08-30-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “Mistreated, Oppressed, Intimidated, and Tortured”

Scripture  Matthew 5:1, 2, 10

Matt 5:1-12

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus says if you are successful at being poor in spirit, mourning, being meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful, pure in heart and a peacemaker, then you can count on, besides having the kingdom of heaven, being comforted, inheriting the earth, being filled, being shown mercy, seeing God, being called a child of God, you can also count on being persecuted.

There are, of course, many reasons for persecution. People are persecutions for racial, political, and religious reasons. Sometimes people are persecuted for the friends they have or the way they dress or breast feeding in a public place. Today people are persecuted because they don’t wear a mask – OR because they do wear a mask. Strong convictions invite persecution. Me in H.S. persecuted for my convictions.

    Most of us find it difficult to understand how Jesus could say Happy are those who are persecuted. – that seems like the opposite of happiness. Yet Jesus says that happiness and contentment and the joy of living will come to the person who is persecuted…“for righteousness’ sake,” and “for my sake.”

Why are those who try to live right sometimes persecuted?

And how can persecution help lead to a full and joyous life?

The supreme illustration of being persecuted for righteousness’ sake is Jesus himself. He lived according to his Beatitudes. He lived the perfect life, but he did not please everybody. He stirred up opposition so fierce that it cost his life.

Why does goodness or right living stimulate opposition?

Their convictions do not allow them to follow the popular culture or trends.

Here is an illustration: A young girl joins her friends who sneak smoking cigarettes after school. But she refuses to participate in the fun. When asked why, she says, “I just don’t believe it is right.” She is sometimes respected for this, but not always. She may be teased or even rejected by her group of friends. (like how I may have been perceived wearing a mask at the pool last week)

When someone stands for what is right (or lives a righteous life) it often makes others uncomfortable who prefer not to live that same way. An upright action also generates envy among those unable to stick by their own morals. The result, naturally, is opposition.

Let me give 2 examples from my family:

1.     Nathan and his cousins at Kimberly’s Carousel.

2.     Gretchen handing out flyers for SYATP

A person who does good is often called, among other things, a fanatic, fool, do-gooder, narrow-minded, a misguided intellectual. Such labels are placed upon anyone who has the courage of their convictions.

Jesus says that being persecuted for trying to do what is right leads to a fuller and more abundant life. The final Beatitude tells us to do what is right, regardless of consequences. This Beatitude challenges us to stand up and be counted.

We should not enjoy being persecuted. Suffering is suffering. It is not an automatic sign that we are right.

It isn’t the persecution that brings happiness. Persecution is nothing more than an indication of what is happening. Jesus says we are in good company. (the prophets who were before you.)

 

Being persecuted also means spiritual growth. Nobody ever became an athlete by watching television. We develop through exercise, physical and spiritual. When we battle for the sake of righteousness, we profit more than anybody else. This spiritual strength leads to a fuller and more abundant life. Jesus is perfectly frank. He says in substance, “Follow me. The road is rough, but is well worth taking.”

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Billy Graham said: “Here is a spiritual law which is as unchangeable as the law of gravity: All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

We must get this fact firmly fixed in our minds: we live in an upside-down world.  You know the blow-up clown with the weight in the bottom that you use as a punching bag, there is one that is the opposite of that with the weight in it’s head and no matter what you do to it, it always lands on its head with its feet in the air – that is the  way of the world.

No matter how hard people try to live right by their own strength, they always revert to an upside-down position. From childhood to maturity we are always prone to do what we should not do and to refrain from doing what we ought to do. That is our nature. We have too much weight in the head and not enough ballast in our hearts, so we flip upside down when left alone. The apostle Paul said it best: Romans 7:14-25

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

          The same person who wrote that is maybe the greatest example of one who was a persecutor who became the persecuted.   PAUL THE PERSECUTOR

Acts 9:1-3

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Acts 7:59-8:3

While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.

          On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

PAUL THE PERSECUTED

2 Cor 11:21-31

          What anyone else dares to boast about — I am speaking as a fool — I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.   Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.

That is why the disciples to the world were misfits. To an upside-down person, a right-side-up person seems upside down. To a sinner, a righteous person is an oddity and an abnormality. A Christian’s goodness is a rebuke to his wickedness; his being right side up is a reflection upon the world’s inverted position. So the conflict is a natural one. Persecution is inevitable.

Do you know that the moral (and biblical) standard was that a man and a woman would first get married, then live together, then have babies? The world has turned that up-side down (even though the bible has not changed its position). There have been several reality shows in recent years where someone mentions they are a virgin, and the would be daters or potential spouse is upset and wonders if they should continue the relationship because the person has no experience and their must be something wrong with them. WHAT? The truth is, that person’s right living is a conviction to the person who has not lived that way and can result in persecution.

Christ’s righteousness is so revolutionary and so contradictory to man’s manner of living that it invokes the antagonism of the world.

Persecution is inevitable to those who are pilgrims and strangers in an alien land as Christians are in a world of upside-down moral values.

