Beatitude and Beatific Vision
by Rev. Paul Howden
November 4, 2007
Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity, The Feast of All Saints
Matthew 5:1-11

The Beatitudes refer to the eight sayings Jesus gave in his Sermon on the Mount. This is what we find in our Gospel text for today: “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn,” and so on. Beatitude means blessed or happy. You will be blessed and happy if you fulfill the eight conditions Jesus lays down in this sermon. Yet, it is surprising how often Christians have attempted to escape the beatitudes. Why? The demands seem superhuman to some people. Only the greatest heroes can fulfill them. Just as there are only a small percentage of people who can scale Mount Everest, so there are only a very small percentage of Christians who can obey the beatitudes, it is thought. Judy King lived near the Amazon River in Brazil. During Synod this week, she told me about some lady who swam the Amazon River. This adventurer performed her feat during the dry season when the river was low, creating a bank where the water normally flows during the rainy season. She hiked along the bank between the river and the jungle on the stretches she could, but had to swim the parts where there was no muddy bank to walk on. She journeyed alone. How many people would try to do something like that? You would either have to be crazy or amazing. That is the way some people view obedience to the beatitudes. They appear out of reach for the ordinary Christian. Consequently, the medievals held that Christ gave these precepts for the saintly elite alone. Martin Luther believed that Jesus gave them to overwhelm us by their extreme demands and thus drive us to the Gospel. Albert Schweitzer thought the sayings applied only to Jesus’ disciples, not to anybody else after them. Dispensationalism claims that the beatitudes will be applied during the future millennium. These efforts to elude the beatitudes are wrong. They apply to you and me right now, this day, this week, and for the rest of our lives. So let’s examine them one at a time.

1.            “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” In the past, monasteries have used this beatitude to establish a vow of poverty. To join many orders, a man desiring to become a monk, or a woman desiring to become a nun, had to renounce ownership of wealth and property. Christian socialists have used the phrase to advocate that the government take income from the rich and transfer it to the poor. The problem with these views is this: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” has little to do with finances. Jesus didn’t declare: “Blessed are the economic poor.” He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” What is “poor in spirit”? Poverty of spirit is the opposite of self-sufficiency. It is a condition of feeling bankrupt before God. A person who comes broke before our Holy Almighty God must rely entirely upon the Lord’s mercy. Some people think they come before God rich in righteousness; wealthy in good works. They are blind to their own sins. And so they don’t need God’s grace. They don’t value the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. They boast in their good works and feel themselves deserving of Heaven without atonement. Well, such arrogance leads to Hell. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” The poor in spirit exhibit an absence of pride, a scarcity of boasting. They depend totally upon God’s grace in Christ to rescue them from sin. They know their weakness and sin but cling all the more to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

2.            “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Is the Lord telling you to be gloomy? Are you to refrain from laughter? To mope all day? No. This beatitude has to do with your depravity as you confront a Holy God. Examine yourself in the light of God’s holiness and of God’s law, and you soon become aware of what a vile sinner you are. St. Paul expressed this realization in Romans 7. “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do that I practice… O wretched man that I am!” (vv. 7:19, 24). The apostle mourned for his sin. What were the specific sins that the apostle wrestled with? We can only speculate: “Why am I so prideful?” "Why do I lose my temper?” "How come I can’t control my eating?" "Why do I harbor vindictive thoughts?" The person who mourns, mourns because he discovers this war going on in his members. He knows he is to love God with his entire being, and to refrain from sin, but he has a self-centered nature that fights against what he knows to be good, and he hates that flesh nature that keeps driving him to do what he doesn’t want to do. Thus, he mourns his sinful condition. It is a battle to do what is good, and be good. Nevertheless, this struggle is healthy. “Blessed are those who mourn.” In other words, “blessed are those who are aware of their sin nature, and fight it every day.” In their warfare, they depend upon the weapons of the Holy Spirit, and that is a comfort.

