Every Beatitude comes in three parts. The first part is a description of the cross. It’s poor, it’s thirsty, it’s meek, it’s merciful, it’s persecuted. Then there’s the last part, which is a description of the resurrection; each Beatitude has a promise: ‘They will be comforted... they will inherit the earth... they will be filled... they will receive mercy... they will be called children of God... theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ The Beatitudes are essentially a description of Jesus in his cross and resurrection.
But there is more: Note the punctuation. Between the cross and the resurrection lies a comma. Every Beatitude has a comma in the middle. That comma is a kind of valley, a valley between the suffering of the cross and the wonder of the resurrection.
Let us think about that comma, not so much as punctuation, but as that place in your life where you meet God. That comma is your life as a Christian. To be Christian, or a saint, is to dwell in that comma that lies between the first and second half of each Beatitude. That comma is where you find Jesus.
When we ask ourselves what it looks like to be a Christian, we can hear Jesus saying that the people who know the answer to that question are those who are closest to the cross. The closer you get to Jesus’ cross, the closer you get to the resurrection.
If you’re one of those people, happy are you. If you’re not one of those people, start hanging around with those who are. That’s what it means to live in the comma. Jesus is the place where cross and resurrection meet. The question we can ask ourselves is, are we?
How can we stop limiting ourselves to just one part of the gospel? How can we live the whole gospel?
It’s time to dwell in the comma, as the place where we meet Jesus, as the place where we find blessing and live the blessed life…a blessed and saintly life. Jesus is the one in whom we find such blessings.
Amen.
Pastor Andy Kinsey
But there is more: Note the punctuation. Between the cross and the resurrection lies a comma. Every Beatitude has a comma in the middle. That comma is a kind of valley, a valley between the suffering of the cross and the wonder of the resurrection.
Let us think about that comma, not so much as punctuation, but as that place in your life where you meet God. That comma is your life as a Christian. To be Christian, or a saint, is to dwell in that comma that lies between the first and second half of each Beatitude. That comma is where you find Jesus.
When we ask ourselves what it looks like to be a Christian, we can hear Jesus saying that the people who know the answer to that question are those who are closest to the cross. The closer you get to Jesus’ cross, the closer you get to the resurrection.
If you’re one of those people, happy are you. If you’re not one of those people, start hanging around with those who are. That’s what it means to live in the comma. Jesus is the place where cross and resurrection meet. The question we can ask ourselves is, are we?
How can we stop limiting ourselves to just one part of the gospel? How can we live the whole gospel?
It’s time to dwell in the comma, as the place where we meet Jesus, as the place where we find blessing and live the blessed life…a blessed and saintly life. Jesus is the one in whom we find such blessings.
Amen.
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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