Blessed

Introduction:

You know, it is really hard to hit the target if you don’t know what you are aiming for. Likewise, it is hard to know what success is if you have never taken the time to defined success. I hope today that all of us are striving to be faithful Christ-followers, but sometimes we don’t do the best job of defining what a faithful follower looks like. Because of this, I feel it is important that we refocus our attention on success as Jesus defined it here in the opening of his most famous sermon. Today we are going to be looking at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 which, if you have been keeping up with our Bible Reading Plan, you read the passage this week as part of our reading. As you go ahead and be turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5, I will try to give us some helpful context.

If you are anything like me you probably know the feeling where you are trying to talk about something but you just struggle to find the right word for it. One of the most interesting parts of learning new languages (and what I imagine is one of the hardest parts of being a translator) is when a language uses a word or phrase that has no direct translation. I was trying to come up with some examples to show you what I mean, and I actually found some words that I think we need in English.  Now I don’t speak any of these languages so forgive my mispronunciation and feel free to make fun of me if you speak any of these languages.

• Have you ever been given a task at work that seemed important, but was actually just useless busywork? The Dutch have a word for that “Epibreren.”
• Have you ever needed help but felt uncomfortable or guilty for asking for help because you didn’t want to be an inconvenience? In Thailand that is called “Greg-jai.”
• What about when you have so many things to do that you get overwhelmed and end up accomplishing nothing?  In Germany they call that “Fisselig.”

Why am I bringing any of this up? Well, one of the more difficult words to translate from Ancient Greek to English is “makarios” which is unfortunate because it is such an important word for understanding our sermon today. The King James translated this word as “Blessed” and most English Bibles have kept using that word ever since. Some modern translations have chosen to translate it as “Happy” but I’m not a fan of that translation, so I am going to keep using “Blessed” for this sermon, but it’s important from the start that we understand what this word really means. The way Jesus uses it in our passage today isn’t describing a path to worldly success or a magical way to make your dreams come true. In fact, it is possible to be going through all sorts of trials and struggles while still being “blessed.” So, what does this word mean? 

In the big sense it is being made whole, it is a state of peace that passes all understanding. It’s very close to the Hebrew idea of Shalom, which is another word that’s very broad and hard to translate…  In the end, however, I think the most important thing to get is that to be blessed is to have the approval of God. It is to know that God smiles upon you and calls you His own, to know that you are walking in His purpose. Sounds pretty good right? It’s the life that every Christian wants, or at least it is the life that every Christian should want. So, let’s look at the passage we will focus on this morning:

Matthew 5:1-12

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now we should not make the mistake of thinking of these beatitudes as tests we must past in order to become a follower of Christ. Jesus paid it all on the cross, and in his resurrection, he completed the work of our salvation. Instead we should look at these as guides for what we should expect after we have come to faith. This is not a challenge for you to meet, this is a gift which you can receive.

 So let us begin by examining these blessed attitudes:

Blessed People Know They Are Unworthy (v 3)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”                              – Matthew 5:3

When we think of being blessed (being at peace with God) and being “poor in spirit” it certainly seems like a contradiction at first glance. We don’t need to think of “the poor in spirit” as people who are miserable, but rather people who are humble enough to admit that they are spiritually lacking. Maybe you have gone through the difficult process of trying to help someone who refuses to admit that they have a problem. You may be familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous and their twelve-step program to healing. It has been very successful in helping thousands of people break free from alcohol and substance addiction.

The very first step of recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous is: “We admit we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” The idea is that, if a person is unwilling to admit that they need help, or they think they can manage this by themselves, then they will inevitably fall back into old and destructive habits. You could almost reword this step and come to the same truth that Jesus was teaching in this passage: “Blessed are those who admit that they are powerless over sin – that they are in need of a savior – because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Just before this passage in Matthew 4:17 we get this summary of the message Jesus preached everywhere he went:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” – Matthew 4:17

Sometimes we make repentance sound so ominous and scary. We think of fire and brimstone preachers shouting at sinners to repent of their sins. But I want to challenge our thinking a little on that. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” is not a threat. It is an invitation. To repent is to ask for help from a loving God who wants to give it. It is what the “poor in spirit” do when they stop trying to do everything in their power, and turn back to God.

Judgment is the threat, but repentance is the lifeline God throws to us so that we might be spared the penalty of our sins. It is an open invitation to freedom from sin and its consequences. God says “turn to me and I will break the chains that bind you” but unless we are willing to admit that we are in bondage, we will never turn. For those who will, by grace, turn to the Lord. Those who realize that they are in need of a savior and who look to the Lord for salvation, they will be saved. They will inherit the kingdom of heaven. These are the people who are truly blessed.

