SERMON ON THE MT: Beatitudes, Part 1

It is my pleasure to announce the beginning of our  new sermon series on Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount,” which may be found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 5-7. This is Jesus’ quintessential proclamation that you are important to God, and that you, with Him, can change the world.  You see, Jesus was a change agent.  As we spiritually grow in our relationship with Him, he makes us change agents to bring His Kingdom values into our homes, neighborhoods, schools, churches, places of employment, and the like.  This is Jesus ambitious vision, which he lays out for all who have ears to hear.

Today we are discussing the first part of this sermon knowns as the “beatitudes.” The beatitudes is simply a Greek term for “becoming happy.”  Following the values of Jesus can make us, and our world, much much happier.

The ‘beatitudes” are meant to compare and to contrast with the 10 commandments, which we just recited.

·      Moses, the patriarchal figure of the Old Covenant, received the 10 commandments on the mountain of God, from which he announced them to his people as the way to be blessed.

·      Jesus, the patriarchal figure of the New Covenant, sits on the mountain and teaches his people about a new way to be blessed.

·       Jesus made it clear, elsewhere in the sermon on the mount, that he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law through grace. His approach is totally positive in contrast to the “Dos” and “Do nots” of the 10 commandments.

·      The 10 commandments were laws given by a distant God. Whereas the beatitudes are positive attitudes meant to be voluntarily cultivated in our hearts, given by personal God in the form of the human Jesus.

Please open your bulletin to page _____, and let us look at the Gospel.   Does anyone notice anything different about the translation?

·      Yes, it says “happy,” where other translations say “blessed.”  Here is the deal.  In the Greek and Hebrew, the word “blessed” means, please repeat after me, “TO BE SET APRT FOR HAPPINESS.” Indeed, this is the title of our upcoming Small group study, which begins next week, where we will study the beatitudes in depth.

·      , favor. So, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, both then and now.  Disciples are those who have made a commitment to follow and to learn from Jesus. Jesus is saying that we are a people of privilege…we are a people of great privilege.  We are insiders in the 2000-year-old Jesus movement, and insiders of his grace.

So, let’s look at this Gospel verse by verse:

Would somebody read verse 3 for us? HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO KNOW THEY ARE POOR IN SPIRIT.  THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO THEM.”

In 1989, I was standing on the Mt. of beatitudes in northern Israel, at the very spot where Jesus had preached the sermon on the mt.  I had heard the words of today’s gospel 100s of times, but on this occasion, it pierced my heart—and I felt loved.

·      “Happy are those who are poor in spirit…or, happy are those who know they need God. Why? Because it is only when we admit to God and to ourselves that we really need Jesus, that we can receive him.

·      Am I spiritually poor? Yes. I sin. I lie. I envy. I dishonored my parents. I made my career and idol, and put it above God and my family. Although to the world I may have looked like a strongman of faith, but inside I knew that I had tried to operate on my own power and not Jesus’

·      You see, we who are poor in spirit are empty without Jesus forgiveness and healing. By making that admission to God and ourselves, Jesus instantly and automatically comes by our side.

Okay, moving to verse 4, let us all read this in unison, saying, ’HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO MOURN, FOR THEY WILL BE COMFORTED.”

·      Think of all the millions of people who mourn man’s inhumanity to man.

·      Think of those Christian in the Middle east, who mourn the martyrdom of their loved ones at the hands of Islamic terrorists.  Think of the millions of refugees who mourn the loss of their homes.

·      Speaking of mourn the loss of their homes, think of the hurricane victims who have lost everything.

·      Think of ourselves, when a loved one dies; or a marriage dies; or when our dreams die, and the like.  How can we, who mourn, be happy?

Well, Jesus’ mission is comfort the grieving.  He does that when we come together to cry when it’s time to cry; to listen when mourners tell their stories; to visit when it’s time to visit; to pray when it’s time to pray; to give hope to the hopeless; and finally, to encourage our mourners to accept the reality of now, and to accept that there is new life in Jesus. Jesus is there is to help us resurrect from mourning, to find new life for the rest of our lives, and beyond.

·      And when you comfort those who mourn, you are doing the work of Jesus.

Moving ahead to verse 5, the meek are those who are content with their lives and what they have.  They are not people who will push the other guy aside, or stab him in the back, just to get ahead. They are not the folks who are so anxious about money, that they obsess about it and make it an idol.  Meekness does not mean you are weak.  Meekness means that you take a courageous stand against the rat race of the world, because you have found contented and peaceful way to live, inspired by your faith.

Looking at verse 6, let us read that together. ‘HAPPY ARE THOSE WHOHUNGER AAND THRIST FOR JUSTICE.  GOD WILL SATISFY THEM FULLY.’

 We look at the world, and see people starving because their crazy /evil dictator is spending all the nation’s money on build bombs.

We look at the corruption and selfishness in business and in government, realizing that others are receiving illegal preferential treatment at our expense.

When we seriously consider the millions of children who are hungry, both at home and abroad, many of us wonder if God will do anything.  And God’s word says, “Let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

What that means is that one day, the Lord will bring justice to the needy, and retribution to their oppressors.

Meanwhile, as we act with fairness towards all people, Jesus promises us that He will treat us fairly.

We must stop here for now; we will finish up on the beatitudes next Sunday.

But I want to direct your attention to this door picture, which has the 8 beatitudes printed on this.    To sum up what we have heard today, one might say, “Blessed are you when you are poor in spirit, when you mourn, when you are meek, and when you act and work for justice, because yours is the Kingdom of heaven.

·      So, this door, represents heaven.  The keys to open it here on earth are spiritual poverty, mourning, meekness, and doing justice, and the like.  This is how we will live together in heaven once we go to our reward.  Jesus is encouraging us start practicing now—so that we can find our heaven on earth.