New World People (part 1)

Matthew 5:1-12

We live in the most diverse nation on earth. Our ancestors came to this country from all over the world, except for the Native American peoples who were already here. Many came on their own accord, while others were forced to live on our shores. Many came looking for new opportunities for a better life, while others were forced to come and were subjugated to harsh treatment and poor living conditions. The United States of America was built on the blood, sweat and tears of so many immigrants of different races, creeds and religions. They came heeding the call of Lady Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"[1]

They came here and brought their cultures and traditions with them. They brought their native cuisines: Polish Kielbasa, Czech Kolaches, German pretzels and Italian Tomato Pie. They brought their native traditions, their native languages, their native dress, their native dances and their native religions. They even brought their native drink. All these distinctions and differences have made our country what it is today.

While we pay attention to differences in culture, language and race, God tends to evaluate us based on characteristics that are more than skin deep. Indeed, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus reveals that God defines the world much differently than we do and, in fact, God is remaking the world in such a way that defines God's people by their character and conduct more than their heritage.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus redefines what it means to be New World People in a world Jesus called "the kingdom of God" or "the kingdom of heaven" (those terms are used interchangeably). While we all may look different on the surface and speak a different language, Jesus reveals at the very beginning of his discourse that there are certain traits that will be common to all of those who are becoming part of God's new world.

When you look closely at the Beatitudes, you might notice that they build on one another. The 20th-century missionary, E. Stanley Jones, observed that you could really divide these nine Beatitudes into three sets of three, with each set of three Beatitudes following the same pattern: thesis (theory, idea, notion), antithesis (direct opposite, converse) and synthesis (blend, combination).[2]

When you look at them in this way, you see Jesus is laying the foundation for citizenship in God's new world which he will flesh out in the rest of “The Sermon on the Mount".

The first set of three begins with "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (v. 3). To be "poor in spirit" combines three important characteristics of Jesus: servanthood, obedience and self-denial. The one who is poor in spirit recognizes that they have nothing to offer God on their own, that their life has no purpose apart from God. They obey God not out of obligation, but out of a desire to gain something better -- the life found in God's new world. The poor in spirit are those who give themselves completely so that they can be filled by God.

This leads to the second beatitude, which focuses the attention from the inward to the outward: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Disciples who are poor in spirit, who have turned their attention away from themselves, now turn their attention to the world and begin to see it as it currently is -- a world in pain, a world where the selfish desire of sin dehumanizes people, a world full of violence, a world that has given up hope of redemption. Those who mourn are blessed because they are able to enter into the world's pain and grief and are not afraid of it.

Combine those two beatitudes together and you get the third: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." We tend to think of meekness as being soft, weak, a push over. But here meekness is a combination of the previous two beatitudes: the power and decisiveness of self-denial in the poor in spirit, and the passion for the pain of the world in those who mourn. Those who both want nothing from the world and, at the same time, those who are willing to share everything with the world are the meek. The spirit of self-denial and the spirit of service come together to make New World People: the terrible meek. They are terrible because they want nothing, hence they can't be tempted or bought, and they are terrible because they are willing to go to any lengths, even unto death, on behalf of others.

The first three beatitudes gave us a pattern for emptying ourselves. These next three teach us with what we are to be filled. They follow the same pattern: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (thesis, v. 6); "Blessed are the merciful" (antithesis, v. 7); and "Blessed are the pure in heart" (synthesis, v.8).

Another way of translating the Greek word for righteousness is "justice." Justice takes the meaning of righteousness out of the realm of the individual and into the realm of the whole world. New world people aren't just those who do good; they do good with a purpose -- to bring God's justice into the world. They do the will of God, but they see God's will as being bigger than themselves. They're not as concerned about their own eternal destiny as they are about the destiny of the whole creation. They're less focused on justifying themselves than participating in God's justice for those who need it most.

But righteousness by itself can easily turn into narcissistic self-righteousness. That's why we need the balancing of the second beatitude in this triad: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy" (v. 7). Those who have hungered and thirsted for God's justice must show mercy to those who need that justice the most. When you put the passion for justice and the compassion of mercy together, you become the "pure in heart”. These are the ones who are blessed to "see God" because they see the movement of God and the purpose of God in every person. They see God everywhere because they are always looking for ways in which to live out God's purpose through obedience, mercy, service and love. They see God the way Jesus said they would -- in the face of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the least, the last and the lost (Matthew 25).

The third set of three starts in v. 9 with "Blessed are the peacemakers", followed by "Blessed are those who are persecuted" (v. 10); and "Blessed are you when people revile you" (v. 11 NRSV). Take the terrible meek who want nothing from the world, and the pure in heart who want nothing but God. Put them together and you get peacemakers!

The peacemakers are the ones who are resolute and active in their pursuit of reconciliation and justice between humans in conflict with each other, whether the conflict is between families, races, cultures or countries. The peacemakers, in other words, are those who stand in the gap and are willing to engage conflict peacefully and working for justice. They stay in that gap for as long as is necessary despite the sabotage that will inevitably come from those who are unmotivated or unwilling to change.

In verses 10-11, Jesus says that:
a) if you're a peacemaker, you are blessed! But Jesus also says,

b) if you are a persecuted peacemaker, you're blessed again!

The final beatitude, verse 11, is a variation of the previous one. You're blessed yet again if, after persecuting you because of your peacemaking, they insult you and slander you -- lie and talk trash.

History tells us that anyone who acts as a peacemaker will usually become one of the persecuted (vv. 10-11). Jesus is the ultimate example of that truth. As E. Stanley Jones once put it, "Peacemakers must get used to the sight of their own blood."[3]

The synthesis for this final triad of beatitudes is in Jesus' concluding remarks. If you're a peacemaker, if you're a persecuted peacemaker, and if you're a lied-about, trash-talked, persecuted peacemaker, then it's time to rejoice.

The synthesis is joy. The fruit of living a peacemaking, persecuted life, even a life that embodies all of the qualities Jesus itemizes in this list we call the Beatitudes, is JOY. Persecuted peacemakers in particular can rejoice because they're persecuted for doing something worth persecuting! They rejoice because they are walking directly in the footsteps of Jesus and the prophets. They rejoice because their peacemaking, even if it costs them their own blood, is making change possible.

We may pay attention to differences in culture, language and race, but God truly knows us based on what is inside of us. Life is not to be valued according to their outer appearance, but by the content of their character.

The Sermon on the Mount is a description of those whom God cares for and how life is to be lived in the Kingdom of God to come. The church is where we begin to develop this kind of character as we work and minister with each other. Living this way is a sign that God's new world is breaking all around us. The more we focus on living like new world people in God's new world, the more likely this present world will start to look beyond outward appearances toward a brand new way of life in Christ!

That’s the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ! Amen.

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[1] Text courtesy of the National Park Service
[2] Jones, E. Stanley. The Christ of the Mount: A Working Philosophy of Life. (Reprint Edition). Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
[3] Jones, E. Stanley. The Christ of the Mount: A Working Philosophy of Life. (Reprint Edition). Kessinger Publishing, 2006.



[i] Bob Kaylor, Senior Writer for homileticsonline.com, and Senior Minister of the Park City United Methodist Church in Park City, Utah.