SERMON: "Blessed to Bless"

"Blessed to Bless"
Matthew 5:1-12

“Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, . . .”

That’s how Matthew introduces the Sermon on the Mount in the 5th chapter of his book. And by doing so he was attempting to share with his readers some significant things about the meaning of this time in Jesus’ life.

First, Matthew’s references to Jesus departing from the crowd and the disciples going to him after he sat down are signals that what Jesus was going to share was for the ears of the faithful few - for the ears of his hand-picked associates. These words weren’t meant for those still trying to decide if they were on board or not.  They weren’t meant for those who were curious, wondering, searching. They weren’t meant for those simply seeking to be healed. They were meant for those who had already signed on - those who had committed to following him. They were meant for those he was going to entrust with the responsibility of carrying on his work. It was for those who had already said “yes” to his invitation to be his followers.
 
Some have referred to the Sermon on the Mount as a sort of “ordination address” to the inside crew - a challenging word about what their ministry would be like. In the Sermon we have the essence, an outline if you will, of all that Jesus ever taught. Jesus was sharing with his closest admirers, his friends, what he thought were the really important lifestyle choices. Some have labeled this group of sayings by Jesus “a mini-discipleship manual” - a blueprint about how he expected those who followed him to live their lives.

Now, it’s very unlikely, most Bible scholars believe, that the words we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount were actually delivered by Jesus during one sermon on a mountain. They point out it’s length - there’s just too much in it - too many different ideas that don’t just logically connect with one another for them to have been presented during a one-time inspirational message. They also note that the author of Luke recorded many of the same teachings in his work but that they are scattered throughout his way of telling the story of Jesus’ life. What seems to be the case then is simply that Matthew thought it was important for the audience he was writing to to have it all laid out in one place, that what he thought was necessary was a teaching manual. The point still being that what we have here is a summary of the important things Jesus said and taught. (1)

Another thing the way Matthew chose to introduce these sayings reveals is that what Jesus was going to share was going to be very important. The reference to the disciples coming to him after he sat down is what clues us in on Matthew’s intent. When rabbis, Jewish teachers, in Matthew’s day wanted to make a point, wanted their followers to understand that what they were saying was a central point, an important insight, a significant interpretation, an original thought of the rabbi’s, they sat down. When they were reading from the scriptures or providing general information about what was being studied, they would stroll around or stand. When Matthew referenced that Jesus sat down, he did so in order to key his readers into his belief that what Jesus was now going to say were his official teachings - the true word - words to live by and repeat - words he expected his followers to share with others. Matthew was setting the stage for us to understand that what we read and hear here are the words Jesus perhaps repeatedly shared with his inner circle and they are therefore vitally important for any of us in our day who are on the journey of faith and desirous of being his followers.

Then Matthew wrote: “And he began to teach them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’” And then six more traits that they didn't probably think then and we assuredly don't think now of as traits of a blessed people (radically and unique, to be sure): “Blessed are the meek . . . Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, . . . Blessed are the merciful, . . . Blessed are the pure in heart, . . . Blessed are the peacemakers, . . . Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, . . .”

We call them “The Beatitudes” - eight powerfully graphic, image producing short sayings that introduces the whole of Jesus’ message to his followers in that generation and ours. We’ve become so used to reading and hearing them that they at times feel almost comforting to us. It’s as if they birth in our minds and hearts images of flowers and birds and love and everyone getting along and peace and all that’s nice when it happens.

But, when we get over the beautiful and poetic sound of them being read, we are left with feelings of discomfort because we know they aren’t our reality and that they suggest things that aren’t the way the world understands blessedness. The truth of the matter is, they probably weren’t said or written to make us feel comfortable. They certainly, probably, weren’t for the disciples prior to the resurrection. But, I’ll come back to that in a few minutes. First, let me note something about the word “blessed.”  

As most of you are probably already aware, a number of translators replace the word “blessed” with the word “happy.” Their list reads: “Happy are the poor in spirit . . . Happy are those who mourn . . . Happy are the meek . . .”, etc. What they are correctly trying to say is that this blessedness Jesus is referencing is something more than what our English word “blessed” conveys. Their point is that the Greek word attempting to be translated involves a special quality of joy - something with more of a note of exclamation - something more like: “Oh, how wonderful it is . . . O the bliss of it.” The Beatitudes are not simply these wonderfully idealistic, sentimental wishes, but rather they are these exclamations of a present reality far beyond, far different, than what most experience.

