Pathway to Blessing - Intro

Read: Matthew 5:1-12

Last Friday, I delivered a round of Meals On Wheels with my two daughters, since they didn’t have school for the week. If was fun. I encourage any of you who are looking for a way to serve the elderly people in the community, sign up to be a Meals On Wheels volunteer.
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Talking about Meals On Wheels, it reminds me of a story of tree mice that died and went to heaven by God’s grace. One day an angel of God saw them worn out and panting for breath. So the angel stopped and asked the mice what was going on with them or whether they didn’t enjoy heaven. They said, “Oh, dear angel, heaven is very nice and beautiful, but it is too big for our little feet to run all over to see all the wonderful creation of the Lord.” The angel asked God’s permission to give each of them a set of roller skates, and they enjoy them very much, and rolled about all over heaven.

A few weeks later, three cats arrived in heaven by God’s grace, and one day the angel saw them warn out and panting for breath. So the angel asked what was going on with them and whether they didn’t enjoy heaven. They said, “Oh, dear angel, we definitely enjoy heaven and all the wonderful creation of God. The only problem is that the heaven is so big that we are just worn out by those three little meals on wheels!”
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Serving as a volunteer for Meals On Wheel, you will find your life greatly enriched by these elderly people because it forces you to think about life, aging, hunger, and death. I used to deliver on a route of twelve elderly people. One after another passed away and there were only six left last month. This moth they signed up six new people, so it became twelve again, but when I delivered to them yesterday, three of them were missing.

Life is very short and fragile. A hundred year on earth is just a blink of eyes, especially if you compare it with the eternity that we are going to spend on the other side of this life. Sophie and I were watching the Winter Olympic yesterday, and when they announced the ages of those people, mostly in the early twenties and some are still teenagers, we suddenly realized that we are already double the age of those kids. Forty some years just flew by in a blink of eyes and within another blink of eyes we will be on the receiving end of the Meals On Wheels. The question I want to ask you this morning is, “How are you going to use your life?” Traditionally, at the Chinese New Year, people will ask for blessing. Actually, people from all cultures often come to church to ask God to bless them for what they are doing. I think there is a better way to get blessed. It is to do what God is already blessing rather than asking God to bless what you are doing.

During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln was found restless before an important battle. A deputation of Southerners tried to calm him, “Mr. President, let us pray that God is on our side.” But Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.” The question is how to be on God’s side.

Because we are fallen beings—we are in total depravity—what we are doing may not be according to God’s will most of the time. In that case, asking God to bless what we are doing will never happen. So, the best way to live a blessed life is to know what God is blessing and do what God is already blessing.

This morning and for the next ten weeks, we are going to learn what God is blessing and try to jump on God’s bandwagon and learn to live doing what God is already blessing. Jesus started his ministry by revealing what God is blessing. The passage we read today is at the very outset of his first sermon after calling the disciples, known as the Sermon On the Mount. He revealed eight things that God blesses. By the way, the number 8 is the lucky number for the Chinese and this set of eight blessings is one of the most popular passages among Chinese Christians.

However, not many people understand it. Why was Jesus saying that the poor in spirit are blessed? Why are those who mourned blessed? Why are the persecuted people blessed? It just doesn’t make any sense to those who read it superficially and take it out of context of the Bible as a whole. If you don’t understand it, how can you jump on Jesus’ bandwagon to receive the blessings?

This morning, we will look at an overview of these eight blessings, and over the next weeks we will expound each of them in detail so that we can internalize it and enjoy the treasure of God’s blessing that is hidden by the limitation of human language. I call the Beatitudes 8 Steps to Heaven because they are a sequential set of blessings. Most people don’t realize it as a sequential process. Let’s look at the first one:

1 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Who are the poor in spirit, and why do they get the highest blessing—the blessing of the kingdom of heaven? The word that represents the poor in spirit is “Repentance.” One of greatest sins of human beings is arrogance. Why did Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit? The serpent said, “If you eat it you will be like God.” The arrogance of wanting to become gods themselves is what made them fall. Ever since then, arrogance became the very original sin of human beings. This week we saw Tiger Wood confessing his sin of adultery. He admitted that he did it out of arrogance. Thinking that he “deserved to enjoy the temptations.” We don’t know whether he looked so sad because he really repented or because he was caught. But for everyone in the world, Jesus said that the first step to heaven is repentance. Now Jesus has revealed to you the first thing that God is already blessing, that is repentance. Next week we will expound on it. The second step to heaven, or the next blessing is…

2 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted

If you read it superficially, you might think Jesus was trying to comfort the people that are mourning for the death of their family members. But, he was giving this sermon on a mountain; it was not at a funeral service. So the mourning that he is talking about is not for the pain of someone else’s death. If you read it in the context of his whole teaching, you would find out that he was talking about the mourning of your own death and resurrection. So the key word for this blessing is rebirth. Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24) It’s mourning for the pain of the exchange between the old life and the new.

