In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
So what is Jesus doing with the Beatitudes here in our Gospel this evening/morning? I mean, Jesus is starting the famous Sermon on the Mount – why start here? Why start with the Beatitudes? What is Jesus doing here? And why do we bring this up on All Saints' Day – the day of the Church Year where we remember those Christians who have died in the faith before us, whose number we one day will eventually join? What's the point? Well, there's a common theme running through all the beatitudes – “Blessed are”. 9 times, in 9 places and ways, Jesus points out people who are blessed, that you are blessed. And Jesus has to do that for a simple reason – you don't realize how blessed you are.
What do you think of first and foremost if I say, “blessed”? What pops into your mind? Probably one of the varied good things in your life that you enjoy, that you are thankful for – that you expect me to bring up in a few weeks come Thanksgiving. We equate “blessing” with “good right now.” I had one dear old lady back in Oklahoma, who if you asked how she was doing would all ways, “I'm blessed.” Never, “I'm good” - always “Blessed.” And yet, the situations in the Beatitudes don't seem to mesh with our normal depiction of being blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Um, did any of you think, “Man, I'm so fortunate that I'm down trodden and poor in Spirit. Man, I'm so blessed that I'm in mourning right now.” That's not what any of us think of when we think of what it is to be blessed.
And hence, Jesus makes several wild assertions in these 9 beatitudes. Over and over, in the face of all sorts of lousy situations Jesus says, “No, even if you are poor in spirit, even if you mourn – you are in fact, in truth, blessed.” Because the issue at hand is we don't see everything. We don't see, not the big picture, but rather we don't see the full picture. We don't see and understand the Spiritual and Eternal realities all around us. Consider – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So, let's say you are poor in spirit, that life has got you down for whatever reason – whatever very real reason. There's lots of things that are heavy, that weigh upon us. And we can see them easily. Jesus says to you that nonetheless the kingdom of heaven is yours. And that's what we can forget in the moment, what we fail to see. We can see easily the things that crush us; we can overlook the kingdom of heaven. Right now, this moment, the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. You are a baptized child of God, forgiven, redeemed, bound for everlasting life. Right here, around you is all the host of heaven (including the names I'll be reading off in a few minutes). We claim this all the time – therefore WITH angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven WE laud and magnify You. OUR Father. But we forget it, we don't see it, we overlook it. So Jesus tells us again – it's good, you're good. The kingdom of heaven is yours.
But I'm mourning, Jesus. Well, of course you are – you're in the sinful world surrounded by death. Even Jesus weeps when Lazarus dies. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. You know how Jesus was comforted when Lazarus died? Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. You know what is Jesus' plan is to be comforted over all the deaths of His people who have died? To raise them from the dead. All these names – Jesus is going to raise them. You yourself, Jesus is going to raise you from the dead. It's good, you're good, because of Jesus.
But there's so many fights swirling around me, Jesus – and I know I shouldn't dive in, and I feel pathetic when I don't, but if I jump in and try to put someone in their place I just get dumped on, and people are nasty, and I can't fight back with their same nastiness, and it's lousy. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus gets it. How often does Jesus get dumped on, how often does Jesus just take it? And while we can't always fight back well or have to worry about repercussions – Jesus can call on legions of angels. He wouldn't have to worry about any blacklash. Yet – Jesus was meek – that is, inclined to simply put up with stuff instead of making the fight worse. That's what it is to be meek. And you can be meek. You don't have to fight, you don't have to win everything for yourself. Why? Because you're already going to inherit everything. Jesus won you salvation by His meekness, by going to the Cross and dying meekly – and He rose victorious, and you know what? When He raises you from the dead, He's going to just up and give you a new heavens and a new earth. Jesus will fix it – you don't have to. You might think you do, that might be what you see, but Jesus reminds you here that because of Him you're already blessed. It's good, you're good – Jesus has it in the bag for you.
Do you see the pattern? We get caught up in the problems, we see sin breaking out in the world, in ourselves. We see the consequences, dire and terrible, falling out all around us. And they are serious, and they are big, and they are nasty. But Jesus says to you that they aren't the whole picture. There's more going on that you might be missing, that you might not be seeing. Don't forget that Jesus is at work, doing things, fixing things, forgiving, saving you – and in Jesus it's all in the bag. Why? Well – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Oh, Jesus wants righteousness, and He wants it a plenty – and He came to be righteous for you. Jesus not only takes away your sin, not only forgives you, but He gives you His righteousness, He makes you to hunger for it and He fills you with His righteousness – He fills you with righteousness by His Word and Spirit and then works in you and through you and for you... and He forgives you again and fills you again, and will do so until you are eternally satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Jesus gathers you here to His house of mercy, over and against all the sin and junk in the world, because you are His people of mercy and forgiveness – and indeed here the Lord has mercy upon you. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Oh, are your hearts not pure – well, that's why Jesus forgives you, that's why He speaks His Word you, that's why He proclaims these beatitudes – because He actually wants you to see Him, to be with Him for all eternity. And while we struggle now, there's a whole host who see Jesus face to face right now because Jesus has forgiven and purified them.
Do you see, O Baptized child of God? Do you remember again? Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. There, at the font, at your baptism, God made peace with you. The rebellion of sin and death – the Triune God said it was over. This isn't just a sinful rebel, this is My baptized child – and the Peace of the Lord be with you always. And as you are a child of God now, you are set upon a path of making peace – of being a forgiver, of being one who takes the peace that Jesus has won and given to you and taking it and giving it to other people. I forgive you in the name of Christ the Crucified. He has died and risen for you. That's not only the message you hear, that's the message you proclaim and thus make peace.
Hold up, hold up, hold up. Are you sure about that Pastor? Because if I go tell people they are forgiven because Jesus died for their sin, some might like it... but a whole heap of people are going to get really ticked off. Yeah, so what, Peacemaker child of God? Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Sinners in a sinful world are going to be mad at you for something. Haters are gonna hate. Might as well have them hate you for righteousness' sake, might as well let them be mad because you proclaim that Jesus has died and risen and all the sins of the world are forgiven. Their rage can't do a cotton picking thing to you, because heaven is yours right now. So yes, Jesus is in fact right when He says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” The world can rage and complain and be all bitter and nasty. And I mean that seriously – wretched, horrible things get unleashed. Doesn't change the fact that Jesus died and rose for you. Doesn't change the fact that God Himself is present here today for you – doesn't change the fact that Jesus brings with Him all of heaven and we join in with all the Saints as we worship today. And your reward, the stuff that Jesus gives you in heaven in great. You get it now, in fact. Forgiveness. Christ's Body and Blood, given and shed for you. Singing with the saints. Life now in the face of sin as preparation for the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. It's all good because of Jesus. Jesus has it all in the bag for you.
So yes, you are blessed. And not merely with the typical things we all normally think of as blessings – and note, I'm not downplaying those things – we'll talk about all those great earthly and temporal blessings from God in just a few weeks. Rather this – remember the blessings that you don't always see in this life, that Satan and sin would hide from you and distract you from. You are a baptized child of God, forgiven and bound for eternal life. God has declared you to be His holy child – to be His saint – and nothing can trump that or wrest you out of God's hand. And those we love whom we mourn and are with the Lord – they see it all face to face without distraction, which is wondrous for them. For you, well, you get to be here now, in Jesus' house, with Jesus and with all the saints, hearing Jesus, being reminded of the things you don't see, even until you see them clearly when you see Jesus face to face. And you will. Amen.
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