There is another way to interpret, “Blessed are those who mourn.” Obeying Jesus can be painful. It is hard to grow in Christian maturity. It is difficult to do the right thing. The effort can make one mourn. Think of the young lady who refuses to get an abortion. The pro-choice crowd urges women with unwanted pregnancies to abort. That is the quick solution. Without an abortion, a woman must endure the nausea, the discomfort, the doctor visits, the birth itself. We shouldn’t minimize the nine months of suffering a pregnant woman endures. They are months of mourning. But what a blessing when she carries the baby to term and gives it up for adoption! She has done the right thing. Jesus’ words apply to her, “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” The same goes for those who wait until marriage before having sex. In a culture that glorifies sexual indulgence and thinks nothing of sex outside of marriage, to remain chaste is a kind of mourning, a sort of suffering. But what a joy it is to those people who keep their virginity until after the marriage ceremony. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The Lord comforts those who honor chastity and obey Him in the realm of sexual behavior.

3.            “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” What is meekness? Let’s begin by stating what it is not. It is not a sloth sleeping in the trees, it is not the cowardice of a guinea pig that runs into his house at every peep, nor is it the softness of a furry kitten. Some people think meekness is a cringing groveling posture. No. Meekness is a mixture of gentleness and strength. It has to do with power and emotions that are kept under discipline. The dentist who repairs a tooth uses a combination of strength and gentleness. The doctor who performs surgery does the same. He must replace the artery, or cut out the tumor but he does it with the greatest care. The dentist extracts a cavity with strong but careful hands. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest of all men. Why? He was an example of self-control. Meekness is tough but gentle; it is strength under control. “Blessed are the meek; For they shall inherit the earth.”

4.            “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; For they shall be filled.” Jesus teaches us to hunger and thirst for the right thing. If we hunger for the wrong things we’ll never be satisfied at the deepest level. If we hunger for a cheeseburger, we receive a temporary filling. If we thirst for the weekend, for adrenaline rushes, for money and sex, we will attain a superficial satisfaction at best. The deep fulfillment that Christ promises is linked to righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” The Chicago Marathon was a disaster this year. It was unexpectedly hot, but there were tables along the route where people could re-hydrate. Unfortunately, the people organizing the race had an insufficient supply of water placed on the tables for the runners. Only the first hundred runners or so got a good drink. Participants drooped, quit, and cried. Some left the marathon route to buy Gatorade in convenience stores. They begged neighbors for water from the water hose. They were thirsty. One man died. The sponsors of the Marathon cancelled the race before three quarters of the runners finished the race. There was too much thirst. Life is similar to that. We all thirst for something. The world is full of thirst. Buddhism says that we should abolish all desire. But that is false. Jesus wants you to hunger and thirst. He wants you to have desire. Desire is good, but you must desire the right thing, and the right thing is righteousness. What does it mean to thirst for righteousness? There are three levels: 1. It is the desire to be forgiven by God and made right with God. 2. It is the desire to do what is right. 3. It is the desire to see righteousness throughout the earth.

5.            “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” How can we be merciful? It would be helpful to mention one negative. Winking at flagrant sin is not the way to be merciful. The essential meaning of being merciful is pity toward those in need, plus action. The Christian has a feeling of pity. His concern for the misery of people leads him to relieve that misery. The Good Samaritan is an example. On his journey to Jericho he noticed a man who had been mugged. He crossed the road to where the man was lying unconscious. He knelt to administer first aid. The other travelers who saw the man had continued on their way without stopping. The Samaritan was merciful. He would have clobbered those robbers if he had caught them in the act.

A man was telling me about his travels in Columbia. For some reason, he ended up in a bad part of town. All of a sudden some big guy rushed up to him, put his hands in his pockets and tore them. The thief literally ripped those front and back pockets from off the pants of the foreigner. He was searching for money. The bills however were hidden in the shoes of the tourist. So the thief threw the good guy down on the ground and tried to pull off his shoes. It was an intense struggle; the thief grabbing for the shoes, trying to wrench them off, the good guy struggling to hold his shoes on. From her shack a little old lady saw what was going on. She had been cooking. She came out carrying a pot of hot soup and dumped it on the mugger. The thug got up and ran away. The innocent tourist was so grateful to this little old lady. She was a Good Samaritan. The original Good Samaritan bent down to dress the wounds of the battered man. He lifted the man on his donkey and made provision for him at the inn. He gave the innkeeper money to cover any costs incurred in caring for the injured. That is being merciful. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” Christian mercy does not mean only feeling empathy; it means making the effort to do something to remedy the situation. This is hard. By nature we lack compassion. We need God’s Holy Spirit to create within us sympathy for others. And on top of that we are busy. It takes time to help people. Oh that God’s grace would make us merciful, filling us with so much empathy that we find the time, and make the effort to do whatever it takes to alleviate the suffering of others. “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.”

