“Unexpected Blessings”

Matthew 5:1-5

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, March 1, 2026

When I was a kid, I don’t remember the word, “bless” or “blessing” being used much outside of church, except when someone sneezed, or at Thanksgiving, when someone would say the “Blessing.” Other than that, you didn’t hear the word “bless” very often. Later, when Joe and I moved to Puerto Rico in the 1980’s, I learned about the beautiful custom of parents or grandparents blessing their children as they left the house each morning. “Una bendicion, Mami” or “Una bendicion, Papi” is how kids would ask to be blessed, and their parents would respond, “Que Dios te bendiga.” – “May God bless you.”

I will never forget how one day I was helping Joe with some of his geological field work, and we had been hiking far out in the country. That day found some bananas growing wild, so fresh that they had dropped from the tree ready to eat! Really delicious. We had walked the dusty, rocky trail back to where we had parked our car when an elderly gentleman approached us. He was a Jibaro – a country person who lived way out in the mountains, following traditional Puerto Rican ways.

He was lean and tall, walking with a stick, but not bent over. He greeted us politely and we exchanged a few words. Then he raised his hand and blessed us – in Spanish of course. I could not tell you what he said, but it was as if we had come face to face with one of the ancient patriarchs, Abraham or Isaac. A feeling of peace and well-being came over me. Then he walked on and disappeared into the distance. I will never forget that experience. Blessings can have a powerful effect.

Gradually, over the past couple of decades, people here in the U.S. are also using the word “blessing” more often – I checked on Google, that most authoritative and definitive source – and it’s true: we use the word “Blessing” twice as often now as we did in 1990. Phrases such as “Count your blessings,” “I am blessed,” and “Be blessed,” are more common now that ever. Many praise and worship songs include the word “bless,” or “blessing” in the lyrics, such as “Blessed Be Your Name,” “Bless the Lord, Oh, My Soul,” “The Blessing,” and so on. Of course there are old favorites, such as “Blessed Assurance,”

and “Showers of Blessing.” So we are not the only generation to love this word.

But what is a blessing? Some Bible translations substitute the word “happy” for “blessed,” yet these words are not the same. Happiness is based on what happens to us. It depends on outward conditions. Nearly anyone can be happy when good things happen to them. But “blessed” goes a bit deeper. It is a translation of the Greek word, makarios, which means “under the approving favor of God, joy that springs from relationship with God rather than from circumstances.” When we know God’s favor and our relationship with God is good, then we are “blessed,” despite what is going on around us. This definition is similar to the Hebrew idea of “blessed” which describes “the one who trusts in the LORD; the one who fears or respects God; the one who waits for the LORD.”

So what did Jesus mean when he said that certain people are “blessed”? Many of the things that Jesus says make one “blessed” don’t seem like blessings at all.

Being poor in spirit, mourning, or being described as “meek” don’t sound like blessings to most people. Why are these qualities so important to Jesus? The words of the beatitudes remind us to look for blessings in unexpected places. There is a hymn by William Cowper that explains:

You fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds you so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Much like dark clouds hold rain for the thirsty earth, some of life’s more negative experiences may hold a blessing, if we but trust in God.

The first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” is one of these. To be “poor in spirit” is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty before God. The poor in spirit know that they need God. They realize that their own strength is not enough to get them through life. They know that they need to learn more, to experience more of God’s grace, to discover a deeper walk with God. Once we come to this place of realizing that we are spiritually destitute, we are ready to receive all that God has for us. We are ready to learn whatever it is God wants to teach us. As long as we think we can solve all of life’s problems ourselves, we cannot receive anything from God. If our hands are full of our own treasures, there is no room for the spiritual treasures God wants to give us. Once we are conscious of our spiritual need, we are open to receiving the Kingdom of Heaven and its riches. Then God can really bless us.

The second beatitude says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The word “mourn” indicates profound sorrow. Usually we use it to describe the grief of losing a loved one. Of course, those who believe in God will be comforted by the knowledge that their loved one is in God’s hands, where there is no more pain or death or tears. But here I think Jesus means those who are truly grieved by their sins and mourn over them, those who experience the godly sorrow of repentance. Those who mourn in this way feel sorrow not only for their own sin but also for the sin they see around them in the world. As Bible scholar John Stott writes,

“Kingdom citizens acknowledge the brokenness of the present age, grieve over it, and are assured of… consolation” in God’s good time, when God makes all things new. Their comfort comes from knowing that God is ultimately in charge.

Perhaps the most surprising beatitude follows: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” What? That is indeed unexpected. We are used to thinking of the rich, the powerful, the proud and the strong inheriting the earth, or at least being in charge of it. But that is not what Jesus says. Our misunderstanding may have to do with our connotation of “meek” as “weak.” A better translation might be “gentle,” or even “tame.” I will explain. The Greek word for “meek” is praus. Outside of the Bible, it was used to describe an animal, such as a horse, which had been tamed, and was willing to follow the commands of its master. Praus is not weakness; rather, it is strength under control. I don’t think we have a single word to describe that in English, so maybe that is why the Bible translators used the word “meek.”

In the Greco-Roman world of Jesus’ day, meekness was not typically considered a virtue. Similar to our modern American culture, power, dominance, and assertiveness were valued. But in the New Testament, this word describes a character marked by humility and a gentle spirit, someone with an attitude of submission to God's will, a willingness to endure injury with patience and without resentment, and a gentle approach towards others. In other words, someone like Jesus. When we think of the people we admire most because of their faith, such as St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, or the late Pope Francis, meekness, or gentleness is one of their most outstanding qualities. They were not weak people; rather their lives were under God’s control.

In her book on the fruit of the Spirit, Eugenia Gamble writes, “A meek person rejects aggression: We cannot be gentle when we see enemies everywhere. This spirit of gentleness reminds us that there may be a better and more grace-filled outcome than we can currently see. It comes from the knowledge that all the resources of God are being brought to bear in every circumstance,

so we don’t have to be unduly upset all the time.” Viewed this way, it is not surprising that Jesus teaches that the meek shall inherit the earth.

I will close with a prayer meditation on the Beatitudes by theologian Brian McLaren. Let us pray:

“God, our Creator, thank you for the gift of Jesus. He walked among us embodying your creative and life-giving Word in his body, his life, his words, his deeds, his sufferings, his death, and his resurrection. When we see him loving the outcast, forgiving the sinner, confronting the hypocrite, and teaching the crowds a new way of life, we see your heart, your compassion, your mercy, your character. To know Jesus is to love him, and to love him is to know him, and to know and love him is to know and love you.

So help me, Lord, to be among your disciples who come to you to be taught. Help me, Lord, to be among the poor in spirit, to see and know that your kingdom is my homeland even now ...

Help me, Lord, to be among those who mourn, to join you in your sadness for all that's wrong and broken in this world, and in joining you, to find true comfort.

Help me, Lord, to be among the meek, those who find strength in weakness and power in vulnerability, to never fear lack or want, because when I have your love, I have all the world.” Amen.

Sermon @Deborah Troester, 2026