How hungry am I?
Beatitudes - Outside w/CRC • Sermon • Submitted
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The Beatitudes - A Challenge
The Beatitudes - A Challenge
The beatitudes indicate that the one who “truly repents” in the light of the coming Kingdom of God and how will we treat one’s
family
neighbors,
employees,
employers, rightly.
It really doesn’t stop there… It includes every group that we belong to and every group that belongs to us!
The difficult “rub if you will” is what is “truly repents”.
Is it neighborly to continually call the police on a very, very difficult neighbor?
Is it right and correct to fire an employee?
Is it right and correct for an employee to “steal” from an employer because they have it all?
I am going to make a BIG statement here… listen carefully
No one who has humbled himself or herself before God, depending ONLY only on God… can act with only a SELF INTEREST in relationships.
We will and we must have Kingdom responsibilities.
In that regard with the “true” regard for one’s neighbor, for one’s employee’s, and for one’s employer may be doing the very difficult thing...
In those situations and the million other situations that we as Followers of Jesus find ourselves. Go to the Lord in prayer… serious prayer and then act.
Ultimately, it will go well for those who seek first the Kingdom of God.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Now Jesus doesn’t seem to be asking a whole lot of His disciples… But at the same time, He is asking them everything!
Now at first glance Jesus doesn’t seem to be asking us, His disciples very much… But at the very same time He is asking us to completely re-wire our brains and avoid our 21st century responses.
Now that is our challenge and question for today
Can we completely rewire our brains and give a 21st century response to a 1st century command?
I was a low-to-mid level manager in a company that I worked for 8 years before it was bought out and sold away.
Of course it was my responsibility to fly from Seattle, to Spokane, to Sacramento, to Medford, to Portland and then back to Seattle, all in the same week… some weeks were brutal.
As the company began to wind down it was my and the other managers responsibility to keep driving the sales force while at the same time preparing for a shut down, job loss, company closure. The managers were taken care of in severance and benefit continuance. The frontline sales people were just going to be let go all at once… With nothing.
No matter what my gut was telling me… No matter what my spirit was telling me… No matter how I knew I was suppose to act to hold the company line.
I suffered as much as they did.
People bought new cars… and I cringed. People bought houses in sales territories that were soon to be non-existent… I cringed again.
Ultimately for me it was a terrible experience. I still remember that call on a Monday morning at 8AM. Effective immediately all sales activity was to stop. You will receive your final check in the mail tomorrow… Thank you, Goodbye.
Did I do right to God, Did I do right to my employer, how about my employees? Did I do right to the members of my division? I’m going to leave it to God...
But… There may be a better way
Let me ask our BIG QUESTION for the day again...
Can we completely rewire our brains and give a 21st century response to a 1st century command?
How did the “first hear-ers” of scripture respond. Yes, their timeline was different but ultimately the same question is being asked of them.
In a world around them, in the first century how can they “thirst for righteousness” and be satisfied?”
Our example was and is Jesus...
Their examples are the prophets.
You see at this point in Jesus ministry Jews were His first priority.
He used the past to make his case BOLDLY!!
He used the prophets words that the Jews understood, even if they were suspicious of Jesus or outright against this “Messiah.”
From the beginning of Mathew’s Gospel he has barraged the first century reader with OT quotations to show that Jesus was the Messiah.
That barrage also reminded the reader of the ethics of the OT testament.
The “How too”, and “what for” treatment of others is all throughout the Old Testament.
In verse 3 Mathew writes
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This probably relates to the impoverished people who recognize God as their only hope. This group of people appear in Is 61
Isaiah 61:1 (NIV84)
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
The Spirit anointed prophet Isaiah preaches to them the good news… To him it was prophecy, to the people of Jesus time it was observable facts. To us…
By Faith we accept it and are commanded to Do it!
THE SECOND BEATITUDE - BE DIFFERENT ON PURPOSE!
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
This certainly directs the contemporary Jew to Isaiah 61 again.
Isaiah 61:2 (NIV84)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
God’s vengeance is saved for a few and for those who fail to acknowledge and accept the Lordship of Christ.
But our God is a God of Vengeance. And our time is short… I can guarantee that.
Last week I left the question hanging...
Can we mourn enough to be blessed...
Yes… we can, Because in Isaiah’s passage the prophet came and said He, God in this case and Jesus in our case
Mourning is individual, mourning is short and mourning LONG, and God will comfort all who mourn… Without qualification and without measure! Amen!
Last week we also spent a piece of time on meekness. Is there any strength in any level of meekness… Before you answer the question in your head listen...
11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
The meek will inherit the land… and have PEACE!
In all of our striving, in all of our work, in all of our victories and in all of our defeats...
THE ONE THING ALL OF US IS STRIVING FOR IS THE ALL ALLUSIVE PEACE AND FREEDOM.
The peaceful, meek followers of Jesus are described as having abundant, overwhelming, impossible joy.
7 Instead of your shame, a double portion, and instead of insult, they will rejoice over their portion. Therefore they will take a double portion in their land; they shall possess everlasting joy.
In Matthew 5.6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
This verse is filled with questions and some answers...
Blessed - Fortunate, Happy, Privileged
Hunger - To desire, Hunger is a physiologic thing. If you are hungry, nothing is going to stop you until you find food… nothing.
Thirst - Even more drive, demand, need for water than food.
But your need is even greater than food or water.
IT IS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
Ding, Ding, Ding
That is the million dollar question...
How do we get RIGHTEOUS with a God that demands perfection as He is perfect.
How can we live RIGHTEOUS enough to please God… Here is what the Old Testament says
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
Here is our roadmap to righteousnes...
If you want to be righteous… come to the water and drink, freely and fully.
Come and eat, come and buy all with no money. Money won’t matter anymore, there are no prices.
Your labor gets you nowhere in the economy of God. Your money worthless.
Listen carefully now, that your soul may live...
Make an everlasting covenant with the man that occupies David’s Throne.
So your saying… What does all of this have to do with me???
Let me remind of our question again...
Can we completely rewire our brains and give a 21st century response to a 1st century command?