Tag Archives: Beatitudes

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Blessed are the families

Jesus’ teaching referred to as the beatitudes is a series of blessings for those who espouse Jesus’ value framework, a framework that is countercultural, that is, not aligned with the majority culture of this world. In this message, I interpret Jesus’ beatitudes for family life. It is my hope that this will enrich our families and strengthen the quality of love we have between each other. Watch the 25-minute video message and/or read my notes below that.

Matthew 5:3-10 presents Jesus’ beatitudes. A ‘beatitude’ is a ‘blessing’, to be blessed, to feel blessed, to feel great joy.

Beatitude in Hebrew is ‘esher’, which means to be happy, to advance, to make progress, to go forward, be lead on, to be relieved

But the things that Jesus says bless us are not easy! They are countercultural, particularly in today’s corporate, rapacious, ambitious, self-seeking world. This echoes Paul’s sentiment in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not.” The beatitudes focus us on inner character traits, not just external actions – who you actually are.

In this message, I want to apply the beatitudes to marriage and family. I have them out below in point form. The = is an interpretation of the beatitude in principle, while * is an application of the beatitude to family life. By ‘family life’ I mean relationships between partners, parents and children:

  1. Blessed are the poor in spirit
    =spiritual neediness & fragility (opposite of strength), humility, smallness
    *approach our family without pride, acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, rely together on God’s grace
    *recognise and accept that life can be hard, work to be safe to be vulnerable with one another, affirm that we’re all in this together
  2. Blessed are those who mourn
    =mourn over our brokenness, recognise how we fall far short of God’s intentions for us, our tears express our soft heart
    *comfort family members in grief, anxiety, breakups, failed test, bad day
    *grieve if you accidentally or intentionally hurt a family member
  3. Blessed are the meek
    =patiently bear the sufferings of life, react calmly to conflict instead of lashing out, this is best expressed in Christ’s passion on the cross
    *meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control, engage family with respect and gentleness, avoid harsh words, you don’t always have to win
  4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
    =A longing for holiness, Christ-likeness, justice, virtue, mercy, to be in a right relationship with God
    *Christ at the centre of our home is manifest in the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), do not tolerance any behaviour that could harm another, work always to be in a right relationship with one another
  5. Blessed are the merciful
    =Showing mercy=easily forgiving, waiving debts, giving generously, even self-sacrificially
    *Families built on forgiveness, avoid grudges, don’t go to bed angry, choose compassion, model God’s willingness to reconcile
  6. Blessed are the pure in heart
    =Pure=clean, avoid sin, fruit of the Spirit (see point 4 above), God is ever-present and watching, no secrets
    *Guard against outside temptations, set a sacred boundary against sin around your family
  7. Blessed are the peacemakers
    =Seeking true good for others, draw God into conflicts, pray without ceasing, “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
    *Be willing to lose an argument (winning is not everything), promote unity and safety, dialogue=reciprocal talking
  8. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness
    =After all these, we may still be persecuted, recognize the seriousness of our faith, Christ’s death, ‘because of’ emphasises that the persecution must be because of following Christ’s values NOT because we’re a jerk
    *Accept that your stand for sobriety, chastity, church first, and self-sacrifice could lead to ridicule and judgment from others

Read Psalm 15 through eyes of ‘family’:

1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

Micah 6:8 – “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God”

Blessed be your family

6th-century mosaic located in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy. From: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/how-do-we-make-sense-of-the-beatitudes/
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Light of the world

Click here to listen to this 15-minute message.

(This message was preached at Irene Homes, a residential care facility for women with intellectual disabilities. They are an engaging and participating congregation. I was moving around a bit, so the volume varies as I move away from the recorder. Also, at about 13 minutes, we spent a few minutes passing out battery-operated candles; I’ve edited this out, which explains the slight jump a few second after 13 minutes.)

Jesus says of all of us who follow him (Matthew 5:13-16):

You all are the very salt of the earth!

You all are the very light of the world!

He states this as a present fact – you are, not you should be or you will be or you ought to be or one day you might be. No! He states is as Truth: You are! In our lived experience, however, we’re probably often not salt and light. So, Jesus here appears to be declaring a Truth that is to come as a present reality, much as he does when he says “The Kingdom of God is here”. It is a ‘now, but not quite yet’ statement. A prophetic Word, that encourages us to live up to the image Christ already has about us.

What does it mean to be salt and light?

Salt has many uses (primarily flavouring and preserving), but Jesus emphasises the saltiness of salt. If I presented a white powder to you that did not taste salty, you’d be reluctant to call it ‘salt’. Saltiness is the essential characteristic of salt; without saltiness, salt is not salt. So what are the essential characteristics of a follower of Christ, without which we can hardly call ourselves Christians? The most immediate answer is the qualities Jesus has just presented in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10), which open the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which speak about being poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking and being persecuted because of being righteous. These qualities of Christian living – love, mercy, inclusivity, justice, reconciliation – are the distinctive qualities of a Christ-follower. They are the saltiness of a Christian.

Light also has many uses, but Jesus emphasises that light enables things to be seen. It is not the essential characteristic of light he highlights, but rather the purpose to which it is put, viz. so that people can see us putting into practice these distinctive qualities of a Christ-follower, so that people will praise God in heaven. He thus speaks about how silly it would be to place a light under a bowl, or to put it in a corner on the ground rather than up on a stand. When we do that, you can’t see the light; it is wasted.

When Jesus says, “You are the salt/light”, he uses a plural ‘you’, thus “You all…” or “Y’all”. Our individual distinctive qualities and our individual light may be insufficient to be seen from far or to make much impact. But our collective qualities and our collective light, like a city on a hill with many lights burning from many windows, can be seen from far and make a real difference in the world.

Just imagine if every Christian truly put into practice the distinctive qualities of a Christ-follower set out in the Beatitudes! What a remarkable place the world would be!!

2020.02.09_Light

The ladies of Irene Homes being the light of the world!