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Peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, to him who loves us and has washed us clean from our sins with his own blood, and made us to be a kingdom of priests to serve God and his Father. To him be all glory, honor, and dominion forever and ever. Amen. What a joyous season of the church year, this epiphany season that we celebrate, where the light of Christ shines so brightly in our eyes as we witness his revelation, not only to the Jews, but to us, to the Gentile nations, the Gentile people as well. But as we count our blessings that we have received by the right hand of God, let's take a moment to reflect on today's gospel in light of what it means to be called blessed by Christ. When we take a moment to count our blessings in this life, we never start the conversation with what we're lacking. No one turns to their brother or their sister and says, I have no money, I can't fix my car or pay my bills or feed my family. Wow, how blessed am I? Neither does one lament. I've lost my wife, my home, my children lack faith in the one true God. My friends have all abandoned me because I'm not afraid to say I'm a Christian, and all I want is everything to be fixed. Wow, I must be blessed. The beatitudes preached by Jesus in today's gospel do not mean these things. In the same way, we should not see these beatitudes as special attitudes or virtues that someone can work hard enough to acquire favor for themselves so that God will bless them more. You can never make yourself spiritually poor enough, mourn enough, attempt to be meek enough to incline God's heart toward you more than he already has. You cannot hunger or thirst for righteousness enough, be a peacemaker, be merciful, or make your heart pure enough for Christ to bless you. You cannot force yourself to adopt these qualities so that God's right hand will then bless you more in this life. Woe to those who think they can acquire the kingdom of heaven by attempting to make these beatitudes a set of virtues to be procured by their own reason or strength. The beatitudes are about blessings found only in Christ. For in these beatitudes, we realize our need to be united to Jesus. The first four beatitudes demonstrate those who need to be filled by Christ to be blessed. The final four demonstrate those who are filled by Christ and therefore are blessed. So we must see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus. We must see ourselves as we really are. We must see that without Christ, we are spiritually poor. We mourn because our sin has sent in us, sentenced us to death and the grave, and our man-made humility and meekness, we have no inheritance beyond this life. If we don't see our wretched state before God, we will never need Jesus as our Savior. If we don't see our need for Jesus, then we will never be satisfied. We will never be comforted, we will never inherit the land he has for us, and the kingdom of heaven is not ours. So then we must be stripped of our theology of glory and apprehend a theology of the cross, like St. Paul talks about today, for it is the power of God unto salvation. We must see ourselves as Christ sees us. It's not the healthy that need a physician, but the sick. Likewise, the spiritually rich cannot be filled. Only those who lack spiritual wealth at all. The spiritually poor have nothing to boast in. The spiritually poor are destitute. They lack everything they need to attain that which is pure and holy. And only when we realize we're spiritually poor, only then can Christ can fill up what is lacking, for God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians. Only those who are spiritually dead can be made alive. Only those who are spiritually lacking are like empty vessels that can be filled with the good news of Christ Jesus, Christ crucified for the forgiveness of all their sins. For like Jesus says in Matthew 11, it is the poor who have the good news preached to them. They are the ones who need to be filled. For the poor in spirit have nothing to offer, but are made spiritually rich by the Holy Spirit, born again by water and spirit to new life in Christ. Those who are spiritually poor can be compared to infants brought before the font of our Lord. Like newborn infants, they have not the capacity to save themselves, but to such as these belong the kingdom of heaven. They're not innocent enough, cute enough, or pure enough, but theirs is the kingdom of heaven because all they can do is lay there and receive all that they need from Jesus. They can only receive what God in Christ is giving out, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation granted to them in the waters of holy baptism, along with the Holy Spirit who connects them to Jesus. So it is with all those who wish to know Jesus. Like newborn infants, we must be cared for in every way. We all come to the font as infants, whether six days, six years, or 96 years old. We all come spiritually poor. We must be filled with Christ. We must be clothed by Christ. We must be fed by Christ. Only by the comfort of the Spirit of truth, who delivers Christ Jesus, are we made spiritually rich. And only when we have Jesus do we have the kingdom of heaven. No Jesus, no forgiveness, no forgiveness, no life, no salvation. So