Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Scripture | Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV)
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, 2 and He began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
ALLOW ME TO BEGIN BY ASKING YOU, WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT GIVES YOU JOY? I know for some of us, it’s getting donuts and coffee after worship. For me, there was great joy yesterday as we cleaned out the church and filled up a whole dumpster! But I ask you this because joy has been at the heart of our journey through the beatitudes yet we have not talked much about it.
Jesus begins each of these eight steps into the Kingdom of God with joy. He says, in our modern English, “Blessed are they…” That first word would be a well understood concept in the ancient Israelite world. The blessing that Jesus is talking about is happiness or joy. But this happiness is not something that is short lived or dependent on our situations. This joy is long-lasting and independent of our circumstances or what others are doing around us. It goes beyond having something in our lives that makes us happy or joyful, it is a joy that dwells in us and is constantly filling us with happiness – like a river which continues to flow into our hearts, overfilling them and never letting them run dry.
Jesus uses this kind of joy to describe the blessing which comes from being a part of the Kingdom of God. In our realization that our souls are poor and don’t have what they need, there is blessing and constant happiness because we come to turn to God and ask Him to enter our lives. In that action, the Kingdom of God is opened to us. This is the formula Jesus uses throughout the beatitudes. Throughout the beatitudes, the people who are labeled by Jesus as “blessed” represent a countercultural group who cherish values that are not cherished by the world at large. Every beatitude demonstrates God’s reversal of the world’s values.
We have seen how these blessings may not always be apparent at the onset, never to this point have we encountered one so contrary to our understanding of life than this last one. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Key to this verse is persecution.
Persecution is something we understand in a sense. The word is used when justice is unfairly executed, or when it seems that the world is out to get us. But in many ways, it seems odd that Jesus would say that there is blessing in this – or that we would experience it as Christians. Especially when we live in the United States, it’s hard to understand what Jesus means that there is blessing in the church and followers of Christ being persecuted. Still, this reality is found throughout the Bible.
Paul says in Galatians 4:29, “29 At that time the Son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.” He also says in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” John says in his first letter, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:13-14).
Jesus, Himself, says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:18-20).
What are we being told here? From scripture, and from the mouth of Jesus Himself, we hear that there will be people who persecute the church and that those who follow Jesus will be persecuted. But the kind of persecuted Jesus is talking about isn’t what we might think of off the bat. There are people in the world who suffer for doing what’s wrong. That’s not persecution, rather that’s punishment. There are also people who are persecuted for other aspects of their identity, be it their race or income-level or ancestry. But this isn’t the persecution that Jesus is talking about. What Jesus is talking about is those who are persecuted for actively living into the Kingdom of God by pursuing righteousness. Peter put it this way, “If you suffer for doing what is right and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).
What Jesus is saying is that there is enduring happiness and joy to be found in being persecuted for doing what we have been talking about over the last eight weeks. There is joy in being persecuted and attacked for being poor in spirit, for mourning, for being meek, for thirsting and hungering after righteousness, for seeking after purity, and for helping God make peace. In fact, there is a specific joy from this persecution – a joy which comes as the bookends to our journey into the Kingdom of God.
Our first step into the Kingdom begins with acknowledging that we need God. From seeing that we are lacking something in our souls and calling out to God that we might be saved. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Now, as we come to the last step into the Kingdom, we hear, “Blessed are the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, theirs is the Kingdom of God.” There is joy in knowing that we need God for the first time. There is joy in trusting God so much that we can depend on Him for all time. Our greatest joys come from our first and last steps into the Kingdom of God.
This is why Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The truth of the situation is that persecution is not easy. To endure it for the sake of righteousness requires uncompromising faithfulness to God despite every threat and pressure. This is what the Old Testament prophets experienced in their day and why they were considered heroes to the people of Jesus’ time. And this reality has continued throughout the story of the Church and continues into the present.
John Wesley talks about this in his 1748 sermon looking at this beatitude. What is shocking is how he describes the people who are against the church – the persecutors of his day. Remember, this is during what many today consider to be a high moment in the history of the church – when supposedly everyone was a Christian.
“‘If they would but keep their religion to themselves it would be tolerable. But it is this spreading their errors, this infecting so many others, which is not to be endured. They do so much mischief in the world that they ought to be tolerated no longer. It is true the men do some things well enough they relieve some of the poor. But this too is only done to gain the more to their party; and so in effect to do the more mischief.’ Thus the men of the world sincerely think and speak. And the more the kingdom of God prevails, the more the peacemakers are enabled to propagate lowliness, meekness, and all other divine tempers, the more mischief is done – in their account. Consequently, the more are they enraged against the authors of this, and the vehemently will they persecute then” (JW, Upon the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse the Third, III.3).
It almost sounds like what we hear others say today! But as we walk further and further into the crazy, upside-down, inside-out Kingdom of God, we cannot help but live into these callings. We cannot help but share what God has done and to live out His way of life. In our modern world, suffering and persecution are seen as never a good thing. We struggle and grapple with the realities of colonialism and imperialism and think back to the ways that humans have treated each other. Seeing that, we think that there is no redemption in suffering, no happiness in persecution.
But as Christians, our new life is founded upon the suffering of the cross which redeemed the world, and the persecution of the faithful which contains eternal happiness as we dwell in the house of the Lord. There is no doubt. The forces of this world are working against the Church. We may not always see it – and we may be safer than some in the world – but the reality is that there will always be people who are working to end the work of the faithful. We will feel the hurt of rejection and the pain of hate. Yet we can find great joy in our faithfulness, for just as God remained faithful as they persecuted the prophets of old, so too does God remain faithful now.
God has opened up the gates of Heaven and has called us His children. His Son has suffered and died for our sake. His Spirit dwells with us for our sake. He has given us these beatitudes for our sake. All that has been done is for our sake, so let us accept the call and live into these blessings. Let us choose to know this eternal and constant happiness which comes from living into the Kingdom of God. Let us take our first steps into eternity through the poverty of our spirits, through our mourning and meekness, through our hunger and thirst for righteousness, through purity and peacemaking, and finally through the persecution that we will endure. Let us step boldly into the Kingdom, knowing that God awaits us there with open arms ready to show us true, unrelenting, unending, eternal joy. Thanks be to God, the giver of joy. Amen.