When I was a wee broth of a lad, my maternal grandmother would read to me every day. I learned to read because she read me the daily newspaper comic strips and the Sunday comics. Soon I was reading them to her. Thus I knew how to read before I ever entered kindergarten and I entered kindergarten at 4. Oh, she read me the usual as well, Mother Goose and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. She read these from The Tall Book of Mother Goose and The Tall book of Nursery Rhymes.
These were both illustrated with drawling frightening enough to give me nightmares and perhaps this is what influenced me to later write horror stories. The artist was a Russian, Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky. If he influenced my choices then I am glad I had not seen his other work for he was well known for his pornographic erotic.
There was a book she often read me that was my favorite. It didn’t have a lot of illustration, but probably one per story. It had a lot of words in the stories. This was a collection of moral tales called, “A Hive of Busy Bees” by Effie M. Williams. It was originally published in 1939 by the Metropolitan Church Association.
Here is an excerpt from near the beginning of the book:
“I have been thinking about another kind of bee,” said Grandma. “Do they sting, like the bees in the orchard?” asked Joyce, with a little shiver. “Their stings are much sharper,” answered Grandma, “and the pain lasts much longer. There is a hive full of these bees.”
So I got to thinking. There is a hive of B’s in the Bible as well, which sting sharply and last longer
Have you thought about these B’s?
Matthew 5:1-12; 10:2-4, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-26
This hive of B’s begins this way in Matthew, Mark and Luke:
In these days he [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, seeing the crowds, he he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he desired, and when he sat down they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.
The names of the twelve apostles He appointed are these: first: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter) and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, the tax collector; and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Judas Thaddaeus the son of James, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
This all happens fairly early in Jesus ministry, not too long after he calls Matthew. Jesus had withdrawn to the Sea of Galilee and people from all over flocked to him there. He had to get in a small boat so they didn’t get crushed.
After a while he and his disciples went up into the hills to escape the crowds. As he often did, he went off alone to pray, in this case going up into the nearby mountain. The exact spot is uncertain, but scholars believe it was Mt. Eremos, on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee between Gennesaret and Capernaum.
Jesus prayed all night and when he finished it was daylight. he looked out and saw crowds had gathered at the base. At this point he called his disciples and they came up to him. We don’t know their number, but they were a goodly bunch. Out of these Jesus choose 12 men and he named them Apostles.
What’s the difference?
A disciple is a follower, a student or devotee to someone. You can have disciples. I could have disciples. They just have to be people willing to hang around and listen to you.
An Apostle goes beyond just a follower. An Apostle is an ambassador commissioned to carry out instructions or take messages to others. You and I do not have Apostles in the Gospel sense, nor can we be an Apostle. There are some ministers who call themselves Apostles, but they aren’t. Actual Apostles were personally chosen and commissioned by Jesus for the role. These twelve men were chosen for the role and one failed. The other Apostles chose Matthias to be the twelfth Apostle then, but I don’t think he ever fulfilled that position. Jesus chose Paul to be the twelfth Apostle.
After Jesus commissioned these men, he and they and his other disciples came down to a level place on the mount and the multitude below came up to him seeking what they sought. But Jesus kind of ignored the crown for the moment.
Now we are going to look at the start of the great Sermon on the Mount. You might also hear references made to the Sermon on the Plain, which is similar in much of what it says. Some believe the Sermon on the Plain was a totally separate instance, and perhaps it was. Jesus was an itinerant preacher. After all, what is it to be itinerant? It means one who has no permanent address, who is homeless, who travels around. That was certainly Jesus.
Since he traveled from place to place with his message, I am sure just like politicians of old that he had a stump speech. Why wouldn’t he? Different people would not have heard the message before and needed to hear it. So the Sermons on the Mount and on the Plain could have been separate speeches. However, I am treating it as one occurrence and have combined the passages in Matthew and Luke.
Here come the B’s.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are you who are the poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who now hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when other people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and persecute you and spurn your name and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on the account of the Son of Man!.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Rejoice in that day and be glad and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We today know these as the Beatitudes.
