A Righteous Person’s View of Physical Life

Posted by David on December 15, 1996 under Sermons

Each of us has an identical problem in being a spiritual person. The problem? We each are physical. We all have an identical problem in living the life of a righteous person. We are all physical beings in a physical world. Consider two rather simple realities about life in this physical world: (#1) evil opposes righteous living in the physical world; (#2) evil uses the physical world to discourage those who seek to be spiritual.

This is the constant challenge that I face in my life: how do I promote and nurture the spiritual in my life while I responsibly care for the physical in my life? Finding the best balance, the healthiest balance, the balance that God wants me to have, is a never-ending search. I never locate and permanently fix the ideal point of balance. Permanently establishing the ideal point of balance is impossible because my life is constantly changing. What is a good, godly balance between the spiritual and the physical in one set of circumstances becomes a spiritually hurtful balance in a different set of circumstances.

We all have this problem. All of us are beckoned by two extremes. Extreme #1: “God will take complete care of me; I don’t need to do anything. All I need is faith in God.” This is the extreme of no responsibility. “I have no responsibility. God will take care of everything.” When I was a teenager, I lived in a poverty area in the mountains of east Tennessee. One of my adult Christian friends took this position in the midst of stressful economic conditions. He decided if he did nothing God would take care of him. That decision came close to producing major disaster.

Extreme #2: “God takes care of those who take care of themselves.” This is the extreme of total responsibility. “God does nothing; I do everything. It is all up to me.” Many years ago a preacher was visiting a prosperous farmer in a remote rural area. The man had a beautiful farm that was very profitable. The preacher walked over the farm with him and commented, “The Lord surely has blessed you!” The farmer replied, “Perhaps so, but you should have seen this place when the Lord had it all by himself.”

Both extremes are seriously out of balance.

Tonight Jesus talks about how a righteous person views his physical circumstances.

