Last week, I talked about the need for a transformed heart, made alive by God’s Spirit. If our desire is to please God and enjoy His blessings, our heart must be renewed daily, and we must discipline our hearts so they are undivided! We need not be ‘miserable Christians’ frustrated by the gap between faith and life. The truth is that we can grow deep in Christ. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, there is a maturity of faith that leads us deeper into the Christ-life. God has rich blessings prepared for you, friend - a life of purpose, a sense of connectedness and meaning, peace, joy, and hope for tomorrow and eternity.
Begin by seeking change that goes HEART DEEP!
"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God." (Ezekiel 11:19-20, NIV)
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The Values of the Person God Prospers
So what does the heart of a person prepared to enjoy God’s blessings look like? We need not guess!
TEXT - Matthew 5:3-12
From the highest authority, Jesus Christ, we have a description of the attitudes and values of a person who is positioned to receive God’s blessings. As we read this passage, you will quickly notice that His description of a prosperous blessed life is nothing like the picture of such a life that is painted by our culture.
∙ Most of us seek after wealth and the options having money can provide.
∙ Almost universally we admire beauty and spend huge amounts of both time and money chasing it
∙ Many of us crave recognition and celebrity, willing to do almost anything to be noticed.
∙ The person who is willing to climb the ladder of success and push aside people in her way to the top,
is usually held up as a model of success.
Some people appear to have the right stuff. They are the cool people of this world; beautiful, stylish, witty, gifted with social grace. They are it in any crowd.
Ill.- My wife, a teacher, says that in among the little ones she teaches in first grade, the social pecking order is already firmly in place. The it girl sets the pace for the rest of the class. Others maneuver to be near her, to bask in her radiance.
Many remember watching the handsome, square shouldered athletic guy who moved through the hallways in our high school with almost regal majesty, admired for his masculinity, his reputed sexual conquests, and his ability to throw a completed pass on the football field. His queen was the pencil slim blond cheerleader who has the look patented, the casual toss of her head just so!
We never really outgrow this silly stuff. In every social group that I have ever been part of, there are always those who are in, who have mastered the social code, who appear to be the blessed and beautiful.
In Jesus’ words, an entirely different picture is painted. What we see in our text requires some thought to grasp, much like the artwork that is unfamiliar to our eyes requires some study for appreciation. You will understand Jesus’ words, just as your eye may take in an artist’s creation. But only as you take His words and turn them for examination, as you ponder them for application to your life, will they begin to take hold of your mind, and reshape your life, from the inside out.
Let’s take a look - READ TEXT - Matthew 5:3-12
Remember this - These are not a new set of commandments given to replace the Law handed down to Moses on Sinai! It is a mistake to approach these as rules to implement in order to gain God’s favor. Instead Jesus is describing the kind of heart that is able to receive the wealth of the Spirit, the kinds of conditions in life that most people see as making life miserable and even cause some to reject others as hopeless, beyond help. Jesus says that the kind of things He describes do not disqualify a person from knowing God’s blessings. Indeed, He says, they open a person to experience those blessings.
Jesus intends to teach those who live with Him that they need no longer strive to own the kind of life that others fight and work to build for themselves. A truly blessed life is equally available to all, regardless of brains, beauty, or social advantage for the true source of real prosperity is not what one gains for himself, but from what God gives to those who know and seek after Him.
Dallas Willard writes - “The Beatitudes are not instructions about how to do anything... they are explanations and illustrations, drawn from the (lives of the people around Him) of the present availability of the Kingdom of God through relationship to Jesus Christ.” (The Divine Conspiracy)
Let’s take a look at these verses one by one.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3, NIV)
I believe that the CEV translates that verse in a way that helps us to come closer to what Jesus intends for us to hear. “God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven! " (Matthew 5:3, CEV) Jesus does not say that desperate situations are better than secure ones. He says that those who are desperate are blessed when their desperation causes them to seek after God’s provisions!
Most of us work very hard to build a life of self-sufficiency. We try to have enough money to live on our own. We don’t want to depend on anyone to help us, preferring to pay for services. We build our own little kingdoms. But what has resulted? Americans are amazingly lonely people, often isolated, and lacking a wide support network. Even our family systems have suffered under the assault of self-sufficiency.
Of most importance is the way that same attitude has colored the way we relate to God....
We ask Him to keep His distance, not to infringe on our choices –
until that time when we suddenly realize - “I am not the master of my life...
I’ve run into something that unmanageable... HELP!”
But even, then our cry is often not so much one of surrender, as it is a kind of demand that God do something NOW to restore our sense of well-being!
Jesus teaches us that those who have come to know their limits, who acknowledge their desperation are the truly blessed for their treasure is in God, not here on this earth.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4 NIV)
Is Jesus actually recommending sadness as a quality of heart to desire? Not at all. It is comfort that the mourning can find that makes them blessed. The Message paraphrases that verse - “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you."
Few of us willingly allow ourselves to feel real sorrow. We seek all kinds of diversions from the sadness of the world. Even the tragedy of our own sinfulness produces little sorrow. We may regret doing wrong, or more likely, getting caught – but do we allow ourselves to feel the offense of God? Are we sorrowful over the fact atht our rebellion is breaking His heart? Do we look at the suffering of Jesus, which was brought on Him by our sins, and feel deep sorrow for our disobedience? Not much, not often!
(The mourner’s bench)
But Jesus says that if we are willing to let ourselves be broken by our sinfulness, if we are willing to look at the suffering of the world around us without blinking and realize how very sad much of the world is as a result of evil - we will be prepared for God’s embrace, the soul comfort that lasts, that gives us courage to face sin and evil head on and spend ourselves to make a difference!
