In order to be to the change we want to see in the world, embodying ‘heaven on earth’, Jesus tells us we need live the attitudes he advocated in the beatitudes.

If we read the text carefully we see that both the first and the last beatitude are about experiencing the ‘kingdom of heaven’ or what I call the ‘kindom of heaven’. And verse five seems to suggest those who ‘inherit’ heaven, will do so on ‘earth’.

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 6.1-10

In the beatitudes, the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is a place where the meek ‘inherit the earth’ (Matt.5.5); where those who give mercy will ‘receive mercy’ (Matt.5.7); where the hungry will be ‘filled’ (Luke 6.21) and those who hunger and thirst for justice will be ‘fulfilled’ (Matt.5.6). It is a place where those who mourn will be ‘comforted’ (Matt.5.4) and those who weep now will ‘laugh’ once more (Luke 6.21). It is a place where peacemakers will walk proudly as ‘sons and daughters of God’ (Matt.5.9) and all those who are pure in heart ‘will see God’ (Matt.5.8)

This ‘kingdom of heaven on earth’ – where people can see God face to face, live as God’s children, be filled and fulfilled, find the comfort and the mercy that they need, wipe away their tears and have a smile that no one can wipe off their face – is the kind of place most of us hope and pray that our children would inherit.

However, Jesus says we are faced with a choice: to be – or not to be – the change we want to see. And in Luke’s account of the beatitudes, Jesus makes the choice – and its consequences for us – painfully clear.

‘Looking at his disciples, he said:

20″Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

21Blessed are you who hunger now,

for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

22Blessed are you when people hate you,

when they exclude you and insult you

and reject your name as evil,

because of the Son of Man.”

23″Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,

because great is your reward in heaven.

For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24″But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

25Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

26Woe to you when all people speak well of you,

for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

Luke 6. 20-26

In Luke’s account of the beatitudes Jesus is using classic Jewish parallelism to  compare and contrast two completely different positive and negative scenarios.

Positive Scenario	Negative Scenario
Blessed are the poor (and those with the poor in spirit) for yours is the kingdom of God.	But woe to you who are rich, (and all those into status and success) for you have received your comfort.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.	(But) woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.	(But) woe to you who laugh now, for you will…weep.
Blessed are you when people hate you… because of the Son of Man, for that is how their ancestors treated the (true) prophets.	(But) woe to you when all people speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets

So Jesus is saying that we need to think about the consequences of our choices.

Either we can…	Or we can…
Be poor (or be with the poor in spirit) And we will be blessed for the kingdom of God is ours.	Be rich, (and be into status and success) And we will be cursed because we put our trust in riches.
Be hungry (and hunger for justice), And we will be blessed for God will satisfy our hunger.	Be comfy, (be well off and wellfed) And we will be cursed for nothing will satisfy us.
Be sad, (weeping with those who weep), And we will be blessed for we will have the last laugh.	Be happy, (laughing with those who laugh), And we will be cursed for we will regret not really caring.
Be unpopular (and get bad press) because of our commitment to Christ And we will be blessed because we are part of a great tradition of courageous integrity.	Be popular, (and get good press), because we collude with the status quo And we will be cursed because we will have gained celebrity but lost our integrity in the process.

Lets be frank, on first hearing, the call to be poor, hungry, sad and unpopular is not an attractive option, is it? Its exactly the opposite of what most of us aspire to.

But on second hearing, the call to be poor – to be with the poor in spirit – to be hungry – and to be hungry for justice – to be sad – because we are weeping with those that weep, and to be unpopular – because we are committed to follow the way of Christ with integrity – is quite intriguing, quite challenging, quite exciting.

And the more we think about it, the more we begin to slowly but surely realize, that the call to be with the poor in spirit, to be hungry for justice, to be sad because we are weeping with those that weep, and to be unpopular because we are committed to follow the way of Christ with integrity, is in fact the only way that the kingdom of God can be ours, the only way that God can satisfy our hunger for justice, and the only way that we can have the last laugh as part of that great  tradition of people with integrity, who suffered scorn, but triumphed at the end.

As Brian McLaren says, ‘The kingdom of heaven comes to people who crave not victory but justice, who seek not revenge but mercy, who strive for peace and who are courageously eager to suffer pain for the cause of justice, not inflict it’ [i]

And in the light of that knowledge we know we need to make a choice:

to be – or not to be – the change we want to see.

Dave Andrews

From Hey, Be And See (Authentic)

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[i] Brian Mclaren Everything Must Change Thomas Nelson Nashville 2007 p177