The Applause of Heaven (by Max Lucado)

(Amazon UK link)

I had often liked brief quotations from Max Lucado, on websites or in books. So I was very pleased when I had the opportunity to acquire some of his books last year. I’ve just finished ‘The Applause of Heaven’, which I read over the course of a couple of weeks, just one or two chapters at a time.

When I started, I realised that this book is a series of studies on the Beatitudes, as given in Matthew’s gospel. I wondered if there could be anything fresh in the book, as I have heard many sermons and read countless books on the topic. Of course reminders can be useful, and I was reading this as a devotional book rather than an intellectual study. But still I did wonder if I was going to end up skimming…

It turns out to be an excellent book, full of insights and with a slightly different slant from most of the interpretations I have previously heard or read. In addition, Lucado illustrates his writing with anecdotes or incidents from his own life, or that of friends, something which can always provide a new viewpoint.

There’s plenty of references to Scripture, too. Lucado mentions many Biblical characters, and quotes from Jesus’ words. But the bulk of the writing is his take on the Beatitudes, starting with his understanding of the word ‘Blessed’, and Jesus’ decision to talk to the crowds, in this most famous of sermons.

While most preachers and writers take each Beatitude separately, looking at groups of people - the ‘poor in spirit’, or the ‘meek’, etc - Lucado takes them as a whole. He sees a continuity in the passage, although each chapter only covers half a sentence. So he starts with our need to acknowledge that we don’t know very much, we can’t do anything much, and life is difficult. Only when we are ‘poor in spirit’ in this way can we begin to understand and be part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

He then suggests that ‘those who mourn’ are not necessarily those grieving for a loved one, but those who are mourning their own pride or arrogance. They have moved into being ‘poor in spirit’, and are able to acknowledge and mourn over their past, something we might also call ‘repentance’. People who are truly able to do this, Lucado explains, are those who ‘will be comforted’, in the broadest sense of the word.

I found this way of looking at the Beatitudes quite compelling, certainly different from how I had previously understood them. I don’t know if this is exactly what Jesus intended, but as with most of what he said, they can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the needs of the listener. But I certainly liked the idea that he was not just telling his listeners that other groups are blessed in different ways; instead, he was speaking to each person in the crowd, showing them how to follow him, how to see God, how to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The final chapter looks at the end of life, the ‘applause’ that the author states will be ours as we move into God’s presence. Perhaps it’s a little fanciful, but I liked the focus of the book: we know that God loves us, of course, and wants what is best for us. But we tend to feel ourselves not good enough, forgetting that we are seen as righteous through Jesus’ death. And so, feeble and sinful though we are, we are children of the King, and will be welcomed home like a new baby, or a young person returning home after an absence.

The writing is good (if slightly bewilderingly American in places), the stories well-told, and the evangelistic message not too pushy. All in all, I found this book very encouraging.

Recommended to anyone who would like a fairly light-weight but thought-provoking book that explores a different way of looking at the Beatitudes.

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