The Beatitudes

Matt 5:1-13

The Inner BEing

BE of Discipleship
ATTITUDES of the Kingdom
 What is it?
 the essential qualities,
actions, and attitudes of
Christian Living
 Offer the paradoxical
promises which sustain
hope in our tribulations
 announce the blessings
and rewards
 What is a paradox?
 something (such as a
situation) that is made up
of two opposite things and
that seems impossible but
is actually true or possible
 a statement that seems to
say two opposite things
but that may be true
 Examples of paradox?
 the enemy of my enemy
is my friend
 the only constant is
change
 the more you give, the
more you get
The Context of the Be Happy’s

 Defining values (e.g. Lifestyle)

 Defining universals
 Drawing on the wisdom
of the sages of Israel,
each beatitude from the
Old Testament
The Disciplines of Jesus
 Like facets of a diamond
 These are used as a basis
for ethics
 Impossible except for the
indwelling Spirit
 Do you know the
overwhelming presence or
are you blocked up?
 Each beatitude includes:
A blessing or a curse
 A description of the character of God’s “godly
poor”
 A promise
 Matthew 5:3-12
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
5 Blessed are the meek,
6 Blessed are they who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,
7 Blessed are the merciful,
8 Blessed are the pure of heart,
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
10 Blessed are those who are
persecuted because of
righteousness,
11 Blessed are you when people
- insult you and persecute you and
12 falsely say all kinds of evil against
you because of me.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
for they will be comforted.
for they will inherit the land.
for they will be satisfied.
for they will be shown mercy.
for they will see God.
for they will be called children of God.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward
will be great in heaven.
Luke 6:20-26 Blessings…
 "Blessed are you who are poor, for the
kingdom of God is yours.
 Blessed are you who are now hungry, for
you will be satisfied.
 Blessed are you who are now weeping, for
you will laugh.
 Blessed are you when people hate you, and
when they exclude and insult you, and
denounce your name as evil on account of
the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on
that day! Behold, your reward will be great in
heaven. For their ancestors treated the
prophets in the same way.
…and Woes
•High Salary
 But woe to you who are rich,
•Dining Out
for you have received your
consolation. Sumptuously
•A Partying Lifestyle
 But woe to you who are filled
now, for you will be hungry. •Honoured Professions
 Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep. How would Jesus view
 Woe to you when all men shall them?
speak well of you, for their
ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way."
 The Poor in Spirit
At home in
Tatalon

 Luke says, “Blessed are you poor”

 This was an economic class, the labouring poor
 Out of their poverty they responded to God
 The term had developed during the prophetic period
as Israel had urbanised, and the society polarised
between the oppressive rich and the oppressed poor.
 It has nothing to do with rich people who have a
poverty of spirit.
 The opposite of poverty of spirit
is the spirit of the rich.
 The rich are always right.
 They are independent of others and of God.
 They have a sense of power and control.
 The poor in spirit have an internal poverty,
 They are people who depend on God,
 recognising their spiritual need,
 their lack of spirituality,
 their frailty.
Is poverty blessed?
 No, the poor are blessed –
those poor who respond to God
 The Conundrum (Luke 6)
 Poverty is a curse
 The poor are blessed
 Riches are a blessing
 But the rich are cursed
 The beatitudes are an
expansion of the
blessings on the
godly poor.
 Blessed are those
who mourn…
 God weeps, God sits where
men and women sit, where
people hurt. He dwelt (e.g. Tumbakan).
 The dying disciple wears
sackcloth in their heart for the
sins of his/her people.
 They cry over the slave trade in
Manila,
 over the putrid stench of the
alcoholic in their arms
 over the pain of the childless
orphans of Rwanda.
 They pour out their soul for Wailing- Bernard Hinds
the hungry (Isa 58:10).
Blessed are the meek…
 Meekness dies to power
and chooses powerlessness.
 You cannot put the meek down
for they have chosen the bottom.
 The steel of the inner is
tempered by the compassion of
a gentle and quiet spirit in
outward relationships.
 Like sponge rubber on the outside
and steel in the backbone
 Women like this are beautiful
before God (1 Pet 3:4).
 (e.g. fetching water)

Humility - M (Feuerteufel)
by Karin Kuhlmann (Germany)
…they shall inherit the earth
 The meek person does not have to fight for his own
rights.
 They have chosen not to have rights.
 Such powerless people are the ones who are truly powerful.
 This is the central character of a successful missionary.
 The meek can cross any barrier.
 These are those who inherit the earth.
 From one small obedience stepping into a slum, come
the hundreds of works – this is our inheritance, 1000’s –
if we would choose the downwards path.
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness
 Meekness is weakness without the burning
desire for truth and God.
 This hunger is not a hunger for knowledge but for
knowledge in action – a commitment to action for
justice
 Righteousness is not just vertical
 It is both dying to self-righteousness and trusting
in the righteousness of God.
 It is also a hunger for holiness
e.g. land rights consultation
Blessed are the merciful
 Mercy balances the drive for righteousness
 Itis death to cruelty, the harsh word, the rigid
hardness that blames others, demands from others
 A tenderness
 that easily forgets and forbears, daily choosing to
forgive (Eph 4:32)
 It walks softly among the bruised souls of mankind
(Prov 15:1; Isa 42:3).
Blessed are the pure in heart
 The heart is the inner shrine,
the temple of God
 The pure heart is fixed on
God alone, undivided
 By desires to please self
 By courting the approval of
others
 By the cares of owning and
buying and selling
 By the delight in a wife,
husband, family
 By pride of position
 These do not steal away that
pure devotion to him (1 John
2:15,16)
Blessed are the peacemakers
 The cross is a cross of pro-active
reconciliation
 Peacemakers are able to speak
the truth in love or
 They are not peaceful people
watching television
 They enter into conflict when it
solves the sins that destroy
people and communities.
(e.g. Raineer)
Blessed are the persecuted
 We are hated
 Friends are irritated by our goodness
 Families hate those who choose poverty and
powerlessness, it goes against their goals for success
 Communities hate us: A pure love for Jesus is deeply
offensive to those who love self and darkness
(e.g. CIA or Marxist)
 Politicians seek to destroy those who would destroy their
oppressions
 Yet we always rejoice and overcome the hatred of our
closest friends and families with love (II Cor 6:10)
And the promises
From righteous poverty to ….
 The Kingdom of heaven
 From pain to comfort
 From meek response to opression to inheriting the earth
 From oppression and injustice, they will be filled with
righteousness, see the transformation of the nations
 From cruel slavery, they will find mercy, forgiveness
 They will see God, the centre of the Kingdom
 They will be adopted as sons and daughters
 Persecuted but theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
Rich man, poor man…

 Can we be rich externally

and poor in spirit?
 Jesus chose poverty in
birth, life and death, laying
aside his wealth.
Internal External
 He asks us to follow.
Poverty Poverty
 Flee earthly riches

Internal ?External
Humility Humility