Blessed People Know the World Is Broken (v 4, 6)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” – Matthew 5:4

Once again a seeming contradiction. Mourning is a term that we usually reserve for the feeling of loss that comes after the death of a loved one. The Greek word we translate into mourning is the strongest word in that language for grief. It is the idea of wailing and weeping. How can one be blessed and still mourn? The answer is that as we grow in faith we also grow to share our heavenly Father’s heart. We don’t mourn if we don’t care. Our heavenly Father loves deeply, and the more in tune with the Father we are, the more we will love and with love comes mourning.

Mourning is a symptom of caring about the broken world and the broken people in it. The Christian is not the one who looks at the sins, the pains, the deaths, and the brokenness of the world and thinks to themselves “that’s too bad” or “isn’t that a shame.” Being in-tune with God’s heart is to be open to heartache. It hurts us to see others fall into sin, because we know what it is like to be a slave to sin and out of love we don’t want anyone to fall into that snare. When we see injustice or perversion of God’s good design for life and flourishing, it should upset us. The more we love, the more we will hate sin and all that sin does in the world.

The good news is that, for those who blessedly mourn, they are promised that they will be comforted. If we grieve our own sins, we have the Holy Spirit who is described as “The Comforter.” The Holy Spirit binds us to the Lord with an unbreakable covenant of redemption. We are comforted in knowing that our sins are powerless to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. If we grieve over death, we can take comfort in Christ who defeated sin and death on our behalf. He is the good shepherd who does not lose a single member of his flock, and in the resurrection we will all be made new and never again be marred by sin or separated by the grave. If we grieve the fallenness of our broken world, we can take comfort in the knowledge that God who made all things good, is also at work even now to make all things new. This broken world may be far from whole and far from perfect, but the work of healing has already begun. Brothers and sisters, one day we will see that work completed!

As the scriptures say:

“Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 30:5

At the same time, we are not passively waiting for that day to come…

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6

The blessed do not just lament that the world is broken, they long to see it fixed. Righteousness is essentially “right-ness.” Righteous living is living the way God created us to live. Righteous worship is worship that is pleasing to the Lord. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to desire for the world to be made right again. Just as the hungry person will seek out food and the thirsty person will seek out water, the blessed person is the one who longs for righteousness. They want to live the way God has called them to live, and they want to help others do the same. It is both longing for God’s Kingdom to be established on earth as it is in heaven, and doing our part to make earth a little more like heaven.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8

One mark of a blessed person, a person who is truly following Christ, is that they are concerned for righteous justice. It bothers them when they see injustice in the world, and as a result they seek to act justly towards others. The blessed person values righteous kindness, not a manipulative or insincere kindness, but genuine kindness as a reflection of God’s love. The blessed person walks humbly with God, because they Love their heavenly Father and want to live in his presence and pleasure. The people who, at the end of life, are the most satisfied are those who used their time to grow and nurture their love for God and their love towards others. Those are the people who reflect on their lives and think “my time on earth was well spent.”

Blessed People Choose A Different Path (v 5, 7-9)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

Meekness is another word that we often mistranslate in our heads. It has less to do with weakness, and more to do with a spirit who is gentle, disciplined, and self-controlled. The philosopher Aristotle saw meekness as the perfect balance between rage and indifference. Some people have the tendency to let their passions get the best of them, if you set them off they will explode with emotions. Other people seem just frustratingly indifferent. They think that not caring somehow makes them stronger or better than the people who care too much.

Meekness is the blessed third option. To be meek is not to be indifferent, remember that blessed are those who mourn and hunger and thirst for righteousness, but it is also to be able to temper one’s passions with gentleness. We could shout at everyone we disagree with about everything. You might even be able to escalate conflicts to a point where violence erupts, but we all know that this at best is a short-term win, and more often than not is not a win at all. You could also decide to just stop caring about anything, take an “Hakuna-Matata” approach, which is a great way to stop stressing, but a horrible way to try to make the world a better place.

The blessed ones who will inherit the earth, who will make a change, are those who are firm and resolute in their Christian convictions, but who are able to be gentle and self-control. Gentle correction goes so much further than a stern rebuke. The Christian who won’t compromise their faith, but also refuses to hate those who oppose them, will win more souls than the person who screams and shouts at everything that challenges their worldview. It is not easy to live this way, but it is effective. And I don’t know about you but I want to be effective in my Kingdom work.