let's see the truth as Jesus has preached it into our ears. Let us be filled with Christ. Let us come to Him at a time when He may be found, even so here and now, so that in Him and through Him we may become merciful, made pure at heart, and make peace with one another in the body of Christ. Let's hunger and thirst for righteousness. But only Christ gives. For only then will we be satisfied. It's only Christ who satisfies. It's only Christ who tells us, I am the bread of life. My flesh is true food, my blood is true, true drink. John 6. Let us mourn this life together. Realize this world's trappings. Because if you desire to keep this life, you will lose it. And if you lose your life for Christ's sake, my dear saints, you will keep it. And you will be comforted by all that Christ gives you. Only those who have been blessed by Christ's mercy knows what it means to be merciful. Only those who have been justified by Christ and sanctified by his Holy Spirit are pure at heart. Only those who know the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, can know how to truly make peace with the saints around them. Loving each other as God in Christ has loved each and every one of you. So be filled with Jesus. Understand how he comes to you today and why. So let us remember our baptisms today. Let us throw off the old Adam and all that is within him, his anger, his malice, his licentiousness, and be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. For he alone has given us the white robe we need in our baptism. Only when we have the light of Christ can we see the taunts of the devil in our everyday life and the lures of this world, because they're out there. We encounter them every day. And even the temptations of our own flesh. But even more, when we do that, we can be meek in Christ Jesus when dealing with our enemies, loving them, and praying for them. Just as Luther likes to point out, we're to be like little Christs to the world around us, shining his light, reflecting it, as the choir sang, to one another. And like Christ, we are to be like lambs led to the slaughter. Our mouths are shut, and we go willingly. Only when we're found in Christ can we endure any persecution for his name's sake. And you will endure persecution. So, how then do we count our blessings, you might ask, in light of today's gospel? Well, it's not as the world does. Not by our cars or our houses or our money or the bank account. But if we lean into today's gospel reading, let's take a moment to consider the blessings that our Lord and God holds right before our very eyes, even this very day. Today the church celebrates their ABCs altogether. Holy absolution, holy baptism, holy communion, along with the gospel of Christ preached right into your ears of all his people. What more is baptism than being brought into God's family? Is it not a wondrous blessing with eternal implications? Even more, the water with the Christ's word that he delivers, the washing of regeneration, a lavish washing away of our sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit, a place where our lives are covered with Christ. So we remember our baptism every time we hear in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, because that's when it happened to you. But then we also confess to our sins, and God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, just like he says in John's gospel, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then our Lord speaks his absolution right into our ears, and our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Hallelujah. It hardly seems it can get better than that. But wait, there's more. There's more to even rejoice in. Today, the word of God is preached into your ears, and the law of God breaks your hardened soil of your hearts and overthrows pride and self-righteousness, which love to take credit for its own standing before God, by the way. It pricks your heart. And then the gospel of the Lord plants the seeds of faith in your hearts, pointing all eyes to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. The one who was crucified for your forgiveness and raised for your justification. And then moments, moments from now, you will confess your Christian faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. By the way, which is what the Spirit of the living God has given you in Holy Scripture. And just when we think it can't get any better, we will receive the body and blood of our Lord on our lips and on our tongue. A place where our Lord unites himself to us and distributes the forgiveness of sins as the guarantee of the all-availing sacrifice of his body and his blood on the cross received into your mouths and into your hearts today. The blessings received on this day alone cannot be exclaimed enough. Our attitudes, dear saints, are then enriched as we are filled with Jesus. And therefore we know we're blessed. Dearly beloved, blood-bought, baptized saints. The kingdom of heaven is yours when your king comes to you. He speaks to you in the preaching of his holy word. He comes to you in word and spirit and body and blood, heaven on earth for you. So be filled with Christ your Lord today, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Amen. Now, peace, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.