A Christians Character: the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:1-12
Philippians 2:5-11
The Beatitudes are nothing less than the CV of the balanced and mature Christian – not eight separate and distinctive groups but eight qualities of the same group who at one and the same time are meek and merciful, poor in spirit and pure in heart, mourning and hungry, peacemakers and persecuted.
This is not an elitist sect but Christ’s own specification of what every Christian ought to be, every citizen of God’s Kingdom. Now don’t run away with the thought that this happens the moment you become a believer: like most things in the Christian life it takes time. After all hasn’t that Fruit of the Spirit, Christ’s character still got a way to go in you and me? So the people Christ describes are His children, disciples, those who have returned to His family.
So what about the qualities commended: are they spiritual or physical: the question needs to be asked because Luke puts a physical slant on them (Blessed are you poor/ Blessed are you who hunger now). Clearly Christ was not indifferent to physical poverty and hunger but he emphasizes that ‘My Kingdom is not of this World’ (John 18:36). During the temptations and subsequent to the feeding of the 5000 He clearly rejected a physical even political approach in favour of redeeming the Spiritual fabric of people’s lives and of the communities in which they lived. So the Beatitudes are about a spiritual condition with a spiritual attitude: as the ‘Message’ translation might have said: Get some Attitude!
This is authentic full-blooded Christianity and it has and it will continue to change the World. The first four beatitudes are about the relationship of the Christian to God: the second four are about our relationship and duties to others…you just can’t avoid the truth that relationship is at the heart of the Gospel.
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.This cuts immediately right across our pride filled spiritual arrogance and leaves us with nowhere to go: we must realise our spiritual poverty and acknowledge it openly. What is needed is a humble dependence upon God: I must decrease and He Increase. C H Spurgeon, the great Baptist Preacher said: “The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink into ourselves’. The Church in Laodicea for all its ‘zeal’ was revealed as self-satisfied and superficial, blind and naked beggars. Mary in her song affirms that ‘God sends the rich away empty’ (Luke 1:53).
We need to start this journey of discipleship and maturity by admitting our weaknesses and lack of ability, and we need to begin to gaze at God and recognise the difference between what He wants me to be and what I am! Once we recognise we are Spiritually Poor then God sees material He can work with: and to such He is prepared to give the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. This depth of mourning is amply demonstrated by the way Jesus wept over and for Jerusalem, for the religious leaders of His day, and for His closest friends when they argued amongst themselves. So Stage two of Spiritual Blessing means that it is one thing to be spiritually poor and acknowledge it; it is quite another thing to mourn over it! Confession is one thing: Contrition is another (we need to mourn over our loss of innocence, our lack of righteousness, and our deserving of no self-respect). It just isn’t good enough to fit into the world’s standards: well that’s how it is today, that’s what everyone does, etc. etc. In Luke 6:25 Jesus says: “woe to you who laugh now”. There are such a thing as Christian tears and few of us weep them: we need to weep for ourselves and our spiritual poverty/ for the sins of others and their consequences/ for our unwillingness to love our enemies/ for our lack of embarrassment at unnecessary material possessions/ for God’s polluted planet, God’s tainted Church, Human injustice, and Social Unrest. Such ‘Mourners’ will be comforted by the Comforter - God the Holy Spirit. So recognise the poverty of your Spirit and mourn for it, weep for our flawed humanity and the corruption of all things Good and God in our Society.
Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.
This is clearly the reversal of human experience; it’s opposed to current thinking! This is not might triumphs over right, assert yourself; large and powerful is good (even in church terms). The Poor in Spirit begin to Mourn when they become painfully aware of their own failings and shortcomings – and this leads on to meekness – each attitude you will have noticed is harder than the one before. Meekness takes us further into God, to the point where we stop being concerned about ourselves and start being concerned for others. The first two attitudes help Jesus’ Citizens to examine themselves honestly. Meek citizens go one step further and allow others to examine them as well! (Confess your Sins to One Another…). These are Meek people not Weak People: Strong people who live gently.
Wise people who act humbly. Articulate people who speak discreetly. Obstinate truth lovers who stand up for what is right. Jesus people who go God’s way. Such people shall inherit the Earth – every beautiful last square inch of it!
Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness for they will be Filled.
The Poor in Spirit acknowledge their complete and utter bankruptcy before God. They mourn over the cause of it: their sin. The Meek are humble and gentle towards others and allow their spiritual poverty to condition their behaviour towards them as well as to God. This leads to them Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness: for what use is our confession and lamenting over our sin; our acknowledging of the truth about ourselves to God and others if we leave it there!!!!