The Bible says: 1 Peter 2:9-10   But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are our enemies. In times of war one can hardly expect the good will of the enemy’s forces. Though our weapons are not earthly, the enemy’s weapons are earthly, and we can expect Satan to use every tool at his command for our persecution and destruction. War atrocities will be committed. They who live godly in Christ will suffer persecution.

“We fight,” the Bible says, “against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Darkness hates light. Being at “cross-purposes” with the world is part and parcel of the Christian life.

As Paul said: Gal 6:14-15  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

          When we are persecuted because we were stupid or messed something up, we cannot glory in the cross of Christ for that. It says, persecuted for righteous sake and for My sake!

HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED

          I felt that way in high school for my mild persecution.

The persecuted are happy because they are being processed for heaven. Persecution is one of the natural consequences of living the Christian life. It is to the Christian what “growing pains” are to the growing child. No pain, no development. No suffering, no glory. No struggle, no victory. No persecution, no reward.

You may not be called upon to suffer as the martyrs suffered. Jesus said: “Men shall revile you … and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” The tongue often inflicts a more painful wound than does the  sword. To be laughed at is harder to take than to be beaten.

Know this – when you are living in righteousness and for Christ’s sake – if you are persecuted there is one who stands with you.

Acts 7:55-56

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Daniel 3:16-18

 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

They are in the furnace.

Daniel 3:24-25

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, "Certainly, O king."  He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

 

08-23-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “Peace comes THROUGH”

Scripture  Matthew 5:1, 2, 9

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

          To be a peace maker is vastly different from living in peace. Our nation’s peace from England was obtained by the Continental army – many who gave their lives. We enjoy the peace the United States has to offer. We did not earn or make that peace – we were born into it. Jesus did not say happy are those who live in peace – he said happy are those who make peace.

There are 4 things Jesus could have meant by that:

1 Make peace with God

2 Make peace with yourself

3 Make peace with others

4 Make peace between others

Even though Jesus is talking about making peace, the only way for us to understand what Jesus is saying is to first be at peace. Let us pray for the Holy spirit to come so that we might hear God’s word from a place of peace…

Pray for forgiveness, thenpray: Holy Spirit, You are welcome here - Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere - Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for - To be overcome by your presence, Lord Your presence, Lord. Let us continue this prayer in song.

SONG: Holy Spirit 

#1  Make peace with God

          How do you make peace with God? It is by first recognizing that God is the one making peace with you. ILLUS: A man had fallen from high scaffolding and was near death. A pastor walked into his hospital room and when he realized the man could die any moment said, “you need to make your peace with God” to which the man replied, “Make peace with God? That was done 2000 years ago when Jesus stretched out his arms on a cross and bore my sin in his body. I already have peace with God through what Jesus has done for me!”

          OT example of God working with us to make peace. Joshua made a peace treaty with the town of Gibeon. Kings of 5 nations decided to attack Gibeon who in turn asked Joshua for help – with the Lord’s promise of Victory, Joshua took all his fighting men and surprised the enemy and they turned to run and were pursued and those the army didn’t kill, God threw down hailstones from heaven killing more of them than the army. God worked to make peace for His people and the people did their part to make peace as well – where they lacked, God made up the difference.

Isaiah 60:17-19

I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

          Once we have peace with God, it gives us the peace of God. Can you imagine what peace God has? You may think being God has an overwhelming job – like Bruce Almighty = said yes to everyone and everything went wrong. God does not stress over our issues – that was dealt with over 2000 years ago. Imagine being at peace like God is at peace – you can actually have God’s peace.  Jesus even said, John 14:27     Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

          Having the peace of God is the key ingredient to having peace with ourselves.

#2 Make peace with Yourself

          This may be the hardest of the 4 things Jesus may have been getting at in this BeAttitude. Why? Because we are good at beating ourselves up. Because we carry weights with us every where we go. Pilgrims progress – Christian had to get rig of the weight of sin.

Thousands of people each year visit the Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California. This massive structure was built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the gun company owner. For thirty-eight years, from 1884 until her death in 1922, the house was under constant construction. Teams of carpenters, masons and other workers were employed around the clock. Various stories have been told about the reason for this unusual practice. Most center on Mrs. Winchester’s belief that she either was haunted or would be haunted by the ghosts of those killed by her husband’s weapons unless she kept building her house. Others claim that she thought she would not die as long as building continued.

Whatever the reason, she continued ordering more renovations and construction as long as she lived. There are more than 10,000 windows in the Winchester Mansion, doorways and stairs that lead to blank walls, and some 160 rooms in total. It is estimated that she spent more than $70,000,000 in today’s money on largely pointless construction—all in a desperate search for peace that was ultimately doomed to fail.

