“Blessed are You who Trust in Jesus”
Matthew 5:1-12
This is the beginning of, arguably, Jesus’ most famous sermon.
It begins in Matthew Chapter 5 and goes all the way to the end of Matthew Chapter 7 where it ends with: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching…”
It’s often been debated as to whether Jesus was just speaking to a small group of insiders or to a multitude.
And the reason is that in Chapter 5:1-2 it says, “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”
I’d imagine Jesus taught His small band of early disciples on a hillside, in the middle of great crowds of people.
And more and more folks stopped to listen in because what He was saying, He was saying with such authority.
And what He was saying held such truth.
And, perhaps, each person felt as if Jesus were speaking right to them.
And in a real sense, He was.
And this sermon continues to preach to us—right here and right now—some 2,000 years after Jesus first spoke it.
Jesus’ disciples were mere mortals, like you and I.
They didn’t have much money to speak of.
They had dealt with all kinds of difficulty in their short lives.
Many had watched children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers die from disease and other things.
They didn’t particularly feel powerful in any real way.
They didn’t hold important jobs.
Their country was occupied by an opposing force.
They couldn’t control much of what happened to them.
Many of them were hungry, thirsty, beaten down and downcast.
And Jesus looked at them and said: “Blessed are you.”
Sort of shocking wouldn’t you think?
Blessed?
What’s so blessed about being “poor in spirit?”
What’s so blessed about mourning over the loss of a loved one, or just mourning over your lot in life?
And blessed are the meek?
Shouldn’t it be blessed are the strong?
Imagine Jesus staring out at these hungry, sad, broken, dirty-faced folks and proclaiming that they are “blessed!”
But then, imagine yourself, leading a devotion in a room filled with homeless children or children who come from homes where they are abused, neglected, malnourished.
Imagine looking into the eyes of those desperate kids, and in them you see human beings who are starving for love.
And then, imagine knowing something that they don’t yet know.
Imagine knowing that they are loved—beyond measure…
…perhaps not by their biological parents, not by the government or their foster parents, or their uncles or peers…
…but loved beyond measure by the One Who matters most—God.
Imagine looking at them through the eyes of Christ.
And seeing just how loved they are.
What are you going to say to them?
(Pause)
It’s been said that Jesus began His sermon to “a bunch of nobodies by blessing them.”
And what do you suppose that blessing did for them?
Was it the first time anyone had ever called them blessed?
Was it a shock for them to hear it spoken to them?
I’d imagine it was.
I’d also imagine it caused them to want to hear more from this new Preacher.
I’d imagine it lit a spark of hope in their otherwise dreary lives…perhaps the first spark of hope they had ever experienced…
…and it really does only take a spark to get a fire going and soon, soon…
…we find our worldview changing.
We love because we are first loved.
And love is what changes us from those who have little self-confidence, little self-worth, little reason to live into people filled with purpose, hope and a radical love for life, God and other people.
I’ve been there.
I’ve experienced this for myself.
How about you?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
We don’t have to read too far in the Gospels to come upon all kinds of the world’s misfits who were radically changed by the blessing of Christ.
I can’t help but think of the Samaritan woman that Jesus met at Jacob’s well as she was fetching water.
She was the outcast of outcasts among her people.
And in order to avoid the bullying and angry sneers from the other women in the town who did not approve of her lifestyle…of her past, she went to the well, by herself in the heat of the day.
That is where she met Jesus—the first one to love her and treat her like a human being.
By the end of their conversation, the woman had dropped her water jar and run back to the town in order to tell the others that she had found the Messiah.
Forgotten was her own past.
Forgotten was her self-doubt and humiliation.
People came from the town because of her testimony and many others came to believe in Christ, and were blessed as she had been.
Or who can forget the man who lived naked in the tombs?
His name was “Legion” because many demons had gone into him.
He was a human being who had completely lost, not only his self-esteem, but also his very identity.
After having been loved and blessed by Christ, the townspeople found him “sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind.”
And this is how it works.
When Jesus proclaimed His mission statement He read from the Prophet Isaiah saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Later, John the Baptist-who was in prison—sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was indeed the Messiah—Jesus answered with this: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
In others word, “the poor in spirit, mind and body are being blessed and thus set free.”
Several years ago, within the church I was serving was a young lady named Amy who suffered from a very low self-image.
Her mother had died when she was very young.
She was being raised by her father who worked long hours and didn’t have much time for her.
Amy spent a lot of time by herself.
She had little motivation and not much interest in much of anything.
