Jan 13

Written by: Paster Larry Griffin
1/13/2010 3:07 PM

Blessed Are They!
January 13, 2010
Matthew 5:1-12

1Seeing the crowds,(A) he went up on the mountain, and when he(B) sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2And(C) he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3(D) "Blessed are(E) the poor in spirit, for(F) theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4"Blessed are(G) those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5"Blessed are the(H) meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6"Blessed are those who hunger and(I) thirst(J) for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7"Blessed are(K) the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8"Blessed are(L) the pure in heart, for(M) they shall see God.
9"Blessed are(N) the peacemakers, for(O) they shall be called(P) sons[a] of God.
10(Q) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for(R) theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11(S) "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely(T) on my account. 12(U) Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for(V) so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Dear Christian Friends,
A story is told about an Italian painter who set out to walk the streets of his city one day, searching for a man to serve as a model for an important painting he was planning. Late in the day he came upon an unshaven and ragged beggar and he thought to himself. “This is the man I have been looking for!” And so the painter gave the beggar a sum of money and told him to report to his studio the first thing in the morning. But when the beggar appeared the following day, he was a different man. He had shaven himself clean and dressed neatly. And because he did not come just as he was, he lost the privilege of sitting as the model for this painting. The artist, you see, had wanted the beggar just as he was.
So does Jesus teach us that our Father in heaven comes looking for us each day just as we are, not as we think we should be. To the Pharisees of his day of his day, Jesus said, “I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” To the nervous little man named Zacchaeus, the sinner who thought himself unworthy of the Savior’s presence, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
With 9 different statements tonight, Jesus invites us to come to Him just as we are, the redeemed and the forgiven and the chosen and the blessed people of God. These beatitudes do not tell us how to become blessed; rather they describe the blessedness that already belongs to all believers in Christ. For two purposes, Jesus invites us to come to Him each day – first of all to gain an appreciation for how blessed we are, and secondly, to grow in our blessedness.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This could also be translated “blessed are the beggarly, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient and as independent and as achievers, but spiritually speaking, we have nothing to bring to God except our poor and miserable sinful nature. As often as we say to God “I can’t do this by myself today, Lord,” He responds in effect – “Now I can help you!” A couple of weeks ago my son Noah and I took four of our grandchildren sliding (ages 4, 3, 3, and 2). The event sounded better than it was. The sliding was full of bumps and bruises and complaints about the snow being cold. And when the event mercifully came to an end, little sweet and adorable 2 year old Mercy absolutely insisted on taking off her snow pants and coat by herself. She would not let me help her, and what could have happened in 30 seconds turned into a 15 minute ordeal. So also when we insist on handling our challenges with our own abilities, little hills have a way of turning into bigger hills to climb and even mountains.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. We tend to defend our sinful thoughts and to excuse our bad behaviors and rationalize away our nasty habits, but in this beatitude God invites us to spend our days admitting and confessing and coming clean with Him and with one another. Oh the marriages that are blessed as often as a husband realizes he has been rude and insensitive and says, “I am so sorry. I’ve messed up again.” Oh the relationships that are blessed as often as a wife realizes she has been sharp-tongued and petty and says with tears in her eyes, “I am so sorry. I should not have said that.” Oh the work places and the schools and the homes that are blessed as often as a Christian recognizes how ugly and bitter and unfair he or she has been and admits with tears in his or her eyes, “I have been a jerk and I ask you again to forgive me.” So very often they shall be comforted with forgiveness and a new beginning.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. According to our sinful natures we tend to be boisterous and demanding. We are famous for insisting on our rights and drawing lines in the same and putting up with only so much unfairness and not being properly appreciated. How blessed we are and how life gets so much better so much faster when we leave getting even to God and when we are gentle and patient with one another in response to God’s gentle and patient ways with us. Whole new worlds open up to us as we wait upon the Lord to bless in His own time instead of grabbing for the blessings on our own time.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. To be blessed according to the Bible is to saved by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Faith or blessedness comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We tend to think of blessedness and happiness as having plenty of money and all the things money can buy, but God invites us again tonight to know that true joy and lasting peace and genuine contentment come our way in the waters of baptism, in the words of absolution, and in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine in the Holy Supper. Blessed are they who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and who realize that all these other things shall be added to our lives as necessary.
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. We tend to forgive people who are easy to forgive, but God calls us to a higher level of mercy than that. We tend to show mercy to those who are apologizing or are really trying to shape up in life, but the Bible teaches us to show mercy to one another in response to that mercy already shown us by God in Christ Jesus. Imagine how generous we would all be if we were receiving a million dollars every day! In effect, God is giving us a million units of grace every day and sending us out with a divine desire that we be generous with that grace to one another!
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We tend to live with our own personal agendas, but Jesus invites us tonight to spend our days living His agenda of encouraging other sinners along the path of God’s grace and truth. Our motivations are in so many ways mixed and impure, but how blessed we will be if we keep on praying for the Holy Spirit to create in us clean hearts and to renew a right spirit within me.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Peacemakers do not just passively sit back and refrain from starting trouble. They actively strive to make peace where there is enmity or hostility. They offer their services as mediators between quarrelling relatives or hostile neighbors. I remember a time when I was asked to listen in and be part of an extended family that was in conflict with one another. I sat in and tried to be a good listener and not interrupt, but in a matter of 15 minutes or so, the arguments grew louder and more bitter and before I knew it, a full scale explosion had taken place. My quiet and passive listening skills didn’t help at all in that situation. There is a time to be quiet and a time to speak up, and would-be peacemakers do well to learn the difference.
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. We don’t want to deliberately antagonize people and invite persecution but neither do we want to flee from it when we are called upon to endure suffering for the sake of God’s truth and justice. It’s one thing to suffer because you were doing the wrong thing, but it’s quite another to suffer because you were doing the right thing.
May God help us in the days ahead to care more about what God thinks of us than what people think of us. May God help us to put first things first, second things second and third things third. Can you say that with me? First things first, second things second, and third things third. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

God bless your day!

Pastor Griffin
 

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