Beatitudes 3 - Matthew 5:1-12 - June 22 2008

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We've been looking at the Beatitudes in Matthew's gospel over the past two weeks.

In week one I spoke of how the beatitudes are the 'constitution of the Kingdom of God.' God is restoring the values that these beatitudes represent to us.

In the second week I spoke about the hope we hear in the Beatitudes – hope for an eternal reality in which we will receive what we are promised.

We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and because of that – what we count as valuable is quite different to what is normally considered appropriate.

Today I want us to take a moment to reflect on the scripture, line by line... as we make it more and more a part of the values system that underpins our lives.

Blessed

Like most Christian words we use blessed a bit casually... when something good happens to us we say we were blessed. What we mean then – I hope – is that even though we didn't deserve it we got something good – and we're saying that it was God who blessed us.

* * *

In the world of Jesus' day the term blessed was used of the wealthy and powerful. The well educated and well healed. The respectable members of society.

In Greek it was like a title – there goes 'blessed Matthew' - someone who is favoured and important.

* * *

If you wanted to do well in life, just like today – it would be good to be connected to those who were blessed.

On the other hand, the poorest of the poor are worthless... you'll get nothing from them.

* * *

Jesus words of blessing are the exact opposite of what anyone would expect. He begins to turn the world we know on its head... taking our conventional wisdom and replacing it with God's wisdom.

And so he begins:

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

In Jesus' context the poor in spirit are the physically poor the phrase also implies that they have lost hope, they are tired. Their life's breath has been sucked out of them – spirit is the Greek word for breath.

Jesus wants them to know that the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 is coming true:

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light..."

Most Kingdoms are for the sake of accumulating power and making money... Kings are interested in the Rich and the Powerful, they are keen to exploit the poor and weak.

In God's Kingdom the poor and weak are the rich and the powerful.

And this Kingdom is not tomorrow – or just now, it is right now. Among the citizens of God's Kingdom the poor and hopeless are most favoured.

Blessed are those who mourn...

To mourn is to know the searing pain of loss. To be bereaved. It is having known something – having seen a speck of hope or light – and feeling doomed never to see it again.

In mourning the Psalmist sings:

"By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and there we wept... How could we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?"

- Psalm 137

The vision for Israel was magnificent – the laws they had revolutionary, they protected the weakest in the land – they ensured provision for the poorest of the poor and even a sabbath day of rest for slaves and animals.

The vision was great – but it was almost always a giant and gaping hole in the heart of the poorest Israelites because other – more powerful nations were constantly dominating them. Even their own Kings constantly railed against the laws of the Kingdom.

The promise is – that they will one day be comforted. Comfort for a mourner is getting back what they have lost.

Blessed are the meek...

In the Psalm which we read this morning the Psalmist proclaims:

"Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity."

- Psalm 37:10-11

The whole of Psalm 37 reminds the meek and the gentle that they will eventually be rewarded. Power and wealth is just temporary.

In Matthew's gospel – the word for meek or gentle is used 3 times, the next time it is used is in the verse:

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

- Matthew 11:29-30

And the third time, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem for his crucifixion:

"Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, meek, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

- Matthew 21:5

The kind of gentleness we are talking about is the gentleness we see in Christ. A difficult gentleness, one that leads to crucifixion. But that is accompanied by the promise of a future hope... the gentle, the meek, the oppressed will eventually inherit and rule the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...

In this slide I've used two pictures – a picture of a person kneeling and praying, and a judges gavel.

The word for righteousness often makes us think of holiness or 'religiosity'. Keeping all the purity laws – we mostly have negative images of what we would call 'righteous' people. They're always telling you how much they pray – or fast – and they speak an irritating blend of English and Bible.

Scripturally speaking, religious righteousness is not separable from practical justice. Righteousness and Justice are the same word...

Do we hunger and thirst for a just world?

Do we hunger and thirst for being made right with God?

The two are the same.

Jesus tells us that loving God is just like loving your neighbour...

(Matthew 22:38 & 39)

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy...

In the Bible justice and mercy are cousins.

In Micah 6:8 the prophet writes:

"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

- Micah 6:8

Mercy – or kindness dresses the wounds inflicted by injustice. Mercy has to do with helping people and not expecting anything in return from them. Not putting them in debt to yourself.

It also means forgiving them their sins and debts. Loving them – just the way they are. Christians are known for being judgmental... Christ calls us to be merciful.

Jesus encourages us to be merciful as God is merciful. If we are not – we risk not receiving the mercy which God might have for us. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:14-15 to practice forgiveness – because if we don't – we risk not being forgiven ourselves.

Blessed are the pure in heart...

In Psalm 24:3-4 the Psalmist asks:

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
They will receive blessing from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation"

- Psalm 24:3-4

The pure in heart, the beatitude tells us – will see God. To see doesn't necessarily mean to physically see – although that is our hope. But it is also to perceive, to see God at work in the world.

The pure in heart will see that Jesus is God – because they are willing to allow him to challenge their preconceptions and move them into a new direction.

So often we who are corrupt, and not pure in heart close ourselves off to Jesus as soon as we hear how difficult or challenging his teaching is.

But the pure in heart – will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers...

To be called a son or a child of God in scripture means to share the nature of God. Children inherited their parents work, their parents identity – to be a child of God is to be like God.

Peacemaking is something that God does.

In Jesus time many factions are arguing with each other about who holds the correct interpretation of the scriptures – the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, all with different ways of seeing things, often trying to catch each other out in arguments.

Jesus rises above all that – reminding people of their one goal – the Kingdom of God.

He makes peace between people, and between heaven and earth by showing the way of forgiveness and grace.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake...

The 11^th and 12^th verse expand on this one.

As I explained earlier righteousness is not religiosity, but pursuing the kind of justice that God wants for the world. Pursuing this sort of justice is not always in our interest.

Often we live off injustice and those around us do too... we like cheap deals, we like cheap labour.

We don't always ask where what we're buying comes from – because if we asked too many questions we might find that what we are consuming is a product of injustice.

If some of us stood up for justice we might face losing our jobs.

* * *

Christians like to feel sorry for themselves. They make an absolute pain of themselves trying to force their religion down other people's throats – and when with good reason those people don't like them they claim to be persecuted.

* * *

When we stand up – at great expense to ourselves – for what is right – the Kingdom of God belongs to us.

* * *

When we make these values – our values we will begin to see the Kingdom of God in this place.