Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

I suppose I expected to read “Blessed are those who believe that everything will turn out well.”  It sounds strange to hear a statement like this – “Blessed are those who mourn.” Mourning people do not attract me very much.  I like to be around happy people for whom all things seem to be working just fine.  Perhaps they feel no need for the Lord. But at least they appear happy.

So, what is Jesus saying here?  Is it something like this?  They who mourn are feeling a loss.  So a feeling of mourning is an open door through which the Lord can enter our lives, to comfort us – not to answer all our questions but to let us know that Jesus loves us and will never leave us.  That is the greatest comfort. It is the comfort of faith which trusts Jesus completely.  That is rest because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. We feel his love and are comforted in soul.

So, I say slowly and with the greatest assurance, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  That includes me.

My shop is a lot of things.  Just now I am servicing and repairing Grandfather’s clocks, a hobby that I do enjoy.

His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5: 3

So, we pondered the meaning of “poor in spirit.”  Those are blessed.  We noticed how the virtues of Jesus are contrary to our normal ways of thinking.  We love to be “rich in spirit.”  That might please us but not God.

Then we find, once again, as we find often, Jesus’ preoccupation with “the kingdom of heaven.”  That is where the “poor in spirit” are.  If it is such an important thing to Jesus, why do we, including me, treat it so lightly?  His revelation of this kingdom of heaven is a cornerstone of his revelation to us, a view of reality that reshapes all our thinking!

There is a kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven.  Those who are born again of the Spirit of the Lord find themselves in a new and rather strange kingdom. It is a kingdom of surprises, where the poor in spirit are honored over those who are rich in spirit.  That seems so contrary to our native thinking where we value power and self-effort.

Welcome, fellow born-again believer, to our new kingdom that is under the reign of our new King, Jesus Christ.  Old things have passed away, the new has come!  This is what Jesus is teaching.  I need to grasp the truth of that all over again.  I get so used to being in an earthly kingdom that I too easily let slip the very central feature of Jesus revelation to us. I get more like the world around me instead of the kingdom within me.

This, the first on Jesus’ list of blessings, can only be appreciated by those who are believers in Jesus Christ.  What a blessed mystery!!

Our neighbors, Katya and Dema appeared at our door last evening as a Halloween surprise.  Wonderful children, if I must say so.

His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5: 3

So, we pondered the meaning of “poor in spirit.”  Those are blessed.  We noticed how the virtues of Jesus are contrary to our normal ways of thinking.  We love to be “rich in spirit.”  That might please us but not God.

Then we find, once again, as we find often, Jesus’ preoccupation with “the kingdom of heaven.”  That is where the “poor in spirit” are.  If it is such an important thing to Jesus, why do we, including me, treat it so lightly?  His revelation of this kingdom of heaven is a cornerstone of his revelation to us, a view of reality that reshapes all our thinking!

There are kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven.  Those who are born again of the Spirit of the Lord find themselves in a new and rather strange kingdom. It is a kingdom of surprises, where the poor in spirit are honored over those who are rich in spirit.  That seems so contrary to our native thinking where we value power and self-effort.

Welcome, fellow born-again believer, to our new kingdom that is under the reign of our new King, Jesus Christ.  Old things have passed away, the new has come!  This is what Jesus is teaching.  I need to grasp the truth of that all over again.  I get so used to being in an earthly kingdom that I too easily let slip the very central feature of Jesus revelation to us. I get more like the world around me instead of the kingdom within me.

This, the first on Jesus’ list of blessings, can only be appreciated by those who are believers in Jesus Christ.  What a blessed mystery!!

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: ^“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:1 – 3

I am now switching from meditations on Paul’s letters to the teachings of Jesus, especially those he taught in “The Sermon on the Mount.”  I begin with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

I grew up knowing about the “Beatitudes.”  The word itself meant nothing to me nor to the culture I live in.  I never even heard this word in our daily conversations or in the newspapers. What on earth is a “beatitude?” I had no idea. So, Jesus’ teaching was obscured by words that we no longer use.  The words sounded nice, but what is Jesus saying, what is he revealing about reality?   I paid little heed to such thoughts, just merrily recited the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  How nice!

Having admitted that “beatitude” has no meaning for me or my culture, I go on to read, or to recite words, “Blessed are…”  Pray tell, what does that mean?  “Blessed.” I do hear this word now and again, and even use it on occasion.  When someone has a healthy sneeze, I say, “Bless you!”  I have no idea what I am saying.  Maybe I should just say, “That was a healthy sneeze!”  That is probably what I am thinking, nothing more.  So, leaving out the word “blessed” helps!  For my culture, it is superfluous and without meaning.

It often helps, as I try to find what a word means, to replace it with its negative.  Like, “Cursed are the poor in spirit.”  Now, the meaning is beginning to take shape.  Our culture is not at all comfortable with the thought that it is good to be “poor in spirit.”  That phrase is simply opaque here if not completely undesirable.  We honor those who are “rich in spirit,” those who are self-assured, self-reliant and are getting on nicely, thank you – those who pay no heed to the things of the spirit.

Or we could say, “Blessed are those who are rich in spirit.”  That sounds much better.  But is not what Jesus said!  He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Is that me?  Am I “Poor in spirit?’  If I know and admit my abject poverty and depend on God to love and look after me, even at my advanced age of 88, then I discover that I am in a new kingdom, not like any on earth.  Only in the kingdom of heaven is virtue attached to poverty, not to riches.  Lord, teach me your word and your words.

The former owners of our property planted a maple that, I believe, is native to the Orient. We love it.  The pink double seed connected by a slim stalk will soon ride the wind, like its red maple cousin, just beside it at our place. The beauty and wonder of nature can be breath-taking, as here.

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Titus 3:14, 15.

I love this closing.  In the body of the letter Paul encourages Titus and those who will read this letter to keep their focus on Jesus, not on peripheral issues, and to do good.  So, it is little wonder that he closes with these words, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.”

Paul is speaking to born again believers, both Jews and Gentiles.  They are a new body on the face of the earth.  Paul calls all such, “Our people.”  I find this amazing.  The fellowships are not of one culture or of one social class, they are bound together by the unity of the cleansing by the Blood of Jesus and by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.  Their common purpose is to live the life of Christ where they are, bound together in love.  Paul, bless him, calls them “Our people.”  Indeed they are and that fact has brought a new thing on the earth.

I expected Paul to insist that “Our people” have a common theology, a common set of beliefs and customs.  He does not even mention this in his final closing words.  Rather he emphasizes that they should “devote themselves to doing what is good.”  That is the common thread that should run clearly through all the fellowships.  They do good. 

Paul then points to the benefits of doing good.  It will provide their “urgent needs.”  So, looking after the needs of family and the needy is living proof that the Spirit of God is at work among them.

Furthermore, by choosing always to do good, they live what Paul calls, “productive lives.”  They produce things!  They are not content to simply consume, but to produce!  Through the ages Christians of all cultures produce things.

At first glance, I am amazed that Paul is very practical, convinced that good faith will produce good works.  I need to embrace this truth all over again.