Sermon of January 16, 2005
Presented by Rev. Chuck Ericson
Scripture lesson: Matthew 5:1-12

“Clinging to God's Blessings”

For many people, those are among the most beloved words from the Bible. They are the beginning of a section in Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount. I know that last summer or early fall, Julia did a sermon in which she said she disagreed with Jesus, so I feel bold enough to tell you today that The Sermon on the Mount is not a very good sermon, structurally. If you listen to Seminary professors, they tell you that there is a set sermon structure. You are supposed to have an introduction and three well-defined main points, and a conclusion. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts off with blessings, then he goes into where the birds are flying around and the flowers are growing up… it would not get a very high grade in Seminary as a sermon. However, what Jesus says in these beautiful words of Matthew Chapter 5 all the way through Chapter 7 have touched people’s hearts and have given people faith throughout the ages and are more powerful and more enduring than any sermon, no matter how structurally well it is crafted.

The opening verses, these first twelve verses, have their own name. They are called the Beatitudes. Beatitudes comes from a Latin word, beatus, which means roughly to be made happy. However, it’s not quite that simple. It’s not just the passing happiness that we feel once in a while if you scratch off a lottery ticket and win a few dollars, or if you get a raise at work it makes you feel happy for a little while, or if you’re one of those long-suffering Red Sox fans who saw them win the World Series this year, you felt a sort of happiness about that. It’s not that kind of happiness. The kind of happiness reflected in the Beatitudes, or beatus in Latin, is really a deep, deep spiritual happiness that is grounded and rooted in an awareness of God’s presence and love in your life, it’s permanent, and it brings within you a sense of peace and security and serenity that transcends everything else, no matter what else is happening. So if you have this happiness, you have it whether or not your lottery ticket is a winner, whether or not you get a raise or you get fired, whether or not the Red Sox win again or slide back to third place without Pedro and all the rest. You still have within you a feeling of serenity and peace that goes beyond all those other things, all those transitory things.

There are some translations now that actually say “happy are those who are poor in spirit,” “happy are those who mourn” instead of “blessed.” I didn’t like that at first, but now I understand the word “beatus” a little better, it makes more sense to me. It’s not just that passing happiness that doesn’t last. Robert Schuller did a sermon and followed up with a book called “The Be (Happy) Attitudes.”

So today I want to just take a few moments and look at them. The first point is that the Beatitudes say something to us about our human nature. I went through them several times this week and noticed that there are three main areas that they address. The first is human nature. We all have different natures about us. Some of us are very outgoing and extroverted, others of us are kind of shy and introverted, some of us are emotional, some of us are very stable in our emotions, some of us are very creative, others are very practical. We all have a unique nature about us. Jesus says that aside from that, there are characteristics we should all share as God’s people. Blessed are the meek, is one of them. Blessed are the merciful, is another. Blessed are the pure of heart, is a third. Those are about our nature. Jesus is saying we are blessed when, at the core of your being, is meekness, pureness of heart, and a desire to give mercy to other people around you, abundantly. Be merciful, be pure of heart, be meek.

As I was doing my research for this sermon, I read one commentator who said that Jesus even embodies this, models this, as he prepared to give this Sermon on the Mount, as he prepares to speak the Beatitudes. Early in his ministry, he has been preaching, he has been teaching, he has been inspiring people, he has been healing, and crowds have started to follow him from place to place. And as he arrives at the base of this mountain, there are crowds of people around him. Now, he could be puffed up by all of that, and he could think of himself as one who could stand tall and preach down to the people and tell them what to do and make himself look even more important. But at the beginning of the passage, it says Jesus saw all the crowds around him and went up the mountain and his disciples went with him, and it says that he sat down. He didn’t stand over them, he sat with them and talked to them, and from out of his mouth he gave these teachings. He modeled meekness, purity of heart, and the desire to be merciful, even in giving the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.

It’s amazing that we don’t think how important that attitude is these days. All the people we hear about who get in trouble – the Hollywood people, the politicians, the sports figures, the business leaders – it’s mostly the people who are kind of arrogant and puffed up and full of their self-importance and cutthroat in the way they look at things sometimes. The people who don’t get in trouble, the people we end up really admiring, are the people who are meek and we know inside there is a pure heart, and we know they are people who would give mercy to others, who are merciful in the way they treat other people. There’s incredible guidance for life in these words. Jesus is saying, “Be that way. Be meek. Be pure of heart. Be merciful and abundant in giving mercy to others.”

