by Barry Pollard
(Based on Matt 5:1-12)
As I re-read the Beatitudes, I saw them as a checklist that I really couldn’t tick off! What was I supposed to make of them? What was I supposed to do about them?
Noted Anglican theologian NT (Tom) Wright once said in a sermon, “The beatitudes of Jesus tell us that all the wrong people are going to be blessed; they are counter-intuitive. God is turning everything upside down.”
The ‘Beatitudes’, verses 3-11 of today’s Gospel reading, are part of the Sermon on the Mount. Another commentator has explained that in this sermon Jesus is telling us how to be happy. Each of the verses we heard today start with “God blesses those who . . .” Some translations have recorded it as, “Happy are those who . . .”
To amplify that point, the Good News Bible translation lists the Beatitudes as follows:
* Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
* Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!
* Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised!
* Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!
* Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them!
* Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God!
* Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children!
* Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
* Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers.
If this teaching, the first that Jesus delivers, according to Matthew, deals with our happiness, does any of it make sense? What has persecution to do with happiness? How could it produce blessings?
Well, blessed are those who pay attention, for they will not be bored! Not in the Bible version, but a truth none-the-less!
Let’s run through each of these eight blessings and see what they mean and how we can benefit from them.
God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
This beatitude is referring to those who are poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is not to lack intelligence or confidence; it is to know our need for God. It is to come with empty hands, without pretence, pride or self-reliance. In a world that prizes self-sufficiency, Jesus says the Kingdom belongs to those who know they cannot save themselves. This we can think about as the entry point into all the other Beatitudes: humility before God.
A Christian life, a faith walk, does not begin with strength, but with surrender.
Many of us value being capable, self-sufficient and not making a fuss, our Kiwi “she’ll be right” attitude. But being poor in spirit is the courage to say, like a farmer after a tough season or a small business owner after a run of losses, “I can’t do this on my own.” For us, faith often begins when we admit we need help, from God and from one another. We are opening ourselves, truthfully, to God.
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Mourning includes not just personal grief but also sorrow over sin, injustice, and a broken world. Jesus blesses those who refuse to numb their pain or deny reality. God’s comfort is not some superficial reassurance; it is the deep consolation of God-with-us. In Christ, God enters our suffering and promises resurrection. Having faith doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine, it means bringing our fears, and tears, to God.
Look at what has been taking place at Mt Maunganui this last week. The various communities affected by the disaster have gathered at marae, schools, churches – and at the disaster site – to grieve together. Jesus blesses this honest mourning. God’s comfort is often experienced through shared grief, quiet presence, shared meals, and practical care.
God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
The humble are often described as the meek. But meekness is not to be interpreted as weakness. Rather, it is more like strength under control. It is a quiet trust in God, rather than in force or domination. The world encourages us to take power or gain the upper hand. Jesus says, trust God. And the humble inherit the earth because God vindicates them. As Christians we follow a King who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a warhorse.
Think of the best All Black you can. I bet if we analysed why we had each selected our choice, the common themes would include not just being respected for their skill or on-field leadership, but for their humility, discipline, and putting the team first. Humility looks like leadership that serves, not dominates. In God’s kingdom, quiet faithfulness often shapes the future more than loud power.
On this note, just so you know, I chose Eroni Clarke, named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the New Year honours.
I first encountered Eroni in person when he visited our school promoting reading, and a whole lot more! His impact with the children was huge. His message went much deeper than simply getting involved in reading. He offered encouragement to live worthwhile lives. Suffice to say, he moved me too!
Move ahead 30 odd years, and our paths crossed again when we attended Life Church in Manukau, where Eroni is one of the prayer team. A humble, quiet leader who serves God and his faith community, and I believe still shapes futures.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
This is a deep craving for God’s justice, goodness, and righteousness in our lives, and in the world. It is not complacent faith but passionate desire. God’s promises do not bring frustration, but fulfilment. What we long for most deeply, God longs to give. So, we might ask ourselves, what do we hunger for most? Comfort, or God’s Kingdom? Maybe think over some of your recent prayers!
Many Kiwis have a strong sense of fairness, wanting everyone to get a ‘fair go’. When we grieve over housing and wage inequality, child poverty, or environmental damage to land and waterways, we are touching this Beatitude. Hungering for righteousness means praying and working for a society that reflects God’s justice and care for Creation, for all.
God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Mercy is love in action. It is choosing forgiveness over revenge, compassion over indifference. Those who have received God’s mercy become channels of it. This is not earning God’s mercy, but reflecting it. After all, we can’t cling to grudges and still live freely in grace.
There have been several contentious issues in our town that have caused splits, within families and the wider community. We know in our small community how these conflicts can linger and fester for years. Mercy, then, may mean taking the first step toward reconciliation. It could be as simple as having a cuppa with someone, offering an apology, or choosing not to pass on gossip. These ordinary acts reflect God’s extraordinary mercy.
