Abridged Worship – September 29, 2024

We have examined three commands: repent, follow, and do not worry. Now we meet rejoicing.

We can all say it is nice to connect with a command of such positivity. Who doesn’t like joy? Joy can take us far. Plus, rejoicing feels good to us, we can rejoice alone, and we can rejoice in communion.

But, I do caution against interpreting this command on a simple level of just good feelings, Jesus’ teachings are always much deeper, and considering this command is found at the beginning of Jesus’ longest and most famous sermon, to understand this command to rejoice, we need to see what it is surrounded by.

Jesus begins his sermon on the mount with, what is titled, the Beatitudes, and you see a list of qualifications that mark a person as blessed: poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger, the merciful, pure, peacemaking, and persecuted. Much of which sounds like a reality we would rather avoid.

Even the bit about mercy, purity, and peace we tend to avoid, (sounds nice on paper), but often, those are attributes we avoid because they require personal sacrifice, for example, to be merciful means we must show restraint, empathy, and forgiveness. To be pure, we must reject sinful temptation and run from pride and idolatry – not an easy thing, and to be peacemakers means we must be ready to endure and confront war, we must be willing to call enemies and alleys to unify under God. None of what Jesus offers is an easy life to embody, but when we get to the end of this introduction, Jesus offers something complementary to this demanding existence, rejoice and be glad.

Now, many of us have heard these Beatitudes throughout our lives, so this revelation isn’t as shocking to us, but can you image if you had never heard this, if you lived in a world where sole might made right, and if you we poor or ill, or shamed in any way people believed it was because you were curse by God, forever to be a blight on society, and then this miracle worker shows us and calls you blessed, and calls those who seek your reality in compassion, love and spirit, blessed as well. It would be like taking a blindfold off and seeing the world for the first time. There is reason in that liberation alone to rejoice.

However, there is more, after saying the blessed qualifications, Jesus then compares this list of attributes to the life of the prophets before them.

It seems to me, that Jesus is saying, that to follow him, to become disciples of Jesus Christ means adopting a life similar to the prophets. This doesn’t mean all will prophecy, rather it means that there is a lifestyle which the prophets endured and embraced, and we are called to do the same. And all the prophets who came before share with us their stories of a life of struggle and pursuit through the Bible. We know those lives lived were not easy, there were great journeys, tension and objection, and often persecution. Yet, God’s promise to the Prophets, and their forefather before them, was and is never forgotten, and God delivers them to a reward in heaven for their self-sacrifice upon this earth.

Through this image of the prophets we understand that suffering, even the suffering of everyday people can be redeemed. If you are poor, don’t fret, Moses was once a prince, but God called him into poverty first, before Moses could rise to free the captives. If you are forcibly meek and humbled, Jospeh was sold by his brothers into slavery, and spent time in prison, and God’s favour was still upon him.  Jesus, in these statements, redeems the suffering of people, and shows only God has authority over who is blessed, not the world.

The prophet piece here is also more than just relatable characters for the people hearing Jesus’ sermon to relate to. The prophets adopt a characteristic that signifies them as prophets. You see prophets are often characterized as counter-cultural voices, sometimes they counter the culture of an oppressor, like we see with Moses, or sometimes they counter the culture which Israel has falsely adopted like we see in Isaiah. Either way, they are a voice, that God has pulled away from the stream of society and redirected their vision onto God.

You could say that the prophets are public figures which have exemplified the first three command of Jesus, they repented and looked upon God, the followed God with the purpose of bringing people to God, to be that fisher for people, and they face the evil in the world, and they trust in God, they let their hearts be calm.

Therefore, the prophetic life is no longer a life of worldly things; possessions, desires, cultural and social/political drama, all that now takes a backseat, because for the prophet, they adopt a life which if focus on living for God, and God will and Kingdom.  

Jesus is calling us to remove ourselves from these worldy norms of society, to shake off the goals of material existence, and instead, He wants us to seek God, God’s will, God’s kingdom. And the Beatitudes act like a road map, a way to understand how pursuing God will lead you towards a new creation, eternally but also temporally in our life.

You want to find Jesus, you want to connect with God, try adopting a spirit of the poorness, be the person whose hands are open ready to receive from the Lord what they cannot produce themselves, whose hearts relish the gifts that they have been given, and who is will to work hard in pursuit of prosperity.

You want to find Jesus, try adopting a mourning heart of compassion and empathy, cry with those who cry, weep with those who weep, hold those who need to be held, knowing that God holds you first.

Try adopting a meek disposition, sheath your sword, be slow to anger and speech, and be humble before others.

I could go on…

Seek these realities as part of your very existence, and you will draw nearer to God, your faith will deepen, and you will have a life akin to the prophets; one that prioritizes God’s will, not the world’s.

And Jesus says there will be a reward in heaven. And that is a good thing, it is a very good thing. Something worth rejoicing over. But here something that I’ve noticed about this heavenly reward. Christians who actively seek the life of the Beatitudes, who try to live upon the theological road map Jesus sets forth, seem to find the rewards of Heaven manifest in their lives as they live. I’m not talking gold and silver, but rather spiritual rewards, true reward.

Since the dedicated Christian, pursuing the blessing Jesus list, is not less concerned with worldly things, they become less stressed, fearful, and worried, their hearts find peace.

Since their lives become priorities with living out the ways of Jesus with people, their lives find community, love, and fellowship, and because ultimately their life is now given to God, they feel complete and whole, that they lack for nothing.

Now you can say, Rev. Jacob, you already are giving us a bunch of commands of Jesus to set as goals for ourselves, and now the Beatitudes, it feels all too much. Fair enough, so here is a way of looking at it.

When you look at the commands of Jesus, and all of his teachings, you see how these ideas flow into each other. They build upon each other and nourish each other. So, if you find this too big, pick one or two to start with. If you find yourself quick to anger, begin with prayer and pursuit of God in repentance and meekness. If you find yourself fearful of conflict, open yourself up to mercy and peacemaking. The more you make effort in to know Jesus, and become like Christ, the more you will experience the blessings of heaven in your life, the more natural all this will become, and the more you will want to shout with joy and sing hallelujah.

Remember folks, the Gospel is Good News, it is what helps God’s kingdom and the image of Christ from which we were created take root in us, and we can feel the goodness of Being, we can feel glad and content. We can even rejoice!

 Let us pray…

Lord, help us rest in your promise, and promise of joy and new creation. Lord, let us find contentment and let our hearts sing Your glory, no matter what is upon us. Let us trust in your promise, when life is what we hope for or even when it is what we abhorred. We know that ultimately, your promise and love will carry us to your presence to be with you always. Amen.