Relying on God
lanny smith
Reboot / Dependence; Pride / Matthew 5:3
• Old saying that “God helps those who help themselves.” Attrib. to Ben Franklin but actually from an earlier source from the 1600.
• In fact, different cultures across 100’s of years have had similar sayings. From Buddhism, to Islam to truly ancient Greek sources there is a strand of thinking in our humanity that that believes we must take self-initiative in order to receive the favor of the gods.
• It’s self-help on steroids. If we’re going to ask God for help, shouldn’t we at least try to help myself first?
• The fallacy, as we’ll see, is that we’re trying to get everything perfect before we approach a perfect God. How’s that working out for you? I thought so.
• When we think this way, we live this way. And the problem is that we then rely on ourselves as our first source of help and strength. God becomes secondary.
• This is completely out of order from a biblical perspective.
• As we begin 2022 by rebooting our minds (as we discussed from Rom. 12.1-3), we begin where Jesus began teaching us as disciples - the Beatitudes.
• His first statement blows the self-help, get right on our own philosophy out of the water:
Matthew 5:1–3 NLT
1 One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them. 3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
• It’s striking that Jesus begins by teaching the disciples what kinds of lives are pleasing to God.
Making God Happy
• Blessed is hard to translate easily into English.
• In its basic sense, blessed is the state of being we are in when God is happy with us.
• It is a “positive judgment” from God.
• We are happy, then, when we know that we are bringing joy to God.
• When we are blessed, it is because we are approved.
Being Poor Is Good?
• Jesus begins with a seeming paradox and brain twister:
Matthew 5:3 NLT
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
• Lot’s of room for misunderstanding what Jesus is talking about.
• Too often, we try to turn this into a psychological mind-set.
• Low self-esteem, false sense of humility.
• In fact, it’s much deeper and more difficult than just acting like a “nobody.”
• Jesus uses a word for “poor” here that describes beggars. “the cringing poor” as one scholar has called it.
• People in Jesus’ day who had nothing, expected nothing, completely dependent on others for their survival.
• The word moved from an economic/social description to a way to illustrate a spiritual reality.
Psalm 34:6 NLT
6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.
Isaiah 41:17 NLT
17 “When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.
• Jesus is telling us to consider our position before God as one who is spiritually bankrupt. We bring nothing to God.
• We need to understand that we can’t buy a stairway to heaven with our material assets, our talent, our will, our drive, nothing gives us a “right” to exist in God’s kingdom.
Romans 3:10–11 NLT
10 As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
Romans 3:23 NLT
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
• So we don’t “earn” our approval. Instead, we do something that feels so unnatural in our culture: We rely on someone other than ourselves.
• This is a very different idea than we are taught. Its:
A Countercultural Lifestyle
• When we pull God’s happiness together with our lifestyle, here’s what we get:
God is pleased with us when we completely rely on Him.
• We KNOW we’re doing the right things, living the right way when we have put ourselves in His hands.
• What happens when God is pleased with us?
Hebrews 4:16 NLT
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Galatians 3:14 NLT
14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
• Later in this same sermon, Jesus asks a penetrating question:
Matthew 6:31–33 NLT
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
The Reboot
• Recognize when you are trying to do life “all by myself.”
Proverbs 3:5 NLT
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
• Learn to leave the stress of relying on ourselves and rest in the peace of Christ.
Philippians 4:6–7 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
• Realize that you are fully loved and pleasing to God. He desires to bless you.
Romans 8:1–2 NLT
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
