Matthew 5:1-12

            {Prayer}

            As I mentioned earlier, we celebrate today the end of one year and the start of a new one, all in one service. This is a unique time for us to look back at what has been and to look forward at what will be.

            What do we see in the ages past? We see help. We see help from our God. As the hymn we opened the service with says, “Our God, our help in ages past …”.  But how has God been our help? Where do we really start to answer that question? God has been our help in more ways in which we could truly ever count.

            As part of the Passover observance, those in the Jewish faith, from days of old till today, sing a song called the Dayenu, which means, “It would have been enough”. The song goes one by one through fifteen blessings of God in the story of the children of Israel. Here are the first lines of the verses:

• If He had brought us out of Egypt …
• If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians …
• If He had executed justice upon their gods …
• If He had slain their first-born …
• If He had given to us their health and wealth …
• If He had split the sea for us …
• If He had led us through on dry land …
• If He had drowned our oppressors …
• If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years …
• If He had fed us manna …
• If He had given us the Sabbath …
• If He had led us to Mount Sinai …
• If He had given us the Torah …
• If He had brought us into the Land of Israel …
• If He built the Temple for us …

Each verse ends with “Dayenu,” it would have been enough. The point is this, if God had done just one of these things … it would have been enough. But instead, God blessed the Israelites in multiple ways. And God has done the same for us. He has blessed us in far richer ways than we could ever ask or deserve. If you had to write your own Dayenu song for the past year, what would you include?

A few things to get us started:

• A home …
• Food to eat …
• Clothes to wear …
• Family …
• Friends …
• A job …
• Vacations …
• A school …
• A church …

Consider other blessings you would add to this list. Reflecting back, our God has certainly been our help in the past. And not just through the things on this list but through the daily trials and decisions that had to be made on a regular basis or all of a sudden. He helped us through sickness or injuries or surgeries that we had or loved ones had. He helped us through grief and losses, transitions and changes at home or at work or school. God has helped us to know what to say or do in difficult situations and in joyous times too. God has helped us by forgiving us through the cross of Jesus and He has helped us to forgive one another, no matter how hard that might have been. So much of life, we find ourselves looking to the Lord and only able to say this simple prayer … “Help me!” … And God has. We can all attest to that.

And if He has, then He will! This is why we can have hope as we stand in this moment of time and look forward to the future. While we have no idea what will happen in the coming year, and years for that matter, we do know that God will help us as He has helped us in the past. We know He will love us, as He loved us before. He will care for us and support us, encourage us and inspire us, lift us up when we’re sad and calm us down when we’re scared. He will forgive us when we let sin get the best of us. He will give us words to say and things to do when we’re called to witness and serve. He will speak to us through His Word, through Scripture when we are searching for meaning and courage. He will send us family and friends to listen to us and to stand by us. He will be with us always, just as He said He would. He will remind us regularly that Jesus died and rose for our salvation and that we will have a place in heaven prepared for us, where we will live with Jesus forever.

So if God is our hope for years to come and if we know that He will help us moving forward, then what is our attitude to be? What is our approach to the time that spreads out before us? For this we need to look at what God says. We’re going to do this looking at the Beatitudes of Jesus found in Matthew 5 that we heard earlier.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Being poor in spirit means that you recognize your own spiritual poverty. You know that you need God. Being poor in spirit in the days and years to come means giving glory to God for everything in your life and leaning not on yourself for strength.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Being among those who mourn means knowing that sadness, that sin has brought death into the world. It means to acknowledge the grief and loss that sin has caused. We mourn the sin within ourselves when we are confessing what we have done whenever we have disobeyed God. Whenever we confess our sins, we find comfort in God, we find comfort in the One who came at Christmas to live, die, and rise again to take our sins away. We live in our years to come totally forgiven and free.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Being meek in a spiritual sense means being humble, just as Jesus was. We just celebrated how the King of kings and Lord of lords was born in a messy manger. Later in His life, He will ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Jesus gave up Himself completely on the cross for others who didn’t deserve His sacrifice. Our role as Christians in the years to come is to serve others, to love them as we would want them to love us. We aren’t called to be lords and masters of others. Being a humble servant for Jesus shows the world the nature of Jesus.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

There are so many different things which people hunger and thirst for in this world. There’s money, relationships, wealth, fame, security, among a long list of other things. But the primary thing, the most important thing we should hunger for in this world is righteousness. And we find that righteousness only in Jesus. We satisfy that hunger and thirst for righteousness every time we worship Him, partake in the Lord’s Supper, read our Bible, pray to Jesus. He is the one who truly fills us with good things.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

The world can be quick to seek revenge, but we know that our first step in repairing relationships must be forgiveness. Each time we forgive one another, we are reminded how much we have been forgiven by God through Jesus. Our future days must always be occasions to forgive and to be reconciled to anyone who has wronged us.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Being pure in heart is another way of saying we have been made holy by God. In these future days, we will be set apart for special work in the kingdom of God as we become more and more like Christ.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

            It’s pretty easy to see that there are too many divisions in the world today. So being a peacemaker is a vitally important role in our future days. We need to be on the lookout for ways that we can bring peace and harmony to a situation through the message of Christ, who came to be our Prince of Peace and bind us together as one.

            “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

            Pain and suffering, and even ridicule may come our way in future days, but remarkably God uses these difficult times for good. In those moments of pain, suffering, and ridicule, standing on the rock of Christ, we are able to boldly share with others the reason for the hope we have within us, despite adversity.

            “Rejoice and be glad.”

            We are called to have joy in our hearts always because we know there is hope for the years to come. Our God is behind us, beside us, and before us, always making every day a hope-filled day. One hope-filled day with God … now that would be “Dayenu,” that would be enough. Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.