Your fancy word for today is portmanteau. What in Sam Hill does portmanteau mean exactly, Mr. French? It’s a combination of two words used to create a new word. The newly created word has a similar meaning as the two previous words. The beatitudes are not a portmanteau of beauty and attitude.
Don’t we have enough words? Are we in need of more made-up words?
Why would this be necessary? You go to a restaurant at around 10 am. It’s not quite breakfast time, sleepyhead and it’s a bit too early for lunch. What is one to do? Let’s combine pieces of the words and form a new one.
Breakfast + Lunch = Brunch.
British + Exit = Brexit
Spoon + Fork = Spork
Get it?
For some reason, we seem to treat the beatitudes as a soft and tender moment at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
The beatitudes are not a moral blueprint for us to emulate while here on earth. They are not a series of ideas used to petition us to tighten up our sorry attitudes. The Beatitudes are Jesus coming out of His corner like Mike Tyson throwing haymakers from the get-go.
Jesus never asked the people “How are you doing?” He didn’t play the game that many silly preachers play and say, “I can’t hear you! Let’s raise the roof for our Savior today!” No sir, He began a systematic dismantling of pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency.
The Beatitudes #1 — Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
Bankruptcy is when a person is financially insolvent. They cannot pay their bills. Their debts exceed their assets. They are flat broke!
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
When one is poor in spirit they are basically spiritually bankrupt. They have nothing to add to the equation — and they acknowledge that fact. Our salvation is by grace and through faith. It’s impossible for us to earn it and we definitely don’t deserve it.
Preaching the gospel to ourselves every day is imperative. If we are not getting a daily dose of the gospel then we can become mistakenly confident in the things we bring to God — which are useless.
Ask yourself this simple question. Do I truly believe that I am spiritually bankrupt?
If I am 100% honest I’d say that I struggle with this one.
The Beatitudes #2 — Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
We have a tendency to underestimate the sinfulness of our sin. Most of us aren’t real murderers, adulterers, kidnappers, bank robbers, or similar things. Our sins, when compared to those of Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and others are quite tame.
Too bad God’s expectation is perfection. Think back to a time long ago when it was just Adam and Eve. Eve’s deception and Adam’s rebellion are what got us all in this hot mess.
What did they do?
Eve ate the forbidden fruit. No murder or adultery. That sin is quite similar to little Johnny getting a cookie after his mama told him not to do it.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
I can only speak for myself. I don’t always mourn over my sin.
How about you?
The Beatitude #3 — Blessed Are The Meek
Meekness gets a bad wrap and a raw deal. Meekness is essentially power under control. Think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He instructed the soldiers that He could, through the Father, summon twelve legions of angels.
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Moses was to have been the meekest person on earth. He’s also the guy who confronted Pharaoh at the risk of his own life.
Meekness is rarely practiced in our society. There are estimated to be 30 murders each year that are linked to road rage. Not quite cool, calm, and collective.
I wish that I could boldly declare that I operate in meekness but I do not.
You?
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst For Righteousness
I am forced to create methods of discipline for reading the Word and spending time in prayer. My earthly body left to its own devices rarely is excited about reading the Bible or spending time in prayer.
My body is quite eager to binge Netflix or some other mind-numbing activity.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want.
If I am in the crowd during this inaugural sermon I am sweating bullets. Jesus said that the poor in spirit, the meek, and those who mourn are blessed. He continues to pile on talking about those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
I have to sheepishly admit that I am in deep trouble.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Beatitude #5 — Blessed Are the Merciful
Matthew’s gospel contains a conversation between Jesus and Peter about forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus compares two conversations. In one, a king is settling debts. The amount owed is insurmountable and the debtor cannot pay it. He asks for more time.
Instead of granting more time the king released the debt. The debtor could not pay the debt and mercy was granted instead of more time. The person who was forgiven was not as merciful. He found a person who owed him much less and did not forgive but demanded payment in full.
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Don’t we have the tendency to act similarly? God, through Jesus, has paid a debt that we could never pay. In turn, we nit-pick others for slights, offenses, and behaviors and refuse to forgive.
Jesus has me against the ropes and I am about to go down.
I’m not nearly as merciful as I should be.
Beatitude #6 — Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted with the train of His robe filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1, NASB).
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Sin has poisoned our hearts and minds. Only God can cleanse us and give us a new heart. We need to cease taking credit for something that God alone does on our behalf.
#7 Blessed Are the Peacemakers
Perhaps Jesus was making eye contact with Simon the Zealot during this part of His sermon. Imagine Jesus stating peacemakers were blessed to a group of people under the thumb of Roman rule.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Do we work to make peace or are we ready to stir up strife at a moment’s notice? If I were to take a social media survey I would be convinced that we are not overly peaceful.
#8 Blessed Are the Persecuted
Persecution in the body of Christ is legitimate. Martyrdom still exists today. While certainly, some companies have taken “CHRIST” out of Christmas that isn’t truly persecution.
A Christian is killed every six minutes because of their faith.
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Are others persecuting us because of our righteous behavior? Are we losing houses, jobs, and relationships? Most of us probably are not but that day will quite possibly come soon.
#9 Blessed Are the Insulted
This one is becoming a bit more prevalent in our society. We truly have entered a post-Christian society in the United States. Europe has been post-Christian for quite some time.
Christianity is often looked at as a religion for the superstitious and uneducated. Regrettably, we’ve often perpetuated that stereotype.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Too often we in the church want to be part of The Kingdom while simultaneously participating in ungodly behavior. We want Disney to act as a surrogate Sunday School and get upset when Hallmark introduces “diverse” characters into their movies.
Rejoice and Be Glad
Most Christians are looking for political air cover when persecution and insults are experienced. Jesus provided a much different perspective.
Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Instead of whining, crying, and calling our congressman, we should smile. We must learn to be counter-cultural in our engagement with society.
Down For The Count
I am saved by grace through faith. Crucifying my sinful nature and denying myself a life of ease and comfort is vital to my life as a disciple.
Jesus was not providing another list of things to do in order to earn salvation. It’s my humble opinion that He was laying out a case to show my helplessness where salvation is concerned.
To be 100% honest, I struggle with being poor in spirit, mournful, gentle (meek), I don’t always hunger and thirst for righteousness, and I am not always peaceful, merciful, or pure in heart.
I’m a mess and I need God’s grace for every breath.
How about you?