Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father in Heaven, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who keeps us steadfast in our faith. Amen.
Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday with the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the mount. As we examine this message from Matthew, we will see that it has a wide range of application for all Christians. In this message, Jesus is giving us a list of things that we as believers should be trying our best to do. It’s a list of qualities that God finds honorable and good.
There are nine different qualities described in this short paragraph of scripture. Each has a starting state and an end state; there is a today, and there is a future in each of the verses. Throughout these passages, we see that they are joined together with a common theme. They are not isolated ideas. Instead, they build a common thread, a common view of how we are to act, how we are to think and how we are to react. Each verse builds on the idea of the previous to build a more complete personality picture.
In essence, we find a formula for how to be a Christian or a Saint. This is exactly the opposite of what our world and society see as useful and productive. If you were to take Jesus’ phrases from Matthew 5:1 - 12, and turn them inside-out, you would find a clear reflection of the secular world. You would see the world as viewed outside of the walls of the church. You would see a world that puts God as secondary to gathering possessions, a world that chooses to put selfish concerns over helping our fellow men. In essence, you would see an ideal of a world with no place for God. The ideas expressed in these 12 short verses, are contrary to how the world expects us to act. We, as Christians, are not intended to be the norm; we are the outsiders. Here, Jesus is describing how to avoid the errors of this world and how to embrace the will of God instead. For our place is not of this world, but of a heavenly kingdom to follow.
The Apostle Paul summarized it quite well in Galatians when he wrote:
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:17, ESV)
Jesus spoke this message to His disciples as well as a crowd up on the mountain. Although He did not speak directly to us, the message applies to all of us today as well. Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus was explaining.
We need to start with the word “blessed.” This word continually repeats throughout this message. By itself, this repeating of a word is an indication of the stress that Jesus was placing on these verses. The act of repeating a word is used to show the importance of the message. He was stressing how we should act. But, the word “blessed” itself is often misunderstood as being restricted to meaning an outward blessing. We must consider that the New Testament was originally written in Greek and not English. By examining the Greek behind our English translation, there are a few nuances that language has a difficult time trying to convey to us. The word “blessed” is not intended to mean outward blessings, but inward blessings. This is not fleshly blessings in any way, but spiritually blessings. Another way to look at this Greek word is to define it as “spiritually prosperous and fully satisfied.” This is the joy that comes from being a member of the family of Christ. To be blessed is not static, but it is a progressive state in much the same way that each verse here builds on the last. It is the movement from one spiritual condition to another. As members of the body of Christ, we are all at different spiritual development levels and we are all moving in our spiritually health. Consider the spiritual health of both the church as a whole, as well as the message that Jesus was trying to convey on all those people on that mountain. With this in mind, we need to use this word, “spiritually prosperous,” as a lens to view the remaining scripture. These phrases all refer to spiritual health.
The first 4 of the “blessed” phrases deal with issues internal to each of us. The next 3, to how we treat others. The final 2 address our own response to oppression. Each of these phrases, we could dedicate an entire sermon to. However, since we will want to eat lunch at sometime, we’ll concentrate our discussion on the first 4, the verses that deal with how we are internally.
Poor in spirit
In verse 3, we find Jesus explaining “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, NRSV) The term poor in spirit refers to believers. It refers to those who know they are lacking and helpless, spiritually; they recognize that they must depend on God for help and guidance. In this way, they depend on their Father in heaven and their faith is secure.
A phrase of this type referring to the poor would have been quite familiar to those who understood Jewish customs and scripture at this time. In Psalms 40:17 and in Isaiah 41:17 we find the poor and needy being taken care of by God Himself.
“As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. (Psalms 40:17, NRSV)
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 41:17, NRSV)
These passages show that God provides for them and takes care of their needs. They may be poor and needy, but God is right there to take care of them as they require.
Those who are poor in spirit rely on God to fulfill their spiritual needs.
When taken with the term blessed mentioned earlier, we find that the poor in spirit will be spiritually fulfilled. In short, those who know that only God can provide for their spiritual needs will be taken care of by the one that can bless their souls with salvation. This is describing an attitude towards our heavenly Father. Depend on God and no-other.
