January 31, 1999

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Sunday January 31, 1999
Matthew 5:1-12

Focus Text: "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
^{on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you. [5:11-12]}

Discovery Series
III. Discovering What We Were Meant To Be

You gotta wonder about it. Jesus said to his followers, "Count your blessings when people get on your case and ridicule you and even persecute you because of me!"

Why? Because, "Your reward is great in heaven..."

Ted Turner called Christianity a "religion for losers..." [Readers Digest - Sept 1998] His reasoning was based in part on what we call "The Beatitudes". His thinking is that any religion which asks its followers to be meek and merciful even in the face of oppression can only be a religion for losers. Sure, Jesus said, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven..." [5:12], but this reward in heaven business is "pie in the sky by and by" -- what Marx called "opiate of the masses". No clear thinking, twentieth century realist would buy these concepts, would they?

As a matter of fact, no self respecting realist of the first century would embrace the lifestyle suggested by the beatitudes. The Emperor Julian ("The Apostate") is reported to have said that he wanted to confiscate Christians' property so that they might all become poor and enter the kingdom of heaven."š

Julian was a riot wasn't he? A virtual first century Ted Turner who could tell winners from losers! Or could he? It all depends on your view of reality.

***

If life is simply a sprint which is over after a short burst of energy, then Ted and Julian just might be right. However -- if life is a marathon, a long and sometimes difficulty journey, which winds up in the presence of God -- then the values of Ted and Julian are destined for the scrap heap of empty illusions.

In other words, there is more to this picture than meets the eye. In fact, the values which Jesus laid out before the crowd in his "Sermon on the Mount" represent an incredible call to a totally counter cultural style of life. Even if the values of this world could stand the test of time (and that's highly questionable) -- the values Jesus asks us to embrace will stand the test of time and eternity! [+ See Note Below]

Who are the Beatitudes For?

John R. W. Stott wrote a brief commentary on Ephesians entitled, "God's New Society." ˛ The title says it all. God has designed the Christian community to be an illustration of what human relationships were meant to be. There is fellowship with God, fellowship with each other and the rule of mutual love is the norm. There is peace, harmony and unity. When we leave the community of faith, the inspiration of worship and the encouragement of fellowship -- we are "deployed" as representatives of Christ in the world. We are, in other words, an outpost of the kingdom of God.

When Jesus taught what we call the "beatitudes", he taught them to his disciples. Not just the twelve disciples, but to the group of people who had been following him as disciples (or learners) in the larger sense. This instruction is critical for their life as followers of Christ. At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus sends his disciples out to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them... and teaching them..." (Mt. 28:19-20) The instruction or teaching Christ wants us to have goes to the heart of who we were meant to be in the world.

The beatitudes are a key part of the core curriculum for we Christians as we are "deployed" into the world. In the beatitudes, Jesus teaches seven qualities we are to embrace and live out and two consequences that result. In all nine cases, Jesus calls those who embrace his teaching and experience the consequences of living out his teaching are "blessed."

The Meaning of "Blessed"

Jesus begins the nine beatitudes with "Blessed are ..." The word blessed has been translated in a number of ways. One translation (TEV - Good News bible) says, "Happy are those who..." J.B. Phillips translates it, "How happy are those who..." The New Living translation tries to get across the idea that it is God who does the blessing by saying, "God blesses those who..."

The word most commonly describes a person who is singularly favored by God. It is almost an exclamation about how God is pleased with a person and the sense Jesus intended might best be translated as, "Oh the blessedness of the one who..." We are blessed (and in that sense happy) because our lives become more fully what God intended us to be as we embrace and grow in these qualities.

The Christian's Core Curriculum

* Poor in Spirit The one who is poor in spirit is the one who is not full of self and therefore has room for God. It is humility rather than arrogance. Ted Turner's remark comes from a spirit that is full of self and has no room for God. Jesus says here that the one who lives in reliance upon God is already living in the kingdom. Paul says it in these words, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." [II Cor. 5:7] In other words, we look to God for direction and fulfillment rather than to the values of the world around us.

* Those who mourn Literally, this means to lament or mourn for the dead. It is a strong term indicating a grief that takes possession of our lives so much so that we can not hide it. We experience this in a personal way when we encounter bone crushing grief at the loss of someone close. Jesus also is likely speaking about those who have grief in their hearts for the poor and dispossessed of the earth.

When hurricane Mitch hammered Honduras last November, thousands of lives were lost and a half million people were left homeless. A picture stands out in my mind of a woman in a CBS report who stood in front of a pile of twigs that used to be her home. Her husband and children had all been swept away. Her grief penetrated my sometimes case hardened heart and I imagined how it would be to have my home swept away and my wife and little girl lost in the floods.

God wants us to share the grief and pain of the world around us and Jesus promises that there will be comfort for those who grieve.

* The meek This quality may offend our contemporary sensibilities more than any of the others. Meekness is seen as weakness. People pay a lot of money to attend seminars to learn how to be assertive. Why? Because good guys finish last. Meekness won't win you a big raise in salary or get you on the fast track of your company. Meek is "mousy," "milquetoasty," "wimpy!"