When asked what she wanted to do when she grew up, all you would get was a slight shrug of her shoulder.
It seemed as though Amy was barely alive, and her future looked dreary.
She was often suicidal and would periodically cut herself with sharp objects.
Although she was only in high school, she had already had much experience with the opposite sex as she longed for someone to love and accept her.
One summer our church raised the money to send Amy to a Christian Camp.
When she returned a few months later, it was as if she were a completely different person.
Her face had a glow.
She was smiling—really smiling for the first time.
And she was talking—filled with confidence and fresh excitement as she shared with us about her new-found relationship with Jesus Christ.
Soon, she was an enthusiastic leader within the Youth Group.
She had become one of the shining lights within that congregation, singing in the choir, helping with Communion, inviting friends to come with her to church.
Amy went on to nursing school and is now married to a wonderful man with whom she has two children.
Amy had received Christ’s blessing and it changed her life as well as the lives of many around her.
We often think, “Blessed are those who have their act together.”
“Blessed are those who don’t allow the pain in life to bother them.”
“Blessed are those who get their own way.”
“Blessed are those who have hardened themselves.”
“Blessed are the beautiful, the rich, the bullies.”
But in reality, aren’t we all “poor” when it comes to spiritual things?
And if we allow ourselves to care, don’t we all mourn?
If we are honest with ourselves and our own limitations, we can’t help but be meek, humble.
And in this world of partisanship, violence, human trafficking, murder, sin where love has grown frighteningly cold, do we not all hunger and thirst for righteousness?
And those of us who give allowances to our fellow human beings… who are gentle and forgiving when others make mistakes and who show mercy to those in difficult situations—will we not also be open to accepting the mercy of God when it is lavished upon us by Jesus Christ our Lord?
When we seek to purify our hearts as we feed the hungry, give a drink of water to the thirsty, cloth the naked and visit those in prison—will we not in doing so see God?
And when we try to bridge divisions between people based on race, politics, socio-economic situations…
…when we lead humans to a peace-making, bring building relationship with Jesus Christ—are we not acting as God’s children?
And are we not truly, truly, truly blessed?
Jesus said, “I have come to give you life and life abundantly.”
And I don’t think Jesus was talking about sports cars and McMansions.
I think He was talking about how blessed we are because we have Jesus!
I think He was talking about the salvation which comes to our hearts, minds, and souls when we accept that Jesus accepts us—no matter who we are, what we have done—no matter what!
I think He was talking about the peace which transcends all understanding and the joy which often makes no worldly sense because it is not based on life’s circumstances, but instead on a living, loving and growing relationship with God.
Our world says, “Blessed are those who have power over others.”
“Blessed are those who have great financial success.”
But Jesus turns the world on its head!
Those who are truly blessed are those who learn to completely trust in God in all things and for all things.
Those who are poor--who suffer from economic distress--but completely count on God, recognizing His rule in their lives as the ultimate gift are the truly blessed.
For many of us who follow the road that our culture sets out for us, this way may look very appealing.
Who wouldn’t want to have a care-free life?
Who wouldn’t want to be rich and powerful?
But then, somewhere down the way, our culture’s promises turn out to be inconsistent, and there are traps and dead ends that we didn’t expect.
We hurl ourselves into work only to find ourselves spending more and more time there at the expense of our families and our relationships with no guarantee of success.
We chase every medical test available, yet sooner or later our bodies fail us.
We run after power, but then find out that we always have to defend it.
We seek popularity, but find that no matter what we do, someone dislikes us.
On the contrary, the path Jesus offers may not look so appealing, but the farther down the road of faith we travel, the more truth we find.
For instance, we may discover that humility, unlike power, doesn’t need to be defended.
We might realize that righteousness—doing the right thing—is its own reward.
We might find that a pure heart is much easier to live with than a heart filled with jealousy, resentment, or cynicism.
Step by step, we learn that following Jesus—even if we are persecuted for it—leads to a joy that nothing can take away.
When it comes down to it, what all these sayings in Matthew 5:1-12 come down to is Jesus Himself.
It’s virtually autobiographical.
Jesus was all these things.
And He is showing us what it’s like to be close to the heart of God.
Imagine looking at a group of neglected children and saying to them, “You are blessed. You are blessed because Jesus loves you, and this is all that really matters.”
No matter how you are feeling this morning, no matter what you did last night or this past week…
…no matter what the world thinks of you or what you think of yourself—you are blessed.
You are blessed because of Jesus.
Do you believe this?
Do you trust Jesus in this?
It is the key to everything, you know.
