Jump Start # 158

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

  Our beatitude today and the following one both deal with persecution. We will look at them separately. There is a difference between them. Verse 10 states, “Blessed are those WHO HAVE BEEN persecuted…” Verse 11 says, “Blessed are you WHEN people insult you.”

  There are two differences. First, in the people addressed. Verse 10 says THOSE; verse 11 says YOU. Secondly, there is a difference in time. Verse 10 says WHO HAVE BEEN; verse 11 says WHEN. One is past, the other is present and future. Similar thoughts, but not the same.

  Looking back, the Lord reminds the audience that the righteous have been persecuted in the past. God knows. God is aware. This is stated for the sake of the next verse, you will be persecuted. The end of Hebrews 11 is a good example of the persecutions in the past. There we find, “others experienced mocking and scourging, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated…wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

  Following God is not living the life of the rich and famous or a rock star tour. People didn’t rush the prophets or apostles seeking autographs, cameras (I know they didn’t have them back then) didn’t flash and throngs of people didn’t cheer when they passed by. Some are looking for that. Some want Christianity to be like that. It hasn’t and it won’t. The righteous in the past were ill treated. They didn’t live in the biggest houses on the block. They didn’t dress like the affluent. As you think about Jeremiah being put in the cistern, Daniel in the lion’s den, Isaiah, according to legend, being sawn in two, their lives were hard. Few would say, ‘that’s my dream. That’s what I want.’ In fact, it might cause some to question, where is God. If your own people are mistreated this way, why don’t you do something. He does. It’s in His time and in His way.

  God never forgot them. Are we not reading about them in Hebrews 11? And those that threw the rocks, shouted the insults, and thrust the swords into the righteous, their names? Who are they? Forgotten. Lost. Awaiting the fate that they chose. God’s righteous gained approval. They are resting. They await Heaven. Their journey, although difficult, was worth it.

  Jesus is preparing His followers. They would find difficulties as well. We sing a song, often at Thanksgiving that talks about the “faith of our fathers.” God remembered. We should. They are not to be worshiped nor elevated to any position. They simply did what they were supposed to.

  And so should we.

Roger

Jump Start # 157

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

  We are reminded of Kevin’s sermon Sunday night on this very passage. There are those who enjoy peace, want peace and maintain peace, but here the Lord talked about the makers of peace. The absence and opposite of peace is war. Our context continues to be the spiritual qualities of the citizens of the kingdom.

  Jesus came to bring peace on earth. He accomplished this through His death upon the cross. Peace making begins between us and God. We find peace through Jesus Christ. Those wonderful salvation words such as, “redeemed” and “reconciled” brings the image of peace to the One who demands justice. Our sins have separated us from God and broken the relationship. Jesus, through the forgiveness offered in His blood, changed all that. Our status and relationship has changed because of Jesus. We become God’s children. We are His sons and daughters.

  The citizens of Heaven’s kingdom are those who make peace. This is not accomplished through compromising and back door deals like we find in Congress. This peace comes through Christ. The peace makers therefore are pointing people to Christ. It is in Christ that grace and forgiveness are extended, the very platform for peace and restored relationships. Through Christ, we crucify self, the leading cause of war. It is promoting self that strains and kills marriages. Most couples do not fall out of love, they fall out of being unselfish. They begin wanting everything to be about themselves instead of the other person. Why do nations go to war? Often, it’s selfish. One nation wants land, or oil, or something, so they will invade another nation. Co-workers who can’t get along, children who are fussing all the time, it’s generally about at least one being selfish.

  Jesus was the most unselfish person who ever walked the earth. He gave. He served. He helped. He never said, “what about me?” Following Christ makes us like that, or at least, it ought to. Some Christians can be mighty selfish. Some churches act selfish. This is not the way of Christ.

  How is peace made? Preaching Christ. Getting folks to act like Jesus. Imagine a strained marriage and then both parties in the marriage, started acting like Jesus. They put the other first. They served the other. They were more interest in the well being and happiness of the other than themselves. They forgave. They extended grace. They apologized. They simply acted like Christ. Before long that sour marriage is hitting on all cylinders and peace prevails and the battles have ended. They acted like Jesus. The same works in the church. And at work and everywhere.