But this isn't the meaning of the word Jesus uses. The heart of the term Jesus uses is "silent strength". It is the meekness Jesus demonstrated when he would not defend himself at the judgment bar of Pilate. It is the strength he showed when he asked for forgiveness for his executioners and those who reviled him.

If you've ever seen the television show "Walker: Texas Ranger" starring Chuck Norris, you've seen "silent strength" when Walker stands silently as the bad guys berate him. As he stands silently, you and I who are watching know that black belt champion Chuck Norris (Walker) can lay them flat in three seconds. (The analogy breaks down when Walker is forced to demonstrate his strength. However, the nice thing about Walker is that the good guys always win and the bad guys always pay for their crimes.)

In Jesus' teaching, meekness is the silent strength that comes from trusting in the ultimate victory of God over evil.

* Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to long for -- even ache and agonize to see things right. Things are right when they are as God would have them be.

Do you see the absolutely amazing promise in this beatitude? Those who long to see things as God would have them be will see it come to pass. When? We don't know that, but the promise of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation is that the right will prevail and the wrong will be defeated. That's the beatific or beautiful vision of Rev. 21:4:

^{"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he
will wipe every tear from their eyes.Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain
will be no more, for the first things have passed away."}

Meanwhile, we are called to do whatever lies within our power to see that the right prevails. If there is a hurt within our view, we are called to bring whatever healing we can. If there is a wrong within our sphere of influence, we are called to do whatever we can to right it.

* The merciful Those who have a heart of compassion and reach out to hurt and suffering will receive compassion and mercy from God. This one is easy to understand. It is the sense of being moved to pity and compassion by pain or suffering and includes the recognition that this could happen to me. [* see note below]

* The pure in heart Perhaps the easiest way to understand this principle is to say the pure in heart are those who give themselves as fully as they can to the great commandment. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. [Mark 12:30] This love is to dominate every other love in our lives. The highest position any other person or any other thing can ever attain in the life of the committed follower of Jesus Christ is "second fiddle."

The purity of heart which results from this soul fulfilling love of God translates to clarity of vision for what life is truly meant to be and thus, Jesus says, the pure in heart will see God.

* The peacemakers In very basic terms, you and I are called to be a "chip off the old block." As children of God and followers of Jesus Christ, we are commissioned to bring peace to the world around us.

The peace and peacemaking Jesus speaks of here is much more than the simple absence of warfare or conflict. Peace here is akin to the Hebrew term "Shalom". It has to do with well being, prosperity, reconciliation or oneness with God and wholeness of heart.

* There is a cost Jesus brings the beatitudes to a close with the fact that there is a price to pay when we commit to following him. If you always pursue honesty, integrity and justice, you will encounter first the cold shoulder, then the caustic remarks and finally persecution. So then Jesus brings this section of his teaching home by addressing his followers directly. Up until now it has been "blessed are the ..." But now it is personal -- to a crowd gathered on a Galilean hillside almost 2000 years ago and to we who are gathered here today. Listen to the words he speaks to you,

"How blessed you are when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account!"

In the gospel of John, Jesus warned his followers that the world would give them the same treatment it gave him. "If the world hates you, be aware that before it hated you, it hated me." [John 15:18]

The Christian's Commitment

Most of us do not experience the kind of persecution Jesus' original followers did. Our free expression of our faith is built on the sacrifice and oppression of our forebearers.

It is not so in every place on the planet even today. A missionary nurse who spent a number of years in Pakistan told of a young woman who had become a Christian and later came to the women's hospital for treatment. While there, two male members of her family entered the hospital at night and murdered her. They preferred her dead to being Christian.

Even though you and I don't face such frightful consequences for our faith, we may be sure that to embrace and live out the beatitudes in our culture today would carry a cost. There is an old question that might take on fresh meaning if we ask it in light of the Christian's "core curriculum".

"If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

Notes On The Text

š D.A.Carson in Vol. 8, the Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 132

˛ [Inter Varsity Press, 1980 - Now out of print]

+ There is an eschatalogical note to the nine beatitudes, especially v. 12. It is important, however, to note the present implications of verses 3 and 10 "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." As Matthew uses kingdom of heaven for kingdom of God, (see introductory notes on Matthew) the kingdom of God is not simply a future reality, but something that invades the present -- "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"

vv.1-2 There is a comparison in verses one and two between Moses and Jesus. Moses ascended the mountain to receive the commandments and teach them to Israel. Jesus also from a mountainside teaches his disciples. Matthew has a great concern for the teachings of Christ and this begins the first of Matthew's five great discourses. (See introductory notes to Matthew)

v. 3 The Greek word "Makavrioi - Makarioi" A prolonged form of the poetical ěÜęáń makar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension fortunate, well off:—blessed, happy. The Cambridge Annotated Bible says the term blessed means that, "God honors and rewards his people as they obey him and do his work."

This is the only occurrence in the bible of the term "poor in spirit". Luke's parallel says simply "blessed are you who are poor". Some conclude that Matthew has spiritualized Jesus' words while Luke has the original concern of God for the poor. [See Lk. 7:22 and 14:13] Yet, others see Matthew as portraying the poor in spirit as being those who acknowledge their total dependence upon God. See Ps. 40:17. The poverty which is "blessed" is that poverty which leads to dependence upon God. In Matthew this translates to humility.

