Eastiew Community Church
Eastview Community Church

Today at Eastview

The Beatitudes: Embracing the Good Life

Dave Ens - 2010-03-01

In the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, there is that classic scene where John Candy and Steve Martin, having been spun around in an automobile mishap, find themselves heading in the wrong direction down a 6-lane Interstate highway. With no oncoming traffic, they are oblivious to the fact that they are going the wrong way down a one-way. A car on the other side of the median, going the same direction they are, is honking and waving wildly, trying to tell them they are “going the wrong way!” “How would he know where we’re going?” is their retort. It is only when they see the oncoming headlights of two semi-trailers that they realise what the other driver was talking about.

There are many points in the Bible where we get the sense that it is calling out to us “you’re going the wrong way!” We hear and read the promise of an abundant life in Christ – a blessed life – but then we often set off on our own road to gain hold of the good life. Yet time in time again, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God (the source of this abundant life) in ways that seem completely counter-intuitive to us; as if to say “the way to the blessed life is not the way you are taking, it is this way.” Nowhere is that more clear than in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5.1-12).

In the Beatitudes, Jesus spells out the good life, the blessed life. Most often we are told that the good life is found in success, accolades, wealth, victory, etc.. Yet Jesus announces a new reality, a new kingdom, and cries out “you’re going the wrong way!”  He tells us it is not about what we are able to accomplish. At times we read the Beatitudes and treat them as things we “have to do” or characteristics we “must achieve” in order to be blessed.  And so we set out to become ‘poor in spirit’ or ‘meek’ or ‘merciful’…or worse yet, we seek out persecution. “But if we think of Jesus simply sitting there telling people how to behave properly, we will miss what was really going on” (N.T. Wright). The good life (blessed life) is for those who recognise their human condition and, like the large crowds gathered around Jesus (Matthew 4.23-25), find that the good life comes not out of our ability to succeed or accomplish, but in Christ’s power to bring strength out of our weakness (1 Cor. 1.26-31).

Beginning in March, we will be walking through the Beatitudes together, talking about what it means to embrace the good life.  As we go through them we will explore themes such as:

BLESSED ARE…THE POOR IN SPIRIT

 

There is nothing ‘romantic’ or honourable about being poor in spirit. It is moral bankruptcy. It is about letting go of fear and stopping our attempts to play god in our own lives. It is then that Jesus says we will find the good life. We will talk about facing the reality of where we’re at and “where we go from here.”

 

BLESSED ARE…THOSE WHO MOURN

 

We are a culture that tries to avoid pain at (almost) any cost; it is about getting rid of it as quickly as possible. C.S. Lewis says that God uses pain as a wake-up call. So perhaps it is not about avoiding it, but confessing and mourning the pain in life, coming clean before God and acknowledging the blessedness that comes from understanding the depth of our brokenness.

 

BLESSED ARE…THE MERCIFUL

 

We discover what mercy is about when we look at God; it begins and ends with Him. He saw our misery/pain/need and offered help. Jesus says the good life is found in offering that  same compassion to others. Maybe this means forgiveness of those who have hurt us, restoring broken relationships, taking that first step of offering compassion to those who need it.

 

BLESSED ARE…THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED

 

It is easy to read this one and think of those in far-away lands who are losing their lives because they are hated by governments or cultures that are anti-Christian. Yet another way of saying this can be “Blessed are, not simply the ‘Christians’, but the disciples of Jesus Christ who follow him even though it costs them greatly.”  The good life is found in the commitment to follow Jesus Christ despite the risk and cost.

 

In the middle of this series is Easter Sunday.  In Easter we have the ultimate ‘turning-of-things-on-their-heads’; that in death, we find life; that in darkness, light shines; in despair, we find hope.  Jesus not only talked about the way of the kingdom of God, he also lived it.  The challenge for us is whether or not we are willing to listen to Jesus calling out to us and change direction.  Are we willing to embrace this great ‘turn-around’, recognising the realities of our lives and, in doing so, embrace the good life?