6.            “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” Notice that Jesus promises blessing to the pure in heart. The heart must be pure. The heart is usually regarded as the seat of emotions. In other words we have to remind ourselves that the Christian faith is not only a mater of intellect, it is a condition of the heart. Theology is important but it can’t be the only thing. It is a curse when people narrow their faith to the intellect. You can’t have a merely academic interest in the Bible, or in liturgy, or in the sacraments. The Lord God seeks moral purity, honesty, and integrity. This means the purity of intellect and emotions; conduct and will. “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” To see God in Heaven is often called the beatific vision. You and I will experience perfect happiness as we see God face to face. That is the beatitude of the beatific vision.

7.            “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” Is this a call to pacifism? No. Pacifism is suicide in our dangerous and fallen world. What then is a peacemaker? He is peaceable, not quarrelsome. He is humble and forgiving. He actively seeks peace between man and man, group and group. After the Civil War many denominations split up between North and South: The Baptists separated into Northern and Southern Baptists. The Presbyterians divided; Methodists too; but not the Episcopalians. According to Historian Allen Guelzo, Bishop George David Cummins, the Founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church, was largely responsible for keeping together Northern Episcopalians and Southern ones. He was a peacemaker. Making peace entails apologies, forgiveness, patience and love. The peacemaker longs for the day when the leopard shall lie down with the young goat (Is. 11:6). The peacemaker understands that the only foundation for true peace is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. “Making peace with your spouse can be the most difficult of all. Sometimes it requires outside help, often a lot of listening, mutual confession, and rebuilding of love that has been burned. Too often today, the alternative is to quit.” The peacemaker keeps trying. [Life Application Bible Commentary. P. 80.]

8.            “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This does not mean, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are obnoxious.” No. It doesn’t say that. You sometimes find Christian people who suffer mild persecution because of foolish stuff they do. To get the blessing of God, one must suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake. Why is such opposition blessed? Because it unites you to Christ who also suffered persecution! When you suffer, you participate in His suffering and He participates in yours. There is a mystical union there. Moreover, suffering often has a purpose: The Lord God uses affliction to sanctify you. And, compared to Heaven, what is the pain and agony of this life? St. Paul says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The worst the world can do is kill you. That sends you home to heaven. You join all the saints in heaven. You see the Lord. Hence, there is simply nothing to fear. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Take out the insert in your bulletin and look at the words to the hymn we sang: “Behold a Host, Arrayed in White.”

“Behold a Host, Arrayed in White; Like a thousand snow-clad mountains bright! With palms they stand. Who is this band Before the throne of light?”

They are the ones in Heaven: the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, our fathers and mothers and family members who have passed into glory. They enjoy the beatific vision. Seeing the Lamb face to face, they experience beatitude, blessedness, happiness in its deepest sense. This hymn is fitting for the Feast of All Saints that we celebrate today. Verse two sums up the last of our eight beatitudes: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” As you sing verse two think of those who have passed into Heaven in Christ. They see the Lamb on his throne. Thank God for their sweet memories and their good examples to us:

“Despised and scorned, they sojourned here; but now, how glorious they appear!
Those martyrs stand a priestly band, God’s throne forever near.
So oft, in troubled days gone by, In anguish they would weep and sigh.
At home above the God of Love For aye their tears shall dry.
They now enjoy their Sabbath rest, The paschal banquet of the blest;
The Lamb, their Lord, at festal board Himself is Host and Guest.”

Let us pray.