Make peace with others

The bible says, as much as it is up to us – live at peace with everyone.  That does not mean you will be at peace with everyone - but that you are to be a peacemaker no matter what – the response is up to the other person, and it does not always end with peaceful relationships, like…

          Poet Elizabeth Barrett had a childhood accident that left her as a semi-invalid growing up. In her youth, Elizabeth had been watched over by her tyrannical father. When she and Robert Browning were married in 1846, their wedding was held in secret because of her father's disapproval. After the wedding the Browning’s sailed for Italy, where they lived for the rest of their lives. But even though her parents had disowned her, Elizabeth never gave up on the relationship. Almost weekly she wrote them letters. Not once did they reply. After 10 years, she received a large box in the mail. Inside, Elizabeth found all of her letters; not one had been opened! Today those letters are among the most beautiful in classical English literature. Had her parents only read a few of them, their relationship with Elizabeth might have been restored. That loss was on the parents – she did all she could.

          Matt 5:23-24     Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Make peace between others

This is a difficult one to talk about because it is so daunting and varied.  But here is a story that will give us a tool for helping to make peace with others and between others.

"Do you think it would be wrong for me to learn the noble art of self-defense?" a religiously inclined young man inquired of his pastor. "Certainly not," answered the minister. "I learned it in youth myself, and I have found it of great value during my life." "Indeed, sir! Did you learn the old English system or the Sullivan system?" "I learned neither," said the minister. "I learned the Solomon system." "The Solomon system?" answered the young man. "Yes; you will find it in the first verse of the fifteenth chapter of Proverbs: 'A soft answer turneth away wrath.' It is the best system of self-defense of which I know!" It would be well if more would know this way of self-defense.

PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace  /  Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon  /  Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope  /  Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy  /  O Divine Master, grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console  /  To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love  /  For it is in giving that we receive
And it's in pardoning that we are pardoned  /  And it's in dying that we are born to Eternal Life
Amen

CONCLUSION

Notice our BeAttitude doesn’t say you will become a child of God – it presumes that you already are. It suggests to me that others will call you a child of God. Remember Simeon, looking at baby Jesus he said “My eyes have seen your salvation.” Nicodemus, “We know that you have come from God.” Centurion at the cross, “Surely this was the son of God”

1 John 3:1     How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

When we become peacemakers – the world sees that – and, like the Roman centurion, even the heathen may look at us and say, now that person is truly a child of God.

THROUGH

Billy Graham mentions a painting he saw in England which showed a soldier who had gone to the front to repair the communication lines. The message which was to flow through those lines meant life to hundreds and perhaps thousands of men. He found a breach in the wires but had nothing with which to repair the break. While the enemy shells were bursting around him, he took one broken cable in his left hand and stretching his right hand grasped the other cable and made the connection. The title of the painting was simply one word: “Through”.

From the time of the fall of Adam and Eve, there had been a communication breach between God and man, and at Jesus death, he stretched out his hands in each direction to repair that break in the line.

Ephesians 2:11-18

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

08-16-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “Facetiming with God”

Scripture      Matthew 5:1, 2, 8

Matt 5:1-2, 8

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Matt 23:25-26  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Augustine, one of the great Christian theologians who ever lived, died not long after the fall of the Roman Empire in 410 AD. He was once challenged by a pagan, who held up an idol to him and sarcastically said, “Here is my god. Where is yours?” To which Augustine replied, “I cannot show you my God, not because He doesn’t exist, but because you have no eyes to see Him.”

We are back to a personal BeAttitude.

What does it mean to see God?

Does seeing God mean the same things as John Denver seeing George Burns or Jim Carey seeing Morgan Freeman? Or perhaps Val Kilmer as the voice of Moses in the animated “Prince of Egypt” seeing God in a burning bush also voiced by Val Kilmer? Or perhaps like the disciples seeing Jesus in the flesh?

Does seeing God mean seeing Him in creation? Like seeing the potter in the ceramic masterpiece, do we see God in His creation? Outside we are surrounded by the intricacies and fascinating systematic creation that was created by our God. He is in the mountains, the beaches, jungles, ocean depths, prairies, farmland, desserts, and valleys. To see His creation is to see a piece of Him. Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Or…does seeing God for the pure in heart mean something else?  Does it mean seeing God with spiritual eyes without the need for seeing Him physically? This seems to be what Jesus is getting at.  It stands to reason as even when he says Happy is the person with a pure heart – he obviously does not mean a pure perfect beating bodily organ that is pumping blood throughout the body. In both cases “Pure in Heart” and “You will See God” have to do with something far greater than our temporary finite existence and has prompted us into the spiritual realm.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 LIV BIBLE

That is what is meant by the Scriptures which say that no mere man has ever seen, heard, or even imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the Lord. But we know about these things because God has sent his Spirit to tell us, and his Spirit searches out and shows us all of God's deepest secrets. No one can really know what anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person himself. And no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) to tell us about the wonderful free gifts of grace and blessing that God has given us. In telling you about these gifts we have even used the very words given to us by the Holy Spirit, not words that we as men might choose. So we use the Holy Spirit's words to explain the Holy Spirit's facts.

          But the man who isn't a Christian can't understand and can't accept these thoughts from God, which the Holy Spirit teaches us. They sound foolish to him because only those who have the Holy Spirit within them can understand what the Holy Spirit means. Others just can't take it in. But the spiritual man has insight into everything, and that bothers and baffles the man of the world, who can't understand him at all. How could he? For certainly he has never been one to know the Lord's thoughts, or to discuss them with him, or to move the hands of God by prayer. But, strange as it seems, we Christians actually do have within us a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ.

