Today's Gospel

The Most Important Beatitude

Trying to cover the beatitudes in one message is kind of like that old book The One Minute Manager because what makes the Beatitudes so special is how powerful and how unique each one is. In fact, each beatitude is its own invitation to a holy moment. When I was a kid, I won a Bible scholar, but I could remember the Beatitudes because they're so catchy. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. And blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Some people find the Beatitudes offensive. "I don't like them. It makes us sound like a bunch of wimps. Blessed are the meek. I'm offended by that." That's okay. Lots of folks find the gospel offensive. And some people misinterpret and they think that we should be all these things that are in the Beatitudes, that Jesus is calling us to be persecuted and meek and poor in spirit, etc. But Jesus isn't telling us to be persecuted or meek. He's saying, "If you are, it'll be okay because God notices and God's with you and you are in His care." Jesus is assuring them of vindication on the last day, giving hope. You might suffer and work and act on behalf of God in this lifetime, but in the end, God will vindicate you.

So do you mind if I ask? It's an odd question. Which one of these beatitudes do you think is the most important one? Poor in spirit? You see Mother Teresa tirelessly touching and serving and loving on the streets of Calcutta? She'd probably say so. Others might say, "Those who mourn. Joseph of Arimathea who came and mourned with Mary and took Jesus' body and anointed it and buried it." Maybe so. What about the meek? Folks who are behind the scenes that don't get any credit even though they work hard, people like Tertius, who wrote the letters for Paul, or Ruth, who never asked for anything except to go with her mother-in-law. Maybe so. Maybe it's those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Now that's a tough thing to do. Like Father Roy in downtown Atlanta, dodging gunfire, giving new sleeping bags to men and women living in the alleys and under the bridges because he hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Maybe it's the pure in heart. These folks know that what really makes a difference is the heart. That's where the decision to serve God is made. Jesus said, "Clean up the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean," the pure in heart, like Noah, the only good man left. Or Daniel who ate next to nothing because he didn't want to give in to the king, putting their lives on the line to be pure in heart for God. Speaking of putting your life on the line, what about the persecuted? Father John Mark Cheitnum, who was kidnapped and murdered by Islamists in Nigeria last year, simply for being a priest. Or 37-year-old Nguyen, a single mother of two and a Catholic blogger, sentenced to 10 years in prison in Vietnam for criticizing the Communist Party. But then there's the peacemakers, not people who keep the peace, but people who make the peace. J.B. Barnett gave his life last year on the streets of Indianapolis trying to bring peace. Which one of these is the most important?

If you ask me, I say it's the merciful. The more I look at Jesus' life and at the whole gospel of Matthew, I see a life saturated in mercy. Like when the kids come and Jesus says, "These are God's people. Don't lead one of these astray or else." No one else wanted the kids around. But Jesus had tender-hearted mercy. He tells the story, the parable of the workers in the vineyard, and the people are outraged when everybody gets paid the same thing, and God says, "You're going to begrudge me, my generosity? You're going to tell me how to dispense my mercy?" Or maybe in chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew, when the lame and the blind come to him in the temple, and he heals them. Or when the prostitutes and the tax collectors get into the kingdom of God before the unrepentant because Jesus has mercy for all. Or in the grand story at the end of the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 25, when the sheep and the goats are separated in the great judgment based on who shows mercy to those who are naked and those who are poor. I mean, Jesus was a man saturated in mercy, everything he did and said. My hunch is in the Beatitudes he's calling us to be just like him. Not talking about being some kind of superhero, not talking about being the pope, not talking about being a scholar or being a missionary to China. Simply talking about being a Christian one holy moment at a time. God has shown you great mercy. By all means, please share it because Lord knows the world could use a little mercy right now.