Beatitudes: Going from night to day - part 2

Before I go on to consider the rest of the Beatitudes, I want to write a little bit more about grace, faith and doing good.

I see two extreme positions:

• I need to do enough good things to be accepted by God, to pay my debt to him. 
• I don't need to do anything - God's grace is it, all I have to do is say "yes, I accept it".  Nothing good from me is part of the equation. 

I find both of these positions ludicrous. God has given us infinite amounts of his grace, and he requires finite responses. I can't bargain with him, as I have very little to offer - and I also can't sit there self-satisfied that I have no obligations in my relationship with him. 

The best quote I've read on this is from St. Isaac the Syrian (700 A.D.): Be a herald of God’s goodness, for God rules over you, unworthy though you are; for although your debt to Him is so great, yet He is not seen exacting payment from you, and from the small works you do, He bestows great rewards upon you.

Do I need to respond to God's goodness to me by doing good? Of course I do...

Jesus said: For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Later on, Jesus elaborated on his teaching in the parable of the unmerciful servant:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

If I truly believe in God's love and forgiveness toward me, I will show love and forgiveness towards others.

I don't think by any means I have all this figured out. The point for me is to wrestle with it. I will always take the direct words of Jesus - God himself - as my main input, above anything else.

The next three Beatitudes are about doing those good things God desires.

Beatitudes: Going from night to day

I think the first three blessings Jesus gave where for the "night" - when people are chaos, in trouble, or causing trouble. I see this as the essence of grace: God comes to bless us when we don't deserve it, and maybe can't even ask for it.

I also think the next three blessings are for the day, where God expects obedience from me. He expects my heart to change, my relationships to strengthen, and my influence to be for good. I have come to life, and he requires me - it's my obligation - to live and grow. It's the only sane response.

This to me is the essence of faith - to see what God has done, how he's come to me when I was (and often am) in chaos, and act appropriately.

I see those who followed Jesus, the Apostles, trying to communicate this concept throughout the new testament...

Paul said: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In this section of Ephesians, Paul talks about being dead and coming to life.

James said: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

If I don't work to meet my obligations to God, I have no faith - it's just a fabrication.

John said: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Jesus reached out to me, so I'm obligated to reach out to others.

Peter said: Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Titus said: But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

All of these men who started the Christian faith conveyed the same message: God's goodness came to me as a gift, now I must do good in response. God gave me new life, now that life must do something.

This rightly raises all kinds of concerns about how good does good need to be? I think some of the answers are in the rest of Jesus's sermon.

God, help me to live in the daylight.

Blessed are the meek

I see the blessings or “beatitudes” as the essence of the rest of the sermon on the mount. The first three blessings are for when we are in darkness. 

The third one of these is for those whose influence is in chaos.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (the land).

Blessed are those who have no power or influence for good - unable to change things, fail in the their efforts or in their work, are oppressed, have been sidelined in their churches, have no control over their circumstances, are trapped, have misused what they have been given.

Blessed was Paul the Apostle when God blinded him on the road to Damascus and told him he was using his power for evil. 

Blessed was Peter the Apostle when he was hiding with the other disciples after Jesus was killed.

Blessed was David when confronted with his misuse of power to take what was not his.

Blessed was Jonah when he was in the stomach of the giant fish, unable to escape.

Blessed was Israel when they were trapped between the Red Sea and advancing Egypt. God gave them a corridor of dry land as he parted the sea. 

Blessed was Job when he lost his health, his money, his reputation.

Blessed was Noah when he was waiting on the ark for the water to recede. 

Blessed were Adam and Eve when God cursed them, reducing their influence over the earth.

Blessed was creation when God established the dry land and set the boundaries for the water. 

Blessed was Jesus as a child, who with his parents had to flee the land of Israel for Egypt - refugees. 

Finally, blessed am I when I'm unable to do the good I want to do, unable to change my circumstances, when things don't go as I planned, when I'm humbled, when I'm trapped, when I have no power or influence. 

Blessed are all of us by the boundaries and limitations God sets on us. It's our lack of influence and power that prepares us for the good God has in store for us to do. I believe this beatitude signifies the last stage of the night where we can't see and make our way. 

Blessed are those who mourn

I see the blessings or “beatitudes” as the essence of the rest of the sermon on the mount. I think they contain the core of everything Jesus meant to teach that day. 

