Matthew 5:1-12 "Was Jesus Serious?"

         Blessed are the ones who pull themselves up by their bootstraps, for they will get ahead and get what they want.

         Blessed are the ones who do not cry in their soup, but get themselves together and move on.

         Blessed are the ones who keep their mouths shut, so no one will question their patriotism.

         Blessed are the ones who look like us, act like us, think like us, and do not belong to some religious group we fail to know the first thing about.

         Blessed are the well-educated, for they will get the good jobs.

         Blessed are the well-connected, for their aspirations will not go unnoticed.

         Blessed are you when you know what you want, and go after it with everything you’ve got, for God helps those who help themselves.

         Blessed are the ones who really know how the world works, for they will not be dismissed as hopelessly naïve.

        If the Beatitudes (which is what the passage we just read is called) are supposed to be a description of reality, then what world was Jesus talking about in those verses?  Certainly not the one we live in.  We seem to live in the reality of alternative beatitudes – like the ones I just enumerated – those cultural prerogatives that lie just below the surface of “God Bless America”.

         What then are we supposed to make of the real beatitudes, the blessings that Jesus proclaimed at the beginning of what we call the Sermon on the Mount?  Unfortunately, as Biblical scholar NT Wright noted, “we hear (the Beatitudes) as a kind of religious wallpaper: …A pleasing background noise, murmuring its blessings while the business of the room goes on unaffected…Blessed are the poor? Blessed are the meek? The persecuted, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers?’ Yeah, yeah, give me a break: it sounds like the revenge of the no-hopers: we haven’t made it in the present world, so we’ll detach ourselves, escape into a private piety, and hope for a better future by and by in the sky.”

         How cynical is that?  However, for Jesus, the Beatitudes are serious stuff. 

It is like he walked up onto the dais one evening and laid his notes out carefully on the lectern, coughed a bit, took a sip of water, leaned over a smidge to catch the eye and attention of everyone in the audience, and spoke directly into the microphone. 

         Of course, Jesus did not actually do that.  Instead the Gospel writer tells us that he sat down – and, believe me, that was unusual.  You see, he did not stroll about as wandering itinerant preachers did in first century Palestine.  Consequently, Jesus immediately caught his audience’s attention.  His followers – his disciples - all but hung on his every word.  There was tremendous expectation in the air. 

         And in that charged atmosphere, Jesus’ keynote speech began – his manifesto, so to speak:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth....” 

         Wow!  Hold on a minute.  That was not what anyone – even the dullest clod among them - was expecting to hear.  Did Jesus really mean what he just said?

“What did he say?

I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers.”

Aha, what’s so special about the cheesemakers?

Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.”

         That is a bit of conversation from the Monty Python film, “Life of Brian”, but, seriously, what are we supposed to do with the Beatitudes, especially in our world where we make some pretty strong assumptions about who is blessed, happy, or even just lucky? 

         As one blogger I read this week wrote, “What does it mean to be happy? To be fortunate? Blessed? Who are the ones we regard as the lucky ones? The fortunate, the blessed ones? 

         We tend to think of those with money. They can afford to live the way they want. They never have to worry about paying their bills. If they want something, they can have it.  We think of those who can afford a nice home, a nice car. When they travel they fly at the front of the plane and not in cattle class. And who can afford whatever their heart’s desire is.

         (The blogger goes on).  We don’t just think of the rich though. We think of the beautiful, those who are so attractive. Everyone wants to be with them. If you are an attractive guy, you can get whatever girl you want (in whatever way you want, I am told).

And vice versa. The attractive woman gets the guy she wants. We can envy the beautiful people.

         We also think of the powerful. Those who have access to privilege and status. And of course, these things often go together. The rich, beautiful, powerful people. The fortunate ones, the lucky ones, the blessed ones. People like pop stars, movie stars, sports stars. Who wouldn’t want to be Tom Brady, Taylor Swift, or even Harrison Ford? Who of us hasn’t wondered why we haven’t got the lucky breaks they have? (And our blogger concludes:) Now even if we don’t go looking at famous names, who of us wouldn’t wish to be more beautiful, richer, and more powerful than we are now? “

         If we are honest, the world that Jesus describes in the so-called Beatitudes is not the one we live in – and, at first glance, is not the world most of us would want to live in.  I mean, who wants to be poor (even just poor in spirit)?  Who wants to be persecuted, or wear sackcloth and ashes all the time? 