1. As always, we need to set the context and understand the circumstances.
   1. The two major religious influences and two major sources of spiritual leadership in Israel were the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
      1. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, or in spirits, or in angels.
         1. The Jerusalem Sanhedrin, Israel’s supreme court, was composed primarily of Sadducees and Pharisees.
         2. When Paul was brought before this court in Acts 23, he knew that the Pharisees and Sadducees had already decided to cooperate in condemning him to death.
         3. So he shouted out in court, “I am a second generation Pharisee, and I am being tried because of the hope and resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6-8).
         4. The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection, so he successfully divided the court and avoided trial and sentencing.
      2. What spiritual effect did not believing in the resurrection have on the Sadducees?
         1. They believed all God’s blessings were physical and took the form of material prosperity.
         2. According to them, genuine faith in God meant that you were a materialist.
      3. In as many things as the Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed, they shared a common attitude toward money and prosperity.
         1. Luke 16:14 declares that the Pharisees loved money.
   2. The people to whom Jesus spoke were people who always had lived under a religious leadership that either (1) said that the only way God blesses you is through physical blessings or (2) loved money.
      1. There was a distinct materialistic focus in Judaism’s leadership.
      2. These common people lived in a socio-religious climate that stressed and emphasized materialism as a spiritual focus.
      3. Most of them lived in poverty, and in poverty people long for material security.
      4. Jesus’ statement that we now examine was truly a radical statement.
2. Do not live to seek wealth; do not make material security the focus of your life.
   1. Why, Jesus?
      1. Reason #1: material wealth is itself insecure.
         1. That fact is as true today as it was then.
         2. However, then that truth was blatantly obvious in a world of no banks, no security systems, and national instability (Israel lost its independence less than 100 years previously).
         3. Jesus’ points were clearly, soberly understood–natural forces destroy wealth, and thieves take wealth.
      2. Reason #2: the only wealth out of the reach of natural forces and thieves is the wealth you store in heaven–only there is it out of the reach of the dangers of the physical world.
      3. Reason #3: your heart will reside with your treasure, on earth or in heaven.
         1. A person always invests his or her heart in that which he or she acknowledges to be his or her treasure.
         2. Whatever is of supreme importance and value owns a person’s heart.
         3. You can have wealth and it not be your treasure; if it is not your treasure, your heart does not belong to your wealth.
         4. You may be poor and wealth still be your treasure; because it is your treasure, your heart does belong to the ambition and hunger to obtain wealth even though you are poor.
      4. Illustration:
         1. The human eye is the only window in the human body.
         2. The eye is the only part of the body that can utilize light.
         3. If the eye is healthy, “clear,” the whole body is filled with the benefit of the light that comes through the eye.
         4. If the eye has a thick cataract that blocks the light out, the whole body is filled with darkness–and how black that darkness is.
         5. Materialism is the cataract that prevents light from entering the mind, the understanding, the perspective of the person.
      5. Fact:
         1. If you serve God, God is your master–you cannot serve him unless you allow him to be your master.
         2. If you serve materialism, it is your master–you cannot serve materialism unless you allow it to be your master.
         3. Your master is your final authority; it is the controlling force within your life.
         4. You cannot serve two masters–there cannot be two controlling forces in charge of our life.
         5. You cannot serve God and mammon–you cannot let both God and physical possessions be the controlling force in your life.
   2. If you are committed to becoming and being a righteous person, then you will not permit materialism to be your master. To reject the control of materialism, you must understand some basic awareness.
      1. Awareness #1: anxiety will not be permitted to be the controlling force within you. Worry rooted in concern for physical needs will not be the driving force in your life.
         1. Remember: Jesus is talking to people living in poverty.
         2. He declared that physical necessities are not the basic issues of existence.
            1. Concern about food, drink, and clothes do not constitute the basic needs of life or the basic concerns in existence.
            2. There is an existence need that is more important than food, drink, and clothes.
            3. That is an incredible statement to make to poor people.
      2. Illustrations:
         1. God feeds the birds (provides food for the birds to eat).
            1. Birds are incapable of planting and harvesting crops to provide the food they need.
            2. Birds are not irresponsible–they are industrious as they gather food for themselves and their young from daybreak to dark.
            3. God provides what they cannot provide themselves, but what they desperately need.
            4. You are more precious to God than birds.
         2. It is impossible for you to lengthen your life by worrying about physical necessities–anxiety does nothing to feed you, give you drink, or clothe you.
         3. God clothes the flowers in splendor.
            1. They are incapable of making their own colorful attire.
            2. Humans, not even the wealthiest, could clothe themselves in such splendor (very true and a powerful point then).
            3. If God clothes those plants in splendor that soon become fuel to warm the bread ovens, will he not do even more for you, you people of little faith?
   3. Do not allow your life, your thinking, and your actions to be controlled by anxiety, a basic driving force for materialism.
      1. The fundamental questions of life are not:
         1. “What will we eat?”
         2. “What will we drink?”
         3. “Where will we find clothes?”
      2. These are the concerns and the focus of godless people–this is their passionate pursuit.
      3. God is fully aware that you have every one of these needs.
   4. This is what you must understand if you chose God to be your master:
      1. You accept two priorities.
         1. You will seek his kingdom above all else–seeking the kingdom includes the church, but it includes much more than the church.
         2. You will seek God’s righteousness, righteousness as it is defined by Jesus.
      2. If seeking the kingdom and God’s righteousness are your priorities, God will provide opportunity to have food, drink, and clothes.
   5. This is fact about anxiety or worry (still remember that Jesus is talking to poor people living in poverty conditions).
      1. You cannot address tomorrow’s worries today–fretting today about things that you cannot control that may occur tomorrow is lost energy and life.
      2. The only way to be prepared to face and address tomorrow’s problems is to responsibly address today’s problems.
      3. Taking responsible care of today’s troubles will give you all that you can handle–every day has enough trouble of its own.

A righteous person has a distinctively different perspective on physical necessities and on anxiety or worry.

How much do you worry? What do you worry about? Do you understood that being a righteous person changes the way you look at necessities, changes the way you look at security, changes the way you identify needs, and changes the concern you have about the physical?

The righteous person is responsibly active instead of anxious. He trusts God instead of fretting about what is beyond his or her control. He or she uses life to serve God’s purposes in his or her life. He or she will not permit anxiety to entice him or her into serving the goals of materialism.

Our God Is an Awesome God

Posted by David on under Sermons

In the early 1960’s I first heard the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” It quickly became one of my favorite hymns. In a very personal, meaningful manner, it gave voice to my deep feelings about the majesty and the greatness of my God.

“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
 Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
 I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
 Thy power throughout the universe displayed,
 Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee;
 How great thou art, how great thou art!”

In recent years I heard the praise song, “Awesome God.” It immediately became one of my favorite songs of praise for the same reason. It allows me to express my deep, personal feelings for God.

“Our God is an awesome God; He reigns from heaven above
 with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God!”

Songs and hymns that focus on God’s greatness and majesty have always touched and moved me because God has always touched and moved me. Songs that focus on God are deeply meaningful to me.

Such songs and hymns move me because, to me, they declare the incomprehensible greatness of my God.

