Beatitudes: The Good Life - 15 Nov Sunday Service (Matt Hogg)

 

Isn’t it about time for some good news? These last few months have been challenging, the headlines just seem to pile layer upon layer of sadness, anger, disappointment and worry. Whilst we might look for distraction, what we really need is good news, wonderful news. Jesus began his ministry by declaring wonderful news for those least likely to receive it, reading from the scroll of Isaiah, “good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, set the oppressed free, to declare the year of the Lord’s favour.”

 

The ‘beatitudes’ serve as an announcement of the kingdom of God, which is an upside down kingdom where the first are last, and here through the introduction to the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples what he means by Good News and shares eight accounts of who the truly blessed are. It’s a surprising list! Jesus declares wonderful news to people who aren’t seen as being blessed - those in the margins. The beatitudes describe the state of a kingdom person’s heart, revealing the present and future blessings which are connected with this kingdom. We are heirs to the kingdom, and we receive inheritance in full in the future. As we live these attitudes out, we become good news, signs of God’s kingdom, evidence of God’s presence and work in a world that desperately needs some good news.

 

A beatitude is a wisdom saying of Jesus; the promise of every beatitude is a present and a future fulfilment. Each one begins with the Greek work markos, which means “the blessed ones.” The order of them is also significant as each builds on what has gone before. These are not virtues to pursue but blessings to accept, not things you can work for, these are states of being. What connects each beatitude is that these are all attitudes that create space for God to fill.