         However, as I have already said, Jesus is serious about these Beatitudes (or Blessings).  Consequently, how in heaven’s name are we supposed to understand them?

         In our hope of getting that question answered, let me begin by saying what the Beatitudes are not.  First, the Beatitudes are not the terms under which you or I might be blessed. In other words, they are not a moral code.  For instance, when I hear "Blessed are the pure in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," I tend to think, "Am I pure enough in spirit?" or "I should try to be more pure in spirit." Or, when I hear "blessed are the peacemakers...," I think, "Yes, I really should be more committed to making peace."  But that is not what Jesus is going for. The Beatitudes are not the criteria for blessedness.

         Second, the Beatitudes are not a list of the sorts of people whom God does bless.  It is not a case of your being on the list, making the grade – or not and facing the eternal consequences. 

         Third, the Beatitudes are not a point-by-point of pious aims and vague promises for the future.  Jesus was not concerned very much about what would happen to any of us in the next life.  His ministry was to folks like us in this life.

         Fourth, the Beatitudes are not simply good advice, like Hints from Heloise.  Jesus was no Carolyn Hax or Dear Abby.

         What are the Beatitudes then?  Simply put, the Beatitudes are the Good News.  The Beatitudes are the Gospel. The Beatitudes are the first hint that something wonderful – something momentous - has happened in this crazy, jaded, cynical, and oft-misguided world we live in. 

         The Beatitudes are evidence that the world’s values have been turned upside down.  God’s dream has been hatched into history – but not without a challenge and a call to personal responsibility. 

         As NT Wright wrote, Jesus “ is saying what millions then and now desperately want to hear, and could hear if only his followers would get off their whatevers and do what he said. He is saying, ‘Let me tell you: this world could be different. Actually, it’s going to be different. It’s going to be turned upside down – or rather, it’s going to be turned the right way up. And that process is starting right now! Why don’t you get on board and help make it happen?’ That was, and is, the challenge of Jesus’ preaching…..The beatitudes are a summons to live in the present in the way that will make sense in God’s promised future, because that future has arrived in Jesus of Nazareth. It may seem upside down (Wright concludes), but we are called to believe, with great daring, that it is in fact the right way up.”

         And until that day that we really do so, the Beatitudes are a courageous and audacious protest against the current order. Oh, Jesus cannot make us be more merciful or better peacemakers.  However, surely he can cause us to look at those who are - with new eyes and hearts and so catch glimpses of the world they live in – that we might someday live in as well. 

         And so for us, the question is simple.  What would it mean, as one blogger wrote, “if we honored those whom God honors? What would happen if we stopped playing all of our culture's games for status and power and privilege? What would it cost us if we lived more deeply into justice, and mercy, and humility?”

         Blessed are poor in spirit, the humble, the ones who know they do not have all the answers, so maybe they ought to listen to what others have to say – or maybe even listen to God.

         Blessed are those who mourn, those who love so deeply and passionately – who love people, communities, the church, the earth so much – that when the signs of death appear, they are torn up inside. 

         Blessed are the meek, the ones with integrity who live with undue patience and without resentment, who handle the pain of this world with a certain grace, not acceptance, but grace.

         Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who fight for justice for all the world’s people – justice for immigrants, for refugees, for those in danger of losing their health insurance, who fight for dignity – the dignity of a job, of an education, of religious choice – for everyone.  Blessed are those who are outwardly focused.

         Blessed are the merciful, the ones who forgive, who can really let it go.

         Blessed are the pure in heart, the ones who deep down inside understand what it means to be created in the image of God, to be one of God’s beloved children.         

         Blessed are the peacemakers, the ones who seek to create peace and do not add to the conflict, the ones who seek first to understand before they are understood.

         Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Blessed are the ones who embrace both the joy and the cost of discipleship.

         In the end, blessed are those who begin to live as if God’s dream is already a reality.