Matthew 5; 1- 12

In today’s gospel reading from Matthew we come across what are known as the Beatitudes, which are eight declarations of blessedness spoken by Jesus at the beginning of his sermon on the mount.

The reason there are eight Beatitudes is because verses 10 to 12 are generally counted as one Beatitude by bible commentators.

The Beatitudes – or what we could call Beautiful Attitudes - are the attitudes of the true disciple, the one who has accepted and adopted the demands of God’s kingdom, and they are very much in contrast with worldly attitudes.

The Greek word for blessed means happy or fortunate – someone whose place in life is an enviable one. And this blessedness is a state of spiritual wellbeing and prosperity.

The blessed have a share in salvation and in the kingdom of God – and they will experience a foretaste of heaven.

Moreover, they will also be blessed in the future when God’s kingdom is finally established and its subjects enter their inheritance.

In others words – Jesus is saying that when we adopt these beautiful attitudes and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, our efforts and our pains are not in vain. They will be rewarded.

As he says in verse 12 – Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven.

So, let’s have a look at these Beautiful attitudes in turn and try and unravel how we can be blessed – what heart attitudes we need to adopt in order to experience God’s favour and approval.

The poor in spirit are those who recognise their spiritual poverty before God. They recognise that they are helpless and lost without God.

The poor in spirit recognise their need for God’s mercy and forgiveness and that there is nothing that they can do to make themselves righteous.

We can see an example of someone who is poor in spirit in the story of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee which Jesus tells in Luke chapter 18.

In the Pharisee we see an example of someone is definitely not poor in spirit – someone with a self-righteous attitude who believes in their own goodness.

Jesus tells us; “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Jesus says; “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

So being poor in spirit is having an attitude of spiritual humility and recognising our absolute need for God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness.

And like the tax collector, those who do this will find the kingdom of God.

In a similar vein, those who mourn are those who grieve over their own sin and lack of love – who recognise their own shortcomings and are truly sorry for them.

Those who mourn experience true repentance and find comfort.

There’s a great video on the HTB Church web site of a violent prisoner called Shane Taylor sharing his testimony of how he found God on a prison Alpha course.

Shane shares how he cried out to God to change him because he hated the person he had become - and then he experienced God changing his heart and filling him with love rather than hate.

Those who mourn are also I think those who are deeply saddened by poverty and suffering and godlessness. Those who share something of God’s heart and concern for these things and grieve in their spirits and pray and care for the hurting and the lost.

Such people will be comforted by God’s Holy Spirit - the Comforter.

The original meaning of the Greek word for meek has the sense of bridling a horse or taming a wild animal. It means power under control.

It doesn’t mean weak or feeble. The meek exhibit self-control and are gentle in spirit. They don’t throw their weight about but submit their lives to God.

When Jesus submitted to being crucified he said to his disciples – ‘Don't you realize that I could ask my Father for 12 legions of angels to protect us, and he would send them immediately?’

Jesus had unlimited power at his disposal but meekly submitted himself to His Father’s will.

Those who bring their lives under God’s control in this way will find that God gives them the high place of honour that they would not seize for themselves.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who are sincere in their determination to live a godly life – a life that is pleasing to God. Those who are serious about their discipleship and take pains to walk in obedience and uprightness before God.

Such people will find that God will satisfy these desires and help them to live godly lives.

Mercy is exhibiting a loving disposition towards those who suffer distress or are in need. It is not just an emotional response but a practical response to need.

The merciful feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and comfort those in prison. The merciful forgive others their debts and pray for their enemies.

The merciful share and exhibit the heart and character of God. And in turn they too will be shown mercy by God. As they give out mercy so they will receive mercy into their own lives. With the measure they use it will be measured back to them.

The Greek word for pure means to be clean and blameless and unstained by guilt. And it also means not being diluted or watered down.

The heart is where our thoughts and desires and will and character reside.

So, the pure in heart are those who love God with all their hearts – whose hearts are not divided in their loyalty to God.

The pure in heart are marked by an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. Its not just an external purity of behaviour but rather an internal purity of the soul - of desire and motive.

Such people will see God one day in heaven – but also in this life will experience God’s presence with them and will enjoy a close relationship with him.  

James says in his letter - Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

The more we align ourselves with God and submit ourselves to him – the more we will experience his presence with us – and the more clearly we see the world through his eyes.

Peacemakers not only live peaceful lives themselves but also try to bring peace to others and encourage and preserve peace between people.

Peace-makers do not stir up bad will and envy and rivalry. Rather they seek to placate and heal and restore relationships. They encourage forgiveness and pour oil on troubled waters with soothing words.

I think also that peace-makers seek to help those around them to make peace with their maker. They help and encourage others to find forgiveness and a relationship with God.

God desires peace on the earth. Peace between nations and individuals and Jesus of course came to establish peace and reconciliation between mankind and God through the cross.

Those who work for peace exhibit that they are children of God.

As I said earlier in my talk most bible commentators view verses 10 to 12 as one beatitude. So, in this final beatitude, Jesus says that we are blessed when we are persecuted and reviled for righteousness sake - because we are making a stand for him.

We pray regularly in this church for persecuted Christians – people who are harassed, imprisoned, tortured and murdered simply because they love Jesus – and want to share their faith.

And even in this country, as society’s values increasingly move away from traditional Christian values and morality – and as the liberal left become increasingly intolerant of those who dare to question their politically correct views - many Christians today are finding that it can be costly to make a stand for their faith.

As Jesus points out, it has always been this way. The Old Testament prophets were persecuted and the early church was persecuted. The apostles Peter and Paul suffered imprisonment and floggings and beatings – and Peter was eventually crucified in Rome – some say upside down - following persecution by Nero in AD 64.

However, the good news is that as we make a stand for him – God will be with us. As Jesus said – “When you are brought before the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say. For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”

And although life in this world may be extremely tough for many Christians – our reward in heaven will be great.

So, to tie up what I want to say this morning, the Beatitudes are essentially a call by Jesus to whole-hearted Christian discipleship. To throw off worldly attitudes and behaviour and to adopt Godly attitudes and behaviour.

As I reflected on these Beatitudes I felt a bit daunted by them. I thought Lord how can we possibly live like this? And then I recalled a bible verse from the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament – which says; “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”

I felt that God was saying to me – that in order to live like this we need to adopt the first beatitude and admit our own inability to live like this and then submit to and be reliant on the Holy Spirit to help us.

And I had a picture of the Holy Spirit as a ball of love and power – who comes to live inside us. And every born-again Christian has this ball of love and power within them.

And as he lives within us, he longs to be expressed in our lives – for us to allow him to guide us and change us and reach out through us.

If we will allow him to, he will express himself through our mouths and our eyes and our hands and our actions. He will flow out of our lives.

The trouble is that we live such busy and worldly lives that we keep him contained and even forget that he is with us.

But as we acknowledge our own spiritual poverty and submit ourselves to God’s purposes and co-operate with Him and allow the love and power that is within us to guide us and change us we will start to see these beatitudes fulfilled in our lives.

We will mourn over our own sin and lack of love. We will start to live under the control and direction of God’s Holy spirit.

We will start to hunger for righteousness. We will start to express and release the mercy that lives in us. We will increasingly let go of the world and live more for God and we will seek to be peace makers.

And we will be prepared to risk upsetting and offending others when we know that Jesus himself is reaching out through us.

Let’s close with a time of quiet prayer where you can reflect on and talk in your hearts to your loving creator about anything I’ve said this morning which resonates with you.