This weeks Gospel reading Matthew 5 1-12 Jesus gives us what I consider to be the playbook for being a true believer. In my opinion the Beatitudes give us a clear picture of what it is to be a follower of Christ and what to expect from the world. In the first beatitude Jesus says "Blessed is the poor in spirit." When I hear poor in spirit I think of the times when I am tired and broken spiritually. I guess you can say spiritually broke. Oddly, those are the times when I feel the closest to Jesus. When all of my worldly possessions, my wisdom, my planning and everything fails… I always have Jesus. Instead of relying on myself, I go to my true source of consistent strength. As a believer we know that its not us. It’s not our hard work. It’s not our amazing personality or any character trait, that gets us through life. It’s god’s Mercy. It’s simply God’s will, Always. So when we a spiritually poor, we are blessed to have the support of Jesus .
Jesus went on to say ‘Blessed are those who mourn” Now, we have all mourned before. We have all suffered some kind of loss that leaves you in a place of deep sorrow. Those experiences are always challenging but, once again, in those times it is God who has given me strength. Yes, the losses are painful and sometimes simply too much to deal with but if you can get out of your head and on your knees in prayer, Jesus is always there to comfort you. I am not saying that it’s easy but It can be done.
Then Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” This is such departure from how we are taught to live. Especially as men. Meekness, or humility isn’t always looked upon as great character traits. Yet Jesus says the meek are blessed. Humility is something that I work on all the time. I have the unfortunate experience of taking credit for what God has done in my life all too often. The truth is in my heart I know that whatever happens in my life is all God’s work but my ego doesn’t always agree. If I can offer some sound advice, humble yourself before the lord does it for you. Humility may not be as “cool” or “macho” as being the chest beating, always on top winner but, it is essential in being a real follower of Christ.
Further into the sermon Jesus says “Blessed are The Who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” A hunger for righteousness may lead you down a lonely path in this day and age. Doing the right thing isn’t always popular and in most cases the opposite of what the crowd is doing. To live a life filled with righteousness is to be Christ like. How many of us can do that all day. I barely make a few hours. Yet, the hunger is there. I want to do better. I’m sure you do too. The hunger is what matters. The desire to be like Christ. That is the blessing in itself. I say that because I believe to attempt to live like Christ, as to have life that is full of blessings. The blessing that only God can give.
Jesus goes on to say “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” So I ask, how merciful are you? When Jesus was speaking to his disciples he was saying be merciful. Be forgiving. I can tell you that having a hardened heart is something that steals the joy from every minute of your life. Jesus says the merciful will receive mercy. The true mercy comes from no longer having a hardened heart towards others. More importantly a hardened heart towards ourselves. Can you ignore the ignorance of others? Do you have it in you to let go of the guilt you carry for some past sin. Imagine a life without the weight of hatred on your back. Imagine a life filled with pure unconditional love for others and yourself. That is the life that Jesus promises for the merciful.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” A pure heart for the lord. That’s what Jesus is asking for. A heart that is focused on the lord without any distractions from the world. I call that “Keeping God first.” Keeping God first means you get into prayer with every a major decision, small decision, challenge, anything. Take the time to keep your mind and life centered around what God wants for you. A heart that is purely in love with Jesus leaving no room for anything else to come before that. That is a pure heart. A heart that belongs to the lord.
Then Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” In a world that seems to thrive of division and hate, peacemakers are becoming hard to find these days. I trust that even though most of the world has a different agenda it will be the peacemakers that bring us together. It will be the heart of a believer that will tilt this world in a better direction. I believe that in the end, no matter what, peace is the answer. It isn’t the easiest decision to make but in the end peace does prevail.
Jesus goes on to say “Blessed are the persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Doing the right thing is hard even without the persecution from others. Adding ridicule and persecution to it only makes It worse. Yet, that is who is blessed. Although Jesus lived a sinless life and was tortured and crucified he never once cursed the people that did this to him. If we can remember that the persecuted are blessed in our daily interactions, how much better of world can we have? Jesus showed us how to rise above persecution and judgement from others. He showed us how to rise above the world standards and have mercy on those that persecute us.
In the last beatitude Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” Life as a Christian isn’t the easiest. Lately, it seems like everything that Christ stood for is being overlooked. Fighting and uprisings are taking place all over the world. People hating one another is becoming more and more common and accepted. So living how God wants is almost guaranteed to get you ridiculed in some way. Still Jesus says those are the people who are blessed. Are you willing to go in the complete opposite direction as everyone else? Are you trying to be your best version of christ everyday? If so.. expect to be persecuted on earth but blessed in heaven.
-Anonymous
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