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Turn to Matthew 5. Let me ask a couple of questions.
First, who would you describe as being blessed?
When you look at them and you think, “They’re living the good life.”
Who is that?
Second, why would you consider them as being blessed?
What are the characteristics of this good life?
If you watch the advertisements on TV you might be tempted to believe that those who are blessed are made up of those who are wealthy.
They can buy whatever they want and go wherever they want.
Surely they are the ones living the good life.
Having lots of money may make some things easier, but it doesn’t guarantee a blessed life.
As much as money might be able to buy there are many things money can’t buy.
Money can’t buy a family that loves you or good friends willing to help you.
Money can pay for a doctor’s visit but it can’t buy you good health.
So what is a blessed life?
I was talking with a friend that has a daughter in northern Virginia.
Because she lives so far away he and his wife can’t just run over to her house and help her if she gets sick.
However, she has several friends at the church she attends who are willing to bring her food and run to the store for her when she’s not felt well.
I would say she is blessed to have friends like that.
With that thought in mind maybe we’d describe those who are blessed as those with:
•A loving family
•Supportive friends
•Good health
•A job they enjoy
•Enough money that they don’t have to worry about paying their bills
There may be some more qualities, but what I want to point out is that even these didn’t make the list that Jesus gives us in Matthew 5.
In the Beatitudes Jesus tells us the qualities of those who are truly blessed and it’s not the ones the world would be led to believe are blessed.
The word “beatitude” comes from the Latin word for bless.
Each of the eight beatitudes (nine depending on how you count them) begins with the word “blessed.”
Sometimes the word is translated as happy, but I think Jesus had something much deeper and richer in mind than merely being happy.
The word blessing, when referring to God, means to cause to prosper or to make happy.
I think of the Hebrew word “shalom.”
While it is often translated as “peace,” it means much more than that, just as being blessed means more than just being happy.
When someone greets you with shalom they’re wishing you peace, joy, and favor from God that brings a life of contentment.
That’s what I think about when I think of desiring God’s blessing.
It’s not wishing you a lot of money or a lot of stuff; it’s a wish for peace and contentment in life that only God can give.
But how do we achieve that?
Jesus describes those who are blessed in these verses.
As I mentioned, each of the Beatitudes begins with the word blessed.
Jesus gives us a trait that is considered blessed, and then he says what the blessed person will receive.
We’ll spend most of our time on the first part.
Many have pointed out a connection between the Beatitudes.
Most believe Jesus gave them in a specific order, that one follows another, and they all begin with the first beatitude – being poor in spirit.
I’ve heard two different word pictures that help to illustrate this idea.
The first is a monkey bar.
I don’t have any problem crossing monkey bars today (if you can find them on a playground), but when I was in elementary school it was almost impossible.
I would climb the short ladder and hold on to the first bar.
However, in order to reach the second bar I had to swing out.
If I grabbed the second bar I had to immediately let go of the first so that my momentum would carry me far enough out to reach the third bar.
If I failed to grab it or fell I had to start from the beginning.
I couldn’t begin where I’d left off.
The same is true with the beatitudes.
One leads to the other and when we fail (and we will all fail), we must go back to the beginning.
Another picture is that of a ladder.
In this picture we start at the top of the ladder.
In this case the ladder has eight steps so it’s about seven feet tall.
At the top of the ladder it’s a little precarious.
It doesn’t take much to knock you off and if you fall it won’t feel very good.
In this picture each of the beatitudes brings us closer to the ground and closer to stability and safety.
Let’s see what Jesus considers to be a blessed life.
1Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them.
He said: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:1-3)
Who are the poor in spirit?
The physically poor are those who don’t have a lot of money or resources.
But being poor is more than just not having a lot of stuff you can hold in your hand.
Being poor also means having a lack of options.
I didn’t have a lot of stuff when I was growing up, but I didn’t lack options.
There were times when there wasn’t much food, but I never missed a meal.
I may not have liked the cauliflower or Brussels sprouts my mother served, but there was always a meat and usually two vegetables.
If I didn’t eat it was my own fault.
We may not have had much but we always had choices, because if my mother hadn’t been able to put a meal on the table we could have gone over to my grandparents where we would have been fed.
We always had options.
Being poor is not just the lack of abundance; it’s the lack even of options.
There’s nothing left and there’s nothing that can be done about it.
Jesus says that it’s the poor who are blessed; more specifically it’s the spiritually poor.
They are the ones who will have peace and contentment because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Jesus told a story that illustrates this; it’s the story of two men who went to pray: a Pharisee and a tax collector.
The Pharisees were the teachers of God’s word.
They deservedly receive a bad reputation today, but back in the day they were the ones to whom the people looked to explain the scriptures.
They were the religious heroes who were calling people to return to their faith in God.
The tax collectors on the other hand, were people who obviously didn’t care about God, his word, or his people because they were siding with the Romans against the Jews.
In this story Jesus says these two men went to the temple to pray.
Once at the temple the Pharisee stood up and prayed:
11bGod, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.
12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
(Luke 18:11b-12)
The Pharisee is telling God about all the good things he’s done.
He’s boasting about his spiritual wealth.
Have you ever done that?
Have you ever thought that?
Have you ever boasted about how good you are?
At least I’m not as bad as my neighbor.
You should just see some of the things he does.
He’s a hopeless cause.
In contrast, the tax collector stood back in the shadows keeping his head bowed afraid to even look up toward heaven because he understood his spiritual poverty.
He’d broken God’s laws and had no excuse.
There was nothing he could point to in his life to commend himself before God so he prayed:
13bGod, have mercy on me, a sinner.
(Luke 18:13b)
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