Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It’s amazing the difference that glasses can make for your vision if your eyes aren’t working properly. When vision begins to fail us, or even if we were born with poor vision, we know there are options to improve it. Putting on glasses that are properly suited for you can be like seeing a new world.

Likewise, we often talk about faith as a type of vision. As believers, we’re meant to look at the world differently than all others. We see a different world by faith than those who look with only earthly eyes. Just as Paul even writes, “We walk by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7. Faith is meant to reveal to us a whole new world and through that a whole new way of interacting with the world around us.

In our Gospel lesson this week, Jesus speaks the Beatitudes. These are words that Christians have held dear for a long time for good reason. However, there’s more to these words than blessings for believers. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth…Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” Matt. 5:3, 5, 10. What Jesus is teaching here isn’t just comforting words for those who are distressed, he’s teaching his followers to look at the world through his eyes. 

It is all too easy to look at this world and see only suffering, disasters, and evil. It is easy to find despair when nothing seems to be going right. Earthly eyes look at this world in the finite, senseless violence that fills our TVs and the never-ending drama that overtakes our lives. It’s our sin that’s ever present before our eyes that clouds our vision and causes us to fixate on the evil around us, rather than on the goodness of God.

Understand then that it’s Jesus’ blessings (or beatitudes) that causes us to reorient our vision away from our sin and evil and towards the work of God still happening among us. While sin, suffering, and disasters remain ever present in our world, the Christian whose eyes have been fixed toward Christ now sees God’s hand sustaining and providing for us. Being meek, merciful, and pure in heart are the virtues that may not gain us anything in this life, but are priceless because of the treasure they provide in eternity. The blessings of Christ come from Christ’s own suffering and death upon the cross. It’s the cross that enables us to look past our sins, past the evil in our world, and know that God and his goodness will triumph over all! “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you,” Matthew 5:11-12. Indeed, put on the glasses of faith so that we may see Christ’s blessings given to you through the cross! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty God, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen