Read
The Sermon on the Mount
1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down.
Blessings
(Luke 6.20-23)
Jesus' disciples gathered around him, 2and he taught them:
3God blesses those people
who depend only on him.
They belong to the kingdom
of heaven!
4 God blesses those people
who grieve.
They will find comfort!
5 God blesses those people
who are humble.
The earth will belong
to them!
6 God blesses those people
who want to obey him
more than to eat or drink.
They will be given
what they want!
7God blesses those people
who are merciful.
They will be treated
with mercy!
8 God blesses those people
whose hearts are pure.
They will see him!
9God blesses those people
who make peace.
They will be called
his children!
10 God blesses those people
who are treated badly
for doing right.
They belong to the kingdom
of heaven.
11 God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. 12 Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.
Reflect
It is a common way, if being in many cultures, to wish a person God’s blessing when they sneeze. A practice of uncertain historic origin, it may derive from the attempt to quell the bubonic plague or it may have found it’s roots in a sense that something of one’s soul departs a person when they sneeze. In any case, to this day it is considered polite to wish a person blessing and not cursing whenever they are sneezing.
So what does blessing look like?
People often say they have been blessed when they reflect on good things in their lives. Having experienced success in work, in life, in marriage, they might say, “I have been blessed”, though the source of such blessing is not always quite so evident.
Jesus catalogue of blessing at the beginning of his mountainside sermon, might suggest a slightly different focus. Blessed are the poor, the mournful, and the meek. Blessed are the hungry and the thirsty, the poor and the persecuted, he says to us.
The difference describes a different set of values, the ones that count in God’s kingdom. In God’s economy, blessing is found in the struggle and even in the loss. Blessing is known not so much in the accumulation of plenty, but in the absence of it.
This is of course, not for the sake of loss or discomfort. But the blessing is found in what is gained through the experience. The poor in spirit gain the kingdom. The hungry gain righteousness. The mourning gain comfort. So rejoice and be glad because great is our reward in heaven.
In the suffering, and even in the sneezing, we learn to rest in God’s presence and provision. We learn to appreciate his purposes. We learn to our surprise that we are blessed.
Respond
Dear Lord, It is good to be grateful for the good things you have given. Help me also to see blessing in the hard things that you bring. Help me to be joyful in every situation, knowing your kingdom will come, and your people will know the blessing you have for them. Amen.
Kenton Anderson
Kent is President of Northwest Baptist Seminary and Professor of Homiletics at ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University. His most recent book is Integrative Preaching (Baker 2017). He is also a columnist with Preaching magazine. Kent and his wife Karen, a chaplain, have three adult children and three grandchildren, and live in Vancouver, BC.