Summary: The ‘blessed ones’ are the so called experts to whom many people go to for advice; seeking fame, riches and beauty as outward signs of God blessing them; but secretly they want others to kowtow to their success. Jesus could sort them out.
Micah 6:1-8 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 Psalm 15
This sermon was delivered to the congregation in St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 30th January 2011: by Gordon McCulloch (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen (Ps. 19:14)
Today's reading comes from Matthew 5:1-12 "When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people 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 in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Introduction:
In some cultures, especially in third world countries, there are such people called ‘the blessed ones’. They’re often regarded as holy people who appear calm, knowledge-full and in control at all times, and many people flock to these ‘blessed ones’ to gain some kind of spiritual advice or wisdom in order to help them in their troubles of daily life. They’re called the ‘blessed ones’ because they seem closer to god or godliness than anyone else.
Strangely, in our Western Society, the last person many people would go to is a spiritual advisor, a person like a pastor, an elder, or a priest.
Instead in our culture, we have different types of ‘blessed ones’. For example, people go to financial advisers who help them on the way to wealth. Or they go to health advisers in the form of doctors, naturopaths, or gym instructors. Some may seek out teachers, or even fashion gurus; who tell us what to wear and what not. And many even see their television or the internet as their ‘blessed ones’ since they offer so much advice; (whether they want it or not).
Basically the ‘blessed ones’ so many go to for advice, is anyone who shows any kind of success in what they do, as the “many” consider riches, possessions and beauty to be signs of God’s blessings. The “many” therefore tend to seek out ways to improve what they have; so we can show others that God is blessing them by their outward growth as we should therefore kowtow to them.
In today’s society however, it is certainly not “cool” to mix with someone who is poor, or handicapped, suffering or sick; as they do not project an image of someone who has it all together; as that damaging image may rub off in the person who mixes with them. We certainly do not think we can gain from them.
Let us now see how Jesus approached these issues.
From our readings today we see that Jesus does not say: “Blessed are the strong; blessed are the happy; or blessed are the rich. He does not say blessed are the fashion gurus; nor blessed are the health advisers; or blessed are those who grow and show signs of prosperity.
Jesus says blessed are the poor, the grieving, and the meek! Jesus says the blessed ones are those who are dependent on others for their spiritual life, and blessed are they who grieve for their loss.
Jesus goes on, blessed are those not impressed by their own importance over others, and blessed are those hungering and desiring the goal of righteousness, being pure in motive. I would like to think that is us by the way!
But even stronger Jesus says blessed are those concerned about others in their need; and blessed are those who endeavour to reconcile people who have disagreements, and finally, blessed are those who are persecuted and insulted because of their faith in Jesus, a reality these days.
How radical is that? How far removed are these verses from our modern day, progressive, politically correct society? This therefore gives us problems in explaining what this all means as it just appears all wrong!
What Jesus is telling us just does not match our feelings; nor does it seem to make any sense as we are under the impression that if we do all the right things, the things God wants us to do, then God will bless us; and if we do bad things, then God will punish us? That is the way most people think of Christianity. You know the way, the Old Testament way of life with all its rules and condemnation, with Jesus thrown in.
If that is the way you think, you certainly have not understood the New Testament, but the New Testament says that God will love you regardless of your failings; because of Jesus and nothing else. He is certainly not punishing us as many people like to promote; and God bless us, not because of anything we have done, but again because of what Jesus achieved on the cross. This is the radical and difficult to understand basis of the New Covenant. God loves us because of Jesus and what he achieved at the cross, and NOTHING else.
So, what is Jesus getting at by blessing the socially rejected? Well, rather than Jesus identifying Himself with the rich, happy and “beautiful people” of this earth, Jesus is identifying himself with the poor, the grieving and suffering.
Jesus didn’t come to sit with the millionaires, the successful, nor the ones who seem to have everything going their way; Jesus chose to dwell with those troubled in their spirit, troubled by their grief, troubled by their faithfulness to him, and troubled by their striving for peace and righteousness.
Jesus, the Son of God, identifies himself with us and our troubles. He knows what it’s like to grieve, He knows what it’s like to be persecuted for his righteousness, and he is the one who shows true mercy, and the only one who brings true peace between us and God.
You see; Jesus is the true “blessed One” who is near us and sits with us in our troubles. That is Jesus that is what he does. The beautiful people of this world do not have a need for Jesus, but we do; and to solve our problems, we call on the creator and ruler of the universe to help us. When Jesus is near, we are blessed, and we are very blessed indeed.
