
.
“Having reached the end of the Beatitudes, we naturally ask if there is any place on this earth for the community which they describe. Clearly, there is one place, and only one, and that is where the Poorest, Meekest and most sorely Tried of all men is to be found—on the cross of Golgotha.
The community, which is the subject of the Beatitudes, is the community of the crucified. With Him it has lost all, and with Him it has found all”
[Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship” wwww.dbonhoeffer.org]
When we are willing to love humanity as God does,
When we are willing to do things differently in spite of the persecution,
Then we are willing to know that true happiness, found in Christ and only through Christ…
Invitation
Where are you at this morning?
Are you willing to take your step of faith this one step farther?
Can you, life Bonhoeffer say, that “having lost all, all is found?”
This morning has we sing our last hymn, it is my prayer that you will find loving God and loving others to be the rule in your heart, more than just the exception.
God’s blessings are in that transformation…
Closing Song - #402 – Lord I Want to Be A Christian
Benediction
As we leave this place…
May we invite all others to join us on the journey…
May we be challenged to live life differently…
May we rejoice even in the midst of persecution…
Knowing that although we have lost it all, all is found in God’s love.
And until we meet again, may God hold us in the palm of his hand…Amen.
