Blessed are... Part 1

Blessed are the Trump supporters, for they may yet see the True King.

Wait, hear me out. If your reaction to this is, "You're so right! Real Christians know that voting Republican is the only way to preserve a safe, righteous, God-fearing nation" -- take a moment to exhale and patiently read my thoughts here, as I think you may find them both challenging and encouraging. Which is also the case if your reaction to this is, "You couldn't be more wrong! Trump's character and actions are the antithesis of Christ-likeness, so how could you possibly call those in support 'blessed'?"

I admit, I have a stone in my heart that struggles to forgive, let alone try to understand and love, the Christians who voted for Trump this time around. If that's you, I'm deeply sorry. I've found it nearly impossible in my personal biases, save by the grace of God, to call such Christians "blessed" -- they seem to my hard heart to be neither blessed by God with His wisdom nor compassion, and they seem to cause the name of Christ to be cursed rather than blessed.

But -- very legitimate concerns over specific legal and policy actions notwithstanding -- I'm wrong to hold on to this bitterness. In continuing to read the Sermon the Mount over and over (including also studying the letter of James, which functions in large part as a commentary on Jesus' teaching, especially from the Sermon on the Mount), in studying others' writings about it, and in reflecting on Jesus' words in drawing us to all be more like Him: this is a stone that I must submit to be softened and turned back into a compassionate "heart of flesh." Jesus came to demonstrate by His words and actions that His Kingdom is at hand. It's here, now, right in our midst. It abounds with more grace than I can possibly imagine. And it changes everything. From personal relationships to global politics and everything in between.

Let's flip and broaden this illustration further:

Blessed are the politically-anxious, for they may find safe haven in the Fortress of God.

Anxious: that's me. As are many Trump-supporting Christians, too. Many, during the election, for what perceived ills might await another potential Democratic presidency. Some, I hope and pray, freshly so for all of the mayhem that is today unravelling from the Republican they judged as the "lesser evil" but who turns out to still be blatantly cruel and callous, especially to the "least" in our world.

But evils and anxieties aside, the Kingdom at hand makes room for all of us to refocus on what we are doing, with our hearts and hands, to bring the fullness of His Kingdom to our present circumstances and communities.

I've carefully laid out three observations from my study about what being "blessed" in the Kingdom of God means according to Jesus. The first is included in today's post, and the second and third will be separate posts in the coming days.

1. It's not [only] about the future.

The Sermon on the Mount starts in Matthew 5 with Jesus going up on a hill to speak to the crowd gathered around him. But look to Matthew 4 to see who exactly was in that crowd:

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. (Matthew 4:24, ESV)

Jesus was surrounded by the poor, the mourning, and the hungry. Those that the secular and religious structures of the day deemed too broken, sinful, and worthless. These are the very rejects from society that Jesus points out in the opening Beatitudes of his speech. And Jesus had just healed them, now. He's not merely promising a restoration in the next life. He's pointing out a present reality that he's actively ushering in by His presence, as Matthew records as Jesus' very thesis upon the inception of His ministry in chapter 4:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

The all-encompassing Kingdom

The Kingdom is at hand. It's not far off in the future. The "kingdom of heaven" is not an ethereal, distant plane of existence. The word "heaven" (Greek ouranos) is the encompassing or covering expanse around and above us. We've clouded [pun intended] the meaning in a religious word, but it's more like the kingdom of the skies, of the air, of the very unseen but all-encompassing and keenly-felt atmosphere surrounding each of us, filling our lungs, energizing our spirits. Because the God-man named Jesus has arrived on the earth, that means the unseen is now invading and filling the seen. It's not waiting out at infinity for a future, immaterial existence. It's present and available.

Yes, life today remains full of brokenness, and there is even greater restoration yet to come in His Kingdom once Jesus returns and the confluence of heaven and earth is complete; so in the meantime "we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling" (2 Corinthians 5:2). But Jesus is declaring that the arrival of His Kingdom changes the here and now, too.

Salt and light

Jesus thus follows up the Beatitudes with a calling to live out the new Kingdom presence by being "salt and light" (Matthew 5:13-16). To preserve what is otherwise doomed to become rancid. To enhance the natural flavor and goodness. To illuminate the darkness. To point the way toward hope.

That doesn't mean it's going to be easy to live out the Kingdom life today.

James in his letter writes to a church that is experiencing severe trials as a result of external social and political forces against them. This led to quarrels rising up within the church, especially as a result of wealth and knowledge inequities, leading to exploitation of the poor and unlearned by the wealthy and power-hungry religious elites. Not much had changed socially or politically for the church to whom James writes as compared to those Jesus taught on the hill a decade or two prior.

James takes a different angle for how the light from above gives hope and purpose for the present, not just the future:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-18)

Even in the midst of trials, God's good gifts show up daily in the form of grace and goodness, if we're willing to watch for it instead of fearing or complaining. He proved his future plans for total restoration by demonstrating a first harvest of grace, healing, and hope today.

From the end of chapter 4 and into the middle of chapter 5, James further narrows his focus on how we should respond to the exploitative wealthy, including those proclaiming Christ no less, echoing the words of Jesus:

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. (James 5:7-9)

The Judge and His Kingdom are at hand. We await his just and complete redemption of all that is broken and evil in the world. And he gave us the early rains as a gift to prove the imminence of his full arrival.

And it's not all or nothing. We're living in His Kingdom right now, even if not yet fully. It's all around us. We must be patient, but we must also not let our light be covered or our salt become useless. Don't acquiesce to rot and darkness just because Jesus hasn't returned yet. He already arrived once, and it totally changed the game. Now we get to participate while we wait.

Probing questions

• What is God doing right now to restore things that I'm not seeing; and so I complain and doubt, or I tune out and brush aside until "the next life"?
• How can I be "salt and light" today to join Jesus in bringing His Kingdom nearer?

Read Part 2 here.