Beatitudes

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled The Beatitudes’ M’s, and my focus is on our Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12) Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

I am planning a trip to Poland in 2024, and have started again studying the Polish language, which is terribly difficult. Like all languages, even the alphabet differs from ours. There is no Q, V or X, unless it is a foreign word, such as X-ray. Now, there is a history of every language, and that brings me to the letter M.

Has anyone told you the history of the letter M? It all started with the Egyptians, who used it as a picture sign of water in their hieroglyphics. Through different peoples and languages in the Middle East, the letter took on different forms, until the Greeks got ahold of it. They gave it a symmetrical, balanced form, and named it mu. The Romans took the sign without change into Latin. From Latin the capital letter M came unchanged into English.

I open this sermon with the letter M because in our Gospel for today, M’s are abundant. The last verse of chapter four tells us that multitudes followed Jesus. The setting for the Sermon is a mountain. He taught his disciples when he opened his mouth. He proclaimed blessed those who mourn, the meek and the merciful. Allow me then to first focus on that mountain setting; then on those who are blessed; and finally, its meaning for us today.

First, the mountain. Chapter four tells us that Jesus spent time in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. After that, he heard that John had been arrested, so he withdrew to Galilee, where he began to preach and call his first disciples (Peter, Andrew, James and John). He began to preach in the synagogues, proclaim the kingdom of God, and heal people in the bonds of sickness, seizures and demons. It is at this point that people start to follow him.

Chapter five tells us that Jesus saw the crowds, went up the mountain and sat down. What are we to think of this? Modern readers may gloss over this sentence. Christians may see Moses in it, but then miss Matthew’s point. Jesus does not appear simply as a new Moses. Jesus is the God who once spoke to Moses and to his people. The Sermon on the Mount is the message which God promised to kings and prophets and yet hidden from them is now revealed to the apostles (3:17).^[1] God teaches us (disciples) from the mountain.

The story continues. By telling us that after he sat down, his disciples came to him or gathered around him, Matthew makes an impressive and deliberate formal distinction between the crowds and Jesus’ disciples. Imagine that on this mountain, Jesus’ disciples are close to him, and the crowds are further down the slope. It is like observing a conversation between a great teacher and his students in a large auditorium or stadium. The students or disciples are closer and can engage in a dialogue with the teacher. We are sitting in the peanut gallery and cannot engage in that dialogue. Yet that does not mean that the teaching is not for us. The lesson is also meant for us, not only for the students. Because the crowd is gathered on the mountain with Jesus, his teaching is also meant for them.

The crowds hear Christ’s words and understand his claim to authority. They are astonished that he taught with such authority, but that does not mean that the crowd accepted his claim. It meant that the crowd only recognized that Jesus was convinced that he had authority.^[2] The disciples did believe, and after the Sermon, some new disciples emerged from the crowd (8:18-22). Now, before I move onto what Jesus taught, keep in mind that verse two is the beginning of Jesus’ teaching, and verse one of chapter 26 is when he finished his teaching, making the entire Gospel of Matthew Christianity’s first catechism.

In this opening section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke the word ‘blessed’ nine times. The definition of beatitude means the state of utmost bliss or happiness. The Greek word, Makários, is actually a name meaning happy, fortunate or blessed. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said that children are said to be happy because they are full of hope. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (8:24-25).

Happiness is the last end of human life. We do not possess this end already, but we hope to possess it. We hope to obtain happiness as we move towards it. Our movement implies action, and we need to be moved by the Holy Spirit who helps us obey and follow Christ.^[3] So, when you hear the word ‘blessed’, think happiness and hope.

Today, I am only going to cover a few of the Beatitudes. Since my sermon is entitled Beatitudes’ M’s, I chose to cover only mourn, meek and merciful. Normally, we do not think that people who are mournful, meek or merciful are happy, and the Beatitudes strike many people as odd. What then did Jesus mean that these people are blessed?

Let’s start with mourning. Here, it does not mean people who have suffered a loss, but rather those who recognize and acknowledge the presence of sin and evil in their own lives, in the church and in the world around them. The disciples were called to know, even when Jesus was in their midst, that they should expect the presence of evil and sin.

Martin Luther once wrote that as a Christian, “you will soon find out what it means to mourn and be sorrowful. … You will be hindered and hemmed in on every side, so that you will suffer enough to make your heart sad.”^[4] In Luke, we read how Jesus he entered the synagogue in Nazareth on the sabbath and read a passage from Isaiah (Luke 4:16-19). Following that quote, Isaiah’s words continue to tell us that through the Suffering Servant, God would grant to those who mourn a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, and the oil of gladness instead of mourning (Isa 61:2-3). We read in Corinthians of Paul’s mourning, “I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced” (2 Cor 12:21). It is, therefore, important to read v. 4 as Matthew and the other Evangelists intended, that is, they did not shy away from stating that in the present, people are mourning because of the existence of sin and evil, but in the future, they will be comforted by God. So, if you know that God will indeed keep his promise and comfort you, you can and should mourn that the presence of evil in your life is real, and that our hope lies only within the Risen Christ.

Let’s move on to meek. When you hear the word meek, you probably think of someone who is docile, mild or submissive. You may recall that student in your class who did not fight back when bullied or harassed, or that elderly person who shies away from boisterous neighbors. Like the first Beatitude, “poor in spirit,” the term meek or lowly does not refer to an activity or an attitude, but to a condition or status. Jesus used the term to refer to himself as lowly and gentle (11:29), and Matthew citied Isaiah’s passage when he wrote of Jesus’ entry on a donkey into Jerusalem, which reminds us that Jesus was gentle and lowly (21:5).

