This blog is
written as an assigned response to Paul Louis Metzger’s post, Blessed
Are the Happy in Jesus, not Tortured, Cheated or Diseased Souls which
introduces his series of posts on the beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12. We also
will consider these all in turn but first, we need to consider what sort of
things beatitudes actually are.
So what is a beatitude? Simply put, beatitude is a term we
use for a statement of blessedness. In the New Testament, when we read such declarative
statements as “Blessed is/ are…” that are beatitudes. The name comes from the Latin word beatus. The earlier Greek
word for the same thing is makarios (mä-kä'-rē-os)
hence the other technical term for beatitude is makarism. This prompted my recent use of Macaroni & Cheese as
an object lesson in a sermon. I will elaborate on this illustration later, but
for now, let’s put it on the back burner to simmer. We need to ask what this
word actually means.
Traditionally, New Testament occurrences of makarios have been translated as “blessed”, but modern preachers and commentators have often opted for “happy” instead. In my opinion that creates a significant amount of cognitive dissonance. How can those described in these verses be happy? Certainly, it is not “happy” as we commonly use the word today. Let me describe it to you in the following four points:
· The blessedness proclaimed in a beatitude or
macarism is more than happiness as we commonly use the word. It is not
dependent upon ideal circumstances and in fact, is often found in the most
difficult of places. It is deeper, richer, and more enduring than that elated
feeling that a random stroke of good fortune (“hap”) might produce. It is a
holistic blessedness that is more shalom than smiley-face emoji, ☺.
· A beatitude is neither something to be worked
for like some kind of promotion or achievement level in a spiritual video game nor is it merely a wish for something we desire to be true. The beatitudes are
too counterintuitive and counter-cultural for that. Rather, as Kenneth Bailey
writes, “They affirm a quality of spirituality that is already present.”[1] Like a spiritual MRI, the beatitudes proclaim a truth we cannot see within the dominant worldview. So why is this kingdom quality
already present? Because the true disciple has surrendered to the liberating love
of the very present Savior King, Jesus Christ. Certainly, there is also the
eschatological aspect that anticipates complete fulfillment in the future, but
they are also present realities in the sight of God.
·
The beatitudes are not to be seen as a
collection of individual attitudes, but rather as a cohesive whole. Too often
we have approached beatitudes like the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11) that
are given individually and pieced together for the common good. Such thinking
gives us “plausible deniability” to explain any apparent lack of these attributes
in our life. However, Matthew 5 is no bullet list of happiness hacks should we
choose to take advantage of them, but an interrelated description of the
citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Such thinking was to begin to transform the
listener to that long-ago “Sermon on the Mount.” Some scholars argue over how many beatitudes there are, but in the end, it is apparent that no matter how you divide them, they really were intended
and presented as a unit, a single picture, not merely a collection of
independent blessings. Like the Snickers candy bar ad, “No matter how you slice
it, it comes up peanuts!” The true disciple has all these nutty kingdom
“attributes” present in them because the king has revealed himself to them and
taken up residence within their lives. In fact, they may actually build on each
other as Jim Forrest suggests in his insightful book, Ladder of the Beatitudes.
· Such macarisms proclaimed in Matthew 5 are a
peak behind the curtain, an amazing revelation of how God sees the reality of
our lives. As a classmate of mine pointed out, he is naming the
reality—blessed! Jesus is naming the kingdom as it really is, not as the world
sees or values it.
 |
| Classic 3-D Glasses |
We need
to begin to see the world, and our lives, through Jesus' eyes. And as those
who are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful,
with pure/undivided affection, peacemakers, and not only endure persecution but with
joy join the ranks of the prophets who looked for the coming kingdom.
As we approach the message of the kingdom of heaven, as
found in Matthew 5-7, the text calls for us to repent of our own wisdom and our
inclination to try to import the values of the world into the kingdom of
heaven (see my pastoral post “Now
it Begins…”).
Some of you may still be wondering about the macaroni
metaphor. So how did I use Macaroni & Cheese as an object lesson? I used to
think a plate of Kraft mac & cheese was happiness itself. I was comfortable
with its hot bland yumminess. Over the years I began to put my own spin on it by
adding some Parmesan cheese. Like all products that are marketed to us each day
Mac & Cheese promised happiness. However, what I once thought was a blessing is now, in
light of nutritional and overly processed food concerns, revealed to be something less…other…than
what I thought.
This illustration fits into my metaphor exactly because those
things that the world markets, values, and considers to be a blessing, are not the same as what
Jesus proclaimed to be Makarios.
We must repent and begin to see our situation
through his eyes, his heart, and rest in his proclaimed “blessed” values. The world has an idea about what attitudes bring success,
but they are of no value in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus' kingdom is truly counter-cultural...even in the church.
Coming Soon: My next post will take this thought further as I engage a classic quote from St. Augustine about just such kingdom “happiness.”
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