A to-be-famous Televangelist named Robert Schuller was encouraged to begin a broadcast ministry called “Hour of Power”
in 1969 by his friend Billy Graham, but he moved away from his Reformed background to more or less follow Norman Vincent Peale’s Power of Positive Thinking approach to preaching. He didn’t have a church in the beginning, preaching from a California Drive-in Theater lot, but eventually as he grew more and more popular he build a church for $3,000,000 known as the Crystal Cathedral.
THE HAPPY BE ATTITUDES
A to-be-famous Televangelist named Robert Schuller was encouraged to begin a broadcast ministry called “Hour of Power”
His “Hour of Power” was active with him as head from 1970 through 2010. He retired as head minister in 2006 and his son, Robert Jr. took over, but Jr. was replaced in 2008. In 2009 his oldest daughter, Sheila took over. By 2010 the ministry filed for bankruptcy, Sheila and other members were ousted In 2013, the new non-family board named Bobby Schuller, the grandson, as the new Pastor of the “Hour of Power” Robert Schuller died of esophagus cancer in 2014.
The “Hour of Power”, now only 30 minutes, is still broadcasted with Bobby Schuller I believe on TBN.
In 1985 Robert Schuller wrote a book called, The Happy Be Attitudes.It would be his most popular book and is still published. Here is how it presents the Beatitudes, oops sorry, the Happy Be-Attitudes:
- “I need help - I can’t do it alone”.You are poor in spirit, just remember people are always happy to provide help if you ask.
- Be comforted in your mourning because “I’m really hurting, but I’m going to bounce back.” Don’t feel guilty or fix blame; fix the problem. Once you fix your problem God will give you real comfort.
- To be blessed in meekness, be mighty enough to remain controlled and disciplined, and realize you can’t do it all yourself.
- If you are one hungering and thirsting for righteousness it is because “I really want to do the right thing.” Find a genuine purpose in life and work to give back, then you will gain genuine satisfaction.
- “I’m going to treat others the way I want others to treat me.” (Say isn’t that the Golden Rule?) Remember God loves you and forgives your mistakes, so be merciful to others. Remember, what ever you give away will always come back to you.
- “I’ve got to let the faith flow free through me.” Here is how to be pure in heart: Wise Up, Clean Up, Give Up and Take Up. Have a purpose in life.
- “I’m going to be a bridge builder.” Strive to live so you become a beautiful child of God. Where there is a scar, create a start. Fix your problems, love yourself and love every one.
- “I can choose to be happy anyway!” Have a positive attitude about your persecutions Stay positive, be prepared with a spiritual and emotional support system, Preserver in doing what is right. Pardon those who hurt you. Persist in trusting God. Pray for strength. Pass triumphantly through tragedy. Then you will be happy because you have chosen it.
Yes, perhaps following Schuller suggestions will help in this secular world, but is this what Jesus gave the Beattitudes for? Just so you could be happy.
There might be something else
Now lets read a more literal translation of the Beattitudes, and they do begin with the word happy.
Now lets read a more literal translation of the Beattitudes, and they do begin with the word happy.
1 `Happy the poor in spirit -- because theirs is the reign of the heavens.
2 `Happy the bewailing -- because they shall be called upon.
3 `Happy the meek -- because they shall obtain by the right of inheritance.
4 `Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness -- because they shall be satisfied and fulfilled.
5 `Happy the compassionate -- because they shall obtain mercy.
6 `Happy the clean in heart -- because they will behold God.
7 `Happy the peacemakers -- because they shall be called descendants of God.
8 `Happy those who press on for righteousness' sake -- because theirs is the reign of the heavens.
9 `Happy are ye whenever they may revile you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you speaking deliberate falsehoods for my sake -- rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward [is] great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.
I would like to hear your interpretation of the Beatitudes before giving mine, but here are mine anyway:
“Blessed are you who are the poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of God.
This is not referring to those in poverty by the world’s definition of poor. No, not at all. It says poor in Spirit, not poor in the pocketbook. Is this a point to become depressed? Maybe. This is the realization a person has that they are spiritually bankrupt and it is a humbling discovery. I was at this point when my seventh child was dying. This is when you become contrite and ready to seek God, but also when God begins to seek you.
Isaiah 66:2 — God said, “To this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.
Now there is something to be happy about, God is looking at you. This is your first step toward salvation.
