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Big Idea: The culmination of blessedness is the unlikely and unintuitive state of being blessed under persecution. Evil does not give up quietly, Jesus says. However, the economy of grace does not depend on the capitulation of evil. It depends on God, the only true source of blessedness.

Big Idea: The promotion of peace in an economy of grace will generate pushback, from the people and communities who are threatened by the peacemakers. Persecution for the sake of righteousness is not just a tragedy, but is, in some sense inevitable, as long as the Kingdom of God is not yet fully established. And still, the persecuted are blessed, because they know who is their savior.

Big Idea: After seeking God, the 'pure in heart' get a new understanding of their calling--to be peacemakers. Their understanding of peace is enlarged to a God-sized view, that of making the economy of grace available to all human beings. That's shalom!

Big Idea: The list of beatitudes shows movement in the growth of a Christian community. "Heart purity" is the the next step. In the recognition of what our eventual state will be in the blessed economy, we will have motives that are free from selfish ambition, and recognize (see!) God as the proper goal of our desires. The person who longs to serve God and others for the sheer unselfish joy of honoring the Creator, and thus free of base motives, is blessed indeed!

Big Idea: In an economy of grace, the medium of exchange is not obligation or debt, but mercy and compassion. This is the way people relate to each other in the Kingdom of Heaven. "Being merciful" is the center of the list of the nine beatitudes. It marks a turning point in the list, the point at which a community realizes its turn toward God.

Big Idea: In Matthew's beatitudes, Jesus proclaims that the hungry will be filled. But what will they be filled with? Is Jesus talking about a spiritual or metaphorical hunger? Matthew's beatitudes are often read as a more spiritualized list of blessings, compared to their Lukan counterparts, but a closer reading shows Jesus' literal and practical meaning. The Kingdom of God is defined by actions of literal feeding, eating, and rejoicing. Thanks be to God!

Big Idea: Jesus tells the crowd that mourning is the first step in making a connection to God who does indeed hear our cries. The people who were enslaved in Egypt cried out to God, "this is not right!" If we are to be blessed, our mourning will be the first evidence that God is intervening to comfort us.

Big Idea: What is your category of 'poverty?' Are you poor in money or resources? Poor in imagination or influence? In health or hope? Whatever your category of poverty, Jesus reminds you that you are blessed. Not that you feel blessed--but that you ARE blessed.