A thought on the meaning of "blessed" in the Beatitudes

 

I am currently preparing to launch a new sermon series in my church on the Beatitudes.  One of the reasons I chose this series and wish to preach an introductory sermon to start of the series is my concern that there is a lot of misunderstanding about God's blessings, and happiness among Christians. Things like being blessed means just having a trouble free life, financial wealth, good health etc. 

So as I delve deeper into this subject and try to clarify my own thoughts, knowing that a little mist in the pew will be a thick fog in the pews (to paraphrase a well-known preaching aphorism), I came across the following from Kenneth Bailey in his book "Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels"

Here's a part of his helpful observation.

In Hebrew (as in Greek) there are two words that are translated into English as “blessed.” The two Greek words parallel the Hebrew words, and it is important to understand the differences between them. One of these Greek words, eulogeō, has the Hebrew word bĕrākâ behind it in the Old Testament. Eulogeō does not appear in the Beatitudes. This word is used in prayer when the worship leader asks God for some blessing that the individual or community is eager to receive from God. Eulogeō is the right word for “O Lord, bless the sick” or “O Lord, bless the children.”

The other word in Hebrew, ʿāšîr makarios in Greek are word clusters which with their cognates are described by Raymond Brown as “not part of a wish and to not invoke a blessing. Rather they recognize an existing state of happiness or good fortune.” that is they affirm a quality of spirituality that is already present. In English we communicate this sense of the word with a hyphen or an accent. When saying, “Ms. So-and-so is a bless-ed person in our church,” one is not asking for something but rather affirming a quality in Ms. So-and-so that already exists. In the Beatitudes the term for “blessed” is makarios, the second of these two words. The presence of makarios in the Beatitudes makes a great difference.

This is such an important point. I look forward to incorporating this gem into my sermon. 
It is so true that I am already blessed. We are so blessed to be in Christ. How do we live in such a way so this inner quality of blessedness shines through daily?

And as they lyrics of an old favourite song by Scott Wesley Brown goes: "We are blessed to be a blessing."