1. In every aspect of his existence and self-expression, God is too vast for any human to fully comprehend.
   1. His wisdom, his power, his love, his mercy, and his grace are much too great for any human mind to fully comprehend.
      1. God guided human language and human thinking in producing the Bible to reveal just a glimpse of himself to people–and that is all human language can reveal about God, just a glimpse.
      2. God is so unlike us, even the very best of us.
         1. We cannot fathom God’s love–the finest human love is a poor imitation of God’s love.
         2. We cannot fathom God’s forgiveness–the finest human forgiveness cannot even imitate God’s forgiveness.
         3. We cannot fathom God’s grace–the finest expressions of human goodness and kindness are ugly when they are placed beside the goodness and kindness of God.
         4. We cannot grasp the measure or the nature of God’s mercy, compassion, or concern for us.
      3. The sovereign God is consistent, but the sovereign God is never predictable.
   2. In the Bible, God eloquently declares that he is incomprehensible to humans.
      1. Isaiah 40:13, 14–Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has informed him? With whom did he consult and who gave him understanding? And who taught him in the path of justice and taught him knowledge, and informed him of the way of understanding?
      2. Isaiah 55:8, 9–“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
      3. Romans 11:33-36–O the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things. Tohim be the glory forever. Amen.
      4. 1 Corinthians 1:25-31–The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your call, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world toshame the things that are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that he might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, “Let him that boasts, boast in the Lord.”
2. The book of Genesis tells us that God spoke the universe into existence.
   1. There was chaos, and God spoke, and because he spoke, there was order.
      1. He spoke, and our world in all its complexity came into being.
      2. He spoke, and life in all of its forms came into being.
      3. He spoke, and we came into being–designed in his own image, with independent wills, with the power of choice, with the ability to act on our choices.
      4. Our God is an awesome God!
   2. God spoke, and brought everything into being in perfect order; we rebelled and marred his perfect creation beyond repair.
      1. We rebelled, and we destroyed life as he intended for us to experience it.
      2. We rebelled, and we cursed ourselves with consequences that we cannot escape.
      3. We rebelled, and we alienated ourselves from the loving God who created us.
      4. But our God is so awesome that not even the ruin we brought into the world and our lives could alienate us from his love.
      5. Our God is an awesome God!
3. God immediately put in motion a plan to create a deliverance that would free us from the consequences of our own failure.
   1. In step one of his plan, God worked through the weak and often evil family of Abraham.
      1. God could work through this family for one reason: Abraham trusted God with a unique faith.
      2. But even Abraham had moments when he was controlled by his doubts.
      3. Sarah, his wife, had great confidence in her own solutions and no confidence in God’s promises–she even lied to God’s messengers.
      4. Isaac, his son, betrayed the confidence of his own wife and became a self-centered man with a horribly dysfunctional family.
      5. Esau, one of his grandsons, was a short-sighted man who exaggerated his needs and lived for the moment.
      6. Jacob, his other grandson, was a crafty deceiver who used deception to cheat and steal from his own family.
      7. Jacob’s sons, Abraham’s great grandsons, collectively were everything you never want your sons to be.
      8. Yet, through this weak and often evil family, God poured the footing for our salvation.
      9. Our God is an awesome God!
   2. Step two began a little over 400 years after this family moved to Egypt.
      1. They moved to Egypt as invited guests; in time they became slaves, several hundred thousand slaves.
      2. God promised Abraham that he would build a nation out of his descendants, and God started that process with these slaves.
      3. God did the impossible–he secured their release from Egyptian slavery by using ten plagues. Through Moses:
         1. He turned the waters of Egypt into a foul smelling liquid.
         2. He covered the land with frogs.
         3. He turned the dust into lice.
         4. He sent swarms of insects that filled their homes.
         5. He killed many of their livestock with disease.
         6. He covered both people and livestock with boils.
         7. He sent swarms of locusts that ate their crops.
         8. He sent a period of thick darkness when the sun did not shine for days.
         9. Then he killed the firstborn sons of every Egyptian family on the same night.
         10. After all of that, the Egyptians begged the king to release these slaves.
         11. After they left, the king changed his mind and tried to recapture these slaves, but God allowed the slaves to escape the king’s army by dividing the waters of the Red Sea and letting them cross; then he used that same water to destroy the army when it tried to cross.
         12. Truly free, this new nation of people celebrated and praised God on the other side of the sea.
         13. Our God is an awesome God.
      4. In step three God preserved these people in a hostile desert for forty years.
         1. Their clothing and shoes did not wear out.
         2. He fed them with food that appeared on the ground with the dew every morning.
         3. He provided them water in waterless places.
         4. He preserved them when enemies attacked them.
         5. Finally, in spite of their faithlessness and disobedience, he allowed them to possess the land of Canaan.
         6. In all of that, our God was an awesome God.
   3. In step four God refused to stop working in this nation when they failed him again and again for hundreds of years.
      1. They refused to stop worshipping idols.
      2. They neglected the worship and service of God.
      3. At times they were unbelievably evil.
      4. Ten tribes became so evil that they were destroyed.
      5. The other two tribes were so evil that they were captured by the Babylonians and placed in exile.
      6. Yet, in all that, God kept his plans and purposes intact.
      7. In all of that, our God continued to be an awesome God.
   4. In step five, God accomplished his objective–through that stubborn, often evil nation, he sent his son, Jesus.
      1. He sent Jesus to teach the good news about God’s salvation.
      2. He allowed Jesus to be rejected and betrayed.
      3. He allowed Jesus to die a criminal’s execution, and in that death God accepted Jesus’ innocent blood as the atonement for all the evil committed by all humanity in all ages.
      4. Three days after he died, God raised Jesus from the dead and made him Lord and Christ.
      5. Through that death and resurrection, God announced the reality of eternal forgiveness, eternal redemption, the new birth, the newness of life, and his own sustaining grace.
      6. Our God is an awesome God.
   5. And then God took:
      1. People who despised each other–the Pharisees and Sadducees.
      2. People who hated each other–Jews and non-Jews.
      3. People who were totally ignorant of God’s inspired writings.
      4. People who thought they knew everything about God’s inspired writings.
      5. People who were completely ignorant of God’s work in Israel.
      6. People who worshipped idols.
      7. And people who worshipped him.
      8. He took all those people, and, from those who placed their trust in Jesus the Christ and were baptized into Jesus the Christ, he placed them in Christ , and made them all one saved people, one family, brothers and sisters, one church.
   6. Even after God did all this, they still had trouble learning to love and respect each other, they still argued and fought with each other, and they still had struggles because some had much knowledge and some had no knowledge.
      1. But they were still his people, his family, his church–for just one reason–he placed all of them in Christ.
      2. He did precisely the same thing for each one of them.
         1. He placed the sins of each one on the crucified body of Jesus.
         2. He forgave each one of them of all their sins.
         3. He cleansed each one of them in Jesus’ blood.
         4. He bought each one of them back from sin
         5. He purified each one of them and made them holy.
         6. He sustained each one of them everyday in his forgiveness and his grace, his goodness.
         7. And because of what He did for each one of them in Christ, they were his church, his family.
      3. Our God is an awesome God!
4. And this awesome God:
   1. Who created the world and created us.
      1. Who worked through the weak and often evil family of Abraham.
      2. Who delivered Israel from Egypt and made them a nation.
      3. Who persevered through Israel’s wickedness, rebellion, and captivities.
      4. Who sent Jesus, who let him die on a cross, and who resurrected him from the dead.
      5. Who made a new, saved, spiritual family out of people who despised each other, and people who thought they knew everything, and people who knew almost nothing, and who had terrible prejudices.
      6. Who made this family, this church, by placing these people in Christ.
      7. This awesome God is still adding people to his family, is still expanding his church by working in the lives of people who are troubled, or do not agree, or have a lot of knowledge, or have little knowledge.
      8. And he is doing it in the same way he did it at the very beginning of the church:
         1. By placing each one of us in Christ.
         2. By making us all one in Christ.
         3. By placing each of our sins on the dying body of Jesus.
         4. By forgiving each one of us.
         5. By cleansing each one of us in the blood of Jesus.
         6. By purifying each one of us and making us holy.
         7. By sustaining each one of us every day with his grace and his goodness.

