Jesus died penniless. Roman soldiers cast lots to divide among themselves Jesus' only possessions--the clothes on his back. And he looked at his disciples and said, blessed are you who are poor.

Jesus died hungry. There is no record that Jesus had anything to eat the day of his death. What we call The Last Supper on Thursday evening may very well have been Jesus' last meal. He died on the cross Friday at sunset with an empty stomach. Looking at his disciples he said, blessed are you who hunger now.

Jesus died weeping. After his last supper Jesus headed for the Garden and there in that Olive Grove we call Gethsemane he prayed and he wept. He told his disciples you are blessed when you weep.

Jesus died hated. Caiaphas, the greatest religious authority in Israel called him a blasphemer. The crowds wanted a murderer freed before they would see Jesus pardoned. And his disciples deserted him. Looking at his disciples he said blessed are you when men hate you on account of me.

The beatitudes are a wonderful description of what disciples are suppose to be like. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are you who are poor. They sound so ideal, so spiritual. They probably come in fourth in the “framed scripture hanging on a wall category.” Just behind The Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, and the Lord’s Prayer. But truth be told few of us ever come close to truly living them out. Why? Here’s the reason: It’s because they are a call to sacrificial living.

When I think of making sacrifices I think of E. Stanley Jones, perhaps United Methodism’s most famous foreign missionary. He authored over a dozen books and converted hundreds of Hindus in India to Christianity. He is the only person of which I am aware who was voted in abstentia to become a bishop. When he received the news, he turned it down. One day E. Stanley Jones came to Emory University and spoke to a Systematic Theology class. One of the students asked him why he turned down the episcopacy. He laughingly replied that if he became a bishop he would have to retire at age 70. "I am now 82," he said, "and I am still going strong."

Then someone asked him: what do you think of the Beatitudes? Several students picked up their pens expecting something profound and they got it. Here's what he said: "At first sight, you felt they turned everything upside down. At second sight, you understand that they turn everything right side up. The first time you read them they are impossible. The second time you read them, nothing else is possible. The beatitudes are not a chart for Christian duty. They are a charter for Christian liberty.”

The Beatitudes: They are admonitions to sacrificial living and sacrificial living is the door to Christian Freedom. Now what does that mean? Let’s take a look.

I

First, Jesus puts in a good word for poverty, hunger, and sadness. Interesting isn’t it? We have been conditioned all our lives to work hard, build wealth, and provide for our families. But these beatitudes turn all of that upside down. Look carefully at what occurs in this text. There are two small points that are easily missed. The first is that Jesus turns away form the crowd and speaks directly to his disciples. The second is that Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the poor.” Which is the way most of us quote it when we quote it from memory. Listen carefully, he says, “Blessed are YOU who are poor.” He is talking to his disciples. They are the ones who have become poor. They are the ones who have worked day after day without food. Remember the story about Jesus and the disciples walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath. Matthew (12:1) tells us this story because he was there. He said, the disciples were hungry so they began to pick some heads of grain. Have you ever been so hungry that you ate your bread right off the stock?

The disciples, I am sure, wept on occasion and they were hated by many because of their allegiance to the Christ. The Beatitudes then are not instruction on how to live. They are commendations for how the disciples are already living. They left family and home to serve with Christ and he is proud of them. He says to them: Blessed are you 12 for you have given up your careers and become poor to serve with me.

For this very reason I have always found it difficult to preach on the Beatitudes. If anything these words seem to be for the clergy and not the laity. I feel that I need to turn away form you and speak to the clergy but there are no clergy here this morning. There are so few clergy, myself included, who do a good job of living out the Beatitudes.

If there were an example of a modern day disciples sacrificing their life it would be Mother Teresa. Some years ago before her death, a television special depicted the grim human conditions that were a part of her daily life. It showed all the horror of the slums of Calcutta and her love for these destitute people. The producer interviewed her as she made her rounds in that dreadful place. Throughout the program commercials interrupted the flow of the discussion. Here is the sequence of the topics and commercials: lepers (bikinis for sale); mass starvation (designer jeans); agonizing poverty (fur coats); abandoned babies (ice cream sundaes) the dying (diamond watches).

The irony was so apparent. Two different worlds were on display--the world of the poor and the world of the affluent. It seems that our very culture here in the United States, and any other place that has a great deal of commercialization to it, is teaching us to live rich. We are occasionally presented with the images of the poor but we never are tempted to assume that life style.

