The Blessed Life of the Kingdom

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Focus: God calls us to an honorable and flourishing life.

Function: To exhort the congregation to embrace a virtuous and blessed life in God.

Plotline: * The pursuit of happiness is foundational to the American Dream. * Yet people are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. * Even at church, we look for happiness in all the wrong places. * Jesus calls us to a different way of being in the world. * You might not always feel blessed now, but rest assured, God is stretching out strong hands of blessings with a word of power.

Matt 5:1 “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, 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 will be comforted.

5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

  1. The pursuit of happiness is foundational to the American Dream. To call Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence a masterstroke of political theory is to condemn it with faint praise. It has been revered and memorized by generations of Americans and has inspired similar documents around the world. One of its most famous phrases declares that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Since then, happiness has been taken for granted as a God-given absolute part of the American destiny.
  2. Yet people are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. What we watch in Hollywood or see on Social Media fools us that our modest dream is not enough. There is something missing. We have the right to pursue happiness — but instead, people pursue a lifestyle characterized by freedom from responsibilities and encumbrances. The right to pursue happiness is measured by money, possessions, pleasure, comfort, and ease. Millions of dollars are made in profits because merchants capitalize on people’s desire to be happy. The Culture Wars are fought because people fear their happiness is being attacked and their freedoms restricted. They fear their way of life in America will be robbed from them. And they look for happiness in all the wrong places. From the hottest political issue to toothpaste, from the latest health craze to investment strategy, people are seeking fulfillment in life. In our world of affluence — happiness is still evasive. In our world of the latest technological advancements, happiness eludes us. People look for happiness in all the wrong places.
  3. Even at church, we look for happiness in all the wrong places. The Christian mother of three came into the preacher’s study in tears. Her story: Raised in the church by Godly parents. Baptized at the age of 12. Taught Bible classes. Took a summer to go on a foreign mission. She went to a fine Christian college. Faithful. Married a Christian man. Family devotionals every night. Involved in the visitation and benevolent programs. “All my life,” she says, “I have done exactly what the church expects of me.” But I am so unhappy. There is a hollow pit in my stomach that is filled only by an aching sadness.”
    • This describes many. After doing all that you were told to do, you still do not know the Blessed Life. Maybe there is a program, a book to read, a self-improvement course, or another activity to be involved in — “I have done all these things ever since I was a youth” we hear the rich young ruler say. “But there is one thing you still lack.” Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus would appear to each of us personally and tell us the one thing in our lives that we still lack? Just one thing — and maybe then we could be really happy.
    • Even at church, we look for happiness in all the wrong places.
  1. Jesus calls us to a different way of being in the world. Jesus, who is in the very nature God came and sat down on a mountainside teaching his disciples. He gave up the glorious mansions of heaven to a place where foxes have holes, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. He turns the world’s notion of happiness on its head. He reverses the world’s values as well as much that passes for religious piety. Jesus says NO! to all this nonsense.
    • Blessed are you when you live in the Kingdom in the way of Jesus. Blessed are those who realize how much they need God. The cable of self must become thread before it can pass through the eye of a needle. Or as the old hymn sings, “Nothing in the hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.” It is only when I come to God empty-handed that I can enter the Kingdom of God. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit.
    • Jesus invites us into a way of being in the world that results in a full and flourishing way of life here and in the future. The Beatitudes do not offer us a list of the heroes of faith to follow or a list of moral demands and challenges to whip us into shape or describe the ideal pious person, or some set of preconditions or entrance requirements but rather a redefinition of the people of God, a redefinition of us. This is who we are and who we will be.
    • It is not an easy invitation. Jesus invites us into a way of being that will demand the best of us as we find our fullness in God. The Beatitudes invite us into humility, poverty of spirit, mourning, hunger and thirst, mercifulness, peacemaking, suffering, and yes, even persecution. And while the world does not describe this kind of life as happy or honorable or fulfilling because the world seeks happiness in all the wrong places. However, we enter this way of being in the world knowing this is how God created us to live. And, therefore,
      • God will comfort us,
        • we will inherit the world,
          • God will satisfy our desire to live and be righteous,
            • God will give us mercy,
              • we will see God,
                • we will be called children of God,
                  • and the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours.
    • The Kingdom of Heaven is ours in the present tense. And we live blessed now, ahead of time. “Blessed are you now for you will…” What we already have we are waiting for the full consummation, the finishing of God’s New Creation. “Christianity is not a scheme to reduce stress, lose weight, advance in one’s career, or protect one from illness. Christian faith, instead, is a way of living based on the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way of God, that righteousness and peace will finally prevail, and that God’s future will be a time of mercy and not cruelty. So, blessed are those who live this life now, even when such a life seems foolish, for they will in the end, be vindicated by God.”[1]
    • Jesus calls us to a different way of being in the world. Stop pursuing happiness. Live in the flourishing, abundant, and virtuous life found only in Jesus. Give up your life, your liberty, and your pursuit of happiness, then and only then can we know the Blessed life of God. The honorable life of God will receive honor from God. The flourishing life of God that we cherish is a different way of living in the world.
  1. You might not always feel blessed now, but rest assured, God is stretching out strong hands of blessings with a word of power. “Blessed” is a performative word.
    • Weddings have an example of performative language—”I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The two become one flesh.
    • When the child comes in from the front yard and you say, “The door is open.” You expect a response. You expect the child to close the door. If a colleague comes to your office with a confidential matter and you say, “the door is open.” You may mean, “you need to close the door,” but you may only mean, “I am a safe place for you to share this matter,” or “You might want to lower your voice.” The statement anticipates a response.
    • Blessed is a word that connects with action. Something happens. God activates blessing. Listen again as you receive a blessing from God. For example, “the merciful” are people who experience God’s abundant life now. Extending mercy is honorable. They are already living a flourishing abundant life in God. Therefore, according to God’s intended future for their lives, “they will receive mercy.” Christians who have a “pure heart” now live within the realm of God’s blessing now and in God’s intended future, “they will see God.” This is true for all nine Beatitudes.
    • Listen again as I stretch out my hand and speak this performative word over you.

3 ‘Blessed are you now who are the poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Blessed are you now who mourn, for you will be comforted.

5 ‘Blessed are you now who are meek, for you will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Blessed are you now who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be filled.

7 ‘Blessed are you now who are merciful, for you will receive mercy.

8 ‘Blessed are you now who are pure in heart, for you will see God.

9 ‘Blessed are you now who are peacemakers, for you will be called children of God.

10 ‘Blessed are you now who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you now when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad today, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Amen!

 

[1] M. Eugene Boring, The Gospel of Matthew, NIB Volume VIII (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995) 181.