Our awesome God is no less awesome today than he was when he was at creation, or in the lives of Abraham’s family, or in his perseverance in Israel, and in his accomplishments in Jesus.

Our awesome God still works through human failure to accomplish his purposes.

He loves every one of us so much–there is not a single one of us he does not love. Our challenge is to love each other like our awesome God loves all of us.

Never forget that our awesome God always accomplishes his purposes through weak and imperfect people–not because of us, but because He is the awesome God.

Motives Matter

Posted by David on December 8, 1996 under Sermons

In human relationships, motives matter. We have understood that truth in our marriages, in our friendships, in our relationships with parents, and in the business world. First, consider the business world. This is a well-known statement: “There are no free lunches.” In the business world, if someone other than a friend takes you out for lunch, there is a business reason. There is a business motive for taking you to lunch.

Second, consider personal relationships. Those of you who are single, think with me for a moment. If someone that you hardly know of the opposite sex begins to send you a gift every week, how does that affect you? If you hardly know the person, a likely first reaction will be, “Why is he (she) sending me gifts?” As you continue to receive gifts week after week, the next likely reaction will be suspicion: “What does he (she) want?” If the gifts continue to come, and you still don’t know why you are receiving them, just receiving the gifts can become frightening. You likely will regard receiving a gift as an act of harassment. Gifts received for unknown motives are suspect.