It is shocking to read Luke’s Beatitudes as an admonition to live unencumbered by worldly wealth. But as soon as we are reminded that Jesus calls us to sacrificial living we are immediately reminded of the next car we ought to by and the next meal we should eat. We are slowly and methodically told it is O.K. to live our life of luxury while others live their life of poverty. But it is not so in the Kingdom of God! This is not the attitude of disciples.

How can we reclaim the Beatitudes? How can we hear them over the Superbowl halftime shows and million dollar commercials? It’s not easy. I am a small voice here and there is only you out there in the pews. But Jesus had fewer still. He turned away from the crowd and spoke only to his disciples. So I speak to you: Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who give, who do without, who sacrifice. Let’s put in a good word for being poor, hungry and sad. Let’s put in a good word for sacrificial living.

II

Second, Jesus cautioned his disciples against riches, food, and worldly happiness. The story is told of Frederick William IV of Prussia who once visited a school and quizzed the students. He held up a stone and asked the children: to what kingdom does this belong? They responded: mineral. He then, pointed to a flower and asked: to what kingdom does this belong? They answered: plant. He then pointed to a bird flying by outside the window and asked: to what Kingdom does that belong? They replied: animal. Then he asked: Now, to what kingdom do I belong?

He had raised a profound theological question. To what kingdom do we belong? In a scientific sense, we are, of course, part of the animal kingdom. I belong to the same kingdom as my dog Ruff. He has many human traits. He can pout, he can get excited, he has a temper. But yet, Ruff does not understand time. He cannot grasp that there is a point beyond which he will not live. Only humans can grasp time. His limited mind cannot set goals. Ruff cannot tell right from wrong. It is not within him to share. It is not within him to sacrifice for another. All of those are human traits. The magnificent thing for humans is that it is within us to rise above purely animal desires and become a part of another kingdom----the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is appealing to our human nature. Appealing to the most unique thing on this planet—the human capacity to love and sacrifice for a cause greater than ourselves.

Will I be an animal and take care of myself or a human and take care of others? Will I be rich in this life or poor here so that I might be rich in the next? Will I fill my stomach or go without so I am might be satisfied in the life to come? Will I live for the moment or do the hard work of sacrifice, which may bring some discomfort in the here and now, but will yield heavens worth of joy in the next? What dos my discipleship look like when I compare it to these Beatitudes?

III

Because sacrificial freedom is greater than financial freedom, and this is my third point. Tell me: What brings happiness wealth or poverty? Ken Hubbard said, “It's pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty an' wealth have both failed.” It is the wrong question isn’t it? We should rather ask what brings meaning to life? Martin Luther, the Catholic Priest who brought about the Reformation had the answer, he said, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” This was his definition of Christian Liberty and it is a good definition for us this morning as we consider Jesus’ Beatitudes. Listen to it again, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” To be poor in Jesus’ mind is to be free from the entanglements of the world and therefore free to serve in the Kingdom of God. This brings meaning to life.

As we go through life it’s easy to miss what is significant. Leith Anderson, a pastor, shared an experience: As a boy, he grew up outside of New York City and was an avid fan of the old Brooklyn Dodgers. One day his father took him to his first major league game. It was a World Series game between the Dodgers and the Yankees. He was so excited, and he just knew the Dodgers would trounce the Yankees. Unfortunately, the Dodgers never got on base, and his excitement was shattered. Years later he was engrossed in a conversation with a man who was a walking sports almanac. Leith told him about this World Series game he attended and added, "It was such a disappointment. I was a Dodger fan' and the Dodgers never got on base." The man said, "You were There? You were at the game when Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game in all of World Series history'" Leith replied, ''Yeah, but uh, we lost." He then realized that he had been so caught up in his team's defeat that he missed out on the fact that he was a witness to a far greater page of history. (As told by Dean Register in the Minister's Manuel, 1995, 339)

Let me ask you a question. What's going on down the street in our ballpark? We may be so caught up in the beauty of our building, the eloquence of the sermon, and the friends who sit around us, that we miss out on a far greater page in the story of our Christianity. Look around you. What is it that is happening in our community? What is it that is happening down the street at your neighbor’s house? What is happening down at the playground? What is your spouse trying to tell you? Is God pitching a perfect game in the world series of our neighborhood and we simply are missing out because we are too invested in our team?