Sermon On The Mount 2: Wrong Direction

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

-Matthew 5:3-11

It's always frustrating having to ask for directions. You're already late. You probably spilled your coffee trying to read a road sign. If they tell you that you're close by--it's just around the corner or just over the hill--it can bring a sigh of relief. But nothing is more disheartening than when that worried look comes across their face and they tell you that you've been heading in completely the wrong direction. It is always accompanied by mass confusion because the surroundings don't look anything like you'd expected. Like Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber who questions John Denver's description of the mountains in "Rocky Mountain High." After driving 400 miles in the wrong direction Colorado looked awfully flat. We find ourselves with a similar confusion when reading the Beatitudes. Like Lloyd we have been traveling, unwittingly, unknowingly, in the wrong direction. But because we've been doing it for 400 miles we have become used to it. It has become all we know. Jesus is about to tell us the right direction and it's going to seem as confusing, backward, and unexpected as Lloyd's suspicion that the mountains looked an awful lot like the Nebraska cornfields. Jesus is telling us that those who will experience the fullness of life, as heaven and earth become united through his redemptive work, look the complete opposite of what we would expect. It is not the wealthy, the successful, or the victorious, but the poor, the meek, the mourners. As such the beatitudes may be less a description of what we must do to find God (though they will point us there) but more simply a description of those who will. Sometimes the wealthy, the successful, and the victorious have the unfortunate happenstance of never needing Him.