          Seeing God, then, is a gift for those who are ‘in Christ’ and have Christ ‘in them’.  Equally true, the pure in heart can only be so through the grace and power of Jesus Christ. The unspiritual person cannot be pure in heart.

          What does it mean to have a pure heart? Again – it has nothing to do with our physical organ.  It is what is described in Psalm 51 (I memorized it at U-Illinois) 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.”  It is a spiritual thing -it is something beyond our existential reality – it is truly a matter of the core of who we are!

          This 6^th BeAttitude continues an OT theme in which a pure heart describes a person whose single-minded loyalty to God affects EVERY area of Life!  Don’t blame God for ineffective areas of your life that are not completely submitted to the will of God. It is not God’s fault you are selfish with your heart.  However, for those who have set their heart on God and not simple religious ritualism and who respond to Jesus’ message of the gospel of the kingdom, they are invited to enter into fellowship with him in which they will experience the unthinkable – they will see God.

Pure in Heart?

The heart is the only self-moving organ in the body, and strong emotions cause the heartbeat to race. When the heart stops beating, a person is dead. Because the Hebrews were a concrete people who used physical things to express abstract concepts, the heart was the metaphor of the mind and all mental and emotional and willful activity.

          LEB = most often is used figuratively to refer to the "control center" of our being. Think of an Air Traffic Controller and how dysfunctional, even destructive it is when the controllers fail to function as they should. 

NT Heart = kardia

Just as a healthy human heart is at the center of the body and absolutely essential for physical life and health, so too a healthy spiritual heart (intellect, emotion, will) is at the center of one's inner being (soul) and is vital for a healthy soul, serving as the "fountain" of all moral attitudes and actions. Our spiritual heart controls our actions and our actions determine our habits, which in turn determine our character. When God measures the ''worth'' of a person's life He puts the measuring tape around his heart, not around his head. Be a man after God's Own heart (Acts 13:22) We must continually "post a guard" at the doorway of our heart, so that every avenue for sin's entry is blocked.

Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.

John MacArthur - The “heart” commonly refers to our ability to reason (Pr 3:3; 6:21;7:3), but also includes the emotions (Pr 15:15, 30), the will (Pr 11:20; 14:14), the whole inner being (Pr 3:5). The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech (Pr 4:24), sight (Pr 4:25), and conduct.

So, how do we attain a pure heart? By right thinking? By right emotions? By right actions?

Turning an impure heart into a pure heart would involve things like changing ugliness in a heart into beauty; dejection into cheerfulness; hypocrisy into sincerity; jealousy into understanding; drunkenness into sobriety, enmity into friendliness; vanity into modesty; conceit into meekness; discourtesy into courtesy; pride into humility; hatred into love, etc…

          It would be making our hearts free from the trash of the world. But not only getting rid of the bad, but replacing it with the good.

That is the problem isn’t it? We can not do enough to give ourselves a pure heart – we will fail time and again. Former Nixon presidential aide Jeb Magruder, commenting on the Watergate scandal, said, “We had conned ourselves into thinking we weren’t doing anything really wrong, and by the time we were doing things that were illegal, we had lost control. We had gone from poor ethical behavior into illegal activities without even realizing it.” The pure heart comes only when we receive the grace and mercy of Jesus and it stays pure only by his strength in us. Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Jeb learned that and is a preacher today.

Therefore, a pure heart is obtained and sustained only with an ongoing, active relationship with the son of God. The moment we turn away (like Peter did when he was walking on water and turned away form Jesus he began to sink), and so will our heart and therefore our ability to see God.

 

          What does it mean to see God? In nature? In people? In relationships? In emotions? Seeing God means exactly what it says – seeing God – not a physical manifestation, but again, a spiritual one. If you have not seen God lately, it is time to go see your cardiologist for a heart checkup. Some may need rehab, others a stint, others a multiple bypass or even more invasive open heart surgery.

Mary saw and didn’t recognize, Disciples on the road to Emmaus saw and did not recognize, thousands saw Jesus and did not recognize who he was, Thomas said I will not believe unless I can see him. At his birth, wize men saw he was a king, shepherds saw he was a savior, at 12 teachers of the law saw he had wisdom, as an adult, many saw he had the healing miracle working power of God.

          Do this exercise. Close your eyes. Try to see God. What do you see? Most of what you see is determined by how you view God as a judgmental dictator or a loving caring Father or something in between. Keep your eyes closed. I don’t mean try to see a physical image of God – see a spiritual one. Allow your heart to become forgiven and holy and pure. Allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse you thoroughly. Then, with physical eyes closed, begin to see God with your spiritual eyes. See the love and holiness of God. Allow that spiritual imagine to linger.

Ezek 11:19-20

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.

ILLUSTRATION

A boy asked his father, “Dad, what is the size of God? How big is He?”

