WHO IS BLESSED?

Sermon Summary (1/29/17), “Who is Blessed?”  Matthew 5:1-12

This week, give or take a week, I celebrated 30 years in Lay Speaking.  The class, in the winter of 1987, was one of my most spiritual experiences and changed my life.  During the course, the director gave a talk on Phil 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  Seeking the mind of Christ.  We do that in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s compilation of the highest teachings of Jesus.

He begins by telling us who God favors: “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn… Blessed are the meek.”  We’re talking about the real destitute here, those who are continually in tears, the spineless who are walked on by society, what Simon and Garfunkel called the “sat upon, spat upon, ratted upon.”  Are they blessed because they are “sat upon, spat upon, ratted upon”?  No, they are not blessed by anything they do.  They are blessed by the divine activity of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God breaking through in the person of Jesus Christ.

In both Matthew (the sat upon, etc.) and Luke (4:18) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,”  Jesus begins his ministry by declaring who God favors.  I can surmise that God is on their side because he knows we are not.  At least it is not in our nature until we take on the mind of Christ. 

The blessings of the marginalized are not because they are marginalized, it is grace.  They can do nothing to earn their blessings and neither can we.  It is Jesus’ intention to bring us all into the Kingdom of God, to have the mind of Christ, to live by the rules of the Kingdom, and that’s what he teaches in the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount. 

A preview of his teachings: It is not just adherence to the Law, our overt behavior that matters, it is our hearts that matter.  We are to be salt and light. We are not to get angry with our brothers and sisters; we are not to treat them as objects; we are to love our neighbor, pray for those who persecute us; focus on God; live by the Golden Rule.

We are to focus on life in the kingdom.  We are not called to be poor, unless, unless our wealth keeps us from focusing on the kingdom. Jesus told the rich, young ruler to sell all he had.  They were his focus.  We are to pure in heart.  Not just morally pure, but singular focused on the kingdom.  We are to seek the mind of Christ.  We find that by living in the kingdom.  Amen.