so, i've been listening to a series Rob Bell did at Mars Hill about the Beatitudes. maybe you're familiar with them?
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
i know you're probably thinking, how can you spend an entire sermon talking about "the poor in spirit" or "the peacemakers," etc? well, Rob, as usual, breaks it down in ways that i have never thought of. he explains that the Beatitudes counter what we might normally think about the gospel, and he ties them all together, not as a list of rules and expectations to follow so you can win God's favor, but a reminder from God that even if you don't have it all together, He is still on your side.
I found a Twitter version of the Beatitudes that Rob posted:
Blessed are those who don’t have it all together.
Blessed are those who have run out of strength, ideas, will power,
resolve, or energy.
Blessed are those who ache because of how severely out of whack the world is.
Blessed are those stumble, trip, and fall in the same place again and again.
Blessed are those who on a regular basis have a dark day in which
despair seems to be a step behind them wherever they go.
Blessed are you, for God is with you, God is on your side, God meets
you in that place.
The gospel is the counter-intuitive, joyous, exuberant news that Jesus
has brought the unending, limitless, stunning love of God to even us.
how refreshing to know that no matter how messed up we are, how many times we've gotten it wrong, or how far we run, God will never deny us His love. in fact, it is in our moments of pain and despair that we truly begin to experience that love and see what the gospel is really all about.
p.s. the whole time i've been writing this, i've had the song "let's hear it for the boy" from Footloose in my head, hence the title of this post. i mean, who doesn't think of that song when you think of the Beatitudes?
Weird. I had that song in my head two days ago. And the last "Twitter" beatitude is my favorite. I need to memorize it: The gospel is the counter-intuitive, joyous, exuberant news that Jesus has brought the unending, limitless, stunning love of God to even us.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for a wonderful blurb, Steph! I realize I'm commenting on your blog too much. I don't care.
so, i read this a jillion years ago, but it's so deliciously thought provoking that i wasn't quite sure how any comment to measure up to the actual post. but i have narrowed my musings down to these three significant thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. i had to memorize the beatitudes in 5th grade for church. i was southern baptist. we memorized everything.
2. rob bell is the shit. is that offensive? i don't care because he is. i mean seriously, who else could take the beatitudes and make them more than a call to be mild mannered people who never complain or fight. uh uh. it feels like the beatitudes are saying blessed are those who live in a broken world and don't get demolished by it.
3. let's hear it for the boy is probably the first song i was every obsessed with. have i ever told you that i used to make my aunt put that song on her cd player and let me sing and dance to it in her living room? the love i felt was quite intense. let's give that song a ha-a-a-a-a-and.