The Blessed
Matthew 5.1-13
See Jesus. See Jesus, the one whom we claim as our Lord, the Messiah, the anointed one, king.
A king, indeed. See the crown, the crown of twisted thorns upon his head.
They throw dice for his clothing. He is naked.
Hear them taunt him. He saved others, but he cannot save himself.
At noon, a darkness spreads across the land. He cries out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
This one. The one whom we claim as our Lord and King. This one, the Son of God.
This is the one, the one who said, Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. And the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are these.
The Beatitudes, that’s what we call them, these things Jesus said. They are called the Beatitudes.
I used to wonder why. When I was much younger, in Sunday School, learning these Beatitudes, wondering what the word beatitude means. No one ever told me. Do you know?
I thought maybe it was one of those compound words I was learning about in school. A compound word, consisting of the word be and the word attitude. Beatitude. What did I know?
The Beatitudes. And Jesus wanting me to have a certain kind of attitude, a merciful attitude toward others, a meek attitude toward the world. And be, Jesus wanting me to be a peacemaker, to be pure of heart.
But what did I know? I didn’t know that the word beatitude comes from the word beauty. Beautiful.
Beautiful are these, those who mourn, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and the poor in spirit. Beautiful are these. These, these are the beautiful people. Saints. These are the beautiful people.
Said Jesus. The one whom we claim as our Lord and King, the Son of God.
So, when Jesus said, Blessed are these and those, he was not telling us we ought to be this way and that, or that we ought to have this attitude or that one.
Not telling us what we should be and what we should do. No. He was stating the facts. Stating what is the case. He was telling it like it is.
The fact of the matter is, these are blessed. As a matter of fact, those are blessed. As if he were pointing these facts out to us. Pointing to them, to these saints. These, these are the beautiful people.
Pointing to them as though they were signs, signs of something. Watch them. Keep your eyes on them.
Those. Those who are poor in spirit.
Those who know their lives are not their own, that they belong not to themselves. Knowing they depend upon the goodness of God for all things, there is not a trace of arrogance about them.
The poor in spirit. The meek. Blessed and beautiful are these.
And those who mourn.
These, who hear the crying of others and who, themselves, cry on behalf of others. Mourning the way things are for far too many people in the world. And crying unto God, praying, How long, O Lord, how long?
These who mourn. Blessed are these. Beautiful.
As are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
These, not for their own righteousness, not a self-righteousness, but for the righteousness of God they hunger and thirst. For the goodness of God to be made known in the world, they pray. Praying with those who mourn, How long, O Lord, how long?
These, for righteousness they hunger and thirst, blessed are these. These are beautiful.
And so are the merciful.
These, kind and generous, not holding grudges, not counting trespasses against them, kind and generous to all whom they meet, regardless.
These, the merciful, along with peacemakers, blessed are these. There is a beauty about them.
And about those who are pure in heart, too.
These, devoted to God and God alone. For God they wait. And hope. And with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind. Trusting in God alone.
These, the pure of heart, beautiful. Blessed are these.
These, said Jesus, pointing them out to us, blessed are these, these saints. These are the beautiful people.
To them belongs the kingdom of heaven. They will be comforted, will inherit the earth. These will be filled, will receive mercy. They will see God and will be called children of God.
Keep your eyes on these. Watch them. As though they were signs or something, signs of something.
Keep your eyes on them. Watch these. For the fact of the matter is, they are blessed. Beautiful. These are, it is a fact, these are the beautiful people.
Now, let’s think about this, you and I. Let’s think about these people.
The poor in spirit, the meek, these who mourn and hunger and thirst, the merciful and peacemakers, and the pure in heart.
These are the kind of people that get run over. Sure, there is something admirable about them, even beautiful. But it just isn’t going to work. You won’t get very far in this old world if . . . Which may be the point. The world will pass you by if . . . They’ll run right over you unless . . . Which just may be the point.
Jesus pointing these people out to us, as though they were signs or something, signs of something. These, these saints.
These, who walk around, living their lives as though they were on some other planet, living in some other world.
These, blessed are these. And blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, said Jesus.
See what I mean? They aren’t going to get very far in this old world, these beautiful people.
And blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely.
Admirable. Even beautiful, but this old world runs right over them, these blessed ones.
Jesus, pointing these people out to us. Blessed are they.
And these, in turn, these saints, these blessed ones, pointing back to him. Blessed is he. He is the blessed one. Beautiful.
The one whom we claim as our Lord, the Messiah, the anointed one. King.
A king, indeed. See the crown, the crown of twisted thorns upon his head.
They throw dice for his clothing. He’s naked.
Hear them yell at him. Save yourself. Come down from your cross.
And a darkness spreads across the land. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
A Roman centurion pointing, pointing and saying, Truly this man was God’s Son.
This one is God’s Son? Our Lord and king? Blessed is he? Beautiful? Jesus on the cross?
Beautiful? Well, no. Of course not. There’s nothing pretty about it.
But then, on the other hand. Sometimes I think, how else?
How else could the compassion of God be made known? The Son of God taking upon himself the burdens, the sufferings of us all.
God, who does not deal with us according to our sins, how else? The Son of God delivered into the hands of sinful human beings, not lifting a finger in defense, not raising is voice in anger, protest.
And the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, how else? The Son of God going with us to the very depths, even unto death. Even there.
Behold, the beauty of God, the beauty of God’s holiness, God’s goodness.
Blessed is he. And blessed are those. Those poor in spirit. Those who mourn. The meek. Those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. And the merciful. The pure in heart. And the peacemakers.
For blessed is Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.
Neal Kentch, Salem United Church of Christ and Corydon Christian, November 3, 2002