The Father looked up at the sky and saw a little plane In the far distance and asked his son, “What is the Size of the plane in the sky?”

The boy replied, “It is really small. I can hardly see it in the sky."

Then, the father said, “Son, let’s go on a trip to the airport. I want to show you something.”

The boy jumped in his father’s truck and off they went to the airport.

As they approached the plane, the father asked his son: “Now, Son, how big is this plane?” The boy looked at the airplane and said, “Wow, Dad, that plane is huge! It’s a lot bigger than that plane in the sky, isn’t it!”

Then the father put his arm around his son and said, “Son, God’ size is like this plane. It is the same one you saw in the sky from a distance and it looked so small. God’s size depends on how close or how fare you are to him. The closer you are……the bigger God looks!”

Ps 24:3-4

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart…

Remember, more important than seeing God is that God always sees you!

08-09-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “Have Mercy”

Scripture   Matthew 5:1, 2, 7

Matt 5:1-2, 7

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: Happy are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

As Jesus expands Hebrew law to include how a person feels in his heart, he also makes mercy something greater than a few benevolent acts. He does this type of thing in all the Beatitudes. He gives big ideas, each of which implies a number of others. For instance, he does not name loyalty, fairness, courage, wisdom, or temperance. But his big ideas cover these attributes and others too.

So it is with the fifth Beatitude. It covers more than what appears on the surface. Six hundred years before Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, Micah also talked about justice and mercy. He said: Micah 6:8  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Mercy is showing kindness in excess of what may be expected or demanded by fairness.

Mercy, then, goes beyond ordinary expectations. To be merciful we must go beyond. We must walk the extra mile. Jesus is saying that we must exceed the day-to-day standards of fairness. He could have said, “Blessed are the just and the fair-minded.” But, he goes further than this. He says, “Happy are the merciful.” Mercy includes justice, but mercy is justice with something else added.

Mercy also depends upon justice, because we must be in a position of judgment before we can show mercy. A boy at school breaks a rule. The principal must judge his action. Mercy comes into the picture only after a fair judgment has been made. Then, and only then, can the principal show mercy, if he is so inclined.

Mercy, then, should be distinguished from pity, compassion, sympathy, or some other emotion. We can feel these emotions toward a person in trouble, but they do not necessarily imply mercy. We can be merciful only when we sit in judgment and have the power to act.

We may pity a friend who can’t pay his debt to the bank. But we can’t be merciful to him, because only the banker can extend or forgive his loan. And before the banker can show mercy, he must understand our friend’s problem. He must also be disposed (with legal requirements) to forgive our friend’s record. He must show forbearance, kindness, and consideration.

Or, consider the case of the chicken thief. It is winter and he is out of work. His family is starving. He was driven to his act by poverty and necessity. We understand his plight. We pity him and his family. We feel compassion for him. We feel he should be forgiven. We feel he should be shown mercy. But, there is nothing we can do about it, because the chickens he stole belonged to somebody else.  -  We can show him mercy only when he steals our chickens. And that’s a different set of chickens entirely. It is much harder to show mercy when our own chickens are involved.

Take another case: A man borrows his brother-in-law’s lawn mower. He uses it all afternoon and leaves it beside his garage. It rains. The owner happens to drive by his house and sees the mower getting wet. Right then, he forms a judgment. Never again will be lend him anything.  -  Next day, the mower is still there. It stays out in the weather for a week. When it is used again, a blade is broken. The owner finally retrieves the remnants, only to discover the thing won’t run at all. His brother-in-law has forgotten to mix oil with the gasoline.  -  The brother-in-law is a bit sheepish about all of this, and says he will pay the damages. The man takes the mower to the shop, tells the repairman to fix it, that someone else is footing the bill, that he wants the mower made like new. “Don’t repair it. Put in all new works. Yes, including a new blade. Let’s teach him a good lesson.”  -  Now this is where justice, understanding, forgiveness, forbearance, and mercy come in: When the brother-in-law finally offers to pay up, the owner tells him to forget the whole thing. Not only that, he lets him borrow it again when the weeds at his place have grown up. He even helps him lift the mower into his SUV.  ---  That’s being merciful; Could you do that?. It isn’t easy. There are times, of course, when justice must be done. Nevertheless, mercy is an act of the will. It does not excuse, it forgives – and we cannot forgive and still hold a grudge.

Mercy, then, is a step beyond justice, fairness, compassion, and forgiveness. These things come first. Then mercy is the crowning achievement. It is the gracious, sympathetic, and understanding act that exceeds what is fair and expected.

Thus, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray: “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” And on the mountainside, he says: “Happy is the man, woman or child who shows mercy, because in the end that person will be shown mercy.”

