The Sermon On The Mount

Title: Eight (or Maybe Nine) Upside Down Blessings

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Thesis: Jesus calls us to experience happiness in living upside down lives.

Introduction

One of the most uncomfortable moments of my life occurred a few years ago when a colleague invited me to meet her for coffee at Starbucks. Over the years I had been supportive of her as a woman in ministry. She was younger and had always been a more demonstrably godly person than I am but I was accustomed to her enthusiastic interests. We had a pleasant hour and then as we were getting ready to go our separate ways she said, “I would like to give you a blessing.” I thought to myself, “Okay…” And then I gathered myself and said, “Okay.” She blessed me with an obviously well-thought out blessing. Then she said, “Now, you bless me.”

To feel blessed can be as simple a thing as feeling lucky or fortunate. To feel blessed can also mean you have received an inheritance or something from God or someone of great value. To feel blessed may mean to experience favor bestowed by God or someone that brings you happiness. To bless someone is to seek for them or bestow upon them or pray God’s favor for them. At any rate, my sense is that the blessing Jesus describes in Matthew 5 is intended to imply great personal satisfaction and happiness.

1. The poor in spirit are blessed

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:3

I’ve never been a fan of poverty. Over the Christmas holiday my Mother commented that I was always an industrious kid… always carrying a paper route, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, doing odd jobs, stacking hay bales. She said, “You always had to have some money in your pocket.”

But when Jesus spoke of the “poor” being blessed he was not speaking of “poor” as in being financially destitute. He was not talking about being penniless or needy. He was speaking of spiritual poverty. He was speaking of those who know they are spiritually bankrupt, totally destitute and in need of saving. He is speaking of those who desperately turn to God and say, “I’m, broke!”

It’s upside down because sinful brokenness and spiritual bliss or happiness are not thought to be congruent.

2. Those who mourn are blessed (Those who are saddened by their sin are blessed.)

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

What a relief it is to come to your senses. I’m spiritually broke and as such spiritually broken. Jesus says that’s a place of spiritual bliss or happiness. It’s a good place to finally be. But along with that realization is another realization and that realization is a deep sadness and sorrow for that brokenness...

Jesus said God blesses those who mourn… what are they mourning over? What grieves them? What grieves us? Our brokenness and our grief may be expressed in David’s Prayer found in Psalm 51.

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation and make me willing to obey you. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken and contrite heart, O God.”

Jesus says the person who is saddened by and repentant of his sinfulness experiences a renewed sense of spiritual relief and joy.

It’s upside down because owning one’s sin, much less mourning one’s sin, is not normal practice… denial and cover-up are much more the norm.

3. The gentle are blessed (Those who humbly or meekly submit to the will of God are blessed.)

God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

The older translations use the word “meek.” Blessed are the meek. Meek and mild men are not generally thought to be movers and shakers in the real world.

However in the biblical language and in the way Jesus spoke the word meek or humble described a person who was humble in spirit as a powerful horse is under the control of a bridle. The person who is humble is not weak. The humble person is a person who has submitted himself or herself to the will of God.

This is a person who knows what it is to be spiritually bankrupt and feel genuine remorse and repentance of his or her sins and has decided to let God be in control of his or her life.

This person experiences the blessing of God and knows the happiness of that new relationship.