beatitudes 2

Keywords: Waste, Trust, Beatitudes, Dreams, Nightmares, Dread

A sexton was sweeping up a mess on the front steps of the Church. He looked at the flowers lying about in disorder. "What a waste!" he muttered. Those pretty flowers had been strewn about the Church entrance and vestibule at a wedding only an hour before. Now it was all over and they were about to be discarded. The man leaned on his broom handle for a few moments, lost in thought. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. One of the flowers was speaking to him:

"Do you call this a waste?" the flower protested. "What is life anyway, yours or mine, but a means of service? My mission was to create a sweet fragrance and a little beauty, and when I have fulfilled it my life has not been wasted. What greater privilege is there for a flower than to adorn a bride's way to her beloved? What greater privilege than to help glorify the moment when a bride and groom seal their faith in each other by entering into the covenant of marriage?"

Flowers are a lot like people. They live in deeds, not in time. My glory was for a brief hour, but you should have seen the joy in the bride's eye. I have a right to think I had something to do with it. So don't grieve for me! My life is not a waste. My life has been worthwhile."

Having spoken its little piece, the little flower once more was silent. The man with the broom, startled from his reverie, and a little wiser, perhaps, pushed the broom again and continued his work. A flower, a bird, a grain of sand, a single raindrop -- each serves a purpose in God's Creation. We cannot even begin to visualize all that exists in full context! Why this particular grain of sand? Why this particular tiny flea? I don't know. And you don't know. Only God knows and we're not God. Luke tells us that Jesus stood with the twelve Apostles before a great crowd of His disciples, and that a great multitude of other people who had come "to hear Him and to be healed of

their diseases" (Lk. 6:17). And He lifted up His eyes, and said, "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Lk. 6:20). That is the first of several "Blesseds," (or "Beatitudes") Jesus delivered as a prelude to His blueprint for living, which we call "The Sermon on the Mount." With those "Beatitudes," Jesus says, in effect, "If you are going to live My kind of life, you must put your life in its proper, God-intended context. Blessed are you poor!"

You put your life in proper context when you acknowledge that you are not self-sufficient. You put your life in proper context when you acknowledge your absolute reliance on God, not only for who you are but who you are to become. You put your life in proper context when you acknowledge not only that God is the Source of your life, but also your way of life. Blessed are you poor

The pastor of a large Church tells of a recurring dream in which he takes a "Final Examination." He says ... From time-to-time I have a nightmare. I am back at college, about to take my "Final Exams" all over again. It appears that I have done very little studying. Instead, I have been playing tennis, seeing my friends, enjoying myself out on the river. Now I am caught unprepared. In my dream I keep asking myself, "Why am I here in college? I thought I was a middle-aged pastor!" But the dream goes on, and the pressure mounts as the exam gets every closer. Finally I wake up. I lie in the darkness with waves of relief flooding over me. It's all right! It all happened years ago. And I passed.

Now, change the scene: it's your nightmare now. You are caught unready, and terror grips you. You walk into the classroom and pick up the examination paper. Calamity! Not a single question can you answer. Your stomach turns over with fright! Your legs shake! Just then, a distinguished-looking professor taps you on the shoulder. "Excuse me, you shouldn't be here," he says. "You've already

passed this test. Our records show that you have received your diploma. You can go." And you can't believe it! It's too good to be true! You dart out of the classroom into the brilliant sunshine, the truth slowly sinking in: You've passed!

Christianity's "too-good-to-be-true" Good News is the amazing pronouncement that here and now, because of what God has done in Jesus Christ, you have nothing to fear -- from life or death. You've already passed -- from death to new life. you are the here-and-now possessor of eternal life.

In this moment of Grace, resolve to empty yourself of all claims to self-sufficiency. At best, such

claims can only help you to dread one day at a time. In this moment of Grace, resolve to reject

whatever you may be depending on for your fulfillment and your peace of mind, apart from God.

Resolve to empty it out and place yourself in God's hands unconditionally:

Oh God, I've emptied it all out and there's nothing left. Oh God, I'm at the end of my reserves. Oh, God, I am helpless before You.

Place your whole life in that context. Throw your entire being on God's Love and Mercy. In so doing you will discover the profound meaning of the first Beatitude: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God."