A Contemporary Look at The Beatitudes

By: Scott Armstrong

Recently I have been enjoying the past sermons of John Mark Comer, which can be accessed – along with many other great materials – at https://Bridgetown.church and https://practicingtheway.org. A while ago, he preached from Matthew 5:1-10 and entitled his message: “Who is Actually Blessed?” In it he paraphrases the start of the Sermon on the Mount in a way that might disturb or surprise some. But that’s the point, isn’t it? In the Beatitudes, Jesus radically redefines who is blessed, and the result is subversive and jarring. I also believe Comer’s paraphrase is not just poignant for Portland, Oregon, USA (where he was preaching), but for many other – especially urban – contexts.

Blessed are the down-and-out, the unemployed, the underemployed, those being gentrified in northeast, those on the wrong side of globalization, those without a college degree or health insurance, those who are spiritually simple, who really have very little to offer, because they are in the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the sad, the depressed, those grieving the death of a loved one, the failure of a marriage, another miscarriage, the pain of their genogram, the racism of our nation, because one day God himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Blessed are the quiet, the shy, the socially awkward, the uncool, the badly dressed, the people with 6 followers on Twitter, because one day they will be free from the tyranny of what others think of them, and they will take up their rule as king and queen over God’s world.

Blessed are the messed up, those who just can’t get it together, the addict, the mentally unstable, the overweight, those from an abusive home, for they will one day be so full of God’s life that they won’t know where to put it all.

Blessed is the little guy, the people who get stomped on, passed over, and they don’t fight violence with violence. One day they will get all that mercy back with interest.

Blessed are those who want nothing to do with America’s wars, her violence in the name of democracy and freedom, but who know the true source of peace and prosperity isn’t a gun or an army, and they are willing to suffer to bring a new world to bear. One day in the future, everybody will recognize that they are the most like God.

Blessed are all the Christians in a post-Christian culture that is hostile to all they believe. Even though they are made fun of, looked down on as stupid and mean and behind the times, they get to share in the cross-shaped life of Jesus and the kingdom of God.