In fact we do not begin to understand how blessed we are in the fact that Jesus Christ almighty, the name above all names, is actually watching over us. Jesus never abandons us when we are depressed or grieving; but Satan likes us to think he has. There is a difference, as there is a spiritual battle going on.
When we feel we are lacking in spirit, that’s when we are blessed because we take ourselves out of the situation and allow Jesus to take over. We allow Jesus to give us His Spirit to strengthen us in faith and hope, and we let Him decide what is to happen next. We basically allow Him to prepare us for the future. I know it does not feel like it, but our emotions are not always the best means of measuring of success or failure.
When we grieve the loss of loved ones, Jesus himself comforts us with His own tears, His own pain, and His own death, but we are blessed by His resurrection, so that we are reassured that death is not the end; it is only a comma, not a full stop. There is hope therefore after death.
When we show mercy and forgiveness to others, (i.e. when they ask for it), Jesus is merciful to us and assures us of his forgiveness for us. When we hunger and desire the goal of righteousness, we will be filled with God’s righteousness given to us as a gift through Jesus Christ. When we are clean in heart, we will be assured that we will see God.
When we seek peace between warring people, we will be identified with the true peacemaker, the Son of God. When we are harassed because of righteousness, be assured we belong in heaven. I can certainly relate to that, but with a humble heart, I can say that I am still going after many years of troubles, where many of my colleagues have not. Yet through all the pain, we see that God has been looking after us.
When we are insulted and people spread vicious lies about us, then we should rejoice and be overjoyed, because our reward in heaven will be extensive. In this way, we are counted with the prophets of the Old Testament who were also persecuted; but even more importantly, we are counted with Jesus Christ Himself who was also persecuted. For when we suffer, we are identified with Jesus, the true blessed one.
In fact, when the people watched Jesus die on the cross, they considered that He was cursed by God himself. That He was anything but successful, particularly as He did not even try to defend Himself, nor fight for his innocence or even attempt to struggle free.
Yet that’s where God’s greatest ever victory was. In the face of death, God gave life to His son. In the face of defeat, Jesus triumphed. Even though people only saw a weak, beaten, and pitiful man, the One on the cross was Jesus, the “true blessed One”, “the Son of God”, the King of Kings. Despite death’s apparent success, and Jesus’ apparent weakness, God raised His Son to new life and glory.
When we are spiritually down, (and it will happen, don’t think it won’t), remember that Jesus will never abandon us. He will share his glory, His life and His blessing with us. Jesus wants to count us as one of His ‘blessed ones’.
You want to know who are the true ‘blessed ones’ are? Well, they aren’t the Oscar winners, the fashion or health gurus, or the rich and famous. Look to those whom Christ identifies with: the poor in spirit, the grieving, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted and the pure in heart. Don’t go to those who seem to have everything in control; go to the ones who suffer, or have suffered because Jesus is with them.
We can seek out the ‘blessed ones’. We can seek out those touched by the hand of God. We can pray for those who feel they can’t pray for their lack of spirit. We can sit beside and cry with the mourners in their grief. We can encourage and boldly stand beside those who desire God’s righteousness and are persecuted because of it, because we belong to Jesus.
Now does this mean we are to seek out suffering so you can be counted with Jesus? No, we do not have to seek suffering; it will find us; but be prepared to let it strengthen us, and be more dependent upon Jesus, rather than letting the suffering knock us down. By faith in Jesus, we can see how despite our troubles, we are truly blessed.
Our happiness or blessedness is that light of truth which shines over our present sorry situation. We can see our present state in the light of the future promise of God, and that God is preparing us for the future.
Our blessing is that we belong in heaven. Our blessing is that God himself will wrap his arms about us, that He will comfort us and even wipe away our tears. Our happiness grows out of the mercy that is shown to us. Our happiness will be complete when we come face to face with Jesus Christ Himself, the Lord of All.
Amen
Let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus; and we thank you for His painful death on the cross that we may live, and be part of your direct family.
We understand that trials and tribulations are part of life, but through Jesus they are a part of life to prepare us for the future, and not pain for the sake of punishing us.
Father, we all know how painful life can be, but like Jesus, please allow us to turn that pain into success.
Father please give to us the understanding that when we are at our lowest, you are with us every step of the way, and that nothing can ever separate us from your love.
Give us also a revelation of just how powerful you are, and allow us to feel blessed knowing that we belong to you.
We ask therefore for your blessing meet the future, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