Now, my sense is that what makes the Beatitudes so hard to match up with our reality is that most of us, if not all of us, do not experience the kind of blessedness, the kind of happiness, Jesus was talking about here because we have rather skewed understandings about the true nature of happiness. The preacher in another sermon on the Beatitudes wrote: “. . . we think happiness deals with our outer circumstances. We think that the truly happy man is the one who has achieved outer success. Thus our beatitudes read: 1) Blessed is the man who makes a fortune. 2) Blessed is he who earns six figures. 3) Happy is the man who has a palace in the city and a summer home in the mountains. 4) Blessed is he who has won the applause of his peers. 5) Blessed is the woman who is recognized as a darling of society.”

“But on this special day Jesus shared with his disciples and, indeed, with all of history, that that concept of happiness is a foundation built on sand. Happiness is not at all based upon what we have. True happiness is based upon who we are. Happiness is not based upon the kind of house that we live in; it depends on the kind of people who live in the house. It is not the kind of clothes that we wear, but the person who wears the clothes.” (2)

The reason Jesus shared these ideas with his disciples and not with the crowd is that it’s necessary for persons to know, to accept, Jesus Christ as savior of their lives before it’s possible for them to know him, to accept him as their teacher.  Until we have a relationship with Jesus the Beatitudes seem ridiculous - out of touch with reality. The Beatitudes are strange and complex, they make us uncomfortable, until we recognize that Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection were for us and that light bulb turns on inside us that allows us to find comfort in being uncomfortable, that allows us to feel blessed when we’re being made fun of, that allows us to feel rich when we’re poor spiritually because of being poor emotionally, financially or physically.

As I noted earlier, the Beatitudes were not words necessarily understood, perceived to be true, by the disciples when they heard them on the mountain that day. They turned the social norms of that day upside down just as they do the norms in our own day. It was, is, indeed a different kingdom Jesus was describing - a kingdom just the opposite of the one perceived through the eyes of the society we live in as a whole. It’s a tough way to view things - it’s contrary to what is going on all around us. It’s only possible once Jesus Christ has taken over the reigns of our lives - once Jesus Christ gets inside us and gets to meddling, gets to massaging our hearts and minds and eyes and ears.

Now, get this - we are not only blessed in the midst of being poor in spirit - in the midst of our mourning - in the midst of our being meek - in the midst of our hungering and thirsting for righteousness - in the midst of our showing mercy - in the midst of our being pure in our hearts - in the midst of our making peace - in the midst of our being persecuted because of our being righteous; we are not only blessed while we are experiencing, guilty of doing those things - but, again, get this, we are blessed to bless. We are blessed with the things mentioned in Jesus’ sermons when we mourn, are poor, suffer, make peace, are persecuted, so that others might take note of the fact that the evil that befalls us does not trip us up, does not win, but rather that we are able to endure, to overcome, to make something good out of the difficult circumstances that come our way - that we are able with God’s help to transform tragedies into triumphs - that we are able to sense ourselves a part of the kingdom of heaven despite our poverty of body, mind or spirit - that we are able to sense ourselves comforted despite our mourning - that we are able to sense ourselves inheritors of the earth because of our meekness - that we are able to sense ourselves filled because of our hungering and thirsting after righteousness - that we are able to sense ourselves being shown mercy because of our providing mercy - that we are able to sense ourselves able to see God because of the purity of our hearts - that we are able to sense ourselves as children of God because of our commitment to making peace - that we are able to sense ourselves righteous because we are able to stand up to the persecutions and mocking and teasing that accompanies the causes we feel we have to take up as a result of our claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. We are blessed to bless - to be a blessing - as a result of what happens to us, what God does with our obedience and the trials that come our way as a result. The world needs our witness, friends.



1   William Barclay, The Daily Bible Studies: the Gospel of Matthew.
2   Brett Blair, “The True Nature of Happiness”, e-sermons.