Those Who Mourn
In verse 4, the thought continues, building on the idea of poor in spirit. Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4, NRSV) The “mourning” that Jesus is referring to, is not the sorrowful emotion related to the passing of a loved one. This is a different kind of mourning. Instead, this is the sorrow one feels from being one in communion with Jesus. This is the pain that one feels from one’s own sin, as well as the condition of the world in general. Believers will feel this pain and sorrow only in this life, as our lives to come will have none. We find more information about this situation in Revelation when the Apostle John wrote:
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4, ESV)
The pain and sorrow that we feel here, will disappear when our time comes. Just as the Saints of years past have fallen asleep, they are now experiencing the celebration of God’s glory without sorrow, pain or death. We too can expect the same reward by depending on God for comfort in our times of need.
The Meek
We continue into verse 5: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5, NRSV) When we think of someone meek, we often think of someone who is shy, embarrassed or even afraid. We think of someone who does not exert themselves, but stays away from the crowds. We think of someone who cowers away from others and stays to themselves. But, this is not exactly what Jesus was talking about. Again, going back to our definition of “blessed,” this is a spiritual meekness that is spoken about. This has to do with the position of God over all us. This has to do with our submission to God as ruler and Lord over all. We are to accept God’s dealings with us as good. We should not be concerned with self-interests, but with God’s goodness and control over all situations. In other words, we are to stop worrying about tomorrow and let God take care of those things which we have no control. This does not imply that God will fix all the wrongs of the world. But, a sense of trust that we will rely on God to do the right thing in his infinite wisdom. It is the act of being content with our current situation and living towards the glory of God.
Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
In verse six, we find a reference to pursuit of righteousness. Jesus said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6, NRSV) This righteousness is not just goodness, but right standing with God. It is doing God’s will rather than following the sinful desires that we all have in our hearts. It is the desire to be holy.
Here we can see a building from the previous 3 qualities. A person who understand that they are poor in spirit, who is sorrowful for their sinful condition and relies on God for all things should be righteous in God’s eyes. But, we should be trying to be more holy each and every day. We should want to be more acceptable in God’s eyes. We should want to live through the wants and desires of God.
Lofty Goal
When we examine all the phrases that Jesus put together here, we find a very high standard for Christians to follow. We are to follow and trust in God for all of our needs. We are to be sorry for our current spiritual depravity and work towards improving ourselves. We are to rely on God for all things that we need and He shall provide. We are to be pure in word, action and deed.
This is a tough requirement. There is no doubt about that. We are to obey God in all that He has commanded and stay away from our own sinful desires. But, we are all sinners and fall from time to time. We stray from the path that God has told us to follow, and we fall into sin. This is quite a lofty goal to reach. But, even the Apostle Paul had difficulty doing what he knew was right. In Romans 7:12 he wrote:
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:12, ESV)
If the Apostle Paul, who had the privilege to talk to Jesus directly, had difficulty doing the right thing, we should not be discouraged if we can’t meet this goal either. The requirements that God placed on us are difficult to meet. “I’m a great high jumper when the goal is only 2 feet high.” But, the standard for perfection is high and all will not be able to achieve it. We should try our best to meet the goal when we can and repent and turn away from sin when are efforts fail. It is not this world we are trying to please.
Albert Einstein once said that evil is the absence of God. In a similar way, sin is the absence of God. For where the holiness of God dwells, sin surely is chased away. By embracing God in all aspects of our lives, we too can enjoy the gifts that the Saints before us are already enjoying. By placing God central to our lives, we will be able to replace the evil with righteousness and follow the path that God has laid out before us.
Conclusion
Finally, it all comes down to this. Through God’s grace, and only through his grace, can we hope to approach any of these qualities, let alone actually achieve them. God gave His son so that we all could benefit as a member of His family. He was our teacher and He was our savior. It is the reward after this life that we look forward to. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is not here, it is in Heaven with the Saints. Embrace God and enjoy the peace which He will fill you with making you both spiritually prosperous and fully satisfied.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
We pray that you will grant us the grace to follow in the footsteps of the Saints before us and continue on the path that Jesus has so eloquently taught. Help us that we may be spiritually satisfied and lead lives that are in accordance with the teachings you have give us. We pray for the wisdom to understand where we err and the strength to turn from our sins. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
