for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
“Regardess of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.” –Arthur Ashe
“If you want to be a winner, hang around with winners.” –Christopher Furman
General Patton once famously stated that “Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser,” and you don’t have to look around long to see how often that’s true. We value power, popularity, and prosperity; we have entire sections in our bookstores dedicated to being a success and to learning how to win. Not only that, but we avoid those choices that might lead to having less, that might seem like a step down and can even avoid those people who might not look good or might not make us look good. We want to be loved; and Americans love a winner. And so we will do almost anything to win.
Now Jesus comes with a grace bound up only in his great love and our great need. He does not save us because we are worth saving and he is certainly not impressed with our money, our status, or what we will do to win. In fact, he often spoke against those things.
When Jesus walked the earth; he was known as one who hung out with tax collectors and sinners. In other words, he hung out with losers. In fact, so much of what those who rejected him rejected about him was how taken he was with "the least of these" and how unconcerned he was with winning. He was a loser. And that's why they killed him.
But it’s been over 2000 years since Jesus walked the earth and, in that time, we have created a gospel that celebrates the winner. The most blatant version draws direct connections between being rich and powerful and receiving God’s favor and has become known as the prosperity gospel, but even more subtle forms still hold up worldly “success.” How many of us have attended churches whose eldership was primarily doctors and lawyers? Now, how many of us have attended churches whose eldership included a janitor?
Jesus begins his sermon on the mount blessing the poor in spirit, the meek, and the merciful. But our world (including many of us who claim Christ) see this as weak and lame.
We spend our lives trying to impress, trying to please, and even trying to become the very opposite of the people Jesus blesses. Because the meek and the peacemakers and those who mourn still look more like losers than winners. And we are people who will do almost anything to not be a loser.
Richard Nixon once stated that “the game of life is to come up a winner, to be a success, to achieve what we set out to do.” He was one who once tried to gain the world and risked losing the one thing we’re called not to lose; his soul.
Christ comes calling us to repentance. To go a different way. To make a different choice. To worry less about success and about winning.
Christ calls the church to be a place where weakness is welcome and losers feel at home; where you can walk in the door even if you don't have a savings account or a job or a home.
A place where the poor in spirit are blessed, where those who mourn are comforted and where peacemaking is practiced and celebrated.
A place where purity of heart and hunger for righteousness are valued over talent and ability.
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."
