I was teaching a class of 20-somethings and announced we would be looking at the beatitudes (Mt 5:3-11). A godly young woman raised her hand and said “I hate the beatitudes.” And then another voiced the same opinion. This continued until it seemed like the entire class echoed the same attitude. They totally disliked what Jesus was saying.

Why? They had all been taught Jesus was saying they had to be better than they were in order to be blessed. They needed to be more “poor in spirit” before they would be blessed. For sure they needed to “mourn” more for their sin. Do everything a little better and then you can be blessed. No grace without better performance. The New Testament’s Ten Commandments.

I didn’t like the beatitudes either…that is until about ten years ago. That’s when I learned to read them through the lens of grace and they become good news. Great news.

The key to unlocking the beatitudes as good news is to understand the context. Jesus was teaching and healing “all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics and paralytics” (Mt 4:24). This attracted huge crowds and uses it as a teachable moment.

Jesus first says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…“.  Who had Jesus just blessed with His teaching about the Kingdom and with His healing? The most hopeless, the marginalized and helpless, those who were written off. Those who were already the poorest in spirit had just been blessed. They didn’t have to become more humble and humiliated first. Grace says I am going to love you and bless you just as you are.

Next Jesus declares, “Blessed are those who mourn…”. I was always taught I needed to mourn more for my sin, and then Jesus would bless me, but this doesn’t fit the context. Those he had just preached the gospel to and healed were already mourning – mourning the loss of their health, their careers, their family, their dignity.

Jesus wasn’t exhorting them to mourn more, rather He was saying I am meeting you just as you are. You don’t have do anything to make yourself more acceptable before I will bless you. He had just demonstrated this amazing truth about grace. “God loves you just as you are, not as you should be” (Brennan Manning).

Personally, when I began to read the Beatitudes this way and in context, it gave credibility to Jesus’s words in Mt 11:30, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Walking with Jesus is good news. It is a joy.

Next week I will continue to work our way through these beautiful grace filled verses.

QUESTION:  How have you been reading these verses? Have they been good news or exhortations to work harder so you can qualify for God’s blessing?

PS: Let me encourage you to listen to this past Tuesday’s podcast with Dr. Bryan Chapell. Bryan compares the pain of “stop it” with the healing and hope of grace.

This week’s post about God’s great gamble is something I have taped in the back of my Bible to remind me that God is not who I often think He is. And neither am I. It is by my friend John Lynch, pastor of Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix and a part of the TrueFaced team.

God’s Great New Testament Gamble 

What if I tell them who they are?  What if I take away any element of fear in condemnation, judgment, or rejection?  What if I tell them I love them, will always love them?  That I can’t love them more than I love them now, that I love them right now no matter what they’ve done, as much as I love my only Son.  That there’s nothing they can do to make My love go away.

What if I told them there are no lists?  What if I told them they were righteous, with My righteousness, right now!?  What if I told them they could stop beating themselves up?  That they could stop being so formal, stiff, and jumpy around Me.  What if I told them I was crazy about them?  What if I told them even if they ran to the ends of the earth and did the most unthinkable, horrible things, killed Me and were unfaithful in their marriage, when they came back, I’d receive them with tears and a party?  What if I told them I don’t keep a log of past offenses, of how little they pray, how often they’ve let Me down, made promises they don’t keep?

What if I told them they don’t have to be owned by men’s religious additions or traditions?  What if I told them that if I am their Savior, they’re going to heaven no matter what – it’s a done deal?  What if I told them they had a new nature, saints, not saved sinners who should now “buck-up and be better if they were any kind of Christians after all He’s done for you.”  What if I told them that I actually live in them now?  That I’ve put my love, power, and nature inside of them, at their disposal.  What if I told them they didn’t’ have to put on a mask?  That it was OK to be who they are at this moment, with all their junk and not pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don’t, how much Bible they read or don’t.  What if they knew they don’t have to look over their shoulder, for fear if things get too good – the other shoe’s gonna drop?  What if they knew I will never, ever use the word punish in relation to them?  What if they knew when they mess up, I never “get back at them”?  What if they were convinced bad circumstances aren’t My way of evening the score for taking advantage of Me?

What if they knew the basis of our friendship wasn’t how little they sin, but on how much they let Me love them?  What if they had permission to stop trying to impress Me in any way?  What if I told them they could hurt My heart, but I’d try never to hurt theirs?  What if I told them I like Eric Clapton’s music too?  That the “Thee”s and “Thou”s have always bugged Me?  What if I told them I never really liked the Christmas hand-bell deal with the white gloves?  What if I told them they could open their eyes when they pray and still go to Heaven?  What if I told them there was no secret agenda, no trap door?  If I told them it wasn’t about their self-effort, but allowing Me to live My life through them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1997. The year of the historic October blizzard in Colorado. It was a once in a hundred year storm. I was in Orlando and then Chicago but Sue was in Colorado at our home in the forest, elevation 7,540 feet . The Colorado Springs airport was closed for three days and I was stranded in Chicago unable to get home.

Finally I called Sue and announced that I was on the first flight into Colorado Springs.  Her response was it won’t make any difference as I won’t be able to get to the house. I said I could and would. Sue told me again I didn’t understand – the snow was drifted to the top of the windows. There was no way to get home and it would be a long time before our dirt road would get plowed.

Well – I flew into Colorado Springs and a friend, who had a “real” jeep, picked me up. He managed to get me to the end of our road but could not go any farther. I was determined and so I said, “Let me out – I will walk the rest of the way.” Stupidly, I got out with all my luggage and started down our dirt road. The snow was up to the top of my thighs and every step was exhausting. My stupidity was confirmed. As I crested a rise in our road, our neighbors were digging out, saw me, and came to my rescue with a horse.

As I walked in the back door of our house, Sue was totally shocked and asked how I got there. She did not believe me when I said by horseback…and then she saw the horse out the back door!

This how a lot of believers envision their relationship with God. Jesus gets them 80% of the way to the Father, to the end of the street, but then he says “Out you go. That’s as far as I am taking you. Now if you want to go the rest of the way and be close to God, it’s up to you. Work hard and good luck trying.” Theologians have a word for this type of thinking – “baloney.”

Romans 5:1 tells us that Jesus takes us all the way to the Father…”we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The word peace here does not refer to a feeling. Rather it means the restoration of a relationship, a friendship. It is to bind back together that which has been broken. It is like Jesus has super-glued us to the Father.

I do not have to put effort into getting close to God. I already am. Jesus has taken me all the way. Now I put effort into experiencing and enjoying the closeness I already have. If God feels far away, He is not. I am simply experiencing the results of my inattention.

QUESTION: Do you have a jeep and horseback theology that needs to change? What would be a first step?

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