Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This passage is called the beatitudes.

The Beatitudes serve as the prologue to the Sermon on the Mount, which spans chapters 5-7 of Matthew’s Gospel.

The Greek word we normally translate as ‘blessed’ is makarios.

It is an interesting word for it really contains the sense of the Hebrew word ‘shalom’, an inner peace and contentedness which then manifests itself as happiness and joy.

If lasting happiness could be found in having material things and in being able to indulge ourselves in whatever we wanted, then most of us should be delirious with joy and happy beyond description.

We should be producing books and poems that describe our state of unparalleled bliss.

Our literature and art should rival that of the ancient Greeks and Romans and Renaissance craftsmen.

Instead we find those who have “things” trying to get more of them, for no apparent reason other than to have more.

We find high rates of divorce, suicide, depression, child abuse, and other personal and social problems beyond description.

But, said Jesus, if you are mourning, or meek, or merciful, or pure in heart, then you are blessed now, whether you experience it as such or not.

They provide us with a glimpse of what the world would be like if God’s promised future were fully brought into the present.

The Beatitudes disclose to us that the universe does not ultimately belong to the super-spiritual, the “thick-skinned”, the supremely confident, the self-serving, the ruthless, and the persecutors.

It belongs to the least amongst us because they are the ones about whom God is most concerned.

The Gospels teach us that the kingdom of God is not just a future reality, but a present one as well if we are yielded to God.

God’s promised future of a transformed heaven is a reality that can be now.

In Christ, eternity has broken through.

We are called to be merciful, be pure, be peacemakers, be light for Christ.

The blessedness belong to those who are not like the rest of the world.

Only Christians can be sons of God..so let us look at each of these blessed statements to see what we can glean from them:

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

What is the biblical understanding of the word ‘poor’?

It is someone who relies upon another in order to live.

Someone, therefore, who is poor in spirit is someone utterly dependent upon God.

This is a humble person, a person who knows they cannot make it on their own.

They do not portray themselves as a spiritual giant but are very aware that no good thing exists in the flesh.

These are not self-made people but desire the image of God to be imprinted on them; to be like Jesus.

Being poor in Spirit is to be very wealthy.

Paul speaks of this:

We are richer than the richest man who does not have Christ.

And we have a message that can make people experience the same blessing as us for if we and others come to Christ we can say:

Blessed are those who mourn.

The word ‘mourn’ here is the strongest sense of the word.

It has the sense of someone who is really crying for the loss of a loved one who had died.

These are people who see sin for what it is.

They know godly sorrow for sin.

They are utterly appalled when they see it.

They suffer when they see it in the world, the injustices get right to their heart, the perversions of laws set against God leads them to mourn; to lament.

They know that a broken and contrite heart is not turned away by God.

They draw comfort from knowing that one day justice will be done but also that justice has been done on their behalf through Jesus becoming sin for them that they might be the righteousness of God.

Blessed are the meek.

Tonight’s sermon has been changed to talk more about this subject and, God willing, we will look at this more fully.

Meekness and gentleness are synonyms.

It is a controlled spirit, it is not anger, it is not complacency but somewhere between.

Meekness has often been considered to be weak but actually it is a source of strength.

It does not fit with business models but with the model of the Church…it is God’s people, who in the end, will gain the earth when Christ comes to reign rather than those who consider themselves strong.

We are weak but He is strong.

Our strength to be meek is found in trusting Him.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

These are those who seek God.

They want to be right with God.

They know they have been made right with God but they know that they have not yet made it.

They are fully aware that although their position with God is right their lives do not yet match God’s perfect standard.

They seek this for themselves and also for others.

They want to see the whole Church come to perfection.

And one day, it will actually happen.

Their desires will be met.

Blessed are the merciful.

We have been accepted and loved and received as we are despite our appalling sinfulness.

We have been shown mercy.

We were not shown mercy because we already were merciful but, as a result, just as in the parable of the forgiven servant we, too, are to forgive and show mercy to others.

We’ve experienced God’s grace and it is incumbent upon us to show grace.

We are warned, though, by James that if we do not show mercy we, also, will not be shown mercy.

Jesus said if we do not forgive we will not be forgiven.

This is what we pray every Sunday: Forgive me as I forgive others.

Mercy, though, is more than this.

It is suffering with those who suffer, identifying ourselves with others, placing ourselves in their shoes.

This, after all, was what Jesus did for us.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

To be pure is to be single-hearted, without mix.

We cannot serve two masters; we cannot be self-seeking and God-seeking at the same time; we cannot be wanting possessions and gathering treasure for heaven; we cannot be worldly and heavenly; nor can we, said Jesus, be serving money and God.

Be pure in heart is to be a person of integrity.

The word integrity comes from integral which means whole.

Whole hearted, whole minded, wholly dedicated.

Such should all those who claim to be Christians be and all such will see God.

All these blessed statements get to the root of our motives.

The ‘why’ we do the things we do.

Appearances can be deceptive but our hearts cannot be hid from God.

How we seem to others can be a mask especially for Christians.

It is said

there are three temptations: the first, the temptation to shine; the second, the temptation to whine; and the third, the temptation to recline.

But, again, we can only be pure because God makes us pure:

Now we can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in the Holy Place not of our wonderful goodness but because of the blood of Jesus making us righteous in His sight.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

We are to make peace.

The emphasis is on ‘make’.

Jesus showed us how this was to be done:

Our feet are shod with the Gospel of peace.

The sons of God, therefore, are those who bring this message of peace to others.

Peace in the heart is of first importance.

Long-lasting peace of other kinds is not attainable without individual lives being changed.

We have remembered today the loss of life especially of WWI yet this war did not maintain peace for we had yet another World War and many wars and conflicts since.

For us to make peace we need to be seeking the peace of others, to be seeking their highest good.

It is about bringing peace to two parties which are in conflict; first between man and God or rather God and man, and secondly, between two people or peoples.

It is to look for avenues of peace when war seems to be the only option.

But sacrifice may be the only way to achieve it as Jesus proved.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

I’ve said before how good works can be misconstrued.

This should be a surprise.

Jesus, who was absolutely good, was persecuted and crucified.