Those of you who have watched TV crime shows such as “CSI” or “Columbo” know that the main character is always on a mission-namely, to solve a crime. Also, anyone who has gone on a trip has also been on a mission-namely, to get to their destination.
As Christians, we are also on a mission-a mission from God. That mission is expressed throughout the Bible, including the Beatitudes, which we heard in Matthew’s Gospel reading this morning. This mission statement is a rulebook or a map for our Christian life. The Beatitudes are the good news of transforming grace.
The Beatitudes are the start of the Sermon on the Mount, which we will hear in our gospel readings for the next several weeks. The Beatitudes put the demands of the Sermon in focus by starting it with a proclamation of grace. The Beatitudes tell us that we are to lead exemplary lives. Those who lead such lives will receive God’s blessings. In return, they recognize God as the source of this blessing
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor and the pure.” Was he recommending poverty and piousness? I don’t think so. He was advising recognition of need and singleness of heart. He was saying to those who have nothing and those who have everything: “You have spiritual needs that things will never satisfy”. He was saying that no person can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money. He was saying that we are blessed to be a blessing to others. It would be a great day in out Christian faith if we brought all our possessions and all the things that we have under the leadership of Jesus Christ. Is that not our call? Our possessions are a blessing from God.
The TV show, “The Apprentice” is a reality show that shows how things are in the business world. It has the flamboyant billionaire Donald Trump. One of the reasons why the show is so popular is because it DOES have Donald Trump, and people are curious about the rich and famous. There are also the crazy challenging tasks the contestants are supposed to do, such as selling lemonade on the streets of Manhattan. What we see in the show is no different from what we see in the real world today. We work where, like the show, there is a lot of in-fighting among ambitious rivals. When you see men bullying women on the show, that’s often how it is at work. And, again, like the show, some women use sex appeal to get ahead. They say, in effect, “Hey, whatever works”.
The Beatitudes might seem to be out of touch with the reality of our modern world. They seem to be out of touch because they go against things that the world sees as important-power, wealth, ruthless, oppression and greed. I can picture Donald Trump assigning the young entrepreneurs the task of coming up with a list of beatitudes for the “real world”. They would probably look like this: “Blessed are the rich and famous, for they shall have what they want. Blessed are the powerful, for their will shall be done. Blessed are the strong and young for they shall draw a lot of attention to themselves. Blessed are the white and well educated for they shall own the earth”.
It should be no surprise that Jesus emphasizes things that are the exact opposite-meekness, humility, poverty in spirit, care and compassion. Jesus set the example for us to follow by always challenging the status quo. The radical ideas he and the disciples supported led to persecution and death, and Christians today who support the same ideas today must be prepared to face similar discrimination today. Nevertheless, God stands with those who follow the Christian life will have the support and blessing of Christ.
The Beatitudes are more than just good principles to live by. They are God’s way to get us to think of more than what goes on around us and within us. God uses the Beatitudes to give us more than we are capable of appreciating, and to ask more than we think we are capable of doing. The Beatitudes are God’s way of speaking to us now on what he wants us to know.
Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ “Inaugural Address” in which he lays out his vision of life in the kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes are ethical principles that describe how things will be reversed in the kingdom. It is a serious risk to be merciful, to keep one’s heart pure, and to make peace with one’s enemies. The greater risk is to confuse privilege and self-protection with the good life. When we come to God with empty hands, bow down before the throne of grace, and are ready to receive whatever blessing God chooses, we will be blessed. When we empty ourselves before God, he fills us with whatever we need.
The blessings of this present time-that deep fulfillment and satisfying inner joy than can be experienced now in the living of our lives-is possible because of the promises to which the blessing is attached. The promise depends on a God who not only makes promises but who can be trusted to keep them.
Each and every day we are face-to-face with eternal choices. These choices begin in childhood and never end until life ends. Do we choose the easy way, the pleasure and profit for the moment? Are we willing to look ahead and sacrifice momentary gain for the greater good? The challenge of the Beatitudes is “Will you be happy in the world’s way or Christ’s way?” Jesus is saying, “If you set your heart and spend your energies to obtain the things the world values, you will get them-but that’s all you will ever get.”
We are not alone on our mission. Jesus is always with us. Also, we need each other. We need each other to remind us that we are blessed when we live life as if the love of God is the most important and most reliable reality in life. Satisfaction comes to those who are hurting for God’s righteousness as revealed in the cross of Jesus. The person who is poor in spirit accepts his limitations and is not too proud to ask for help before he reaches the end of his rope. He leans heavenly on the Lord and not on his own power and resources. That which the world rejects is precious in God’s sight.
In 1553, John Calvin wrote a letter to five young Frenchmen who were about to be martyred for carrying the gospel into France. In this letter he wrote, “But since it appears as though God would use your blood to seal his truth, there is nothing better for you than to prepare yourselves for that end, beseeching him so to subdue you to his good pleasure that nothing may hinder you from following whithersoever he shall call…Since it pleases him to employ your death in maintaining his quarrel, he will strengthen your hands in the fight and will not allow a single drop of your blood to be shed in vain”.
Happiness comes from the inside out and not from the outside in. We can be happy when we make things right for a hungry world, to crave a world what is right and just, as often as intently as we crave food and drink. The blessings Jesus offers will come in the future because God keeps his promises. The blessings in this passage are not directed just to the oppressed or marginalized in society but also to those who fight oppression, injustice, hunger and poverty.
There are those who hunger and thirst from their rigorous climb for righteousness. The righteousness that they so intensely desire lies within their grasp. God wants to give it to them. The person who longs for righteousness is standing on the ridge right next to the pure in heart. Just as the pure in heart find their reward through surrender to Christ, those who hunger and thirst for it find the righteousness they seek through the same surrender.
Because we have obtained and shall obtain mercy, we are even now free to be merciful. Because we shall see God, our hearts and even now purified by that promise, for purity of heart is to place our trust in God and God’s promises rather than in our own striving. Because we are and shall be called children of God, we are now and in this moment God’s peacemakers, called to be about the blessed work of reconciliation in our families, congregation, community, nation and world. As children of God, we are called to take after our heavenly father.
