Blessed are the peacemakers. This blessing is not for the peace-callers but the peacemakers. It's not for those who talk about peace, who loudly insist on peace with warlike cries, who sing "Give Peace a Chance." That's easy. What's really hard is to make peace, to achieve peace, to take enemies and find common ground and use that to bring them together and end hostilities, forming a new relationship. That's difficult. It requires more than platitudes. It requires genuine work and real genius.

Of course the greatest peace, and the most costly, is the peace between man and God. We were God's enemies. We had rebelled against him in our sin. And while we were still in rebellion against him, Christ died for us on a cross. He died so that we would no longer be his enemies. He died so that we could be reconciled to him. Christ is our example for the greatest of peacemakers. He gave the most to make the greatest peace.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God.

The world has no respect for the pure in heart. It thinks of the pure in heart as being naïve and ignorant. It's much better to be sophisticated and open-minded, to accept all kinds of thoughts, ideas and practices. That kind of open-mindedness is never valued in scripture. It goes completely against the concept of being pure in heart. We should have no room in our hearts for sin and rebellion against God. There is no benefit to keeping our hearts and minds open to this. The world values an open mind over a pure heart, but the world's values are simply wrong.

Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

    Mercy is a quality that is valued by God and valued by the world, but in different ways and degrees. The world recognizes that it is good to offer mercy to friends, to help out people when they are down, to extend a helping hand. That kind of mercy is also valued by God, but he goes much further. The Lord also demands that we show mercy to our enemies, to those who would destroy us and all we work for. The world thinks that when you have an enemy down, you push your advantage and finish him off. The world turns on a beaten adversary and taunts him with: "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

    Compare that with our perfect example of mercy, Christ. Romans 5:8 tells us that Jesus shows his amazing love in that "while we yet sinners Christ died for us!" That's a major dose of mercy. We were sinners, which means that we were God's enemies. We had rebelled against him, had ignored him, broken his commandments, shown no respect for his authority and rule. We had spurned his love and his holiness. But he still loved us so much that while we were still in outright rebellion against him, he died to save us from the consequences of our rebellion against him.

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

The world doesn't see those who hunger and thirst for righteousness as blessed. It thinks they are on a hopeless, unrewarding and quixotic quest. The world thinks they should wake up and become more practical. Many nominal Christians share this view. They believe that being saved is enough, Christians shouldn't be consumed by their religion. They think we should keep our salvation in the background as part of the foundation of our lives but not let it dominate our daily actions. The world's version of this beatitude would be: Cursed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they are fanatics who are obsessed with their religion and need to develop real lives.

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

I hesitate to repeat too much of my earlier posting on meekness, but this is the most underrated virtue by our culture. The world puts no value on meekness (also translated as gentleness). The world sees meekness as weakness. The world's version of this beatitude is: Cursed are the meek, for they will not stand up for their rights.

Our culture puts a strong emphasis on standing up for your rights, demanding what should be coming to you, looking out for number one. You have to take care of yourself and you have to make sure that the world treats you right. You can't let other people roll over you. You can't be too nice. The world sees the meek as doormats. It couldn't be more wrong.

Our role model for meekness is Christ. And there is no weakness in him. Christ did not stand up for his own rights. He was falsely accused, unjustly beaten and wrongfully executed. He did not denounce his treatment as unfair. He did not call upon the strength he had to evade the punishment he didn't deserve. He went to the cross to benefit those who put him on it. Jesus put aside his rights and his welfare to ensure our lives.

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

How can we possibly be blessed when we mourn? Blessed means happy. In fact, some versions translate "blessed are" to be "happy are." Aren't mourning and happiness mutually exclusive? After all, mourning means sadness. It means loss and grief. How can it possibly mean happiness and blessing?

First, it helps to understand that the Beatitudes don't stand on their own. They come as a set and build on each other. They don't describe individual circumstances and blessings for various people. There isn't one guy who is blessed because he is poor in spirit and another who is blessed because he mourns. These are characteristics that describe the attitudes and the outlook to be held by all believers.

Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[I apologize for not updating this blog recently. I have been going through some very busy personal times and have let this slide. I hope to post more regularly in the future.]

I wanted to take a look at the Beatitudes. It occurred to me recently that the Beatitudes are a perspective adjustment. They came at the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus used them to set the tone for the teaching he was going to give the crowd and to get their attention. The Beatitudes must have been a shock to his listeners because they represent ideas so different from those the world held then and now. Jesus wanted to turn the people from the world's attitude and perspective to God's. So I want to look at the Beatitudes in that context. Let's see the perspective God wants us to have as it compares to the attitude the world has. The Beatitudes deal with blessings. They define who is blessed in the eyes of God and who is blessed in the eyes of man. And there is a big difference.

The first Beatitude is about "the poor in spirit," but what does that mean? Think of the poor in spirit as the opposite of haughty or high-spirited. The poor in spirit recognize that they need a savior. They know that they need God to help them, to guide them and build them up. The poor in spirit recognize that they can't do it all themselves, that they must lean on God for direction and strength.

The world recognizes no value in being poor in spirit. The world sees this as a curse rather than a blessing. The world would say: "Blessed are the confident and self-reliant, those who can take care of themselves." In fact, if there were a version of this beatitude in the world's gospel it would be: "Cursed are the poor in spirit, for they need more self esteem."

            When the officials go to arrest Jesus, they literally take an army. The Romans sent a cohort, which usually consisted of 600 men. (Each cohort had a commander with six centurions under him.) The Jews sent a contingent of temple guards. Plus there was a large number of temple leaders. So we're looking at between 700 and 1,000 men. Most of these guys are hardened professional soldiers. They are well armed. Why send so many to arrest one itinerant preacher and a handful of fishermen?

A new survey released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that Americans are switching their religious affiliation fairly often. They are not sticking with the faith in which they were raised. Instead, they are seeking a faith that suits them and feels comfortable to them. You can find the study at

http://religions.pewforum.org/

We shouldn't be surprised by this. Scripture tells us — 2 Timothy 4:3-5, above — tells us this will happen. People will turn from the truth to myths. They will listen to a great number of teachers who tell them what they want to hear.

But this isn't necessarily bad news. A population that is willing to leave the faith in which they were raised in order to seek spiritual progress is one that is likely to be receptive to the gospel.