|
Attempting to better
understand the meaning of Jesus’ Beatitudes, author J.B. Phillips, in
his book, Your God is too Small (1979), offers these contrasting values
commonly held as conventional wisdom.
“Most people think:
Happy are the pushers: for they get on in the world.
Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.
Happy are they who complain: for they get their own way in the end.
Happy are the blasé: for they never worry over their sins.
Happy are the slave-drivers: for they get results.
Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world: for they know their way
around.
Happy are the trouble-makers: for people have to take notice of them.”
In contrast, the Beatitudes
capture the unthinkable. Oh, the joy of the destitute: the reign of God
is theirs. You really must stretch your imagination to think about the
joy of the destitute. Jesus is describing people who have nothing,
nowhere to turn but the Lord. In that realization there is joy.
In your life have you ever been so desperate that you knew the Lord was
the only place left to turn? Would you have the courage to stand
before the Lord and say, "I am totally dependent on your mercy?"
Our homes, our clothes, our cars, and our jobs give us feelings of
independence, more safe and secure.
We may respect the Lord, but do we know how much we really need him?
Jesus talks about the sorrowing, those who have suffered loss and pain.
Sickness and death are the great equalizers in this life. Sooner or
later, all of us will experience the pain of loosing someone we love.
We can deny the pain. We can insulate ourselves from those we love. But
the Lord promises consolation only to those who allow sorrow to touch
the very depths of their souls.
Those who hunger and thirst for holiness shall have their fill. What do
you really hunger for in your life? Is it for love, acceptance, wealth,
power? The poor and the sorrowing are the ones who will come to realize
that holiness is the most important thing in this life. We can spend a
lifetime amassing wealth and power, never to understand what we were
truly missing.
Jesus teaches us that
conventional wisdom is wrong. It leads to greed, competition, and
selfishness, which is the world as we know it. Christ’s teaching is the
cure. The real joy in life comes from losing our selfish will and
finding our God. Only then will the Father’s plan for our world be
restored. |