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, NIV) The meek are those who are unnoticed, those who live outside of the spotlight. We live in a culture of celebrity. You don’t have to do anything notable to become one. You just have to be outrageous and a little lucky. The late Anna Nicole Smith is a first rate example of the crazy world of celebrity. She nothing of note, except pose for Hugh Hefner and marry an old, mostly senile, rich guy. She lived for pleasure, in a drug addled state most of the time, promiscuous, blowing air kisses to the cameras! And yet, when she died, the news networks covered her passing like she was the President of the US. Don’t blame the media. If we didn’t watch, they wouldn’t cover it! Secretly, many envied her tragic life because of her notoriety.
Jesus says our lives can be rich and full without cameras, attention, or awards.
How can being unsung, obscure, and ignored be a state that leads to blessings? Again, Jesus makes it plain. Such a person, if she trusts in God, is assured of an eternal reward that is for all, not just the rich or famous! That relieves a great deal of stress and anxiety in each one of us, doesn’t it? (That is, if we believe it!)
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6, NIV)
Are you a junk food addict? No, I’m not talking about Mickey D’s french fries! I talking about the food you choose for the nourishment of your soul. Do you satisfy your soul hunger with empty things that only leave you hungering for more in life? God has given us a longing for significance, meaning, purpose, and relationship with Himself. But we can substitute self-help techniques, empty religion, and even humanitarian service for knowing Him and be sort of satisfied for a time!
But God reminds us that if we’ll allow ourselves to get really hungry, if we will abandon our own attempts at being righteous, He will fill with real holiness, His gift of grace! Oh, how wonderful the real food of the Spirit tastes when we developed a great appetite for Heaven! “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat." (Matthew 5:6, The Message)
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7, NIV)
As we invite God, the Spirit, to be at work deeply inside of us, He begins to stir up a genuine concern for others, which is costly. Our natural tendency is to care for ourselves first, to create a zone of security for ourselves. That is reinforced by a culture that is extremely narcissistic! “What’s in it for me? Why should I care?” We see those who are suffering and so easily throw their plight back on their own head, blaming them for being stupid, making poor choices, etc. And sometimes we’re right, but God urges us to care anyway! And the blessedness of such caring is that we discover the deep concern of the Father Heart of God for us. Proverbs reminds us that "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." (11:25, NIV)
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8, NIV)
No matter how deeply we’ve fallen into the filth of sin, no matter how stained we are, God can wash us clean and restore our hearts to purity. And as we live in that purity, we enjoy the sweetness of His Presence! Believer, there is no blessing to compare with the assurance that God is with us and having clean hands and a pure heart that knows no fear of His Presence. Other’s may mock you for lacking sophistication, or tell you to grow up and live a little, but treasure the child-like purity that let’s you live near to the Heart of God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9, NIV)
Competition is the way of the world, and it even invades the Church! But when we are secure in the family of God, when we know our true calling, there is no need to compete. Our word becomes unity and we create communities where people are encouraged, where their faithfulness of the use of their spiritual gifts is appreciated, where their successes are no threat to us.
Such a person is so unique that the world quickly recognizes that they are God’s children! Could there be a more blessed way to live than with others realizing that you are God’s own child?
Lastly, Jesus tells us that we should not expect our blessing and prosperity to necessarily make us the most popular person in town! "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10, NIV) Again, note that His word is not being rejected is a great thing, but that we can live joyfully because we have a greater reward!
We have all felt the pressure in our family or at work to ‘go along to get along,’ haven’t we? “Don’t rock the boat,” we are told emphatically by those who deeds are darkness! But as those whose hearts have been transformed by God, we cannot turn a blind eye to dishonesty, discrimination, or abuse of others. We are compelled to make a difference. And, we will, because the approval of people is much less important to us than God’s applause.
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As I bring this message to a close, let me return to the statement that I started this series with - “God loves to bless us!” That is true - but not in the way that most of us think! He is not necessarily concerned with providing us with wealth or fame. In fact, those very gifts, more often than not, cause us to become spiritually insensitive. So Jesus reminds us that even if we are not running with the ‘it’ crowd, even if our lives are marked by sorrow and what others would call ‘misfortune,’ we can still be blessed!
For those very things that make it so plain that we are not home yet, drive us nearer to the Father’s heart, and there, we are blessed.
Dallas Willard says it best:
“Who would be on your list of ‘hopeless blessables’ as found in today’s world? Who are the most unfortunate people around you?... There is a silly side to the question - which turns suddenly somber. ... the sad truth is that many people around us, and especially the young, drift into a life in which being thin and correctly shaped, having glorious hair, appearing youthful, and so forth, are the only terms of blessedness or woe for their existence. ... to be fat, or bald, or to have a bad complexion, to be wrinkled or flabby... is just beyond human acceptability.
But the silliness of it all is not what we can point out. Instead Jesus points out the beauty of every human being. He points out that the most glamorous of all is not as ravishingly beautiful as a single flower!...
So ours is a Gospel for a silly world, and it is desperately needed, because for most the silly has been made into matters of life and death.
So Jesus says to us, and we say to others –
Blessed are the physically repulsive,
Blessed are those who smell bad,
the twisted, the misshapen, the deformed,
The too big, the too little, the bald, the fat, the old -
for they are all celebrated in the Party of Jesus.
Then there are those who are seriously crushed - the divorced, the drop-outs, the drug addicted,
the HIV positive, the barren and the pregnant too many times, the shoved aside, the parents of children on the street, the emotionally starved, the incompetent and the stupid.....
Jesus offers to all ‘blessedness,’ regardless of circumstances - for He offers to be a Friend!
The Divine Conspiracy
Amen
Jerry D. Scott, copyright, 2007
www.WashingtonAG.com