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Purity of heart is about integrity and focused devotion, not moral perfection. It is a heart aligned with God, rather than one divided by conflicting loyalties. Pure hearts see God not just in the eternal, but recognise God’s presence in the everyday, right now.
What competes for our deepest loyalty? Life is busy. So many competing facets. Sport, work demands, screens intruding everywhere, family dramas. Purity of heart may be choosing faithfulness over our busyness, setting aside time for worship, prayer, and resisting the pressure to let success or comfort become our ultimate goal.
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Peacemakers do more than avoid conflict; they work for reconciliation, justice and healing. This is costly work, and it reflects the heart of God. Remember, Jesus made peace through the cross, and called us to follow. Have you been in situations where you are aware that tensions exist or are building? Did you think about high-tailing it out of there? Or did you try defusing the situation in some way? This is working for peace. Where might God be calling us to be bridge-builders and relationship menders now?
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Living by Jesus’s values will sometimes (and you may say, ‘will often’) bring opposition. Opposition is persecution in this instance. Think about the Christians around the world who are not meeting in churches today, hiding out instead and living under threat, just like the followers of The Way we heard about last week.
Well, the Good News is, theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus repeats the first Beatitude promise. Faithfulness is the mark of Kingdom life. We are called to be faithful, not to be popular.
* * *
As we have whizzed through the Beatitudes, attentively of course, did you notice that God’s blessings, the things he says will bring us happiness, are found in character, not in possessions? Every one of the Beatitudes deals with something that is internal, not external; something you are, not something you have.
I said earlier, a Christian life does not begin with strength, but with surrender. If you, like me, are wondering how likely you are to receive the blessings the Beatitudes offer, this I believe is an answer. God never asks us to do or be something that is not possible. God never makes his Word, his promises, or his challenges unattainable. God never directs us into dead-ends. God always provides the means. But we must turn to him. You can’t practice the Beatitudes without God. These Beatitudes are not natural for us. We need God to instil them into us and direct us. We need to look to God to help us. And, through his grace, he will.
God prepares us for what lies ahead. Friday’s Word for Today provided a great explanation of how that works, and it fits well with our theme today. I’ll read it:
Every experience in our past prepares us for a future opportunity. God doesn’t redeem only our souls; he also redeems our experiences, both good and bad. He does it by refining our character, developing our gifts and teaching lessons we can’t learn any other way. We learn the most important lessons in the classroom of life through first-hand experience. The tests are challenging, but no curriculum is more effective. And how you pass the test is by growing in character, developing the gift or learning the lesson God is trying to teach you through that experience.
God is at work in your life. He is helping you get ready for your date with destiny. And he is doing it in ways that are practically imperceptible. David realised that slaying the lion and the bear prepared him to bring down Goliath (1 Samuel 17:37). And it’s not until you face your biggest challenge that God identifies how, when and where he prepared you. That’s when you realise that the battle was won long before you stood on the battlefield.
It was necessary for Moses to tend sheep for forty years before he could lead the flock of Israel. The disciples had to fish for fish before they could fish for men. A time of preparation precedes every divine appointment. And if we surrender to the preparation, God will execute his promise. If we don’t, he won’t. This is because God never sets us up to fail. The time you spend in the shadows is preparing you for the time when you will be in the limelight. The time you spend on the sidelines is preparing you to be on the front lines – and win.
On top of that, this week I came across these verses from Titus, chapter 2. The verses provide an excellent summary of how God’s grace helps us:
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Verses 11-14)
Don’t be fooled into thinking that we are being encouraged to do good works to earn these blessings. We should clarify that Jesus is not saying if we live like this, following these blessings (Beatitudes) as directives, that we will become good Christians (Christ-followers). That’s not how it works. What he is saying is, because you are a Christian, you can live like this. And the benefits will be happiness.
When Tom Wright said, “God is turning everything upside down,” he is not wrong. “Those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first,” found later in Matthew’s Gospel, emphasises that God’s kingdom reverses worldly, earthly standards of status and success. Humility, service, and spiritual faith are more valued than earthly power or wealth.
“The Beatitudes, in fact, paint a portrait of Jesus himself, and the sort of life he offers us. They don’t describe how to earn God’s blessing, but what life looks like when God reigns.
“His is an upside-down kingdom, where grace comes before achievement, where weakness becomes strength, and where the cross leads to resurrection.” (Dr Colin S. Smith, The Orchard Evangelical Free Church)
So, as I reflect on the Beatitudes from now on, I will hear and feel the words of Jesus, not as a burden but as an invitation. My prayer is that we all do.
In the Beatitudes Jesus is simply saying, “Blessed are you.”
stfrancischurchtairuanz 