A second thing the Beatitudes show is something that Jesus is talking about regarding not just human nature, but human feelings. In the first two, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and “Blessed are those who morn” – or “Happy are the poor in spirit,” and “Happy are those who morn” – he’s saying to the people around him, but also to us today, that when things go bad, don’t give up, don’t despair. When you get bad news, when there’s a loss in your life, when you go through a bout of depression, don’t give up, don’t despair. That’s the time to know that God is with you. God sees your trouble. God knows what is going on in your life. God comes and brings you the comfort and reassurance you need to get through that.

It’s a message I try to incorporate in every funeral and memorial service to the family: that the outpourings of love and friendship and compassion that come from other family members and friends and coworkers, to a family that has suffered a loss – that is God coming to them in the voices and the deeds of those people who are showing love and compassion. That is God’s love flowing into their lives through the lives of other people. When you mourn and when you are poor in spirit, God is coming to you through the people around you. It almost seems trite to say this, but as I was thinking about these words this week, I really realized how true that it, how it’s when we really know God the best. When everything is going fine, when you’re just having an OK day at work and at school, and after dinner you sit down and relax, you don’t have that real need to be close to God. But it’s when things are tough, when you have bad news or a bout of depression or a loss and you’re mourning, that’s when you really need God. That’s when you really feel God close by, getting you through it. So in those experiences of being poor in spirit and mourning sometimes even, in those deep, difficult human feelings, that’s when we feel God the closest, that’s when we know we are in God’s loving arms. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, and blessed are those who mourn.

Lastly, the Beatitudes teach us about our human actions and behaviors as well. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who do things to try and keep things right. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’’ sake. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Blessed are you who do things that seek to make the world a better place, no matter what consequences come with it. When I hear those words sometimes, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the peacemakers, I think sometimes of big important people who are famous, like Mother Teresa comes to mind, or this weekend we are thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he’s someone who we think of, as Julia mentioned, as a great champion for justice and peace and righteousness in the world.

But you know, Jesus isn’t speaking just about the people who become famous for their work towards justice and righteousness and peace. Jesus is talking about the things all of us do, the way we work in our lives, with our families, our friends at work and church and community. When we do things that try and make for greater peace around us. When we take a stand for what we know deep down in our hearts is right, and we stay with it and don’t give in, no matter what forces around us are trying to push us away from doing what’s right.

I was thinking about what kind of illustration I might have for this and the other morning I was driving my car and came to an intersection where there was a demonstration. There were about a handful of people and they had signs. Some of them were for peace in Iraq , and stop the war, and honk if you want peace. You know, a lot of honking doesn’t seem peaceful to me. I realized I’m getting old and cynical, but I started thinking that it’s a good sentiment but is it really doing anything? I had to remember that back in college, I knew a lot about peace movements and protesting. I didn’t do a lot of it but it was around me and at Trinity College , I was on the softball team called the McGovern 76ers. Now how desperate is that? Remember that McGovern got trounced in ’72 by Richard Nixon and in ’76 he wasn’t even a factor. But there was this team that thought he might pull it through the next time and the named themselves the McGovern 76ers and I was a reserve outfielder. I think it was if the third- or fourth-string right-fielder didn’t make it, I was going to go out. So I know something about the era when protesting was really something going on in college campuses. But I saw this the other day and said is this really doing anything. I started thinking about how people are conveying their opinions but is it really doing anything to make the peace. The things Christ is telling us about are finding that pure heart within us, that meek spirit, that willingness to be merciful, and use that to really do something that really does make a difference towards greater peace, and let’s right triumph over wrong. To really make a sincere effort in something that will accomplish something.

The good news today is that there is a reward Jesus promises if we let our nature be guided by meekness and mercifulness and purity of heart. If we stick it through in the most difficult feelings we may encounter in life. If we stand up for what is right and seek to make peace and don’t give in or sell out, there is a reward. And the rewards are the second half of each phrase: the kingdom of heaven, comfort, you shall inherit the earth, being satisfied, obtaining mercy, seeing God, being called the children of God, the kingdom of heaven, and again the kingdom of heaven. Three out of nine are the kingdom of heaven. There’s value to living this blessed, happy way that Jesus teaches. There’s a place in heaven, eventually, but earth there is comfort, and satisfaction, and peace, in knowing that we’re being called children, sons and daughters, of God. What great news that is. The rewards for living the Beatitudes, and finding that happiness, are great.

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