The Greek sense of meek is one who is in need of deliverance, and often it is contrasted with those who are wicked. We read throughout the Psalms that God’s people are in need of deliverance.^[5] We read of David’s meekness in Psalm 132:1, “Be mindful, O Lord, of David and his great meekness.” Psalm 37 encourages God’s people not to be afraid because other people enjoy the power and prosperity of evildoers. “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace” (10-11).

The point here is that the meek are people who are unable to help themselves because they suffer from the oppression of evildoers or Satan. The salvation or deliverance promised and fulfilled by Jesus is not some disembodied existence of the soul (or pie in the sky when you die), but a hope that is creational and eschatological. “We see our own weaknesses, the product of human failings. … Our rivals have the same weaknesses.”^[6] In other words, God will make all things new for there will be a Judgement Day.^[7] With that light on the horizon, the lowly are already saved, already blessed.^[8]

From meek to merciful. The best example in Matthew that demonstrates how mercy looks is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18:21-35). The first servant, who is shown mercy by his master to whom he owes an insurmountable debt, refuses to show mercy to another servant who owes him a fraction of his own debt. The forgiven servant has the second servant jailed until he repays his debt. Hearing of this, the master is angry, and then has the first servant rightly condemned and cast into an insufferable and tortuous prison. If the master’s mercy had its desirable effect, it would not only have forgiven the first debtor, but would also have transformed him into a forgiving person. It did not, and so the debt remained.

Jesus, who is perfect mercy, empowers his disciples, who are united to him, to be merciful. Once God’s mercy has entered into your heart, it reemerges and is passed to another sinner. Merciful describes Jesus’ disciples. Being merciful shows the transforming power of discipleship and of Jesus’ call to faith to all people. Since Jesus himself is perfect mercy in the flesh, you cannot become a disciple of Jesus without beginning to show mercy in a new way.

Verse 7 reminds Jesus’ disciples – and us – to identify with Jesus. It also promises the final blessing and merciful forgiveness at the Last Judgement. The message is this: Those who belong to Jesus have begun to be merciful, and are blessed, and on the Last Day, will receive mercy in all its fulness.^[9] John Chrysostom once wrote, “Human mercy and divine mercy are not the same thing. As wide as the interval is between corrupted and perfect goodness, so far is human mercy distinguished from divine mercy.”^[10] The mercy that the merciful receive will be greater than human mercy; it will be divine mercy.

Now for our last M, meaning. A study of the Beatitudes can lead to many applications. You can apply them to your business or customer service. The Beatitudes can influence managers and leaders. I found articles on the Beatitudes presented by contributors at The Hoover Institute, Harvard Business School and Pepperdine Law School. I am sure we can apply the Beatitudes to any walk of life, and we should.

Applying the Beatitudes to your life is not so that you become a better version of you. Rather, it is you knowing that you mourn, that you are meek, and that you are called to be merciful. As I was writing this sermon, I reflected upon the people I visited at home, hospital and rehab centers during the week of January 8. I told each of them this: You are the meek. You have no power like presidents or other politicians, athletes or executives. Other people control your life and you are just managing to stay alive and remain steadfast to your Savior, your Deliverer, our Lord Jesus Christ.

What I said to them, I say to you. You mourn. You are meek. You are merciful. As mournful people, you recognize the existence of sin and evil in the world and in your own life. That is why you come here. You confess your sins and ask God and Church for pardon and absolution.

As meek people, in your state and condition of life, you know that you control only so much of the world around you. You don’t control the war in Ukraine or the iron fist of Communist China. There is nothing you can do about the price of gas or eggs. That is why you read Scripture – because you see that those who seek worldly power have their limits, but those who seek first the Kingdom of God understand the unlimited love-power of God.

As merciful people, you know how God has been merciful to you, and in turn, you show mercy to others, whether they are parents, caregivers, children, neighbors or strangers. You are not perfectly merciful, which is why you come here – to be with other imperfect saints who take and eat the true Body and Blood of Christ and are nourished by that act.

My friends, as I said earlier, Matthew is the first Christian catechism. Catechesis always has a beginning and a final examination which ensures that one desiring to be Christian understands how to live the Faith. The final examination is chapter 25, particularly The Separation of the Sheep and Goats.

If you want to hear the King say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and you are wondering when you saw the Lord hungry, thirsty, as a stranger, naked, sick or in prison, be prepared for the King’s answer: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” In itself, that should be enough motive for any of us seeking happiness. May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Jeffrey A. Gibbs, Matthew 1:1-11:1. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (2006), p. 229, footnote 11.

[2] Ibid., p. 399.

[3] See Thomas Aquinas on The Beatitudes: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2069.htm

[4] Gibbs, p. 243.

[5] See Psalm 36:10-11; 146:5-6; 149:4.

[6] Phil Lawler, “Our Rivals May Not Be as Powerful as We Think,” www.catholicculture.com, January 18, 2023.

[7] Matthew 19:28-30; 25:31-32.

[8] Gibbs, p. 244.

[9] Ibid, p. 247.

[10] Thomas C. Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament Ia, Matthew 1-13. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press (2001), p. 85.