Poor, sad, unappreciated and badly done by? Look up!

By Dermot Cottuli

Sometimes Jesus’ words were counter cultural, sometimes his words were counter intuitive and sometimes they go against that which we think is best for us at the time, which is why we can find ourselves struggling with them. There’s nothing wrong with struggling with Jesus’ words as long as we continue to struggle toward the direction those words are pointing us in.

Sitting on the side of a hill with his disciples somewhere in Israel, Jesus launches into one of the most insightful and rich teachings on the real meaning of life and the keys needed to appropriate it that our world has ever listened in to.

So much of what he said seemed contrary to what many of us hope for in our hearts and yet there’s a sense here that if we could just see what he was seeing, we could experience a freedom from the tyranny of self and fear that so many of us are longing for.

The first 4 points Jesus lists, focus on being in a place that many of us would do everything possible to avoid if we could. Because on the surface there’s not too much to like about them.

Jesus starts to directly deal with the unfairness of life that many of his listeners would have been very familiar with, and he proceeds to pull back the curtain on the future to give them hope that they haven’t been forgotten by his Father and that there are better days up ahead.

“God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him – for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

You can be poor and rage against the machine or you can be poor and realise how much you need God. The key is being able to see beyond the low lying clouds or behind the curtain at the very front of the stage. What is up ahead will make everything you experience here on earth pale into insignificance when compared to your current lot, according to Jesus.

Jesus is saying here that the poor will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Elon Musk’s current level of wealth doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the wealth of heaven. In fact it’s so far beyond anything you can imagine that when you get there, wealth will mean nothing to you. Everything that our planet contains came from an overflow from heaven and when you consider that there are billions of stars, planets and galaxies in the universe you begin to get a small glimpse of the enormity and abundance of Heaven.

God blesses those who mourn – for they will be comforted.

Grief can be all encompassing – its not just mental but emotional and physical as well. We can end up questioning our value and worth and our place on the planet. Grief can enter our world when we least expect it and then resist every effort we make to move on from it. What is it that our hearts need when grief comes to visit? We need comfort – we need to know that everything is going to be okay and that’s exactly what God promises us.

God blesses those who are humble, who have no status in the eyes of the world… for they will inherit the whole earth.

If you’re serving in your family, your workplace, your friendship group or even the church and you feel like you’re at the bottom of the pile and no-one appreciates you, listen to the words of Jesus. You will inherit the whole earth. Those with no status today will one day, without any effort, inherit the whole earth. Once again you can rage against your lot in life or you can take Jesus’ words at face value and rest in the peace that comes from knowing that your current lot in life has no bearing whatsoever on your future reward. It’s called dying to self and seems to have fallen out of favour in recent years.

And then finally,

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

You may currently find yourself in a situation where justice is being subverted by others who seem to be getting away with it. You may be working on behalf of others who life has treated badly and you desperately want to see them receive justice. Jesus here is saying that you will be satisfied with the final outcome. Which is exactly what you want to happen. You want the injustices you see and experience to be resolved in a way that satisfies your soul.

For all 4 scenarios that Jesus mentioned – none of his listeners were on the other side of them yet.

Jesus painted a picture to his listeners of those who were

• poor,
• sad,
• unappreciated and
• badly done by

and he chose those 4 issues on purpose because he knew they’d resonate with his listeners.

The Israelites at the time of Jesus were living under Roman occupation and life was tough for the majority of them.

• They were taxed exorbitantly which made putting food on the table far more difficult than it used to be.
• They were grieving the loss of their national autonomy.
• They were second rate citizens in their own country.
• They were being unjustly treated by the Romans time and time again.

And yet in the midst of all of this, Jesus was saying they had nothing to worry about because their heavenly father had it all in hand.

When your current circumstance can’t effect the state of your heart and the hope that you have, you are walking in true freedom. It’s no wonder that Jesus said that when we know the truth, the truth would set us free.

Now there was one key ingredient needed by his listeners to access each of these wonderful promises.

Where was their hope grounded?

Was it in themselves, was it in their bank balance, was it in their government, was it in their circumstance, was it in the goodness of others, was it in the economic stability of their country and the honesty of their lawgivers or was their hope firmly fixed on their heavenly Father who Jesus loved to talk about? Because that makes ALL the difference.

As king David said

Psalm 62:5-7

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,

    for my hope is in him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,

    my fortress where I will not be shaken.

My victory and honour come from God alone.

    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

Poor, sad, unappreciated and badly done by and yet if your hope is in God, the Kingdom of Heaven is yours, you will be comforted, you will inherit the whole earth and you will be satisfied with His justice.

So look up, say thank you and keep following Jesus.