  The war continues when one doesn’t want to act like Jesus. They would rather war as to have peace. The causalities are high. The cost is enormous. Death is ugly.

  Those who make peace are blessed. They shall be called “sons of God,” like THE SON OF GOD who first brought peace. Don’t wait for the other person to call you to the table of peace, strike out first with the olive branch. Remind all involved that God’s way is best. Act like Jesus. Make peace.

Roger

Jump Start # 156 

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

  Purity is a hallmark of God. Purity and holiness go together. God is holy. We are to be holy. Often when this verse comes to mind we tend to think of the things that take away this purity, such as filthy language, pornography, immodesty, trashy TV shows. However, in the context it seems that Jesus has something else in mind. So far we have noted that the beatitudes focus upon the spiritual characteristics of the citizens in the kingdom. That theme must be maintained to be consistent in thought.

  Pure in heart as used here is about being centrally focused upon God. It is that singular thought of the spiritual person—wanting to please God. It is not a heart that is distracted, or carried away with various ideas and thoughts. It is genuine, pure. When we use the expression, “pure gold” it means all the rock and other elements have been removed and all that remains is nothing but gold. It is pure gold. Pure in heart carries that idea. The opposite is found in the parable of the sower where some of the weeds grew and choked out the good plant. We could say that heart wasn’t pure—it was full of weeds. It is this idea that Jesus is driving at.

  In the story of Mary and Martha, the Lord said that Mary chose the good part. Paul would say, “there is one that that I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”

  To be pure in heart is to not be distracted. The world catches our attention. Materialism and just being busy with a bunch of nothing keeps us from being focused. Some trainers will put a special shield on a horses head which blocks the horse from seeing right or left—he can only look straight ahead. That’s what we need on our hearts. Have you even noticed in college basketball when a player on the visiting team is shooting a free throw that the fans underneath and behind the basket are waving signs and shouting and making all kinds of commotion? They are doing that to distract the shooter. He must be focused. We face the same thing. As we are looking at the Lord, Satan and all his helpers are waving signs and shouting at us to make us look away, to lose our concentration, to make us miss Heaven.

  Blessed are the pure in heart. Their reward? They shall see God. In Revelation 22:4 the expression is found, “they will see His (God’s) face.” Can you imagine seeing God? I’ve seen a U.S. president at a distance. I’ve seen famous singers at a distance. I’ve shaken the hand of professional race drivers. But to see God! And that will take place not in a vision, and not here on earth, but in God’s place, God’s home—Heaven. It is the focused that will see God. It is those who have not been distracted that will see God. It is those who have not been choked out by the world that will see God.

  Pure in heart. Nothing but God. Pure God. That’s hard to do. We have so many interests and so many layers. But God must come first. Later in this same sermon Jesus would say, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That is another way of saying, “be pure in heart.” God first. God always. Anything else, without God, is total and complete failure. We sing, “Purer in heart O God, help me to be…” Help us, Lord! We want to be pure in heart. We want to see you!

Roger

Jump Start # 155

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

  Mercy is an act of kindness and grace. Mercy comes from the heart of the one who has been wounded. Mercy is the attitude and step that leads to forgiveness. Without mercy there is no forgiveness. Mercy replaces getting even.

  In James we read, there is no mercy to the one who is merciless.

  This simple verse contains two directions. First, from our heart to the one that has hurt us. To that person we extend mercy. Based upon our actions, God extends mercy to us. Later in this sermon Jesus would say that if we do not forgive others then God will not forgive us. How we treat others has a direct bearing upon how God will treat us.

