4th Sunday after the Epiphany 1/30/11 Matthew 5:1-12
4th Sunday after the Epiphany
1/30/11
Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Title: Blessed are those who live as God desires
When God created the world it was good. There was no sin or hardship until Adam and Eve started listening to someone other than God. They quit trusting in God and the world they lived in turned upside down. From that point on their and our relationship with God has been strained to say the least. This is not to blame our sins on them, as I have heard some say, for each of us is responsible for our own sin.
God knew that since that relationship with him was broken his human creation would never get to know him, so he caused what we know of as his Bible to be written down for us, so that we could know of his love and will for us. That is what he has done in our Gospel reading for this morning. His words are perfectly clear.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
They are perfectly clear, but we have a problem because while we know what he is saying has to be true, we more than likely don’t agree with them because they just don’t work in the world we live in. We much rather Jesus had said the following.
Blessed are the wealthy, because they will never be in need.
Blessed are the happy, for they will have lots of friends.
Blessed are the powerful, for others will follow them.
Blessed are those who work hard, for they will get ahead.
Blessed are those who keep their nose out of others business, for they will not get into trouble.
Last, but not least, blessed are the retired, because they don't have to punch a clock.
We would agree with those beatitudes because they make sense to us. The problem is that we just like Adam and Eve have been listening to the wrong voice. In the Beatitudes, Jesus calls us to love things that we hate and to hate things that we love. It isn't surprising that many people imagine the Beatitudes to be a bit off base, for the Beatitudes do not track with our experience in our upside down world. The meek don’t usually inherit the earth. The peacemakers are made fun of and persecuted.
But we need to remember that the Beatitudes are not instructions for having a successful life. Instead, they promise God's blessings even when our circumstances seem not very blessed. They are statements of fact. In other words you live the way God wants you to live you will receive what he promises.
Let’s take another look at them. The first four address our relationship with God. The first Beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Here he is speaking of those who have know that without God they are lost and have no value without him. The second is “Blessed are those who mourn”. Here Jesus is speaking of those who are mourning over their sin because they realize that their sin is keeping them from enjoying the relationship that God wants for them. The third is “Blessed are the meek.” Here Jesus is speaking of those who have gratefully accepted Jesus’ forgiveness. They are living a life of repentance knowing they have nothing in themselves worth forgiving. The fourth Beatitude is “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Here Jesus is speaking of those who have an unquenchable thirst and hunger for the Word of God.
The next three Beatitudes deal with our relationship with others. The first is, “Blessed are the merciful.” This one reminds me of “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive the trespasses of others” in the Lord’s Prayer. We forgive because God forgives us. We have mercy because God has and is continuing to have mercy on us.
Being unmerciful or unforgiving toward others shows that a person believes that they don’t need God’s forgiveness or mercy. It is only when a person sees their need for mercy and forgiveness that they can be truly understanding and responsive to the needs of others, as God desires.
The next Beatitude is, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” A pure heart can only come from Jesus. We are incapable on our own of having a pure heart, for as we are told in Romans 5:8, “Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.” To have a pure heart is not to have a sinless heart, but to have a single-mindedness in doing God’s will. It is staying focused on the cross of Jesus from where our salvation has come. The third Beatitude dealing with our relationship with other is, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Jesus is not saying that we make peace at all costs, although we better make sure that what we are standing up for is his will. Being a peacemaker is forgiving others in Jesus’ name and asking Jesus to forgive us for whatever part we might have played in breaking the peace God desires of his loved ones.
The next two Beatitudes deal with the realities of life when you live a Christian life. You will at times be persecuted and ridiculed for Christ’s sake. But that is okay for you will be rewarded in heaven. There are those who believe the words of God are foolishness, but that is alright, for God tells us through the inspired words of Saint Paul, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise…."For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength….But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God…."Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (I Corinthians 1:19a, 25, 27-29, 31b)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they know that without God’s adoption they are lost! Blessed are those who, in their humility, have the wisdom to trust in God rather than their own devices. Blessed are those who mourn over their sins, because God will comfort them. Blessed are the meek, for they know it is not their strength but God's strength that counts. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness rather than money or power or fame because God will satisfy them by giving them his righteousness.