Note: "The kingdom of heaven is theirs..." This is present i.e. "It is theirs". Not when they die and go to heaven -- but the kingdom is their now. Because, they live in dependence upon God.

v.4 Mourn is "penqou'nte" - pen thoun tes" "Those who are mourning" See Psalm 119:136 - "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." In addition to the mourning noted in the message above, there is the mourning of a faithful heart at a godless world. It is akin to the grief of Jesus when on the Mt. of Olives, his hearts breaks when Jerusalem comes into view. The grief of a godly heart at a world that rejects God. Those who grieve will be comforted. There is a note of hope in this. God will make all things right -- the righteousness of God is from everlasting to everlasting and anything that is not right must of necessity be temporary. (See Psalm 42:2-3 [also in relation to verse 6] for a merging of the sense of grief over sin and a hunger for righteousness.)

The word comforted is from the same root word as the Comforter which Jesus speaks of in John 14:16 "paravklhton - paraklëton" We've anglicized that with Paraclete.

v.5 Meek = "praei'" - preis meaning meek, gentle". See Psalm 37:10-11 where the meek will inherit the land. The wicked are contrasted with the meek. The Linguistic Key to the New Testament. (LKNT - Rieinecker and Rogers) defines meek as "The humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient submissiveness to offense, free from malice and desire for revenge." (Quoted from P. Leivestad - The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ) Thus we choose a phrase which may carry more meaning in our culture -- "silent strength".

v.6 "Hunger and thirst for righteousness" See Ps. 42:2 "My soul thirsts for God..."

v. 7 Merciful * The meaning above is from the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1970

vv.11-12 The theme of persecution is a strong theme throughout the New Testament and the earliest church. I Peter, for instance, is written to a church living in a time of more intense persecution, the church in Acts 8 is spread abroad because of persecution. Persecution, instead of defeating the church serves only to strengthen its witness. Likely, Jesus' tells his followers to even "rejoice" when persecution comes; 1) Because they are in line with the core of biblical history and 2) Because they have a great reward in heaven - ultimate vindication.

Alternate Sermon Ideas

The Power of the Church ~ I Corinthians 1:18-31

Paul moves from the issue of divisions in the church to the central message of the church. A simple message about the cross of Christ which is the "power of God" for those who are "being saved." In the face of this simple message, it does not matter who is great or who is small -- who is wise or who is foolish. The key here is that God works in a way that eliminates arrogance or "...so that no one may boast except in the Lord."

1. The Message is Foolishness - The Message is Power (v.18)

"For the message about the cross" literally "O lovgo" ga;r oJ tou' staurou" - Ho logos gar ho tou staurou" or "for the word of that cross". The cross occupies a central place in the proclamation of the gospel. (See Rom. 5:10, 2 Cor. 5:20, and 1 Pe. 2:24)

This message is "foolishness" to those who are perishing. The term means "to those who are being destroyed or ruined. Paul goes on to say that human wisdom doesn't "get it." In the land of the Greeks, where every issue was debated and an attempt was made to solve every problem by human reason, the "message about the cross" was laughable.

There may be a dual parallel in our own time. 1. There are so many who are like the Athenians Greeks of old, "All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas." [Acts 17:21] It is amazing to see how gullible people are when the most bizarre ideas are floated. 2. Over analysis of the reconciliation which God accomplished in the cross of Christ can detract from the simple power of the cross. In the cross, is the most radical possible statement of God's reconciling love. A mystery to the mind and music to the soul.

So the message is at once foolish (to those who are perishing) and powerful (to those who are being saved).

2. Human Wisdom Didn't Bring About Salvation (vv.19-25)

Paul begins this section with a quote from Isaiah 29:14. Wisdom has failed to bring about a reconciliation of the relationship between God and the people of God.

God then, broke into a rebellious human system to offer salvation through to all who would trust the "message about the cross." It will be the grace of God and not the brilliance of humankind that will save.

3. By Grace, Through Faith (vv.26-31)

Paul now asks the Corinthians to "look around". It is very clear that God has chosen them by grace and not according to their merits. The power of the church is the power of this simple, but profound message. By grace God has given us everything we could never have gained by our own strength -- Namely, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption in Christ.

The only possible thing we can boast (or glory / rejoice) in is the Lord. See Eph. 2:8-9 and note especially, "May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." [Gal.6:14]

Worship Helps

Call To Worship (Adapted from Micah 6:1-8)

Leader: Come together O people of the Lord,
People: And listen to the mighty voice of God!
Leader: Let us remember all the blessings of the Lord,
People: And the strength we have received from God's hand.
Leader: Open you hearts to all the Lord would ask of you,
Unison: To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God!

Prayer of Dedication

Along with these offerings, O Lord, we bring a willingness to be shaped by your Spirit. Give us grace to grow in all the ways you desire for our lives and courage to turn away from all that would separate us from you. As we give may we know the transforming power of your love. Amen.