Confession of Sin must lead to Hunger for Righteousness!
So here we have a move from the negative to the positive in the Beatitudes: a glimpse of the solution, a first flicker of freedom. Matthew 5:6 is probably one of the simplest and most easily understood definitions of the Good News about Jesus. Chasing worldly happiness is like the proverbial bar of soap. Chasing religious happiness: the quick fix, please pray for me…… Both our rightly elusive. Instead we need to hunger and thirst for righteousness: to be right with God, right like God, and exactly like Jesus in thought, word and deed. We need to ‘Mind the Gap’ there is between God and humanity, between God’s standards and human behaviour, between heaven and earth. This chasm can only be bridged by the Cross of Calvary but many of us are hungrier for human happiness than God’s righteousness! We need to learn to hunger for right thinking, for the mind of Jesus. We need to Thirst for God with a passionate all consuming desire. So only those who know they are poor in spirit, who mourn for their shortcomings, who are meek before others, will truly hunger and thirst for righteousness. And only they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
The first four beatitudes highlight the spiritual bankruptcy and overwhelming inadequacy felt by authentic Christians. They are Poor in Spirit, they mourn for this state, they are meek before others, and they are empty and need to be filled.
So now to the positive: the final four beatitudes are based on the first four. They are a direct consequence of the character that develops in men and women who see themselves honestly and who know the basis of their relationship with God. They know that actions stem from attitudes, and their behaviour from their thought life. So here this beatitude is not about acts of mercy it’s about being filled with mercy. This is what Christians need to be filled with: mercy, purity of heart, peace…and such saints because they are so counter cultural to the hostile world we live in will be persecuted! Repentance is not just about stopping but about starting again. Some of us stop at no 4 beatitude: we know God is Holy, we know His standards, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness but we end up judgemental not merciful. Mercy (Greek: Eleos) deals with what we see of the pain, misery and distress caused by sin and extends relief, cures, heals and helps.. Grace (Greek: Charis) deals with the sin and guilt itself offers pardon, cleanses and reinstates. Grace to linked to people in their sin, Mercy is associated with people in their suffering. Grace is the Word of God’s response to Human Sin as a whole; Mercy is the Word for the way He deals with the suffering from that sin. Such merciful saints will be shown mercy themselves…
Blessed are the Pure in Heart for they will see God.
The Poor in Spirit know they’re nothing in comparison to God and mourn for their failings. They mourn for the worst in themselves and become meek before others, allowing others to examine them too. The Meek are not content with their failings and go onto hunger and thirst for righteousness. Some of those who have experienced God’s grace – who have received His Kingdom, His Comfort, His Earth and His Filling – become merciful to others. And some who are full of His Mercy go on to become Pure in Heart. To be Pure in Heart is to be Pure in Character rather than in conduct: not purity of intellect, or doctrine, or mind. It’s a Heart that has been washed down, scrubbed clean, hovered up, disinfected, fumigated, ventilated, shampooed, deodorised, utterly immaculate: Spotless at the centre of Being. A Heart without anything hidden, life without any secrets. To be Pure in Heart is to be like Jesus: and such saints can treasure the promise: they will see God!
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Each attitude is harder than the one before!! The 6th Attitude seems unsurpassable but No 7 beats it! Peacemakers will called children of God (not clients, spectators, guests, citizens, visitors, saints, servants, friends, or disciples). Put simply: we are adopted into God’s Family: new parents, brothers, sisters, a new name, identity and relationship.
Some say that Church must be powerful, successful, influential, and large. Jesus did not commend warriors, rulers, and powerful or strong leaders. Authentic Christians will be filled with mercy, purity and peacemaking. Indeed, the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is a lengthy description of practical peacemaking. Peacemaking is a divine work! Peace between God and ourselves, and peace between others and ourselves. Jesus is the supreme peacemaker: our Prince of peace.
Finally: Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. This perhaps is the biggest surprise of all but in fact it’s the inevitable result of the other seven beatitudes! It describes a true Christian, a genuine follower of Jesus. Now Society won’t buy into Christianity based in the Attitudes –mourning, meekness, mercy, purity, etc. They are not attractive! Persecution less so!
But remember: Jesus never sweet talks anyone into following Him. It’s a choice: do we want to suffer for being like Jesus or do we want a pale religious reflection that God says is neither hot nor cold? Authentic Christianity has always been deeply repugnant to ordinary people. Real followers will always be persecuted……and receive their reward: the Kingdom of Heaven.
Pastor David
January 4th 2015.