Matthew 5:1-12 (New International Version)
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Everyone wants to be happy.
To find happiness, we will try anything and everything.
Listen to all the commercials that offer us a first installment of happiness.
We eat it up. We’re susceptible to all sorts of claims.
The relentless pursuit of happiness must be good for the economy.
However, the many things we do to find happiness rarely work out as we had hoped.
This has been called “the paradox of happiness.”
The more we work at it, the more elusive it is.
Long ago, when Jesus walked this earth, he managed to gather some followers.
They weren’t much to look at, but that little band was better than nothing.
They have a lot to learn, so Jesus makes an effort to teach his disciples.
There is a lot to cover because they are just getting started. It’s kindergarten!
He begins by talking to them about the very thing that concerns us, happiness.
The Greek philosophers and moral teachers had a lot to say about how to be happy, how to have a good life.
The Romans built on that, but they had their own ideas about happiness.
Jesus, a Jew shaped by Scripture, speaks of happiness as the life that is blessed by God.
This is the truly good life.
I said that the group of people drawn to Jesus wasn’t much to look at.
He is teaching those who have done nothing to distinguish themselves.
All they’ve done is attach themselves to Jesus.
They aren’t better than others are, not at all.
But he tells this unimpressive assembly, Congratulations!
You are, he says, blessed.
It’s not a promise for a better tomorrow if they just get their act together.
Rather it’s a matter-of-fact assessment about present reality.
A truly happy and blessed life now is what they have, according to Jesus.
Anyone can see that these are not the brightest and best.
They are empty-handed.
They are nobodies.
Spiritually, they’re still in kindergarten.
Jesus’ words are not what anyone expected.
We call this first installment of Jesus’ teaching the Beatitudes.
They’re blessings that Jesus bestows on this motley crew.
The Beatitudes are not a job description, a ladder to climb.
They are gospel.
This is especially clear in the first of the Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
This saying is congratulating those who are empty-handed!
What Jesus tells these entry-level students is unexpected.
Jesus’ teaching is different from the Greeks, and different from the Romans.
He is sharing unexpected good news.
The good news is that Jesus is introducing something new to the world.
He embodies a new way of life, a kingdom that, in him, has arrived.
The Beatitudes didn’t line up with what people were used to hearing in those days.
I wonder how Jesus’ beatitudes, his blessings, might line up or stand out today.
You see, our world has its own beatitudes.
We have a clear notion of the good life, a sense of what happiness entails.
We say, Blessed are the winners.
Blessed are the people with tons of money.
Blessed are the beautiful.
Blessed are the famous and the popular, the people that everyone admires.
Blessed are those who are confident, who have it all together.
If these are our beatitudes, our dominant values, if this is our sense of where happiness comes from and what it looks like, it appears that Jesus didn’t get the memo.
He’s either turning the world’s values upside down or nightside up!
In the Beatitudes, Jesus is telling us about himself and what is important to him.
He reaches out toward the people who don’t seem to be worth the effort.
When we join ourselves to him, we find ourselves in a different world.
It’s upside down, or if he knows what he’s talking about, nightside up!
If we continue to keep company with Jesus, we’ll become more and more like him.
Our lives will reflect the qualities that Jesus affirms and exemplifies.
The Beatitudes will, more and more, be the story of our lives.
For instance, we will find ourselves making peace, and showing unusual mercy to people who are are hurting.
So, though the Beatitudes aren’t entrance requirements that we must meet, they show us the way things are in the Kingdom that Jesus is inaugurating.
Here and now, we can live by a different set of values.
Given the way that the pursuit of happiness is working out, or not working out, I believe that the way of Jesus is worth a try.
