"Be Attitudes"

“Be Attitudes” - 5.17.26

This winter, our Wednesday morning Bible Study decided to do a study on the “Sermon on the Mount” by John Stott. The first lesson in the study was on the scripture for today, Matthew 5:1-12. Many of you may know that section as the Beatitudes. When I was going to Sunday School here, at some point, I think when I was a teen, we were challenged to memorize the Beatitudes. We were to memorize them but I don’t recall really learning anything about them. So, I have been happy to study them now and I thought it would be good to share with you some of what I have learned through this
study and through some other research on this passage.
According to John Stott, a pastor and theologian, the Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus and probably the least understood. And, believe me we had some challenging lessons.
Before we get to the Beatitudes, let’s set the stage of what was happening. At this time Jesus has called some of his disciples and he has begun his ministry having done some teaching and healing of people and even has cast out demons. He is causing quite a stir among the Jewish religious leaders and also in the area, as people are trying to see him and hear him plus bring him those needing healing.
We see in verses 1 and 2 that Jesus goes up on a mountain side and sits down, as rabbis did in the day, and it says, he begins to teach his disciples. It doesn’t say he went up to give a big speech to the crowd that had gathered, it says disciples.
Now, this probably included more than the 12 because he had more followers but he wasn’t addressing those who came out of curiosity or those who just came because someone told them to. He was addressing those who believed in him and wanted to follow in his ways.
According to one source, the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to explain to us and challenge us about what it is like to live as a follower of Christ. A life motivated by the heart rather than by the Law.
The Pharisees, prided themselves on following the letter of the Law, which leads to self-righteousness and being judgmental. Note the word “prided”. But Jesus is about the relationship with him – if we know and love him, we want to obey. It’s more a heart obedience than a legal one.
The 10 Commandments, which were given to help the freed Israelites know how to live together after living enslaved for hundreds of years, gave us all the “do nots”. You know, Thou shall not… or Do not…
But, the Beatitudes gives us the “do-s” to help us live more like Jesus and have a relationship with him. They are character traits to live by which open a door to inner happiness. The way we should “be”. I think of them as “Be Attitudes”.
The word Beatitude translates as “blessed” and it is repeated in 9 of the 12 verses. The word comes from the Greek word, “makarios”, which means “happy” so some translations use “happy” or some say “Oh how happy”. Besides the trait given, there is a promise of what will be the reward for having the trait.
Now we are set to look at what we are being asked to do.
Verse 3 says, Blessed or oh how happy are the poor in spirit. That doesn’t sound like something to be happy about but, when we are emptied of our spirit, and stop making things all about us – it allows the Lord’s spirit into the space in our lives. We realize we need God and we are aware of our sinful lives. And the promise therefore, it says – for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Verse 4 – Blessed or happy are those who mourn. That mourning can be about personal loss, possibly of giving up something in life or a big change. It could be of many kinds of things which doesn’t feel very happy but it can lead to growth in ways that we don’t expect. This also could mean a spiritual mourning. A realization of our sinfulness and then repentance. The promise for those who mourn is being comforted and when we are comforted, we can comfort others.
Verse 5 – Blessed or happy are the meek. To be clear meek does not mean weak. Meek is not thinking less of me, less of myself. It means thinking of me less and therefore more of other people. Meekness leads to a gentleness, a humility;
being small before a holy God. Meekness is power under control. We see how Jesus acted in a meek way but he was powerful. The promise is the meek will inherit the earth. With all the things in our lives, we can seek the Lord and he will work everything for our good.

Verse 6 - Blessed or happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Once we truly start following Jesus we start to hunger and thirst for righteousness that we cannot produce on our own. We recognize we can’t save ourselves and we need a savior. That savior is Jesus Christ. Righteousness is a gift to us. And Jesus promises that our hunger and thirst will be filled.
Verse 7 – Blessed or happy are the merciful. Jesus wants us to be merciful because we receive mercy. Remember the story in Matthew 18:21-35, when the king showed mercy to an official who owed him a lot of money and forgave his large debt? But, then that forgiven official turned around and put someone who owed him much less in jail? When the king found out, he showed that official no mercy. Jesus said, our father will be the same way. So, the promise is that we will be shown mercy. The more mercy you show, the more mercy you will be given.
Verse 8 – Blessed or happy are the pure in heart. Only Jesus can provide us with a cleansing of the heart. We can only receive it through faith in Christ. He can cleanse our hearts but it is our responsibility to maintain it. The promise for those with a pure heart is that they will see God. When our hearts are purified, we begin to love the right things and see things in a different way.
What’s that song? I’ve got the love of Jesus down in my heart, down in my heart to stay. And I’m so happy, so very happy.
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart.
Verse 9 – Blessed or happy are the peacemakers. Jesus wants us to make it our goal to make peace with people. A peacemaker is one who brings good into others’ lives. We ask God to forgive us so we should seek to forgive or asked to be forgiven and then we become peacemakers. Remember – Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors? The promise is that peacemakers will be called children of God.
Verses 10 & 11 – Keep in mind when we start to become true followers of Jesus and begin to take on these traits or attitudes, we should begin to notice a change in the way we live our lives. Other people are going to notice, too, and they may not like the changes in our ways. After all, we grow up learning to go along to get along. This could cause some problems.
Verse 10 says, Blessed or happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for there is the kingdom of heaven. Persecution can come in various ways. Fortunately, we have religious freedom that many around the world don’t have so we aren’t concerned about being injured or killed but one could lose friends, get left out of groups, get labeled in certain ways and other uncomfortable things.
And verse 11 - Blessed or happy are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Sound like fun? But Jesus is warning his disciples that this is the price of being his followers.
Verse 12 - Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. And then Jesus adds that it was the same way for the prophets that came before you. So, remember having Jesus in your heart also leads to joy!
Think about this – if you notice a difference in your life because you adopt these traits, these “Be Attitudes”, some people may notice and not like the change in you but some people may be attracted to the change and decide they want that too for their lives and come to you so you can help them find the path to Jesus so they can be blessed and find happiness and joy in the Lord.
I would like to close with a prayer from the online devotional d365.
Let us pray:
Dear Jesus, Lord and Savior, you walked among us on earth, and you taught us what it means to be a beloved child of God. You showed us by your example what it looks like to be a citizen of heaven. Help us with every breath to be a little more like you each day.

Amen