The Beatitudes: Blessings for Believers
Matthew 5:1-16
5/18/97
Intro: In one "Peanuts" comic strip, Linus and Charlie Brown are sitting and talking about their plans when they grow up. Linus says, "when I get big, I’m going to be a humble little country doctor. I’ll live in the city, see, and every morning I’ll get up, climb into my sports car and zoom into the country. Then I’ll start healing people. I’ll heal everybody for miles around." And he then concludes the speech by saying, "I’ll be a world-famous humble little country doctor."
It’s easy to laugh at the misplaced ideas of Linus. But how many of us here today have wrong ideas of where our priorities really are to be. Jesus gives us a little taste of what re really should be like as we look this morning at Matthew 5. If you have your bible, turn with me there. Actually, we’ll start reading at 4:23.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach 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 be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
This is a passage that we call the beatitudes: the BE - attitudes, or as Robert Schuller calls them the Be Happy attitudes. This is not a simple way to be happy. Rather the happiness comes upon us as we fashion our life after these qualities. This passage is called the Sermon on the Mount. In this lengthy discourse that Jesus gives, we can find many things that go against the grain. But as we look at the deeper truths, we find that his teaching is always right.
At the end of chapter 4, we see Jesus comes preaching about a coming kingdom. He preaches this to a people who are enslaved and in bondage in their own country. The Jews had a heritage of being God’s people. God led them to the promised land. Their sin left them in captivity. Eventually they came back to their land, only to be later taken over by the Roman armies. Jesus comes, sparking their hopes of a Messiah, one who would set up a kingdom and rule in righteousness. You can imagine the excitement of the people. Jesus demonstrates his power by all of the healing he does. Yet, when he sits down to teach the people about what it means to be part of his kingdom, it is something totally different than what they had expected. Jesus talks about inward qualities of life!
Jesus is not here giving us a list of things to do to be happy; rather he is telling us what the truly happy and blessed people will be like. Let’s look at them.
1. Poor in spirit - this is not just talking about the poor, but about the poor in spirit. In many ways, it is much easier to be poor in spirit if you are poor. Jesus is here talking about those who because of financial and economic factors can have confidence only in God. There are those who are poor because of self-made choices. Consider the prodigal son. Yet, his poverty drove him back to the Father. God always tries to bring us to repentance, but when that fails, he brings his punishment to bring us back. Wednesday nights we are studying the book of Isaiah. We see the nation of Israel, falling into idolatry. the prophets called them to repent. They did not, so God sent them into captivity so they would turn from their sin.
Being poor is not a spiritual benefit. If it were, I could say, give me all your money and let me help you be blessed. But being poor is beneficial when it drives us to place all of our faith in God alone. Being poor in spirit is being spiritually bankrupt: we claim nothing of ourselves. It means coming to the place where I feel accepted by God when I feel most unacceptable to myself. The key trait characterized by this might be called humility. The ability to see yourself and your failures, realizing the only hope you have is in God.
The kingdom of heaven is not offered to those who boast in their wealth or power or fame. Those who are proud in spirit will never enter the kingdom of heaven. God offers his kingdom to those who know they can offer nothing for their own salvation and do not try. They cry simply for mercy, and they alone are the ones shown mercy.
##Remember the Pharisee and the publican.
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
2. Those who mourn - Jesus is not here referring just about those who experience any form of grief. Rather I think he is referring to something deeper. The godly remnant of Jesus day would have mourned because of the state of their people. Jesus wept when he saw those around him. This is a mourning over personal and corporate sins. When we think about being poor in spirit, it is not good enough to simply know there is nothing good in yourself. We must turn from that condition with a repentant heart. Those who are truly blessed by God are the ones who know what it is to really feel hurt, to embrace the pain, and to allow the Lord to bring healing. We all experience pain. Yet many try to hide it. We build our walls. We let no one close. We never cry. We never ache.
But those who mourn might well be seen as those who can let others know they are hurting. They can share the grief of others without embarrassment.
The attitude we see here might be called empathy. The ability to feel what others feel. The ability to laugh and cry and enter into the feelings of others. How true it is that only those who are open and honest enough to share their pain with others are the ones who in turn can be given support, love, and encouragement by others.
3. The meek - The term is not weak, but meek. Strength under control. It refers to gentleness and the self-control that accompanies gentleness. To be meek implies a freedom from malice or vengeance towards others. It is one thing to see our faults. It is totally another thing when others tell us about our faults. How do you do when someone starts telling you about your faults. Often it starts out, "You know I love you, BUT . . ." The meek person is the one who doesn’t always have to win. It is the person who has given control of everything to God.
The ability seen here would best be called gentleness. The ability to be tender because you are inwardly strong, and to lead without overpowering others.
The meek, those who don’t assert themselves, are told they will be given rewards even without asking for them. Those who seek a piece of the kingdom never get any, but those who meekly follow God and given an inheritance.
4. Spiritual Hunger - These are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness. they desire not only that they may be righteous-- that they may wholly do God’s will from the heart-- but that God’s will would ultimately be done everywhere. These are the ones who long to see God followed and obeyed. As you look at your life, what is the driving force. Can you say you are more excited about God’s will for you than making money, a successful career, a happy family. What is it you really long for. Many of us would have to say it is something other than simply doing God’s will.
The characteristic seen here might be called spirituality. In many ways that is a vague term, but we’re talking about the ability to maintain inner spiritual priorities. Do you give God time when its convenient, or does He have first place in your life?
The reward for those who hunger for God is that eventually they will be filled, they will see God completely satisfy every desire they have. Psalms 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
5. the Merciful - Those who will be part of the kingdom of God are the ones who have learned both forgiveness for the guilty and compassion for the suffering and needy. Have you come to the place in your life where you can enter into the feelings of someone who is hurting, lonely, or distressed and feel alongside them in their pain. How much sensitivity has God allowed you to have for the suffering of others.
We might look here at the quality of sensitivity - the ability to pick up on the hurt and pain of others and to be "present" without being pushy or nosy. The reward for the compassionate is that they also will be given compassion.
6. The pure in heart - this relates to true sincerity in following God. these are those who do not try to argue with themselves and explain away sin. There are many who con convince themselves of the rightness of anything they wish to do. The pure in heart are the ones who can be completely honest and open with God and others. They don’t put on airs or pretend to be something they are not.##Dan Allender
We see here the quality of transparency - the ability to be yourself without any pretenses and to allow the presence of Christ to radiate through you.
7. The peacemakers - not the peaceful, but the peacemakers. Those who seek to bring peace and reconciliation. It is easy to be peaceful and uninvolved. It is hard to enter into disputes without feeling a need to "win at any cost." The idea of making peace must have been very shocking to the Zealots, the Jews who wanted to overthrow the control of Rome. Can you say that you are one who can keep open channels of communication open. Can you deal with disagreement without resorting to anger, frustration, and rage?
We see here the quality of reconciliation - the ability to harmonize differences between yourself and/or others without causing either person to lose. One who is able to create "win/win" situations.
8. the persecuted - notice here that persecution is not blessed, but persecution for the sake of righteousness. There are far too many who bring persecution upon themselves. Are you willing to be a bold witness for Christ, even if it means you will suffer for it? Are you willing to lose some friends, to not be accepted in the "in crowd"?
We see here one with the quality of endurance - the ability to stand up for what you believe without getting defensive or compromising your principles.
The reason for the different lifestyle we are called to is seen in verse 16. We are to let our light shine - to lead lives that are examples to others of the truth of what we preach. How has your light been shining?
