The Beatitudes:
Let's memorize and
be mastered by Jesus' Way
of courage and compassion.
One day, a Zen priest, who abided by the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path of Buddhism, shared with his new Christian friend that he adores Jesus. The priest then asked the Christian,
“When you wake up each day,
what do you seek to do and be?”
what do you seek to do and be?”
How might you answer this question?
At the time, the Christian answered with “I try to love God with my whole being and love neighbor as myself.” It seemed like a good answer, but then the friend began to feel like he didn’t answer what he does each day to love. He came to the conclusion that:
"What I need is waking up
to a whole new way of being
each morning."
And as another author wrote,
Those in Jesus’ Kingdom
don’t work for blessing,
but from blessing.
We wake up to receiving blessing,
not earning blessing,
and then sharing blessing.
In beginning 2026 with wonderings about how Emmaus City Church is supposed to live into our themes of peace, prayer, contentment, and sacred waiting for the year, my heart and mind continue to come back to the Beatitudes. So when I read this story in preparation for Lent, it stuck with me, and I continue to wonder how we can embody the answer to the Zen priest's (or any of our friends' or neighbors') question with how we wake up to each day to live into Jesus' courageous and compassionate Way as displayed in the Beatitudes.
When we wake up each day,
could the Beatitudes be
When we wake up each day,
could the Beatitudes be
what we put on,
what we we eat,
what we remember,
what we do
in Christ and with Christ
for the life of the world?
Below are some thoughts I collected and crafted in preparing to preach on the Beatitudes text in the Gospel of St. Matthew. If they are in line with Christlikeness, may they become more than reflections in the year ahead. My prayer is that we throughout Emmaus City Church would be a living reflection of Jesus' Kingdom of heaven that is near and breaking in now by embodying His Way displayed in the Beatitudes.
Waking Up to
Jesus' Way of Trust & Rest
in the Age of Me
(i.e. I've Got to Be & Do It All)
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
or
Blessed are those who control their image,
for theirs are the castles of the cell.
Waking Up to
Jesus' Way of Lament
in the Age of Distraction
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
or
Blessed are the indifferent and distracted,
for they will never get hurt.
Waking Up to
Jesus' Way of Humility & Dignity
in the Age of Pride & Power
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
or
Blessed are the forceful,
for they will overpower the weak.
Waking up to
Jesus' Way of Restorative Justice
in an Age of More for the Wealthy
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst after righteousness,
for they will be filled.
or
Blessed are those who are
greedy for more,
for they will ensure others have less.
Waking up to
Jesus' Way of Compassion
in an Age of Tolerance
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
or
Blessed are the demanding,
for they will crush those
who can't keep up
(ex. intolerance for
the intolerant to change).
Waking up to
Jesus' Way of Wholehearted Focus
in an Age of Self Promotion
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
or
Blessed are the unsure
and divided in heart,
for they will be who others
tell them to be.
Waking up to
Jesus' Way of Peacemaking
in an Age of Outrage
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
or
Blessed are the war makers,
for they will be called victors
(but never called friends).
Waking up to
Jesus' Way of Surrender
in an Age of Comfortable
Blessed are the persecuted
because of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
or
Blessed are those who never suffer
for theirs is a kingdom without a cross.
May we have a true encounter with Jesus each day, waking up to the invitation to His Way. Why?
The basic message of the Sermon
(on the Mount, Beatitudes)
is not about "what works"
but rather the way God is.
Jesus is the Sermon on the Mount.
He's the picture of
abundant life available
to us now.
This is good news!
The Sermon on the Mount is
God's possible impossibility,
because we are now empowered
to live in a world fashioned
in accordance with God's peace.
+ Stanley Hauerwas,
Prayer for Jesus' Kingdom Come
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help us and hold us so that we may be mastered by Jesus’ Way of compassion and courage: to live with open hands, mourn what’s broken, serve with honor, use power for good, look with compassion, walk in honesty, reach past differences, suffer for love, and live fearlessly. Let us wake up to reality of Your Kingdom coming now and that will be established fully forever one day. In King Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.
