Better Attitudes for Living

Introduction

A preamble is the introductory statement that explains the underlying philosophy of the whole.

As Americans, the preamble that is of greatest importance to us is the preamble to our nation’s constitution.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Having read, or memorized, the preamble, we have a sense of what is coming and why.

If you’ve been around here for awhile, you may have heard me refer to Jesus’ Manifesto, more commonly called the Sermon of the mount.

Dictionary.com defines manifesto as a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization.

The Sermon on the Mount fits the definition of a manifesto, which is why I call it that. I think it gives a greater, more appropriate weight, to these words. In a very real sense, Jesus provides the baseline for what it means to be His follower.

In this context then, the section that we call the beatitudes form the preamble to Jesus’ Manifesto.

Each of the Beatitudes contain 3 elements:

A declaration of blessing

An attitude to develop

The blessing we receive

But what, really is a beatitude? It’s certainly not a word we use regularly.

Dictionaries aren’t helpful, they just point you right back to this text

The English word beatitude comes from the Latin word beatus meaning happy or blessed

The word translated blessed in these verses comes from the Greek word makarios which carries the idea of being enlarged, thus denoting happiness or blessing

So what is a beatitude? Here is my definition: Better attitudes for living a better life…which you could shorten down to better attitudes for living.

Transition

Better attitudes for living a better life sounds nice, but these particular attitudes are likely to surprise. Jesus was, after all, declaring and describing a different way of life.

Illumination

Matthew 5:1–12 NKJV

1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

As tempting as it would be to jump into all of these at once, I want to focus this morning on the two verses that precede the actual beatitudes.

Matthew 5:1–2 NKJV

1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

They provide us with A Description of Our Identity

This Manifesto was not given to everyone

Jesus saw the multitudes

He went up on a mountain, apart

His disciples came to Him

Since He was addressing His followers, He described what it meant and looked like to be His follower. He described the identity that He wanted to see in His followers.

This is counter-cultural to the point of incendiary in our day. But it does not change the fact that WE are HIS followers, not the other way around. He has the right to describe and define our identity. If we don’t like that or accept that, we have the right to walk away.

They provide us with A Depiction of Our Agency

We sometimes buy into the idea that we are who we are and we don’t have the ability to change that. That idea is a lie and leads to a death-spiral of defeat and despair. How do I know it is a lie? Because Jesus was listing attitudes that He wanted to see in His followers. Those attitudes ran counter to their norms just as surely as they run counter to our norms.

If we cannot change, Jesus would not tell us we should. We have the ability—the agency—to implement positive changes in our lives. We can adopt better attitudes that lead to better living!

A Demonstration of Our Opportunity

Opportunity is not the first thought we may have. But if we think about it, adopting attitudes that make us different from the world around us, gives us the opportunity to showcase how those attitudes lead to a better life.

Conclusion

Better attitudes for living a better life. It has an inherent appeal. But it also has an inherent flaw: us. When we start digging into the better attitudes, we may find that they rub us the wrong way and we would rather not adopt them. When that happens, the better life that we could have is diminished accordingly, as it the impact that life could have. Beatitudes provide us with

A description of our identity

A depiction of our agency

A demonstration of our opportunity