Matthew 5:1-12
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In one of the most powerful speeches in History Martin Luther King stopped the crowds in Washington with his drumbeat repetition of a single phrase, "I have a dream..."
Jesus invented the technique! "Blessed are the... for they shall..." [1-2] – but what was so arresting about being “blessed”?
The people who first heard Jesus say this were in a kind of spiritual prison. The “teachers of the law” dominated their lives. They had taken God’s law from the Old Testament and turned it into a tyrannical code that only they could live up to. These teachers looked down their noses at the “people of the land” – because they believed that God looked down with contempt on them, too. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were the chosen few; God despised the rest!
“You have God’s seal of approval”, Jesus said, “When your heart is breaking, when you long to be different, when you are kind to someone, when you are despised by others…” This stopped the crowds. They were interested!
Blessed is not a difficult word to decode. Think of Psalm 103:1 “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name”, this means that I am thrilled with God, I love him, I approve of him. When God blesses us he means the same about us! He is thrilled with us, he approves of us.
It is possible for God to be pleased with you!
You don’t believe me?
A lot of us grew up with the idea that we will never amount to anything. This is especially true of those with a Christian upbringing; our folks were so keen to teach us humility that they destroyed our self-esteem! They didn’t mean to, it just happened that way.
If that is you, there is an astonishing statement in 1 Peter 1:7 – the praise here is not directed from you to Jesus, but from God to you!
Any parent knows this. Your child comes running home with a painting they did at school. It is meant to be a cow in a field but it looks nothing like it! Yet you are delighted anyway, because it is so good to see your child trying. God aproves of us when we try to be like him.
There are many reasons why people don’t want to get mixed up with God, but maybe the most important is this; “I don’t think that anything I do could register with God – I am too useless, and insignificant”.
Well now you know that's not true!
A picture of you?
The beatitudes are a psychological portrait of the kind of person that gets God’s approval.
Poor in spirit – Think of two blokes going out on Friday night - their plan is to get completely drunk. The moning after, one of them can't wait to do it again, but the other thinks to himself, “There has got to be more to life than this”. Now that guy is beginning to know what it means to be poor in spirit. His mate is self-satisfied and as happy as a pig in muck – but once you realise that you are living in a spiritual pigsty, you are beginning to feel spiritually poor. God is chuffed when he sees that – for the first time in our lives, we are spiritually open.
Mourn – this sound’s very much like, “Happy are the miserable”! There is an advert for Honda on TV right now, that encourages us to hate something... hating the noise and dirt of a diesel engine is the first step towards inventing a new one. Being discontented with something is an incentive to change. Because I am a Christian there are aspects of myself that I hate… that's the motive I need to change. When God sees that in me, he is chuffed.
Meek – If I were to ask you to think of someone who was meek, who would you say? We tend to confuse meek with weak. The meekest man I ever met was Inga Twigamalu, a huge Samoan who played Rugby for the All Blacks. Watching this huge bloke graciously circulating at church and spending time with people was a real lesson for me. Meekness is a very special quality – strength under control. When God sees a strong individual under control, he is chuffed!
Hungry for righteousness – showing mercy and denying yourself revenge –God is chuffed when he sees that.
Peacemakers – are people who have a passion for relationships that work properly. A peacemaker is someone who loves to build a friendship, resolve an argument, someone who loves being on good terms with others [see Romans 12:17-18 to learn more about this]. When God sees a person like this, he is chuffed!
Persecuted – so far this has been a psychological portrait – the inner landscape of the heart that pleases God. This is different, this is what is likely to happen if you live like this… persecution… being insulted… being lied about.
Actually, when you begin to live like this you become a kind of prophet! A living prophecy… “There is another way”, you are saying.
Is it worth it?
The superstar in the Loreal advert says it's, “Because I’m worth it!” Christians turn the values of the advertising industry upside down: we do it “Because he's worth it!”
Tagged on to each beatitude is a promise: Kingdom of heaven… comforted… the earth… filled… mercy… see God… Sons of God… Kingdom of Heaven. God rewards those he is chuffed with!