Matthew 5:1-12 ESV
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the
earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive
mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
All Saints Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays in the Church Year. It’s
a Sunday to look back over the past year and remember friends and family who
have passed on into Paradise to be with Jesus, and friends and family. It’s a
Sunday to remember all those saints in my life, past, present, and yet to be. I
mean even those saints that I read about in the Bible. I love to think about
the great realm of all God’s Children together here and there.
Anyway, this passage is also one of my favorites. Like All Saints Sunday,
this passage of scripture as well, causes me to gaze outside of myself and see
visions. I remember in my life at GE, I would lead teams of people on certain
tasks or problem solving. We would begin with formulating a vision. Something
we could see in our minds eye that led us towards whatever the task was to be
at hand. The best visions were those that may not have any words involved, perhaps
they were a picture. From the vision would come our mission statement and then
more detailed steps that would lead us all together towards our vision.
The Beatitudes or Blessings create a vision for me as well. But maybe
that’s a little ahead of my message. First, let me reveal my notes from my
background study this past week on this week’s Gospel message on the Beatitudes.
Blessings focus on the present and future ethics. So, what’s that about?
Well, like a vision, the blessings look at the here and now, yet point us
towards where we are heading towards our vision. How does Jesus teach us to act
in the here and now as we proceed towards everlasting life with God. We live
everlasting life with Jesus now already, but we also proceed into eternity with
God forever. So, Jesus teaches us his way and we need to listen and learn and
walk in Jesus’ way.
Blessings increase our longings for heaven. We see in our vision that we
gaze towards heaven. And we notice how heaven is far superior to earth. Yet we
still live on this earth in the here and now.
As I gaze towards heaven in a vision, I see the righteousness of Jesus. I
also see how I cannot attain righteousness. I fail and fail often. Just witness
my Connections Puzzle attempts. Too many failures! Kidding aside, I am human, I
am not God, and I fail. I live in sin and cannot free myself. Only Jesus is
righteous and only Jesus can make me righteous. So, knowing this, I see Jesus in
his righteousness and turn away from myself and towards God. My vision must be
on Jesus, so I turn to him.
Happiness or blessedness is a shared way of being alive. Happiness and
blessedness are fulfilled and gifted to believers through Jesus.
Through Jesus teaching in the Beatitudes, we see the exact opposite of
this world’s standards. And in each of these teachings to Jesus’ disciples, we
see jets of light in comparison to the darkness of today. Jesus points us
towards a great contrast and Jesus points us towards the vision and Light of
Heaven.
This is teaching. This is not moral laws imposed on the world at large.
This is teaching for the disciples of Jesus, pointing us sinners towards the
character and vision of those who will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Inherit,
not by their own works or righteousness… no we all fail at this… rather inherit
because God chooses to save us from our bondage to sin, death and the devil,
because he wants us to be with him, belong to him and live with him forever
into eternity. That’s a Luther Small Catechism paraphrase, by the way.
Finally, on the order of my study introduction, I find that the first half
of the Beatitudes is the present and the second half deals with the community’s
future in the world to come. How will it be in our vision of heaven.
Okay, now into the text a little bit. Jesus is teaching his disciples.
These were to be learners willing to sacrifice all to follow Jesus. That’s a
huge and very scary commitment! One that few people endeavor with any kind of
seriousness. So many Christians today are willing to do just enough to “get by”
by their own standards, just to look good to one another. That’s not what this
is about. You don’t go to church to look good! It’s time to know you will fail
and sin, yet be committed to the teachings of Jesus and believe his, “It is
finished!” It’s time to believe that salvation is not in how good I can look to
someone else, how I can do this or that, to impress. No, it’s time to be a
disciple willing to sacrifice all to follow Jesus. It’s a too often used phrase,
in my opinion, but I must give my life to Jesus. I can do nothing else but turn
to God in my sin and give myself to him.
Notice how in Jesus’ teaching, we learn that the rule of heaven rights
what is wrong and brings justice to the oppressed. Jesus’ teachings turn the
world around and upside down as he draws us to himself and into his Kingdom.
Jesus calls us to respond from our heart, our region of thought, intention and
moral disposition. Jesus calls us to respond from our gut so to speak.
And yes, Jesus teaches about rewards. But, notice, the rewards are for those
who help alleviate the oppression of another person that God places in your
life. Jesus shows us how to look outward and away from ourself and our selfish
ways.
Also, if you are a disciple of Jesus, the reward, in the present, is the
joy to love and serve God and those who God gives to you each and every day.
The reward of a disciple of Jesus is not earned by what we do. The reward is a
gracious gift freely given to us by God.
Finally, my concluding thoughts. When I consider and contrast the Commandments
with the Beatitudes; I realize that the Commandments are a mirror of my
sinfulness. I fail at each in every commandment in some form. So, I need a
Savior!
The Commandments (notice, I’m not writing Ten… We can’t even agree to
number them the same… so forget it… that’s not the point). The Commandments
condemn me. The Beatitudes, however, teach us how to act. Both the Commandments
and the Beatitudes are unattainable in this fallen world in which we live. Yet,
both the Commandments and the Beatitudes are fulfilled in Jesus.
Back to the beginning… The Beatitudes are a vision of Heaven, leading me
to respond in the topsy-turvy love of Jesus in this world today and forever. The
Beatitudes are not a mirror of my sinfulness, rather they are a vision of action
to follow the love of God for today in the freedom of my bondage to sin through
Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection.
God, in Jesus creates a vision of heaven in which the grace of our
freedom from sin, death and the devil; moves all creation to action in love
towards God and action in love towards all those God gives to us each day.
One day we will see God in Jesus in all glory. The Vision will be
fulfilled. And on that day as well as today, we can look around at all the disciples
who have been sealed with the Cross of Christ forever. I am a Child of God
because God calls me and Jesus was victorious over sin, death and evil. When
Jesus said, “It is finished!” He meant it. So, live in the vision of Jesus
teachings and respond in love towards God and one another… today… tomorrow… and
forever. --- Amen
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