Just what is it that comes into the life of a person who shows mercy? How are the merciful made happy? How does being merciful help develop a richer and more abundant life?  The man who cleanses himself of bitterness and resentment and revengeful thoughts against his fellow man is well on the way to a full life. He is richer than the man whose days are spent  thinking of ways to get even with his neighbor; or in fuming over lawn mowers and brothers-in-laws.  The person who can understand an offense, put it in the proper perspective, and then temper justice with mercy is the sort of person who has peace of mind.  Resentment breeds resentment; worry breeds worry; distrust breeds distrust. By the same token smiles breed smiles, good will breeds good will; friendliness breeds friendliness.  -  The same is true of mercy; Happy and content and full of the joys of life are those who know how to be merciful, because in the end, mercy will be reflected back into their own lives.  Mercy breeds mercy. Jesus says so.

We have looked at some contemporary illustrations of mercy:

now let’s look at some biblical ones:

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30 In reply Jesus said: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

DESCRIBE THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO:

The moment Jesus says a man was going down form Jerusalem to Jericho, the people could picture it as easily as saying a family was driving on 280 across the bridge from Toledo to Oregon.

18 miles – barren – Samaritans would rob Jews on their way up to the feasts. Narrow road. Have to step over the body (not even a shadow). Priest would become defiled or fear it was a trap to be robbed. Levite had the same fears.

If the man was alive, Mercy would supersede the paws of defilement, but to check whether dead or not would come int contact with blood. Not close enough to step over in case their shadow fell on the presumed dead man. (suicide by hanging – he is dead).

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF YOU ARE NOT MERCIFUL TOWARD OTHERS?

It means you are going to HELL!!

Matthew 18:23-35     "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

          The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

          But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. (100 denarii = 1 talent) He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

          His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

          But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

          Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

          35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Matthew 9:10-13

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' (Hosea 6:6a) For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

          It is us sinners who have received the greatest mercy.  Lamentations 3:22-23  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

          Who among us needs God’s mercy daily? I DO! And so does everyone around me.  I am happy and full of the joy of living when I show mercy, because…I will also be shown mercy!

08-02-20 hunger and thirst

Vicki Rankins-Anderson preached on “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

07-26-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “Meekness isn’t Weakness”

Scripture   Matthew 5:1, 2, 5

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, (Not the 5000 – just his disciples – meant for his followers to be distinct from those who follow the ways of the world.)  2 and he began to teach them, saying: 5 Blessed (Happy) are the who meek, for they will inherit the earth.

People who hate Christianity are clueless to its truths. People who love Christianity are often clueless to its truths. Here is a truth about Christianity – Followers of Jesus ought to be the meekest people on earth! WHAT? Once again, Jesus turns the world’s view of life on its head.

          The world says: Go for the gusto! Winning isn’t everything – It’s the only thing! Climb to the top, no matter who you have to step on to get there!

          Jesus says, “Happy are the meek!” And if we look at the contemporary understanding of that word, no wonder people would rather skip right over this beatitude.  Who wants to be labeled as “meek”? NO ONE! Why? Because if you google it, the first definition you see is the world’s common misconception about what Jesus was saying:

DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS MEEK:

Internet dictionary-

adjective: meek; comparative adjective: meeker; superlative adjective: meekest

quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.

Meriam-Webster gets a little closer = enduring injury with patience and without resentment.

Vocabulary.com really misses the mark when it says = The adjective meek describes a person who is willing to go along with whatever other people want to do, like a meek classmate who won't speak up, even when he or she is treated unfairly.

Webster 1828    MEEK, adjective

1. Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries.

 

2. Appropriately, humble, in an evangelical sense; submissive to the divine will; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Christ says, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.' Matthew 11:29.  Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5.

praus = meek – gentle. The humble and gentle attitude that expresses itself in a patient submissiveness to offence, free from malice and desire for revenge.

It is interesting that the Beatitudes of Jesus, in some way reflect the 10 commandments of God – not parallel content but in style.

The first of the 10 commandments are individual, about your personal relationship with God.

The last and larger portion of them are about your relationship with others.

The first 2 Beatitudes are individual, about your relationship with God.

The 3^rd and some others of them are about your relationship with others

Happy are the “poor in spirit” & happy are “those who mourn” are individual experiences with God – Happy are “the meek” can only be carried out in relationship to others.

The bible is consistent – Jesus said, all the law and the prophets can be summed up in these two laws: 1) love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 2) Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

SCRIPTURES DESCRIBING WHAT MEEK LOOKS LIKE:

Proverbs 16:32

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

2 Corinthians 10:1   By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you…

Matthew 11:29-30

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 21:5

"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

UNDERSTANDING MEEKNESS

Being MEEK is not being WEAK! In fact, it is the opposite. Meekness is strength under control. Let’s look at a couple popular superheroes to help us understand.

SPIDERMAN: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

SUPERMAN: the best contemporary metaphor for biblical meekness is Superman – well no – actually it is Clark Kent. Meekness is power restrained. Clark Kent could take out anyone who ever bothers him – but he doesn’t. He knows his strength knows no bounds, but he does not use it to abuse others. Who has power they use to abuse others?