So the first step to heaven is repent. When you sincerely repent, you experience rebirth. Rebirth means you let your old self die and let the Holy Spirit give birth to your new self. It’s painful to let your old self die. That’s why you mourn. If you choose the right path to follow, you have to abandon the old path, the old friends, and the old hobbies and habits. It’s a painful step because it is the death of your own ego! But if your mourning is for that reason, you are blessed. The Holy Spirit, who is known as the Comforter, will comfort you. Now Jesus has revealed to you the second thing that God is blessing. First Repent, then rebirth, and the third step is …

3 – Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth

Our society doesn’t reward meek people. They like aggressive and type A personalities. But why is Jesus saying that the meek are blessed? Jesus was not talking about the favorite personality type of this world, but about the favorite personality of heaven. After you repent, and rebirth, you become a new creation, who trust God like a child trusting the parents. Your ego has died so your arrogance is gone and you become meek and reliance to God’s love. So the key word for this step is “Reliance.”

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek (gentle) and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Meekness is the personality of Jesus, that’s why you are blessed when you begin to reflect Christlikeness. You become God’s child. The next step is …

4 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled

Now, like a growing baby who is hungry for nutrition, you become hungry and thirsty for righteousness. What is righteousness? A righteous person is someone who keeps all God’s commandments. Jesus summarized the entire Bible into two commandments—Love God and love others. In other words, a righteous person is someone who has healthy relationship with God and others. So the key word for this stage is “Relationship.” Your spiritual life is fed by healthy relationships with God and others. If you don’t worship God regularly, and commune with people frequently, you will suffer from malnutrition spiritually. If you want to be blessed, have a healthy relationship with God and people. According to Jesus, relationship is everything because we are created to love God and love others. In the same way you can say that if you fail in relationships, you fail everything. We will talk more about this on the 4th week. The next step is…

5 – Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy

Jesus said, if you are hungry for relationship, you will be filled. But relationship is a two-way street. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world, you will be inevitably hurt by fallen people. Since everyone you deal with is fallen people, you need to show mercy. You need to forgive them. Sometimes people confuse forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiving is not reconciliation. Forgiving is instant. You can forgive anyone at this very moment, but reconciliation takes time especially if you are deeply wounded by the person. When you show mercy to those who don’t deserve mercy, you reflect God’s image because God is merciful to us even though none of us deserve mercy. So the word for this step is “Remission.” When you remit or forgive someone sin, you will be blessed. Next step…

6 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God

“Purity in heart” in here means fidelity or single-heartedness. As you grow in building relationship with God and other, Jesus wants you to enter into oneness with him. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Abiding in him implies a pure connection with him. Notice it says apart from Christ, you can do nothing. Paul said the same thing in reverse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Php. 4:13) To get to this stage, God will prune you to become pure in heart—not just externally, but in heart means internally. God will put you through a refining fire to purify you like pure gold. If you become one with Christ through a pure heart, you will be blessed with the vision of God. So I call this stage “Refinement.” After you are refined and pruned you are ready to bear fruit. That leads to the next blessing…

7 - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God

This is the ultimate step because this is when you become fruitful. In here, Jesus used the term “peacemaker” to describe a fruitful life. You become a peacemaker at the peak of your spiritual maturity. Peacemakers are world changers! Jesus asked us to make disciples of all nations. After you are reconciled with God and others, you begin to reconcile others with God and one another. That’s what Jesus means by peacemaking. Peacemaking is not to please everybody; those are peacemongers, not peacemakers. A peacemaker is to reconcile the world with God and with one another. So the key word for this step is “Reconciliation.” The Bible says Jesus is the Price of Peace, and he is the Son of God. That’s why peacemakers will be called children of God. You all become Princes and Princesses of peace. As children of God, our mission is to be peacemakers. Now the last and important step…

8 - Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Your mission will not last long if you can’t sustain it. Jesus doesn’t just want you to bear fruit, but he said we must bear fruit that will last. (John 15:16) Jesus used three verses for this final blessing because it is so important to hang in there when you are doing the right thing—bearing fruit. I will paraphrase this blessing as “blessed are those who stand against the wind.” When you are doing the right thing and living the right way, people will try to tear you down because many people don’t like to see peacemakers. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a peacemaker and he was killed. Jesus was the Prince of Peace and he was crucified. You will need to stand against the wind that blows at you, even at the risk of your life. If you can’t handle the wind that blows against your fruitful life, you won’t get to the finishing line. If you watched the Winter Olympics this week, you would have seen many people missing the finishing line. God wants you to finish your race. And he wants you to rejoice in doing so. I call this step “Resilience.”

Verse 12 says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Rejoicing in hardship is how you sustain your mission with resilience. You will cross the finishing line and you will receive the final blessing, which is the kingdom heaven, your ultimate goal.

This morning, I could only touch the surface of these eight blessings. Starting next week, I will speak about them one by one, and take you to through the journey on the pathway to blessing, and help you grasp the concept, internalize it, and receive the blessings one by one. There is nothing more important than understanding these eight steps because nothing is more joyful than knowing what God is blessing and be able to live doing what God is already blessing.

As our slogan says, “God is most glorified in you, when you are most gratified in Christ and become fruitful.” And we can also say, “God is most glorified in you, when you are most gratified in his blessings and become fruitful.”

Here is a quick review of the eight beatitudes. I call it the check mark of life.