Hello,
Have you ever found yourself in this spot? Something has happened. Maybe it happened because of your own doing. Or maybe it was one of those seemingly random tragedies in life that capriciously has struck you. And there you are. Your hopes and your dreams are lying around you in shambles. The things that mean the most to you are in complete disarray – your health, your family, your financial stability. And as you are standing there with the cold winds of fear swirling all around you, someone with all the best intentions in the world, puts their arms around you and they say, “You are going to be ok.”
Or maybe this instead. You have worked hard…maybe in school, maybe in your job. There are people who you can call friends, and you spend a lot of good times together. You have just had your annual physical and the doctor told you that you are in great health. You bills are all paid off. You live in a great house, in a great community, and there’s a brand new car in your garage. And as you are standing there feeling really good about where you are in life, someone with all the best intentions in the world, puts their arms around you and they say, “You are going to be ok!”
If you have been in either of these situations, or something akin to them, you know that there is power that comes from the past. Sometimes that power is as destructive as a car crusher emerging from the past. The things that we have done…the situations that we have been in…the food that we have eaten…the words that we have said….all those things can have a way of rising up out of our past with the power to crush our lives.
And likewise, the power of the past can be as fortifying as drilling pylons deep into the ground, giving us a great foundation for our lives. The things that we have done…the situations that we have been in….the food that we have eaten…the words that we have said….can have a way of having set a solid footing for our lives, a footing with the power to build a wonderful life.
And when you find yourself engaged with the power of the past – whether for destruction or foundation – and someone comes up to you and says, “You are going to be ok,” do you ever find yourself wondering, “How do they know that?” How do they know that the power of the past isn’t going to crush you, too? How do they know that the power of the past is strong enough for what lies ahead?
Well, that is where the words from Jesus that were written by Matthew, that we call the Beatitudes, come into play. Today, Jesus tells us, we who find ourselves in either struggle or ease as we wrestle with the power of the past, he tells that as powerful as the past may be, the past’s power is no match for the power of the future. He says to us, “If you are mourning, meek or hungering and thirsting for righteousness….or if you are merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers….where ever the power of the past has led you,” Jesus, who stands in the future tells us, because he is already there, what the future holds for us, “you will be comforted, inherit the earth, filled, receive mercy, see God, be called children of God.” Today, Jesus speaks to us out of the future, a future where Jesus is standing, and with the power of standing in the future, he says to us, “You are going to be ok.”
You see, your friends and the people that care about you and wrap their arms around you and say, “You are going to be ok,”, they are standing right where you are standing…in the present, contending with the power of the past, and truthfully, because that is where they are standing, they don’t know if you are going to be ok. They may be positive thinkers. They may be confident in the foundations that we build. But from where they stand, they don’t know if you are going to be ok.
But Jesus knows. Jesus knows that you are going to be ok because when he ascended into heaven, he broke the bounds of time and space. As a matter of fact, when Martin Luther was asked, “Where did Jesus go when he ascended into heaven?”, Martin Luther said, “Jesus went into the future.” Jesus speaks from the future, and with the power that comes from being in the future, Jesus wraps his arms around you today – no matter how deep a hole you find yourself in, or how high a tower you stand upon – no matter how fragile you are from being pummeled by life, or how strong you are from pinning life down – no matter how tired you are from trying to unbury yourself from the landfill of your failures, or how relaxed you are setting upon the mountain of your successes…….Jesus comes to you today, comes to you from the future, throws his arms around you ….and with the power of the future, a power so strong that it brings makarious….that is the Greek word for what is translated “blessed” in the Beatitudes….but maybe a better translation is “complete inner peace” – and he says to you, “You are going to be ok.”
Jesus knows of what he speaks!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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