Sermonette: August 19, 2024

Peace and Grace to you from our Heavenly Father.

We continue our discussion of the Beatitudes that we began last week. The Beatitudes can be found in Chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew. They are part of what has become known as Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. They are not a “to-do list” that we need to try to accomplish, but rather, they provide a picture of what a Christian life looks like. We covered the first two last week and we will cover the next three this week. Also, we discussed last week that the Beatitudes were not spoken haphazardly. They are in a specific order which leads us from the first to the last, needing the previous to reach the next. Reviewing the two we covered last week: the first, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" means until we acknowledge that as humans, we cannot follow God's Word on our own, we need help. We need to be humble, not proud and boastful. Once we do this, we can move on to the next, "Blessed are those who mourn." Here, we truly feel sorry, we mourn over how we sin against God and that leads us to repentance. If we acknowledge we need God's help, and are truly repentant of our sins, we can move on the next.

The third Beatitude is "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Again, the key here is the word meek, which can easily be misconstrued. Jesus doesn't mean someone who is soft-spoken or perhaps too shy to speak their own mind, or maybe they don't have strong opinions about any given subject. Or, maybe they just sit quietly and let others lead and make the decisions. This is not what Jesus is saying here. He is saying, we submit our will to God's will. When we recite the Lord's Prayer, we say “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Actually, the meaning Jesus is giving here is the opposite of what we might think. Instead of putting our own will first, we put God's will first. The Christian gladly and openly seeks God's Word, trying to discern what He is telling us. We actively practice our faith. We serve on church councils, join Bible study groups, teach Sunday School, sing in the choir, etc. But we do this to honor God, not to show off how great we think we are. Even in our daily lives outside the church, we give credit where credit is due. We congratulate others when they do well. To be meek doesn't mean we just do nothing. We do whatever we can. We don't brag about it or take credit for it, we just do it and we thank God for his assistance. Think of the Pharisees, they most definitely were not meek.

The first three Beatitudes dealt with our need for humility to open our hearts to God. The fourth deals with the natural progression of our desire that comes for having such a heart. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (some translations say satisfied) is the fourth Beatitude. Hunger and thirst are signs of need. Our bodies need food and water for us to continue living. Our bodies sense that need and tell us that we are hungry or thirsty so we take action to get the food and water our bodies need. It is not something we learn, it comes naturally. We don't have to teach a newborn baby to be hungry. The hunger and thirst we feel motivates us to get food and water into our bodies. The Christian hungers and thirsts for God's Word. This desire is not something we are taught. It comes naturally to us. This desire motivates us to seek that which will satisfy us. We read God's Word, we pray for guidance, we buy Bible study courses, attend Bible study classes with friends and neighbors. We Christians seek that which will satisfy our desire to be closer to God.

The fifth Beatitude is “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” This seems straightforward enough. We might think of the phrase that you reap what you sow. The merciful receive mercy. But, what is mercy? Is it forgiveness? Compassion? Are they all tied together? In Jesus' parable about the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan had compassion for the injured man on the road. He showed him mercy. But this man hadn't wronged the Samaritan in anyway, he didn't need forgiveness. Yet, he received mercy from the Samaritan. Psalm 103 tells us God is “Merciful and Gracious.” God is merciful. Because God loves us, He shows compassion for us and has mercy on us. He doesn't want to see his people suffer so believers who repent will have their sins forgiven. We can show mercy to others as well. We can donate to food pantry programs for those who need help. We can show support and support those who may be struggling to stay on God's pathway. We can pray for them and also with them. We can be responsive to their needs whatever they be. If we show such mercy to others, God will shed his mercy on us.

Next week we finish up with the last three Beatitudes and complete the picture of what a Christian life looks like. Blessings to all.