THE PEOPLE GOD BLESSES
TEXT – Matthew 5:1-12
We started our messages with the last of the Beatitudes. Last shall be first as the Bible teaches. The first last. We did this in order to tie the message in with the Jan Hus emphasis and the Holy Communion we celebrated in his memory. We learned that God blesses people who are persecuted for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly Hus was persecuted and ultimately was burned at the stake in 1415 because of what he preached, taught and lived. Today we must stand up and be counted for our beliefs even though it may not cost us our life.
Last week we considered the first four "Blesseds." These may be paraphrased in this fashion, in order: 'God blesses the person who has realized his own utter helplessness and has put his whole trust in God. He blesses the person whose heart is broken for the world's suffering and for his own sin for out of his sorrow he will find the joy of God. God blesses the person who has the humility to know his own ignorance, his own weakness, and his own need. God blesses the person who longs for total righteousness as a starving person longs for food, and a person perishing of thirst longs for water, for that person will be satisfied."
We should note that these first four Beatitudes point toward an attitude one should have while the next three point more toward actions a person should be willing to take. The people whom God blesses are those who are merciful, who are pure in heart, who are peacemakers. We should also note that our Lord's teaching closes with another attitude adjustment: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for doing what is right, for to them belongs the Kingdom of heaven. Again we refer back to our spiritual forefather, Jan Hus.
I. Our first consideration today is:"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." These words echo those of Proverbs 14:21 – "blessed is the one who has mercy on the poor."When any person is kind to the poor he follows God's plan for Scripture teaches clearly that our "God is always on the side of the poor." This beatitude is akin to the story Jesus tells later on in Matthew. A servant, forgiven a large debt, refuses to forgive a small debt owed him by a fellow servant.The master says, "Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" Certainly in this teaching there is the element of judgment upon wicked oppressors. To those who don't show mercy no mercy will be shown.
II. Our second consideration today is: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." This Beatitude bears a strong resemblance to the thought of Psalm 24:3,4 which we used earlier in our worship. The pure in heart(linked with guiltless hands)will go up to the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place. "Pure in heart" refers to the inner core of a person, that is, to his thoughts and motivation. Some commentators have suggested that we call this action 'single-mindedness." James 4:8 exhorts the double-minded to "purify(their) hearts." Those who have pure hearts and act on this trait will see the face of God in eternity. This will be the greatest blessing of all.
III. The third consideration: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Perhaps Jesus was addressing this Beatitude to those who wanted to usher in the Kingdom of heaven by violent means. Those persons would bring in God's reign through violent human militant methods. At the very end of his earthly life Jesus reminds his disciples that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. In fact a bit later in this chapter Jesus teaches the remarkable ethic of love even for one's enemies(vv. 43-48). The pages of Christian history are filled with brave men and women who sought to win people to faith in Jesus by seeking to live in peace and non-violence toward their enemies. A notable example of this is St. Francis of Assisi.
CONCLUSION;
These remarkable teachings contained in the Beatitudes are not something that we can achieve on our own. All our strivings to be peacemakers, to be pure in heart, to show mercy cannot be achieved apart from living in union with Jesus Christ. He and he alone can enable us to be the people whom God blesses. With him living in us and his grace motivating all our actions day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute we truly can be a blessed people. With all my heart I want this for you and me today. May God grant this for Jesus' sake!!!! Amen.
