Today
we bring our series on the Beatitudes to a close. We’re finishing our look at this introduction
to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Now, I
don’t know if it’s my science background or what it is, but I’m a big fan of
conclusions. You know, the scientific
method should always have as its end the conclusion; where a brief summation of
what it is exactly that we saw during an experiment. Well, I think it’s important after taking
these last eight weeks to look at each of these Beatitudes, these steps to
enjoying the blessed life, which we conclude and recap what it is that we have
seen as a whole. Now, there have
obviously been things that we have taken from each of these Beatitudes and
tried to apply them in our daily lives.
However, there are a couple of things that we can take from them as a whole
that I think are of vital importance as we seek to live Godly lives. The first of which is that without Christ
none of this is possible, and the second is that it will cost us. Well, let’s dive into those two things shall
we?
We’ve
ended many weeks together (actually all of them) by talking about how difficult
many of these concepts are. Some of us
have even left our time together doubting whether we have the ability to even
attempt such changes and outlooks, much less succeed in doing so. We struggle with wanting to be meek and
humble. We struggle with desiring only
God. We struggle with extending
reconciliation and seeking the good of others, especially our enemies. We have come to the conclusion time and time
again that it is only through Christ that any of these things are even remotely
possible. After all, we’re fallen; we’re
sinful. And even with Christ working in
us, we will have to fight to incline our hearts in this manner for as long as
we live upon this earth. You see, our
hearts are naturally inclined to stray from God. It’s what we call original sin. We don’t openly and consciously want to be
disobedient, but we just can’t help ourselves.
Like I said, we’re fallen. There
is a disconnect, a separation between us and God because of our sin.
The
second universal theme that I take from our look at the Beatitudes is the cost
of it all. You see, these eight
principles or values, these “blessed be’s” that we have been talking about over
the past few months are not only difficult to accomplish, but our merely attempting
to accomplish them will cause us to be hurt dearly. Our text for today, tells a bit about that
cost. Matthew 5:11-12 reads, “Blessed are
you when others 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 so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Now, yes, I’m well aware that Jesus here is
speaking about the great reward that we have in heaven. I’m also well aware of the fact that with
each of these calls to live a more Godly life we are told what promise, what
benefit we will receive because of our obedience. However, I’m not talking about some type of
relative cost where we give something and in return are given something much more;
even though that is exactly what is happening in each of these statements.
Last
Sunday, I told y’all a story about my momentary sympathies for this stray cat
causing me to become a moving target for my friends when I was a kid. I was attacked for doing what I thought was
the right thing. I told y’all about a
friend of mine who was insulted by many folks for take a stand that he felt he
had to as part of his being a Christian.
We ended our time together by me telling you that if your faith doesn’t
cause you to come under fire then you may not be standing as close to Jesus as
you think you are. I mean, think about
how Jesus is concluding this introduction here, “Blessed are you when others
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on
my account.” Come on; who really
wants to sign up for something like that? Remember what I told y’all was the greatest
friend repellent out there? That’s
right; the gospel. Why is it such a
repellent for others? Well, it’s because
it is opposed to the world around us.
You see, the ways of the world and the ways of God will never be fully
and completely in line because the world is filled with sin, it’s fallen and
inclined towards promotion of things that are opposed to God. Jesus is telling us here that we will be
filled completely by God when other insult us and seek our harm simply because
of Jesus’ name. We don’t doubt that for
one second, but it’s tough for us to think of insults and physical harm as part
of a blessed life. In fact, those are
two of the last things we would associate with a blessed or happy life.
Just
think about what we’ve seen over the past few months. Jesus calls us to be poor in spirit, to
understand our own sin. The world doesn’t
even recognize sin. The world tells us
that what I call sin someone else calls their way of life. Jesus tells us to grieve our own sin. The world says be your absolute best; don’t
focus on your failures. There’s no time
for self-pity. Jesus tells us to be
meek, to be humble servants. The world
tells us that if we’re not successful then we are nothing; we need to strive to
be in charge and in a position of leadership.
Jesus tells us that we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to
fill our lives with God alone. The world
tells us to fill our lives with stuff; to hunger and thirst for more
things. Jesus says that we are to show
mercy. The world says that victory is
all that matters; win at any cost. Jesus
calls us to be pure, holy, and set apart.
The world says that there is no such thing as true purity; it’s just a
matter of perspective. Jesus calls us to
extend peace, to extend that shalom that we looked at a few weeks ago to
others. The world tells us to take care
of ourselves and stand our ground. And
finally, the concept that we looked at last week which really is sort of the
intro to this last section and the summation of the entirety of the Beatitudes,
Jesus tells us to rejoice in our suffering and persecutions. The world tells us that we would rather be
the cat than the mouse any day; that a life without hardships is one that is
truly blessed.
