The Point Of No Return
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 5:3-10
INSIGHT
Have you ever been lost? I mean really lost? Like deep, dark, terrifying, can’t go back type of lost? I recently heard someone refer to this as The Point of No Return.
There’s a spooky Halloween song with those as the lyrics and it’s always given me that creepy basement stairs sort of feeling. Like in a horror movie when the main character goes down into the pitch-dark basement and right before they reach the bottom, something grabs them by the ankle and they’re pulled into the darkness. The phrase point of no return was originally coined by air force pilots in reference to that pivotal point in a flight journey when you can no longer go back and now have no choice but to move forward. Wouldn’t it be great if we too knew that pivotal moment? If only we had a life roadmap with a big stamp on that spot. Or a set of flashing lights that said, “Turn around! Go back now!”
I think perhaps we’ve reached that point in 2020. It’s October, winter is fast approaching, and with it a new year. (Can I get an AMEN!!) But for now, we’re here, at that more than half-way mile marker, and the journey still seems uphill, riddled with boulders and steep cliffs, and there’s nowhere to go but forward. We can’t go back and get a do-over. There are no more exits into another scenario. I’d like to think that if I knew what was coming, good or bad, I’d plow ahead courageously. I’d go into that dark basement no matter how afraid I was. But the truth is I’m scared. And tired.
The book of Matthew opens like a roadmap between what we know as the Kingdom of Earth, our physical here and now, and the Kingdom of Heaven, our final destination, our future culmination of hope and joy. In Matthew 5, Jesus gets up to deliver his longest and most powerful sermon, The Sermon on the Mount, which opens with eight Beatitudes, or blessings, delivered over the people.
At first, they seem like blessings only for those who are marginalized or downtrodden. In the past, I’ve heard sermons on these verses and never really thought about how these words of Jesus could apply to my life because I simply don’t seem to fit the categories: the meek, the poor in spirit, the hungry, those who mourn, etc.
But I recently heard a pastor quote The Beatitudes standing on the back of a truck with a megaphone in hand. It was loud and powerful. And it struck me, this is what Jesus would have been like when He was delivering this sermon. Tearing into His followers. You know…preaching. Not offering simple platitudes to those in need, but laying a foundation of promises for a way to bridge the gap. God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
The words Jesus delivered here are for all of us. We are all broken beings in a very broken world. But our citizenship in another place has already been bought and paid for, and we are heir apparent in the Kingdom of God.
Even in the darkness, you are God’s chosen one. In this earthly kingdom, our spirits will be broken by the pains of injustice and hatred but we will wait for perfect equality in the Kingdom of Heaven. Here on earth, there will be war and violence, but we will always fight to see each person as a child of God. People may insult us and call us names and put us down but we will know our true identity rests in the one who created us in His image.
Matthew 7:25, “And when the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, but IT DID NOT FALL, because it had been founded on the rock.”
Jesus knew there would be dark years for His people on Earth. He knew we would be afraid. He knew we would struggle to keep going. But here’s the awesome truth: we are not flying into no-mans-land without a map. We already know the final destination. And we aren’t traveling alone.
REFLECTION
What is one promise from God that you can cling tightly to today? Write it down and post it somewhere you can see it throughout the day
PRAYER
Father, the gift of Your presence is a treasure. Thank you for being with us. Help us to see You in the small, still world spinning around us. Be magnified so that we won’t miss what You’re doing. Let us not be afraid when the going gets tough. Remind us of our true identity in Your Heavenly Kingdom. Amen.
Port City writer Kaitlyn Boscaljon wrote today’s devotional.