One of the beatitudes that is tied closely to meekness is mercy.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” – Matthew 5:7

When I teach people about “grace” and “mercy” I usually say that “grace is getting the reward that you didn’t deserve” and “mercy is not getting the punishment you did deserve.” But mercy, as the writers of scripture understood it, is much more active than that. To be merciful is to identify with the lost, the needy, and the suffering.

It is to be uncompromising in the Christian belief that life begins at conception and that taking of an innocent life by abortion should never be an option, while at the same time seeking to understand the fear, the pain, and the uncertainty that some women find themselves in when unplanned or unwanted pregnancy occurs.

It is to be unwavering in the Christian belief that marriage was designed by God to be between one man and one woman for life, while at the same time learning to love those who have been through divorce, abuse, abandonment, or who experience same sex attraction or some other factor, whatever it may be, that makes biblical marriage seem impossible.

It is to believe that addiction is evil, while loving the addict. It is to love your neighbor, even when your neighbor never returns the favor. It is to speak truth in love to your lost neighbor, without compromising the life-giving truth of the gospel. It is deciding to help, even if you don’t feel that the help is deserved. It is choosing love even when no one would blame you for choosing hatred or indifference. If God loved us at our worst, at our most unworthy and most unlovable, then how can we not do the same?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8

Biblically speaking, a pure heart is a heart that keeps its focus on God. It means that we don’t serve two masters.

If we have to choose between faithfulness to God and worldly comforts, we choose God.

If we have to choose between faithfulness and success in our career, we choose God.

If we have to choose between the approval of God or the approval of men, we choose God.

We might be tempted to make exceptions but more than once Jesus himself said that even family does not come before God. This doesn’t mean we should all sell all of our worldly possessions and move to a monastery. God’s Word has much to say about managing our finances, being a good worker, and loving our neighbors and our families well. This does mean, however, that as we go through life we make sure that God is first in all things. The blessed ones who set God as their goal, will see God!

Building on this, Jesus says…

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” – Matthew 5:9

The emphasis in peacemaker should be on the word “make.” Peace is the goal, peacemaking is the work. And let me tell you, it is work. We live in a world that is divisive and geared for conflict. So much so that I don’t even think I need to give you an example. There is a whole industry of seminars, books, classes, and even degree programs centered around making peace. How to make peace with yourself, how to make peace in your marriage, how to make peace in your family, how to communicate in a way that promotes peace rather than conflict… I could go on and on.

Those may be good and helpful, but the only lasting peace in the world is the gospel of Christ. The Gospel is the only way to peace with God, and if we don’t have peace with God can we really say that we have peace at all? We should absolutely seek to avoid hostility and needless conflict. We should be a people known for trying to live at peace with others as far as it is within our power to do so, but we cannot be peacemakers if we keep silent about what God has done to make peace with sinners like you and me.

Now brothers and sisters, we have to end on a note that is bitter sweet, but if we are thinking rightly then we will see that sweetness infinitely outweighs the bitterness.

Blessed People Have A Different Destination (5:10-12)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:10-12

The blessed person, the person who is living as God has called us to live, the person who is walking in God’s favor and approval… will be persecuted. No matter how perfectly or imperfectly you do these things there will be some who revile you and who speak evil lies against you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that opposition means we are doing something wrong. Sometimes opposition means we are doing something right. Our perfect savior was hated and despised by some in his day, and if they hated the sinless one how can we expect to be loved and accepted by all?

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. – John 3:19

We Christians in America have enjoyed several generations of privilege and acceptance in our culture, but the tides have been turning for a while and may continue in a direction that will make it harder and harder to be faithful (not that faithfulness was easy in any generation).

Some of us are going to be tempted to go with the flow of culture and abandon the way of Jesus. We might still claim the name, but faith in name only is dead faith. Others of us might be tempted to fight fire with fire. We might be gearing up to fight the world blow for blow instead of turning the other cheek, but the world’s ways are not the way of the Savior.

It could get a lot harder before it gets easier, and the temptation to stray from the blessed life will become stronger, but brothers and sisters resist that temptation. What we face might take on different forms, but it is nothing new. Our brothers and sisters across time and around the world have endured the same, if not worse, and the gospel has gone forth and lives have been changed and souls have been saved and peoples have been redeemed.

And in the end, as Christ reminds us, the kingdom of heaven marches on and we will see that victory. When I am standing in heaven, when the last victory has been won and the last enemy defeated, I want to hear my savior say “well done good and faithful servant” because He is worthy of nothing less than my best.