Matthew 5:1–12

All Saints’ Day

¹Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

²And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Which one of us is poor in spirit? Who among us is not proud and boastful?

Blessed are those who mourn. Who among us mourns our sins and iniquities? Who among us does not feel we are in the right? Who does not always try to justify themselves and their actions and words instead of mourn them?

Blessed are the meek. Who among us is meek? Which one of us is not arrogant and would not rather get their own way, than to serve others?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Who among us seeks to be righteous? Who among us does not rather hunger and thirst to impose our agenda on everyone else?

Blessed are the merciful. Who among us shows mercy? Who is willing to forgive when they are offended?

Blessed are the pure in heart. Who among us has pure thoughts and desires? Which one of us has never desired to get even with someone else? To get back at them in spite and revenge?

Blessed are the peacemakers. Who among us is not more prone to stir up trouble and ruffle each others feathers?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Who among us does not cower and turn away from speaking the truth and proclaiming the name of Christ? Who among us is not afraid to confront our society and expose its sins because they fear people will revile you and persecute you and speak evil about you?

Indeed, these are wonderful words of our Lord. These are much loved words spoken by Jesus to his disciples. So often we hear them. So often we repeat them. So often we read them. So often we take comfort in them. So often we identify ourselves with them. But unfortunately this list of attributes that Jesus calls blessed doesn’t describe a single one of us here.

No, we cannot apply these attributes to ourselves. Therefore we cannot claim these blessings for ourselves. These blessings do not belong to us for we are all sinners by birth. We have inherited from our parents sinful natures and corrupt hearts. We are trapped in pride and self-righteousness rather than meekness and mercy.

To think these blessings are spoken to us is to steal them from God. It is to consider ourselves righteous before God. It is nothing more than trying to break into God’s kingdom through the back door instead of being an invited guest. But Jesus says that no man can enter into the kingdom of God unless he is born again. By our birth in the flesh we inherited sin from our parents and we cannot enter into God’s kingdom. By our human nature which we were born with we do not deserve these blessings.

But there is one that this list of attributes does indeed describe. There is one man who is worthy of these blessings. There is one person who can claim these blessings for himself because he is the person described here. There is one, and only one, who has earned these blessings from God by his obedience. That one is Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Son of God himself.

Jesus has earned these blessings. He can claim them because he deserves them. He is not stealing these blessings from God because he has paid for them with his own obedience and blood. The truly amazing thing is that he bought them for us.

Jesus made himself poor in spirit on our behalf and so he has inherited the kingdom of God. He has purchased this inheritance. He made himself poor in spirit in order to give us the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was the one who mourned. He mourned over us. He mourned over Jerusalem. He mourned with the mourning we should have had over our sins and iniquities. And because he mourned for us, he has earned comfort. Blessed is he who mourned for he shall be comforted. And Jesus shares that comfort with us. We are comforted because Jesus earned comfort for us.

Jesus became meek in order to inherit the earth. In meekness Jesus stooped down to wash his disciples’ feet. In meekness Jesus went to the cross silently, like a sheep to the slaughter, without resisting, without complaining. He went silently and resolutely for us so that he could inherit the earth for us.

Jesus hungered and thirsted for righteousness. He fulfilled all righteousness. He spent his entire life in perfect obedience and righteousness in order to fulfill the law of God. He loved God with all his heart, mind and strength. He loved his neighbor as himself. So much did he love his neighbor that he went to the cross and sacrificed his life for his neighbor. He is righteous and he gives us his righteousness.

Jesus was the merciful one. It was he who showed mercy on those who whipped him and hung him on the cross. It was Jesus who prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” It was his mercy that caused him to go to the cross in our place and wash away our sins. It is because of his cross that we receive the mercy of God.

Jesus was pure in heart. Though he was God he humbled himself to be our servant. He never boasted nor lifted himself above others. He never set out to get his way or impose his agenda on others. His thoughts were only thoughts of love for us, his people.

Jesus was the peacemaker who forgave instead of get even. He forgave his enemies rather than cause strife. And because he was the peacemaker he earned the right to see God for us.

Jesus was reviled and persecuted. All manner of evil and false things were said about him. He was hated and despised and hung on the cross. He earned a great reward in heaven. The reward in heaven is his because he deserves it. He earned it. And he shares it with us.

These blessings belong to Jesus because it was Jesus who earned them. It is Jesus who deserves these beatitudes. It is Jesus who meets the description of the attributes in these blessings. It is Jesus who earned them and it is Jesus who gives them away to all who are united to him by faith.

Yes, everyone who believes and is baptized into the Son of God has died to his sin and been raised to new life in Christ. We share in the life of Christ, therefore we share in his blessings. All these things he earned and then gives to us. The blessings he has earned, he gives to those who repent and believe in him. We are made one with Christ in baptism therefore his blessings become ours.

So in the end, these beatitudes describe us who are his children by faith. They are descriptive of us because he lives in us. We are one with Jesus and so the old has passed away. Our old sinful nature has been overcome and now it is Jesus who lives in us. These beatitudes describe us because they describe Jesus and Jesus lives in and through us.

The beatitudes describe us because the Holy Spirit who gives us faith works in our hearts to transform them. He renews our hearts. He recreates us in the image of God and he is restoring us to that image. By the work of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer trapped in the sin which we inherited from our parents. We are set free from the power of sin by baptism. We are released from its slavery and our lives begin to show new attributes. Our lives and deeds begin to be molded by the love which Christ stirs up in our hearts.

These attributes begin to describe our lives but only in part. For in this life our sinful flesh still clings to us. By faith we live, and move, and have our being, but the work of the Spirit is not yet complete. We are still lacking. And as we still lack in these attributes, the blessings we have in this world are only in part. For ours is the kingdom of heaven, but we still do not see it with our eyes. We have received the comfort of the Holy Spirit, but we are still afflicted. Our comfort is not yet complete. We shall see God, but we don’t see him yet. “What great love of the Father that we are the sons of God, but what we will be has not yet appeared. We know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Today we see only in part and experience in part.” Our reward is great in heaven but we still wait to receive it.

Nevertheless, we have this hope, founded on the cross and demonstrated in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has extended his mighty arm of salvation and has lifted us out of the pit. God has saved! In baptism God has raised us up from the grave along with his Son.

And those who have already passed from life in this world to live in heaven now do have these beatitudes fully and completely. They have rested from their labors. They have the peace which passes all understanding. They have eaten from the tree of life and drunk from the eternal river. All their tears are wiped away and they have been renewed with the strength of youth. Their lives inspire us and give us hope. Hope that as they are now in heaven, so too shall we be in heaven one day. Their lives inspire us to keep fighting the good fight and striving with all our might to finish the course and earn the crown of victory.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us, a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, are today standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and are crying out with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And with all the angels and the elders and the four living creatures they fall on their faces before the throne and worship God saying: “Amen! Blessings and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Today in our liturgy and in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, singing: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.” And there in that great crowd singing along with us are our dearly beloved who have departed this veil of tears during the past year:

Arlene Brauer…

Edward Wagner…

Eleanor Doppelhammer…

And Florence Kissel…

And let all the people say: “Amen!” Praise the Lord!