You
see, we’re all at a crossroads when it comes to where we find ourselves
today. Are we members of the kingdom of
heaven or are we citizens of the kingdom of this world? We can’t be part of both. I have to admit that I spent a lot of time
trying to walk a fine line between these two worlds. I spent a lot of time saying that I was a
different kind of Christian, a different kind of pastor, who could balance
himself on this tightrope that let me be a part of both kingdoms. However, I wasn’t some new kind of
Christian. I was an average, typical,
run-of-the-mill confused sinner. I was
someone who was so clouded by the ideals of this world that I couldn’t even see
what my own sin, what my own selfish desires had done to me. You see, that’s the thing about sin, it’s
subtle. We can all recognize what I call
“obvious sins.” We can all acknowledge
that stealing and murder are bad, or can we?
I’ll let you think about that one for just a second. Have you ever justified stealing in your
mind? Have you ever justified a
murder? Like I said, sin is subtle and
dangerous.
The
kingdom of God and the ways of this world will never be fully in line with one
another because one is filled with sin and one is not. I know that I keep saying it, but it’s worth
repetition. Does this mean that we give
up all hope and all efforts to make this world a better place? Do we give up ever trying to shape society in
the image of God? Of course not, it’s
just that we never really expect it to happen.
Jesus is speaking here primarily to his apostles. He’s reminding them that all those who
proclaimed Jesus before his birth, the prophets, were persecuted. He’s telling them of the persecution that
they will Jesus endure during his earthly ministry. And he’s telling them that they too will be
persecuted simply because they follow Jesus and are associated with him.
Look,
here’s what I’m getting at here and what I’ve been working towards for the past
couple of months: the Christian life,
the blessed life, is a new way of life and a different way of life. We’re not to be driven by what the world
defines as successful. We’re not to
desire power and money and fame. We’re
to desire Christ, to hunger and thirst for him.
The goals of life shouldn’t be to have a perfect family, a good job, a
comfortable life, financial security, etc.
Now, I don’t want to make it seem like any of those things are bad
in-and-of themselves because they’re not.
They are if they become our primary focuses in life, but kept in proper
perspective they’re all good things. You
see, our goals in life as Christians are simply: we are to glorify God and enjoy him always. Those are to be our number one priorities in
life. We are to seek God’s glorification
above all other things.
We’re
to seek his glorification over our own achievements, our own security, our own
comfort, and our own desires. There will
be times in life when glorifying God means making the difficult choice. There will be times when we’re persecuted,
insulted, and maybe even harmed physically because of our desire to glorify
him. I know that sounds harsh, but I’m
simply relaying the message that Jesus gave over 2000 years ago. He told his disciples then (and us today)
that persecutions weren’t just a possibility, but that they were going to
happen when we truly live Godly lives.
We saw last Sunday Jesus tell us that very thing. We saw the Apostle Paul say that, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
I’ll
close things today simply by asking a few questions. First, are you insulted, persecuted, or
harmed in any way because of your faith?
Second, do you desire God’s glorification more than you desire your own
personal worldly success? Third, are you
making the difficult choices for the sake of following Christ? If you’re being honest with yourself, does
your faith really ever come into play when making a decision? Fourth, do you trust God in those moments of
hardship and suffering to care for you or do you just pray for things to be
over as quick as possible. Now, I’m not
trying to ask these questions to make anyone feel bad about themselves. I’m simply asking them because many times we
hear about suffering and being persecuted because of our faith but we never
actually do. We claim that our moments
of hardship that we’re trusting in God, but we never even considered him when
getting to that low point.
Friends,
it’s a tough place outside these walls.
When I step outside into the world I feel like I have to have my head on
a swivel. I feel like evil is out to
attack me and my family at every turn.
And you know what, it is. You
see, sin is everywhere. Even in the good
things in life, there is sin hiding somewhere waiting for a moment of weakness
to occur. Like I’ve said, the world is
sinful, and therefore not in line with God’s will. We’re going to be persecuted, we’re going to
be hated, and we’re going to be insulted; that just means that we’re doing our
job right. That means that we are
following Jesus. The question becomes if
you feel that you’re hated, insulted, or persecuted. If you don’t, much like last Sunday, maybe
you’re not standing or following Jesus as close as you thought you were. But if you are, “rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven.”
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