There are Pastors, Politicians, Police, Celebrities, Employers, Teachers, Coaches, and many of them Christians, who are not meek but abuse their power to bully others. The biggest outlet for this in recent years has been social media because weak people hide behind the internet to spew their hate and bullying.  Think about it, why does anyone put down or bully another person? In some twisted way, they think it will somehow raise themselves up. It may work for a moment, but is always fleeting. But we also can’t blame social media because this lack of meekness has always existed – I will read a paragraph again form Billy Graham’s book published in 1955 and see if much has changed: “This reversion to barbarism now affects whole areas of our social life. Neighbors quarrel with neighbors. Fighting is a major problem in our schools, and gang wars of the teenagers have come to present a serious menace in our cities. Fathers and mothers wrangle and bicker. Homes are disintegrating. High government officials engage in name-calling and in heated disputes not at all in keeping with the dignity of their office.”

DAVID

Jesus, as he so often does is not saying anything new – in this third beatitude is quoting King David in Psalm 37:11 who said; But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

David who was a mighty warrior 1 Sam 18:7 As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. He became the greatest king Israel has ever known. And he said the meek will inherit the earth and enjoy great peace.

David – the giant killer, was not naturally meek, God gave David the gift of meekness and eventually, David developed it; When Jonathan’s son came to David with great needs because he had a club foot; David not only took in Mephibosheth but had him eat his meals at the king's table and gave him the land from his grandfather King Saul who had tried to kill David. Remember too that David had been a shepherd who knew how to care for his sheep. Shepherds were not naturally meek; they were strong tough men who could defend their flocks against wild animals and thieves. Yet, the good shepherds did not use that strength to abuse their sheep. God gave them the gift of being meek – power, influence, authority…under control.

MOSES

Moses was not naturally meek; he killed an Egyptian when he saw him mistreating a Hebrew. Moses was THE leader of the entire Hebrew people. Moses stood before Pharaoh – King of Egypt and 10 times demanded he let God’s people go. Yet, Moses also learned how to lead and care for sheep.  Moses was not naturally meek – he thought he had to handle every judgment among the Hebrew people till his father-in-law instructed him how to be meek and let others lead. Moses was not naturally meek – it was a gift from God that Moses then developed.   Numbers 12:3 Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

JESUS

          Jesus, more than even Moses exemplified meekness. If Jesus is meek, how can we not seek to attain to that as well and receive the gift of meekness and work to develop it?

          Jesus was meek – him who cursed the fig tree, who verbally put the Pharisees in their place on multiple occasions, who turned over the money changers in the temple, who shouted at Peter, “Get behind me Satan”, and this same Jesus who was beating, spat upon, mocked, had thorns crushed into his brow and nails pounded through his hands and feet and was hung on a cross to die…that same Jesus is the one described in Philippians 2:

Philippians 2:1-16a     If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

          5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

          12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

          14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

 

          Jesus is the only one who was meek by nature and shows what being meek really looks like – it is knowing you have power, but using it responsibly and lovingly and in a manner of humility and gentleness. And those who do that, says Jesus, will inherit the earth.

To inherit – to receive as a possession – land/earth. You do not earn, rather you are given as a gift as one who is meek and therefore exemplifies that you are a child of God and you will receive this great inheritance – the earth. Does that mean you own all the land? Surely not because only one person could inherit it then. What it does mean is that you inherit all there is to get out of this life. You will enjoy this earthly life in all its fullness (John 10:10 Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.). It does not mean you have all wealth or are exempt from earthly troubles. It does mean you have nothing to prove and have no need to beat others down to build yourself up. It means you are satisfied with life and enjoy the journey of life with Jesus by your side.  It means you do not have to be a victim, do not have to be hot-headed at circumstances you don’t control, your depression and anxiety will not define you because you will work to keep that under control, life’s obstacles will throw you a curveball that you will hit and be satisfied with a single and not feel like you have to hit a home run every time which will ease your perfectionistic tendencies. Every one of us has a place where the meekness as seen in Jesus  can come to us as a gift that we can develop with the help of Christ who has shown us how to live better with this 3^rd beatitude; “Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Even when we do feel weak – God will send His Angel Armies to defend us as we walk in meekness.

07-19-20 THE BE-HAPPY-ATTITUDES “When Mourning gives way to Morning”

Scripture      Matthew 5:4

Matthew 5:1, 2, 4

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:

4 Blessed (Happy) are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO ARE SAD! WHAT?

          Jesus surely didn’t mean that, did he? If all scripture is God breathed and true, we better try and figure out what in the world Jesus means by this second Be-Attitude:

“Why do bad things happen to good people?” Can I have a dollar for every time I have been asked that question in 35 years of ministry?  It has been asked by God’s people since the beginning of time. The problem is – it is the wrong question. It is a question that can only be answered by God who has chosen to never answer that question, and for good reason. Whenever that question is asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” the person does not want an answer, they want an argument and God will not be pulled into an argument with us that would never end. As soon as we would hear the why, we would then say, BUT…and begin our side of the argument. The OT prophets often lamented “Why Oh Lord?” or “How long Oh Lord?” Even Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why…?” And in each case God was silent.