+ Excerpts above compiled and adapted
from R. Villodas' The Narrow Path,
with insight from J. Pennington's
The Sermon on the Mount
and Human Flourishing,
J. Dodson's Our Good Crisis,
J. Dodson's Our Good Crisis,
S. Hauerwas' Jesus Changes Everything, and
M. Scandrette's The Ninefold Path of Jesus,
along with some original reflections.
M. Scandrette's The Ninefold Path of Jesus,
along with some original reflections.
Call to Action
Wake up (read and pray) each morning to:
+ Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-12
+ Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-12
+ Fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23
+ Cruciform Hymn: Philippians 2:5-11
Then ask God to help you to wake up to and live out Jesus' courageous and compassionate Way for such a time as this.
Keep Singing
Common Hymnal, 2017 A.D.
Blessed are the ones who do not bury
All the broken pieces of their heart.
Blessed are the tears of all the weary
Pouring like a sky of falling stars.
Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning,
Brave enough to show the Lord their scars.
Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden,
Open to the healing touch of God.
The Kingdom is Yours,
The Kingdom is yours!
Hold on a little more,
This is not the end!
Hope is in the Lord,
Keep your eyes on Him!
Blessed are the ones who walk in kindness
Even in the face of great abuse.
Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed,
Serving with unguarded gratitude.
Blessed are the ones who fight for justice,
Longing for the coming day of peace.
Blessed is the soul that thirsts for righteousness,
Welcoming the last, the lost, the least.
(Chorus)
Blessed are the ones who suffer violence
And still have strength to love their enemies.
Blessed is the faith of those who persevere.
Though they fall, they'll never know defeat.
(Chorus)
Keep Contrasting
Jon Guerra, 2024 A.D.
Blessed are the powerful,
Blessed are the rich.
Blessed are the merciless
And the hypocrites.
They will inherit the empires passing.
It's the American Gospel
Blessed are the superstars,
Blessed are the famous.
Blessed are the ones
Who make their faces ageless.
They will inherit the magazine covers
Of the American Gospel.
Come to me those
Who have something to give.
Come to me those
Who are likely to win.
Come to me those
Who are ruthless and proud of it.
Come pledge,
Come swear,
Come vote for the American Gospel.
Don't wait,
Come trade Your soul
For the American Gospel.
Blessed are the speech police,
Fundamentalists.
Blessed are the rioters
Raising clenching fists.
They will be filled with empathy for all
Except their enemies.
Come to me
If you would take up the sword.
A citizen honest, a patriot pure.
Come to me
All who are willing to kill in the war.
All who are willing to kill in the war.
For country,
For culture
And God and the American Gospel.
For yours
Is more
And more of the American Gospel.
Blessed are the powerless,
Blessed are the poor.
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the pure
For they will inherit the kingdom of Heaven
And that's the heart of the Gospel.
Bonus Consideration:
Jesus begins His primary teaching
with the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-11),
with the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-11),
a title that stems
from the Latin noun beātitūdō,
meaning "happiness" or "blessedness."
Through this series of paradoxes, surprises,
and reversals, Jesus begins setting
a topsy-turvy universe aright.
How should we understand them?
A key is the Greek word makarios,
rendered "blessed" or "happy"
or perhaps even "lucky,"
which is used to start
each of the Beatitudes.
+ "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
We might say,
"How lucky you are if
you are not addicted to material things."
Here Jesus is telling us how to
realize our deepest desire,
which is the desire for God,
not for passing things that
only bring temporary comfort.
+ "Blessed are those who mourn."
We might interpret it this way,
"How lucky are you if
you are not addicted to good feelings."
Doing the will of God
sometimes involves the acceptance
of enormous pain,
but when you're free from
dependence on good feelings,
you're liberated for whatever life demands.
+ "Blessed are the meek."
One of the world's
greatest seductions is power.
But what we ought to do is
eschew worldly power,
so that the power of
the will of God might reign in us.
+ "Blessed are you when
people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account."
In other words,
how lucky you are if you are not
addicted to the approval of others.
Take a Moment to Laugh
with Jonathan Roumie
(Bonus: Bloopers)
With many blessings,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