You see the Beatitudes are good news of Jesus’ power in our lives, for in his life, death, and resurrection he turned our upside down world right side up. We need God's saving power. Come receive his blessings. Amen
1/30/11
Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Title: Blessed are those who live as God desires
When God created the world it was good. There was no sin or hardship until Adam and Eve started listening to someone other than God. They quit trusting in God and the world they lived in turned upside down. From that point on their and our relationship with God has been strained to say the least. This is not to blame our sins on them, as I have heard some say, for each of us is responsible for our own sin.
God knew that since that relationship with him was broken his human creation would never get to know him, so he caused what we know of as his Bible to be written down for us, so that we could know of his love and will for us. That is what he has done in our Gospel reading for this morning. His words are perfectly clear.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
They are perfectly clear, but we have a problem because while we know what he is saying has to be true, we more than likely don’t agree with them because they just don’t work in the world we live in. We much rather Jesus had said the following.
Blessed are the wealthy, because they will never be in need.
Blessed are the happy, for they will have lots of friends.
Blessed are the powerful, for others will follow them.
Blessed are those who work hard, for they will get ahead.
Blessed are those who keep their nose out of others business, for they will not get into trouble.
Last, but not least, blessed are the retired, because they don't have to punch a clock.
We would agree with those beatitudes because they make sense to us. The problem is that we just like Adam and Eve have been listening to the wrong voice. In the Beatitudes, Jesus calls us to love things that we hate and to hate things that we love. It isn't surprising that many people imagine the Beatitudes to be a bit off base, for the Beatitudes do not track with our experience in our upside down world. The meek don’t usually inherit the earth. The peacemakers are made fun of and persecuted.
But we need to remember that the Beatitudes are not instructions for having a successful life. Instead, they promise God's blessings even when our circumstances seem not very blessed. They are statements of fact. In other words you live the way God wants you to live you will receive what he promises.
Let’s take another look at them. The first four address our relationship with God. The first Beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Here he is speaking of those who have know that without God they are lost and have no value without him. The second is “Blessed are those who mourn”. Here Jesus is speaking of those who are mourning over their sin because they realize that their sin is keeping them from enjoying the relationship that God wants for them. The third is “Blessed are the meek.” Here Jesus is speaking of those who have gratefully accepted Jesus’ forgiveness. They are living a life of repentance knowing they have nothing in themselves worth forgiving. The fourth Beatitude is “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Here Jesus is speaking of those who have an unquenchable thirst and hunger for the Word of God.
The next three Beatitudes deal with our relationship with others. The first is, “Blessed are the merciful.” This one reminds me of “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive the trespasses of others” in the Lord’s Prayer. We forgive because God forgives us. We have mercy because God has and is continuing to have mercy on us.
Being unmerciful or unforgiving toward others shows that a person believes that they don’t need God’s forgiveness or mercy. It is only when a person sees their need for mercy and forgiveness that they can be truly understanding and responsive to the needs of others, as God desires.
The next Beatitude is, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” A pure heart can only come from Jesus. We are incapable on our own of having a pure heart, for as we are told in Romans 5:8, “Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.” To have a pure heart is not to have a sinless heart, but to have a single-mindedness in doing God’s will. It is staying focused on the cross of Jesus from where our salvation has come. The third Beatitude dealing with our relationship with other is, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Jesus is not saying that we make peace at all costs, although we better make sure that what we are standing up for is his will. Being a peacemaker is forgiving others in Jesus’ name and asking Jesus to forgive us for whatever part we might have played in breaking the peace God desires of his loved ones.
The next two Beatitudes deal with the realities of life when you live a Christian life. You will at times be persecuted and ridiculed for Christ’s sake. But that is okay for you will be rewarded in heaven. There are those who believe the words of God are foolishness, but that is alright, for God tells us through the inspired words of Saint Paul, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise…."For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength….But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God…."Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (I Corinthians 1:19a, 25, 27-29, 31b)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they know that without God’s adoption they are lost! Blessed are those who, in their humility, have the wisdom to trust in God rather than their own devices. Blessed are those who mourn over their sins, because God will comfort them. Blessed are the meek, for they know it is not their strength but God's strength that counts. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness rather than money or power or fame because God will satisfy them by giving them his righteousness.
You see the Beatitudes are good news of Jesus’ power in our lives, for in his life, death, and resurrection he turned our upside down world right side up. We need God's saving power. Come receive his blessings. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:38 PM
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