Sunday's Sermon: The Beatitudes

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Matthew 5:1-12

Jesus saw the crowds, he sat down, and then he began to speak and taught them: Most English Bibles use “blessed,” at the start of each verse and some contemporary translations use “happy.”  Yet neither is good enough.  It doesn’t capture what the original Greek is saying.  The Greek is closer to “being on track,” or “going in the right direction.” Being blessed means you aren’t lost—you’re on the path God intends you to be on. Being blessed means you’re heading in the right direction and sharing in the life of God.  And, in Greek, sin means being off-track, missing the mark.

If we’re poor in spirit, we’re not lost. We’re on track and following Jesus when we embrace our utter dependence on God—meaning we are aware that we can’t save ourselves, we stand in need of God’s help and mercy always, and we must trust God rather than fear, which keeps us from great acts of love.

If we mourn, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when we when we let our hearts break open because we loved intimately and intensely in this life, because we sorrow with those who sorrow, and because we lament our sin and the sin of the world.

If we are meek, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when we live God’s will rather than our own with patience, humility, and gentleness, when we listen and obey God’s voice with strength.

If we’re famished for righteousness we’re not lost. We’re on track and following Jesus when we live in right relationship with God and all others, living a moral and faithful and blameless life, when we see and respond to the real world with all of its suffering and be a protector of the defenseless, the diminished, and the destitute.

If we’re merciful, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when we forgive, when we show God’s mercy to others with tenderness, kindness, graciousness, and self-giving love.

If we’re pure in heart, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when our lives are God-centered, completely awake and attentive to God’s presence within our heart, within our world, and within Creation, when our heart is undivided and not distracted or dissipated.

If we’re peacemakers, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when we live out and work toward his forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation in our daily lives and world—instead of avoiding, condemning, and hating others; when we pray for our enemies and when we approach all as brothers and sisters, practicing hospitality by seeing and listening to them.

If we’re persecuted, we’re not lost.  We’re on track and following Jesus when we carry our cross, when we are faithful to him even when it costs us much or everything.
Are you on the right track and following Jesus?  Are you blessed?
What hindsight taught me on Iona was that I needed a compass – a means of knowing if we were on track as we trudged through bogs and barbed wire, darkness and doubt. 

That is the gift of the Beatitudes. Jesus knows we won’t always be on the mountain top where everything is clear and the walk of faith before us seems easy or straightforward. Jesus knows we’ll need to find our way when nothing else seems certain, when we’re tempted to give in or give up.  Jesus gives us the way, the way he lived, so that we may be in the kingdom of God, we may share life with God, here and now and eternally.  While the walk of faith may remain challenging, we have the assurance we’re on the right track, if only we walk according to his way.  


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