  Extending mercy is hard. Our nature wants justice. We want the other guy to hurt for hurting us. Lawsuits, verbal confrontations, being mean towards them are the common reactions people have when they have been hurt. We say, ‘it’s not right what they did.’ And that’s right, it’s not. We say, ‘It’s not fair that they get away with this.’ That too is right. They shouldn’t and in the end they won’t, God will take care of all things. But where we cross the line is refusing to extend mercy. We just cut them off. They are no longer a friend and no longer included in my life, invited to my events and completely shunned. We even justify our actions by saying, ‘I could have done something really mean to them but I didn’t.’ But what we did not do is extend mercy, forgive them and maintain a relationship. That’s hard.

  Forgiveness and mercy are always hardest on the one who has to forgive. Grace and mercy do not make a whole lot of sense. The driving factor is love and wanting the best for the other person. We do this because God has first done this to us.

  In the string of beatitudes, following the hunger to be right comes the blessing of forgiveness or “rightness.” But before this can happen, we must be merciful. This again, is the characteristic of the citizens of the kingdom. The world is hard and unforgiving, not God’s people. The world is demanding, not God’s people. The world won’t forget, not God’s people. There are no second chances with the world, but there are with God’s people.

  To be merciful is to be kind and generous. Mercy is a choice. Mercy is an attitude. Just think of all the places mercy fits in:

• Among husbands and wives for the mistakes and sins they do to each other
• Parents toward their children. We often expect perfection out of them when we don’t live that way ourselves.
• Among brethren. We often expect more from them and give them the least mercy.
• People at work
• Neighbors

  In fact, it’s hard not to find a place where mercy is needed or fits.

  The merciful are a blessed people. They are giving others another chance and by doing that the God of Heaven is giving them another chance.

Roger

Jump Start # 154

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst or righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”

  Each of the beatitudes show a condition, generally of the heart and then a resulting blessing that follows. There are common words found in each of these beatitudes, for instance: they are begin with “blessed are…”  and then after stating a specific condition, each of them say, “for they shall…”

  Our beatitude today is about drive and ambition. We see this in sports when an athlete gets his tired body up out of bed and goes running early in the morning. He really doesn’t feel like doing it, but he is driven. He has a goal in mind. We see that with a student who wants to get his degree from a university. He takes all the classes he can, even during the summer months because he is driven.

  This beatitude is not about ambition in general, but a desire for the spiritual and more than that, a desire to be right with God. Righteousness is a state of being right. Remember, these beatitudes are in a specific order. These are not random,  nor can we pick and choose which ones we want. ALL of these are found in the citizen of the kingdom. They are so closely connected together that a person that does not have one of these, will not have any of them. The poor in spirit has led him to mourn that condition and make him meek or humble before God. He wants to be right. He hungers and thirsts to be right with God. He is done with self. He is done doing it his way, he is ready to do things God’s way.

  The spirit of this beatitude is sprinkled throughout the Psalms. There the illustration is used of a deer panting for water and the soul that longs for God. There is within our hearts a God shaped hole that only God can fill. Nothing else will satisfy nor fit. Millions deny this. They think they are happy with money, travel and possessing things. But that is superficial living.

  Here, the one who hungered to be right would be satisfied. Jesus would later say in this very sermon, “seek and ye shall find…”

  There is something special about being right. It doesn’t come from us, for we can’t live right very long. It comes through forgiveness from God. Hungering to be right really means hungering for God, His company, His presence, His approval, His fellowship. The proud will never make it. They first must become “poor in spirit” and then “mourn” and then become “meek.”

  God on your side is a wonderful concept. God as your friend. The desire to be with God. When a person has that, they will seek to follow God, obey His will, worship Him the way He directs, and long for that eternal home. We sing, “O to be with Thee, blessed Redeemer…” The heart of the citizen of the kingdom dwells upon the spiritual. The longing isn’t for things. The longing isn’t for prestige, but to be right with God. This heart wants to please God. As a little child wants to see the smile on his dad’s face, that is what is behind this beatitude. Enough of us. Let’s long for God. Let’s please God. Let’s get right. Let’s do right. Let’s be right.  Won’t that spirit cause a person to stop wrong? Won’t it make them apologize for hurting others? Won’t it cause them to put God to the forefront of all things.

  The person who lives this way is Blessed!

  Roger