          If that is the wrong question, is there a right question we should be asking instead? Well, there is a better question that can be and is answered. “What happens to good people when bad things happen to them?” Jesus answers that question in the second beatitude, “My people will be happy when they mourn because they will be comforted by me and my word.” Christianity never claims bad, tragic, horrific things will never happen, but it does promise we have a comforter to go through it with us.  How much easier is it to go through a tragedy to have friends and loved ones go through it with you – multiply that to have the comfort of heaven go through it with you. God tells us in Isaiah 43:1-2a   But now, this is what the Lord says — he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”

ANGER vs MOURNING If you don’t have sorrow/mourning for your loss, how can God comfort you?  We will never experience comfort if we don’t ever mourn. Listen to this story and see if you can tell how mourning was followed with comfort. However, this story starts near the end:

She arrives at 4:20. The bus is not due until 4:42. To her, the dismal bus station is a bright foyer. She is not discouraged by the haggard and sleepy-looking travelers, by the confusion, or by the bus station smell. Everything is good today.

“Which ramp will it come in on?”

“Eight or nine, lady. Whichever is open. It will be announced.”

“On time?”

“We don’t know, lady. We don’t get reports unless they are late. They usually run on time.”

“Is that it?”

“No, it really isn’t due yet. They never come ahead of time.”

“Oh, there it is. No, that one is coming from the south. His will come from the north.”

The bus finally arrives.

“Hold back the tears,” she whispers to herself. “Where is he? He surely would have phoned if …oh, there he is. Hold back the tears.”

She doesn’t see anyone else. Just the boy; well, the young man.

     She does not notice the sailor with his awkward bag;

     or the old lady walking with a cane and carrying a box tied with string;

     or the young mother between two toddlers, and an infant asleep in her arms.

She sees only her son. And the tears come anyway. They are tears of joy, spring fed from her very heart.

     Forgotten now is the bleak day last fall when the bus station was dull and dark, the day her heart was mangled in every grinding gear. Her son’s bus had arrived and departed much too soon that day because it carried him across country to college. It was a slowly moving prison and her boy was its captive.

     The tears that day were streams of grief. But now, they are tears of joy. This is a moment to cherish. A golden moment to keep locked in a jewel box, to hold and enjoy on days when loneliness again returns to haunt her empty house.

How do we turn mourning into morning?

1)    Realize what you can do for yourself.

a)     Don’t blame God. All sickness and disease (dis-ease = when our bodies are not at ease with our environment). God did not introduce sickness into the world; Adam and Eve did. Most illnesses or tragedies are not associated with a single act but with an environment we all have aided in being present in this world. (e.g. Algae Bloom – less present because less rain – less run off from farmers chemicals.) Don’t blame God, He did not create your illness or tragic circumstance.

b)    Don’t blame yourself. While in Seminary in KC. A walkway collapsed killing 114 people. One woman who was there spoke about her guilt for not helping others – she couldn’t bring them back from the dead. She felt responsible and ultimately her guilt caused her to withdrawal and attempt suicide which left her in a coma for 3 days and they were scheduled to pull the plug on her life support when her eyes opened and she lived and eventually realized that she could not have done anything to prevent people from dying that night. Don’t blame yourself. Most things that happen contain a whole world of contributing factors.

2)    Realize what God can do for you.

Add up your joys – never count your sorrows.

“Look at what you have in your life, not at what you have lost.”

Phil 4:4-9     Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

          Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

Mourning over my sin

On Nov 4, 1974 after hearing about the love of a savior who died because of how I had sinned, I first began to mourn the fact that I was a sinner, that I had gotten life all wrong, that I was insufficient to make my life better; but my mourning was turned to joy by the time I knelt poor in spirit before God and confessed my sinfulness and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. When the preacher said Amen at the end of my salvation prayer, the mourning for my sin had not disappeared but was now overshadowed by the comfort and joy of being set free from the penalty of that sin.  The comfort and joy would not have been possible without first experiencing the mourning.

Mourning over the lostness of others

John Knox mourned and prayed; “Give me Scotland, or I die!” And Scotland was filled with new life in Christ. John Wesley mourned and prayed, and the Methodist movement was born and spread across America. Martin Luther mourned and prayed for the Catholic church, and the Protestant Reformation spread across the world.

Mourning over death

2 Tim 2:12 “If we endure, we will also reign with him.”

Suffering can be endured when we know we do not suffer alone. Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” John 14:1-4   "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

1 Cor 15:50-57

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

Horatio Spafford knew something about life’s unexpected challenges. He was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever.

Thinking a vacation would do his family some good, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them after he finished some pressing business at home. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was involved in a terrible collision and sunk. More than 200 people lost their lives, including all four of Horatio Spafford’s precious daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to her husband that began: “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

Horatio immediately set sail for England. At one point during his voyage, the captain of the ship, aware of the tragedy that had struck the Spafford family, summoned Horatio to tell him that they were now passing over the spot where the shipwreck had occurred.¹

As Horatio thought about his daughters, words of comfort and hope filled his heart and mind. He wrote them down, and they have since become a well-beloved hymn:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll—

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know

It is well, it is well with my soul.²

 

Ps 30:5b     “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

 

SING: “It is well!”