The first three blessings are for when we are in darkness. The second one of these is for those whose relationships are in chaos.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.


Blessed are those who have broken and damaged relationships - failed at friendships, had people close to them die, can't communicate. constantly fight, walk-out, split-up, been abandoned.

Blessed was Paul the Apostle when he walked away from his religious community to join one where he was branded as a murderer - likely rejected by everyone.

Blessed was Peter the Apostle when the man he put his faith in died on the cross and left him alone.

Blessed was David when he had a good man put to death so he could take his wife. 

Blessed was Jonah when he jumped into the sea, preferring death to doing what God asked,

Blessed was Israel, when the destroyer came and killed the first born, and they left Egypt.

Blessed was Job when Satan killed his family.

Blessed was Noah when almost everyone one he knew, his culture, his world, was destroyed in the flood.

Blessed were Adam and Eve when they experienced spiritual death and hid from God, not wanting to be seen by him.

Blessed was creation, when God pulled it apart, creating a void between the waters.

Blessed was Jesus as a baby, when the government wanted him dead, and killed all the babies his age in hopes one of them would be him.

Finally, blessed am I when filled with sadness and loss over losing one of my sons, when I have failed as a husband and dad, when I have not been a good friend.

Blessed are all of us - not because of the separation and loss, not because of whom we've destroyed, not because of what others have done to us - but in spite of it, in the midst of it.

God doesn't seem to stop the darkness, but rather comes to be with us in it, to experience it as well, to give us comfort. Others come to help us walk through it, and in a small way get the chance to become like God. 

The only way I make sense of it: He uses it to develop us into something much more than we could possibly be beforehand - not only for our own good, but for the good of all. I don't claim to understand this very well, and I think I'll spend the rest of my life here wrestling with it.

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Tuesdays | God is building a people – My relationships are broken

- Your kingdom come

- Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted

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Blessed are the poor in spirit

I see the blessings or “beatitudes” as the essence of the rest of the sermon on the mount. I think they contain the core of everything Jesus meant to teach that day.

The first three blessings are for when we are in darkness. The first one is for those whose hearts are in chaos.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.


Blessed are those who are in chaos, those who are lost, those in darkness. Those who hate, gossip, are selfish, abandon their families, lie to get ahead, abuse others, take whats not theirs, murder.

Blessed was Paul the Apostle when he was persecuting the church and having people killed.

Blessed was Peter the Apostle when he denied Jesus.

Blessed was David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and planned her husband’s murder.

Blessed was Jonah when he ran away from God.

Blessed was Israel while in slavery to Egypt.

Blessed was Job when God pointed him out to Satan as a worthy target.

Blessed was Noah, surrounded by evil.

Blessed were Adam and Eve when they failed the test and ate the fruit.

Blessed was creation, when it was formless and in chaos.

Even blessed was Jesus, born in a cave to an unwed mother. Although fully obedient, looking immoral in that culture.

Finally, blessed am I when I'm filled with doubt, being selfish, and hiding from God.

Blessed are all of us, since God pursues us while we are his enemies - when we hate him, when we want nothing to do with him. We are citizens of his kingdom only because he loves us.

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Mondays | God is great – I’m in chaos

- Our Father in heaven, your name is holy

- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God

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The First Teaching by Jesus

I have been reading and thinking about the first recorded teaching by Jesus, called "The Sermon on the Mount", for the past couple of years. I'm currently working on memorizing it, so writing my way through it seems like a good idea.

The sermon is fairly controversial. Did Jesus really mean what he said? Was it just hyperbole to capture peoples attention? Is it humanly possible to do what he said? 

Jesus covers a range of topics, but I don't see it as a simple "laundry list" of things he wanted people to consider. I see it as a cohesive structure that in a small way reveals how God thinks. That is going to be my approach to it in the coming weeks.

Here is the setting...

Jesus went throughout Galilee (Northern Israel), teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.  

Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

Jesus had created a following. He was teaching that God's "kingdom" had come to them and was healing people to prove it.

He didn't go to Jerusalem, the spiritual, cultural and economic capital. He started teaching near where scholars think he grew up and worked in construction for a number of years. The only thing it might have been was the center of was agriculture. 

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Sundays | God will set things right – I want to join him

- For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

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

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