They may not qualify as resolutions, but the Beatitudes invite us to radical living in a New Year
Thinking about New Year resolutions, I somehow leap to the Beatitudes, that list of eight striking "blessings" or "attitudes" (or whatever they are) that Matthew 5:1-12 attributes to Jesus in what is called the Sermon the Mount.
I mull over whether or not the Beatitudes qualify as resolutions. I don't think they do, per se, but the New Year certainly offers an opportunity to consider embracing their challenges as an invitation to radical living.
Here are the Beatitudes:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
A few reflections as I think about the Beatitudes in light of New Year resolutions:
1. They go to the heart of what Jesus said and lived.
2. A Beatitude seems likely to be considered a "blessing" only when we have lived through the tough circumstances to which it is a gracious response. When we respond in Beatitude responses, we will know we have embraced them.
3. The Beatitudes are radical. They connect to the deepest human passions and life circumstances. They point to gut-wrenching realities of life: poverty and emptiness, loss and grieving, powerlessness and social contempt, spiritual hunger and yearning for right to prevail (justice), seeing needy persons being treated unjustly and neglected, bitter division and violence, religious persecution, insults, gossip, and false accusations. It seems to me that only grace can conceive of and make possible the radical outlook and actions described in the Beatitudes.
4. It is typical to learn the Beatitudes—to have memorized them and be able to quote them. This is often as far as it goes in Christian catechism or Sunday School. But, like the Ten Commandments or the Lord’s Prayer, familiarity does not mean we understand them or joyfully cultivate them as a heart and life orientation. Compliant and eager to be an ideal Christian as I was as a child, I remember questioning the practical expression of most of the Beatitudes. It was easier to just recite them and keep them as stained glass phrases. As I have continued to revisit them, my understanding and appreciation has increased, but they are no less challenging five decades later.
5. The Beatitudes run counter to American machismo and status quo. They unsettle presumptions of consumer Christianity. On the surface, the Beatitudes seem to be a set-up for certain failure in a society that apparently rewards rugged individualism, conformity to sameness, upward mobility, the appearance of mental or physical toughness, and a thoroughly materialistic and self-indulging orientation to value and action. Dig deeper in the Beatitudes and it gets increasingly difficult to straddle kingdoms. What emerges is that Jesus actually declares people blessed whom Western civilization has over two millennia come to despise or disparage. Jesus’ life in word and action is, in one way or another, verification that his is an upside down kingdom, an invitation to downward mobility, and an lifting up of all who sorrow, who are relegated to the margins.
6. Finally, the Beatitudes call for what Brennan Manning called “ruthless trust.” Because the blessedness or results described in the Beatitudes seem so far-fetched or distant, they call for ruthless trust in the invitation, worldview, Kingdom order, and certain future Jesus describes. As Manning puts it: “Faith in the person of Jesus and hope in his promise means that his voice, echoing and alive in the Gospels, has supreme and sovereign authority over our lives.” Does it get any more radical than that?
It seems appropriate to consider the Beatitudes on the first day of the New Year. While we wish each other a Happy New Year, we might do better to offer each other a prayer for Beatitude grace. May we exercise the ruthless trust to see them come to fruition in our hearts, lives, and world.
John Franklin Hay
