Last night we brought in Shaun Groves for a concert at Tyndale. He exceeded my expectations. I had the privilege of going to the airport to pick him up and spend some time with him before the show. It’s always an interesting event when you get to spend time with a ‘famous’ person. Only month ago we got to go out for lunch with Donald Miller a few times also. And only two weeks ago Marva Dawn spoke three lectures. I say all this to let you know how fortunate I’ve been and how much you have missed out on in the last month or so and because I wanted to share how much I’ve learned through all these experiences.
Donald Miller was great. He brought new insight to my faith and helped me understand God better. It’ll be something I’ll save to later, but I will get to it. Marva Dawn’s messages were amazing. I wrote a little bit about them earlier and linked you to Darryl’s blog where he expanded on one of her points. Shaun Groves, a musician, said a few words that brought understanding to a well known passage.
Shaun Groves talked about these and I’m going to try and summarize what he said and expand on some points where I tried to have insights when my mind went wandering.
Matt 5:3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
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 sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Think of these beatitudes in a divine order. Jesus wasn’t just taking a bunch of cool sayings and throwing them out there. Each one is thought out and placed in the order it is for a reason. Christ never called us to be believers; he called us to be disciples. There are way too many people out there that agree with the Christian message and yet live like they disagree. Unfortunately this isn’t what Christ had in mine. The beatitudes are a perfect example of what Christ had in mind.
The poor in spirit. Poor in spirit would mean those that realize their depravity. It would encompass all those that admit to their guiltiness and understand that inside them lies nothing but sin. It is in this understanding; this acknowledgement is when one inherits the kingdom of heaven. Until you admit that you are pour in spirit, nothing, without God, you cannot begin the journey with him. It takes the complete dependency on Him to start this journey through the beatitudes.
Those that mourn. Blessed are those that mourn the condition that was discovered in the verse before. He isn’t just saying those that mourn their lost loved one or their hundred dollar bill. He is talking about those that mourn the fact that they are pour in spirit. Mourn the fact that you have lost your innocence, that you are filthy because you have walked away from Christ. The way I look at it is that if there is no mourning process you probably don’t really care.
The meek. This is a direct connection with the verse before. If you are worthless, and you do care and have mourned about it then the next step would be meekness. My youth ministry teacher said that meekness is power under control. It’s a type of humility. When you realize your place, the only logical and obvious step is to step to a place of humility.
Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness. Now it’s time to start longing for what we were created to do and be.
Follow through the last ones and notice the order. When you desire for righteousness you will be merciful and begin to take care of those that are less fortunate. As you desire righteousness and begin to act it out you are slowly purified from all the filth as Christ works through you. You will desire reconciliation of the world and of your relationships and of people you know. You will desire peace. When you have gone this far; get ready, because persecution is not far off.
Doesn’t sound appealing does it? This is the beginning of Christ’s sermon on the mount. The beginning! I can see maybe speaking this at the end, and at least share the nice stuff at the beginning as an ice breaker, get to know the crowd a little bit or even to just not have everyone get up and walk away in the first two minutes of opening your mouth.
I find most Christians, myself included, have a hard time even getting past this first beatitude. At times I am so full of pride and I think I’m doing all right with all my good deeds and the things I do. I have been wondering lately when this so called persecution is going to come. Besides a few arguments with those that disagree with me, and I think I got stabbed by a friend in gr 6 with a pencil because I wouldn’t swear, I haven’t suffered much persecution.
I love hearing new messages come out of a verse that I have heard since I’ve been four. It all begins with pouring yourself out, being pour in spirit. It begins with surrendering, raising a white flag (as Shaun Groves would say).
