The way of the world v. The way of The Way at work

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “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. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:1-12)

You’re reading these devotionals because you want to follow the way of The Way at work. But what is the way of Jesus? 

I’d argue the best summary answer to that question is found in the Sermon on the Mount. While this famous speech does not represent the totality of Jesus’s teachings, I think the team at The Bible Project is right to encourage us to think of the Sermon on the Mount as a collection of Jesus’s “greatest hits.”

In short, if you want to follow the way of The Way at work, this is the single best block of teaching I know of to break down what that means. Which is why I will be dedicating the next few months of The Word Before Work to breaking down the sermon in full and applying it to the work you and I do today.

We begin with the show-stopping introduction of the Sermon on the Mount which contains some of the most countercultural words ever spoken then and now: the Beatitudes. 

Commenting on this text, New Testament scholar Dr. N.T. Wright says, “We all too easily assume that Jesus is saying ‘try hard to be like this’. But that’s not the point! The point is that God’s kingdom is being launched on earth as in heaven, and the way it will happen is by God working through people of this sort.”

And that “sort” of people is the exact opposite of who the world says is blessed.

The world says, “Blessed are the confident and self-assured,” but The Way says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

The world says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for influence,” but The Way says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

The world says, “Blessed are those who minimize pain and suffering,” but The Way says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.”

This morning, let me challenge you to follow Jesus’s example in calling out those living the good life of the kingdom by blessing the blessed today. Send a note to someone you work with—an employee, a customer, a boss, a vendor, whoever—and say something like this:

I was just reading Jesus’s words in Matthew 5 that “Blessed are the [insert beatitude here]” and it made me think of you. I know the world doesn’t often celebrate this way of working. But Jesus does. Continue walking in his ways!