Fellow-Redeemed
in Christ Jesus our Savior,
What younger child appreciates “hand me
downs?” An older brother or sister outgrows a piece of clothing, then hands it
down so the next child in the family can wear it for a while, and on down the
line. At the same time, it might be a piece of clothing we always admired and
desired. We are happy to get it.
There is usually no reticence or hesitation
to accept another kind of hand me down we call an inheritance; especially if
that inheritance is a large sum of money. You may have to wear hand me downs for
a time, but in the end, the reward is great.
Jesus’ Beatitudes are about hand me downs and
inheritance. Jesus lists the blessings we disciples share with the disciples. The
unbelieving world may consider them time worn and ugly. We wear those blessings
gladly because they have come down to us from believers who have gone before us
in the kingdom of God. We think they are
great. With those believers, we are part of our heavenly Father’s family.
Those blessings include spiritual humility,
grief over transgressions, exhibiting mercy and purity of life, being
persecuted and insulted for being a follower of Jesus. Through the Spirit, we
recognize these as perfectly good things to wear. We also trust that one day we
will receive our glorious inheritance.
Jesus is not here giving people a code of
behavior by which one becomes ready for Jesus to accept him or her as a
disciple. Jesus is identifying the blessings he gives us through his authority
and compassion as he calls us to discipleship. We can expect the Blessings We Share With Those Who Have Gone
Before Us. They are blessings that are perfectly good. They are blessings
that lead to great reward in heaven.
The Beatitudes picture Jesus’ disciple both
as receiving from God in total passivity and as caught up into the motion of
God who acts. We move so vigorously and decisively in our discipleship the
Messiah gives, that we end up suffering persecution just as Jesus did.
An ungrateful, proud and selfish person will
despise such new clothes. Such a person neither loves the Giver nor appreciates
the gift. Faith and recognition do not come naturally to our ungrateful hearts.
Jesus’ call creates gratitude. This is why we pray with King David, “Create
in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”[Psalm
51:10]
The first four Beatitudes are a unit. Christ
is promising and giving to those who have nothing and need everything all the
things that answer our every need. “They will be filled.” The last four
Beatitudes also are a unit. In their promises, Jesus brings into our view the
Last Judgment and the new world of the kingdom God he has created by his royal
action. “They will see God. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What are
the articles of our Christian clothing we share with those who have gone before
us?
The first group includes those who are “Poor
in spirit…who mourn… who are meek…and who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” The unbelieving world looks upon us as
ragamuffins worthy of disdain and insult. Who wants to wear repentance and
grief over transgressions? Who would want to wear a willingness to set self
aside for loving service to others? Why would one crave another’s righteousness
rather than trust in my own goodness?
The second group includes those who are “merciful…pure
in heart…are peacemakers…and who are persecuted, insulted, and suffer all kinds
of evil” because of our connection to Jesus Christ. Again, the world asks in disbelief, “Why show
mercy, that’s weakness? Why worry about a pure heart, who cares about
motivation? Make peace when I can seek revenge, nonsense.” Such thoughts and
behavior deserve persecution, insult and all kinds of evil, the world says. We
look at those things as blessings, as treasured hand me downs from our Savior
to his disciples who have gone before us, to us.
Jesus mentions the prophets who now have
their estate in heaven because they would not forsake God and his Word. The
Beatitudes are blessings that lead to a great reward in heaven.
Listen again to Jesus’ promise: “Rejoice
and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.” For example, one of King
Jehu’s men asked him this question about the prophet Elisha, “Why did this
madman come to you?” [2 Kings 9:11] So much for respect for God’s spokesman!
Martin Luther said this about Jesus’ words
here concerning the prophets. “So Christ
is equipping and preparing his Christians to live and suffer in this
world…Every Christian should be ready at all times to take a stand, by himself,
if necessary, to confess his Lord and to represent his faith, always being
armed against the world, the devil, the sects, and whatever else may be lined
up against him.”
Were we tear off our hand me downs, our
blessings we share with those who have gone before us, we would be leaving the
family of God. Then, we would also lose our on our promised inheritance in
heaven. Now we can rejoice and be glad even under the greatest duress in that
knowledge of what awaits us there. We have seen our older brothers and sisters
in Christ follow the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who did not give up but
endured. Together with him, they and we enjoy the reward of grace.
We turn our attention briefly to the Apostle
Paul’s words to the Corinthians in our second lesson. They support Jesus’
Beatitudes. The unbelieving world looks at us as foolish, weak, and lowly. They
cannot understand that our boast is only in Christ’s righteousness and
redemption. However, our God uses us to bring shame on the world’s false
accusations. He nullifies their attacks on us and on the way we live for Christ.
Jesus is a true preacher of the Word of God as
our perfect Prophet. He goes to the top of the mountain and vigorously opens
his mouth to speak the Beatitudes. We students of the Master, his brothers and
sisters also, listen intently so we do not become confused about what it means
to be a child of God. It means we are dressed in the very best even if they are
hand me downs. Amen. <SDG>