January 25, 2015: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-20

¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. ² He taught them, saying:

³ “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

⁴ “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.

⁵ “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.

⁷ “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.

⁹ “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.

¹⁰ “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

¹¹ “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. ¹² Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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It’s possible that you’ve run into someone like me while you are shopping.  With the help of headphones and an iPhone I am accompanied by music or a good podcast when I venture out into the world. Of course I don’t do this if I’m with my wife, kids or other companion, but if I’m by myself I like shopping with my own personal soundtrack blaring in my ears.  Normally this doesn’t cause many funny looks, but if I’m listening to an especially awesome song where the beat, or the chorus, or the lyrics particularly grab me, I’ve been known to sing along....rather loudly. 

The people around me can’t hear the song that’s inspired my impromptu jam session.  All they get are my words, my voice and my wacky behavior that doesn’t fit the situation.  I am literally marching to the beat of a different drummer.  It goes without saying that a situation like this can cause some embarrassment and surprised expressions from my fellow shoppers.  

I bring all of this up today because the Beatitudes can have this effect on an audience.  If the proper technology had been available in first century Galilee, you could be excused for wondering if Jesus was wearing headphones with a rather strange song playing in his ears as he spoke. Jesus’ words seem to be in stark contradiction with our experience of life around the globe and this starts with the first words out of his mouth. "Happy are WHO?!?!?"

The word makarios that Jesus uses to describe these nine different classifications of people is often translated at “blessed” or “happy.”  It can also mean “fortunate,” “favored” or “well off.”  That’s all fine and good, but it’s hard to imagine the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, etc. as being particularly happy or blessed.  We know what happens to people like this in our big, tough world.  They get pushed around, oppressed or ignored.  As one character in the Monty Python film Life of Brian, “Blessed are the meek! Oh that’s nice, isn’t it? I’m glad they’re getting something because they have a hell of a time…”

"Happy are WHO?!?!?"

It seems like a rather unlikely group of candidates for blessedness or happiness…unless you are privy to the underlying music that has this message rocking.  If you want to hear those beats, you'll have to travel back a couple of chapters in Matthew's Gospel.  John the Baptist has already said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” before his arrest (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus has taken up the same message a chapter later (Matthew 4:17).   

John Dominic Crossan has described the kingdom of Heaven (or the “kingdom of God” depending on the particular Gospel) as “Extreme Home Makeover: Cosmic Edition.” Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock, in their book The People’s New Testament Commentary say, “The ‘kingdom of God’ refers to God’s ruling, God’s assertion of kingly power over creation. In the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done” (Matt. 6:10) is two ways of saying the same thing.”

This is the kingdom and, what is more, John and Jesus both proclaim that it is near.   Things are beginning to change and they will look different when it arrives fully. In the meantime, people who connect themselves with the kingdom will look as strange as those who sing to a song only they can hear on their headphones.

With this in mind there are two different ways to look at the Beatitudes. They can either be seen as:

1)     Standards of good behavior that line up with “kingdom values,” (for instance, the ‘poor in spirit’ are not proud and recognize their need of God.)

OR…

2)     They can be seen as a promise of coming goodness that will arrive with the kingdom that is near.  This goodness for those who have found little good here in this life, but whose fortunes are about to change.

In either case, the coming kingdom is the key to these Beatitudes.

The first view is quite common and you can find many different descriptions out there. I’m going to say more about the second view, first introduced to me by my New Testament Professor Mark Allan Powell, during a lecture on the Sermon on the Mount. 

According to this second view the first four “blessings” (hopeless, grieving, humble, those hungering and thirsting for righteousness), are for people who have been pushed around and oppressed by the world.  The second four (merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, those who are harassed for righteousness sake) are for the people who help the first group and, consequently, find themselves oppressed in the same way. Powell has said that the ‘powers that be’ have a way of punishing those who try to help the oppressed and history has shown this to be the case.  The ninth and final “blessing” speaks directly at Jesus’ followers. Notice that this is not an “if” it’s a “when.” 

The blessing and happiness that these groups receive is possible because the kingdom is near.  Without that, these seem like some very silly statements indeed. With our awareness of God’s coming kingdom, and the picture of the character of God that Jesus shows us, these Beatitudes become wonderful news for the down-and-out and those who help them.

As followers of Jesus today, we are called to live our lives oriented around this good news.  By doing so we will certainly seem out of step with the powers that be.  We’ll look even stranger, even more embarrassing, than a person singing along to a song no one else can here, but we will be connected with and inspired by the kingdom.  Our actions, in line with something many around us have not experienced, will be the light shining before others (see verse 16) that helps the world experience our father in heaven.