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Beatitudes, Part 1

Matthew 5:1-3

February 13, 2005

1. The forty days of Lent are the Church’s attempt to replicate the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism. The devil tempted him with visions of power. But Jesus’ focus was on the question "How can I be what God wants me to be? How can I do what God wants me to do?" By the end of those forty days, he knew exactly who he was, and what he was to do. That was his focus.

2. OUR focus during these Forty Days will be on The Beatitudes as Matthew recorded them, and by the time Lent is over, we will have a better idea about how we can be what Jesus wants us to be. The Beatitudes in Matthew are a bit different from the ones recorded in Luke’s gospel. These words in Matthew take place up on a mountain. They are part of the much larger section we’ve dubbed "The Sermon on the Mount." Luke, however, says Jesus came down from the mountain onto a plain. Wherever he was when he said it, the intention is clear: He wanted to offer words of comfort to his disciples.

3. "Beatitude" is an English way of say the Latin word "beatitudo" which means "a state of ultimate bliss." In the Latin translation of the Bible, "beatitudo" is the first word in each of verses 3-11 in Matthew’s 5^th chapter. Since we western Christians trace our history through the Roman Church, which used the Latin Bible, we call them "The Beatitudes." If we were part of the Greek Orthodox Church, we might call them "The Makariois.,"

4. So first a word about this first word. "Makarioi" is the first word of Matthew 5:3-11 in the Greek Bible, and it means the same thing. Blissful, happy. Our Greek professor made us all memorize "The Makariois," and every day we would go into class and intone "Makarioi oi ptochoi to pneumati." Not much bliss in that! There is a blissful little island off the coast of Greece. The Greeks called it "n makaria," "The Happy Isle". It got this nickname because its landscape was so beautiful and its soil so rich and fertile that anyone living there would be totally happy and would never want to leave. Can you imagine living in a paradise like that? Mmmmm. That would be nice! That feeling might be akin to our winning the lottery, or acing a test, or landing the "perfect job." Very nice, but external, and could be taken away at a moments notice. Certainly not the happiness and feeling of being blessed that Jesus intended!

5. Most English translations say "blessed;’ some say "happy" or "how happy;" The Living Bible (a paraphrase) says "fortunate" (which is totally wrong!). Only one translation, William Barclay’s, uses the Latin flavor and says "O the bliss." This blissful, happy, blessed state was not a new one for the people who listened to Jesus that day. Even the Psalmist, hundreds of years earlier, wrote "O the bliss/the happiness of those who do not take the advice of the wicked" (Psalm 1:1). And that is the feeling Jesus wants to impart to his disciples. He wants them to have a joy that is self-contained, serene, untouchable, completely separated from the changes and the chances of life. This happiness comes from within. It seeks us through pain and sorrow and loss and grief. Blessed, blissful, happy. It’s the bliss Barbara Wilson knows. She lies in her hospital bed hour after hour, day after day, year after year. Yet her smile beams and her eyes shine when you look at her; and on those rare occasions when someone lifts her into her specially-fitted wheel chair to take her our for a spin, and she sees someone who looks to her the way she looks to us [disabled], her only comment is "I’m so lucky." She is oblivious to her condition. Her bliss springs from deep inside her soul; not from the disease that has twisted her body or the less-than-ideal conditions where she lives. Blessed; blissful; happy. That’s the first word.

6. Next a word about the next word. This "next word" is actually two words, the first of which is "poverty." In those days, being poverty-stricken was like digging a hole. The first layer is simply being poor; having neither money nor property to sell to get money. Dig a little deeper and you reach the second layer--having no influence or power or assistance or prestige. Stands to reason, doesn’t it? "Money talks." "The one who pays the piper names the tune." Without money or power or prestige, its an easy dig through the third layer, being downtrodden and oppressed, and in no time at all you’re at the bottom–destitute. At the bottom of the hole, you must rely totally on God. Now, the First Beatitude as Luke recorded it stops right there. "Blessed are you who are destitute." Period. But Matthew’s record adds the second word, "spiritually." "Blissful are those who are spiritually destitute." It is variously translated "Blessed are the poor in spirit" or "How fortunate are the spiritually poor" or "Blessed are the humble" or "How happy are those who know their need for God." Eugene Peterson in The Message says it this way: "You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope."

7. And lastly, the last word. What can these people expect, those who are at the end of their rope, the spiritually destitute? They can expect to be astonished. Even though nobody cares one whit about them, they matter to God! Theirs is the "kingdom of heaven," Jesus said. When people realize they totally lack the resources to deal with all that life throws at them, and finally trust in God to give them what they need, then they know the bliss of this beatitude. They know, at long last, that they cannot rely on their own self-sufficiency to make them happy.

8. I had a glimpse of what this Beatitude meant last week. I went from self-sufficient to totally dependent within one short week. A week ago Friday I was in Dallas attending a conference. We met at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, a huge congregation in an equally huge building. The staff was juggling about five "activity balls" at one time, which meant they were stretched a bit thin. Come lunch time, there were two people dishing up the plates behind the counter, trying to keep up with the crowd. I got my lunch, took it to the table and returned to get a drink. But the big water urn was empty. The servers were up to their elbows in Spaghetti and salad. So I, being a "take charge" kind of girl, walked into the kitchen like I knew what I was doing, picked up a big steel pot and filled it with water. As I poured the water into the huge urn, someone commented, "My, you certainly are self-sufficient." I beamed, so pleased that somebody had noticed how capable I am. But last Thursday my pleasure at being so self-sufficient disappeared altogether when I returned to my office after greeting the parents and teachers in Mother’s Day Out. Somehow, some way, I had locked myself out of my office. All three doors into my office were locked. I got a knife and an ice pick from the kitchen, the only "tools" I could find. No way to jimmy them open. I couldn’t leave the building–my car keys were locked in my office. I didn’t want to call anybody and admit how totally helpless I was. And besides that, everyone who had a key was otherwise occupied, and it would be a big inconvenience for them to have to come unlock the office door. At that moment I understood the condition described in this beatitude. Hopelessly dependent. But the "bliss of the kingdom of heaven" was near, happiness was just around the corner, and an angel by the name of Kathy Call came floating down the hall. . . with office key in hand, and unlocked the door. Rarely have I been more glad to see anybody! Safely back in my office, I was once again in that happy state, but not because of my own self-sufficiency.

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