Matthew 4:23-5:12 Hope Mennonite Church September 17, 2017 “Showers of Blessing” () #1 The Be-attitudes How many of you at some point memorized the Beatitudes—raise your hands? As a child in

Sunday School, I received a little fold-out booklet. It had the Ten Commandments one side and the

Beatitudes on the other.

Beatitude means “blessing.” pronounces nine of them, nine Beatitudes—a whole series of blessings.

The Beatitudes are the introduction to a long section of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew 5-7 are known as the . That’s because Jesus goes up on a mountain, and, like a good rabbi, sits down to teach the people.

For Anabaptist congregations like us, Matthew 5-7 is the gem in the crown of Jesus’ teaching.

And that’s because of our particular understanding of these chapters.

Not all Christians take the Sermon on the Mount the same way. Some believe the SoM speaks about life in an ideal future time; a time ahead when God will have made all things right. At that future time, enemies will be friends; no one will worry about food or clothing; whoever asks will receive, whoever searches will find, for whomever knocks, the door will be opened. People will do to others as they would have others due to them. For these Christians, the Sermon on the Mount is a prediction.

Another understanding of the SoM comes from the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Luther wondered, “How can anyone possibly do some of the things Jesus taught here? How can anyone turn the other cheek, never utter an angry word, never think a lustful thought?” For Luther, that was impossible. But he said even more. Luther said that the SoM was intended to be impossible. That way we would realize how lost we are and throw ourselves upon God’s mercy. For Luther, the SoM was a pathway to God’s grace.

And then there are the Anabaptists, like us. Anabaptists understand the SoM neither as impossible nor as a description of the future. Instead, even though Jesus’ teachings are very difficult to follow, we believe he intended us to do exactly what he says. The SoM is a plan of action. And 2 indeed, at the end of the Sermon Jesus says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into action will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” (Matthew 7:24)

Well, that’s how the SoM ends. Here’s how it begins: [Katie comes forward and does

Matthew 4:23-5:2. Then Dave follows with Matthew 5:3-12].

The Beatitudes are a curious beginning for Jesus’ most famous occasion of instruction. Only in the very last verse of the Beatitudes passage does Jesus give actual instructions. This introduction to Jesus’ major block of teaching, contains almost no explicit teaching. That’s surprising. As a whole, the Beatitudes don’t tell us what to do. What they do tell us, is what to receive. When Jesus finally tells us something to do, in that very last verse of the Beatitudes passage, the instruction is to rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted. And that’s surprising in the extreme!

Jesus’ Beatitudes have two audiences. One audience is a bounded set, namely, Jesus’ followers who are gathered to hear his teaching. The second audience is an unbounded set. It comprises anyone to whom the description applies. So, Jesus is addressing anyone and everyone who is meek, mourning, or merciful—whoever they are! They all receive Jesus’ blessing. Jesus showers his blessings broadly and generously, like rain on a field, like rice on a wedding party.

Of course, as Jesus showers his blessings, their effect depends on where they land. For those who are striving to be pure in heart or peacemakers, Jesus’ words offer encouragement. But for those who create persecution or poverty of spirit, Jesus’ words imply a warning and a judgment.

Jesus’ blessings fall on two audiences—his disciples and anyone to whom the descriptions apply. Therefore, his words are both centering and panoramic. They identify his followers and they connect his followers to the world they are called to love.

And there is more. Jesus blesses precisely the people whom the world around us does not bless. Jesus blesses not the robust but the impoverished in spirit; not the joyful but the mournful; not the assertive but the gentle; not those who are right with God but those who hunger and thirst to 3 be right with God; not the victors but the peacemakers. Jesus blesses those whom the world does not bless.

And so, the Beatitudes illustrate the strange upside-down nature of God’s kingdom which

Jesus announces. And they do more than just illustrate. Jesus’ blessings re-create the world the way God wants it to be.

Indeed, Jesus’ blessings call us to become God’s new world … a new world, planted but not fully grown, a new world present but visible to those with the eyes of faith. You and I are living in that tension … the tension of the in-between-ness of God’s reign—the in-between-ness—after its start but before its completion.

So, how do we begin to live as pioneers of God’s new world, which is here but not yet?

Imagine that on top of this board are metal shavings. And imagine in this hand I have a magnet. When I bring the magnet close enough, what will happen to the metal shavings? They will turn and align themselves with the magnetic field.

The Beatitudes are like that. They are like a magnet that exerts a pull on us. The Beatitudes draw us to align ourselves with the strange new power of God’s reign and the strange new people on whom Jesus’ blessings fall. Jesus’ blessings help us turn in God’s direction. And as we do, we become part of God’s plan, part of Jesus’ shower of blessings.

Friends, the Beatitudes are not commands. Neither are they well-wishes. Jesus’ blessings are an act of creation, re-creating the world the way God wants it to be.

As NT Wright says, “The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the of Jesus, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: To follow Jesus into the new world, God’s new world, which God has thrown open before us”

(Simply Christian, 237). 4 How is God drawing you to turn your life in the direction of God’s energy? Blessed are you who align your lives with God’s new world that is on its

Elements of Worship

Last added: 9/18/17 Last printed: 9/18/17

Hymn #230 “Blessed are the persecuted”

Hymn “Blest are they”

Printed words in hymnal:

Blessed are the persecuted, for Jesus Christ is living within them. Blessed are they who are hungry, in Spirit, for lives within them. Blessed are the pure in heart, for Jesus Christ is living within them. Blessed are they who are thirsty, in spirit, for the Lord lives within them.

Additional words (Dave Stevens):

Blessed are the mournful people, for Jesus Christ will give them his comfort. Blessed are the meek and lowly, for the whole earth belongs to them always. Blessed are those who show mercy, for God in heaven grants them his mercy. Rejoice people, rejoice people, for Jesus Christ gives to you his blessing.

Call to Worship August 2, 2015*

Leader 1: O God, we come together today with wants. Leader 2: And we come in need of transformation. Leader 1: We want so much to belong. All: Teach us to accept. Leader 2: We want to be close-knit. All: Teach us to reach out. Leader 1: We want a place where we are welcome. All: Teach us to open our arms. Leader 2: We want mercy. All: Teach us to forgive. Leader 1: We want beauty. All: Teach us honesty. Leader 2: We want peace. All: Teach us bridge-building. Leader 1: We want truth. All: Show us the way to question our unquestionable convictions. Leader 2: We want joy. All: Show us the way of deeper commitment. Leader 1: We want life. All: Show us how to give ourselves away.