Psalm 34:18:—“The Lord is near to those who are of a broken heart, and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.”
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
What are you mourning? Someone died, your spouse left you, you have just been told you have a serious illness, your business failed. Robert Schuller essentially said, “Get over it, pick yourself up by your bootstraps, fix it yourself and you will find comfort.”
I don’t think it has anything to do with those worldly sorrows and loss. I believe those who are mourning are mourning their sin. They have become poor of spirit and God is now looking at them. They begin to realize their sins with great regret and they mourn because of their sins. What can they do about what they have done? It is a heavy burden.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Meek? Who wants to be meek? If you are meek the bully will kick sand in your face and laugh about it and your girlfriend will leave you. "Praos" is the Greek word translated Meek in Matthew. It means mild, gentle and soft. This is looked at as cowardly in the world. Is that how you see Jesus? In 2 Corinthians 10:1 Paul talks of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Meekness is anything, but cowardly. It is slow to anger as it is power under control. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
So look what is happening here with the progress of the Beatitudes. First came being poor in spirit because a person realized he was helpless in sin. Then came mourning over this fact and an awareness of God. Focusing on God’s holiness brings the person to meekness.
The Lord lifts up the meek.” Psalm 147:6
It will be the meek in Christ who becomes Sons of God through inheritance. They will inherit the world after the return of Christ and reign with the Lord in the new world.
“Blessed are those who now hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you shall be satisfied.
The person who was poor in spirit mourns that he is lost in sin. He or she is mourning over their moral bankruptcy and they grow meek. The person knows how helpless he or she is and recognizes they are nothing. They know they can only find satisfaction with God and they hunger for God and thirst for righteousness. They crave the Bread of Life and the Living Water. What to do, what to do?
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
We believe in Jesus Christ and turn to him for mercy.
"Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.... Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy." Psalm 130:1-7
Ephesians 2:4-5, “God who is rich in mercy…hath made us alive.”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Mercy is a gift to us from God, not something we deserve or earned. If we are to receive mercy, then we must give mercy, even where we think it is undeserved. We show mercy to our neighbors and even mercy to those who show us none. It is right there in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
You or I can never obtain purity of heart on our own. Only God out of his mercy and forgiveness can bestow purity or holiness upon us. We must go through the broken spirit, the mourning, the hungering and the cry for mercy to gain this purity of heart given by God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Peace is something we always hear. World War I was supposed to be the war to end all war and bring peace. Instead World War I brought Hitler and World War II. Cries for peace have rung out almost all my life since 1948 when Israel miraculously returned and the dry bones came together. Now we always hear of efforts for a Middle East peace, which is not going to happen. Did Jesus say he came to bring peach to the world? No, he said “I have not come to bring peace.”
When a person obtains God’s mercy and righteousness, they become a peacemaker. They are to go out and bring righteous peace to the world’s problems. What will happen?
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The true peacemakers will be despised by the world and face persecution because the world does not want to deal with the realities of their sins. You will be view as a impediment to what others wish because you are a reminder of all that is wrong in the world.
Jesus came to this world as its savior and the Prince of Peace and they nailed him to a cross for it. What might they do to you, but fear not, for the Kingdom of Heaven is yours.
“Blessed are you when other people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and persecute you and spurn your name and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on the account of the Son of Man!.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Rejoice in that day and be glad and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did persecuted the prophets who were before you.
By the way, the poor in spirit (Beatitude 1) realize everything is a gift of mercy, so they show mercy to others. (Beatitude 5). Those who mourn (Beatitude 2) will gain pure hearts, because you gain cleansing by mourning over sin. (Beatitude 6). And one must be meek (Beatitude 3) to truly humble themselves to be peacemakers. (Beatitude 7).
But besides the Beatitudes, there are the Baditudes:
Luke 6:24-26
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
Ut oh!
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”Amos 4:1
There, we have some cows. This is from Amos. I suggest you read the Book of Amos this week. It tells of what God plans to do to certain countries and to Israel and Judah. The people in these countries had grown so rich they abused and used the poor for their own pleasures.
Think about this in light of the four woes of the Badtitudes and also compare Judah and Israel to the United States today. You will see in Amos that God has dropped a plum line. See if you feel the United States measures up to God’s plum line.