Husbands, suppose we really “outdo ourselves” in being thoughtful, caring, and considerate to our wives, far beyond the bounds of our usual behavior. We know we are in trouble if she reacts to our uncommon consideration and asks, “Just why are you being so nice to me?” She wants to understand the motive behind our behavior. Wives, when (if?) we husbands show extraordinary kindness and attentiveness, what is the first question that enters your conscious thinking? Is it, “What does he want?” or, “What has he done?”

In every relationship context, motives are critical. The way we react to other people’s actions and deeds will almost always be determined by our perception of their motives.

Human motives are as important to God in our relationship with Him as motives are in our relationship with each other.

1. Thus far in our examination of Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we have noted:
   1. Jesus began by giving his description of a righteous person. The righteous person:
      1. Recognizes his or her own spiritual poverty.
      2. Is grieved over that poverty.
      3. Is gentle or meek.
      4. Hungers and thirsts for righteousness.
      5. Is merciful.
      6. Has a pure heart.
      7. Is committed to promoting reconciliation.
      8. Will endure hardship and opposition for Jesus’ sake.
   2. Next, Jesus stated how the righteous person would function in an unrighteous society.
      1. He or she would be light.
      2. He or she would be a saving or preserving influence, like salt.

   (Transition: tonight, Jesus focuses us on the motives of a righteous person. Jesus emphasized that in being righteous, motives matter.)

2. Jesus began with a warning: Do not perform godly acts for the purpose of bringing attention and praise to yourself; if you do, that is the only reward that you will receive.
   1. Let’s clearly understand the warning.
      1. The warning does not focus on the visibility of our good deeds, but on our personal motives for doing the good deeds.
         1. Remember, in this very same sermon, in chapter 5:16 Jesus has already said, Let your light shine before men in such a way as they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
         2. Our good works are to be open and obvious–we do not shun visibility.
         3. But we are not calculating in our good deeds; we do not perform them in a manner that promotes self rather than God.
      2. If we do good deeds and religious acts to win praise and promote ourselves, the praise and attention that we receive is our reward for what we do, and our only reward.
         1. The only reward that we will receive is human praise; there will be no reward from God.
         2. When we receive the praise we were seeking, we are at that moment paid in full.
         3. We got what we wanted; we achieved our objective; there is nothing further to be received from God.
      3. Jesus clearly illustrated his warning by using three common examples that occurred every day in their society. Example # 1: the practice of giving alms or giving assistance to the disabled.
         1. That is still an important good deed, an important religious deed in Arabic cultures and in a number of third world countries.
         2. It served a purpose close to the intent of our social security system.
            1. The handicapped and disabled must be cared for even in a poor society, and Israel was a poor society.
            2. It was the responsibility of the disabled to publicly ask for alms.
            3. It was a godly act, a good deed, to give something to those in need.
            4. There is a tremendous emphasis in the Old Testament on the importance of helping those in need.
            5. Jesus continued that emphasis in his teachings.
         3. You and I would view standing on the street asking for help from strangers as undignified and shameful, but it was the responsible thing to do then.
         4. The warning: when you give help to a needy person requesting your help either in the synagogue or on the street, do not give your help in a manner calculated to attract attention to yourself, or act for the purpose of gaining praise from others.
            1. To do so is an act of hypocrisy.
            2. Why?
            3. Because you are making a public declaration of concern for “this poor, unfortunate person” when your primarily concern is not for the person.
            4. You are primarily concerned about shaping and influencing other people’s perception of you.
            5. Since your real motive is to gain attention and praise, when you receive that attention and praise, you are paid in full.
         5. When you give help to another, do it quietly, in genuine concern for the person as an act of your devotion to God.
         6. People do not have to know what you have done for God to see what you have done.
      4. Example # 2 concerned personal prayers that were prayed in public (this is not speaking of assembly or group prayers where one person is leading a collective prayer).
         1. Praying private prayers publicly was a common, accepted practice that was so commonplace you likely were regarded to be odd if you did not do it.
            1. That was why a person went to the temple daily if he lived in Jerusalem.
            2. That was commonly a part of synagogue practices.
            3. It still occurs in Jerusalem every day at the Wailing Wall, the only remaining remnant of the temple.
         2. At some point that practice had evolved into at least some praying personal prayers aloud in public.
            1. It became a means of attracting attention to yourself as you prayed your personal prayers.
            2. If a person prayed his personal prayers aloud in public to attract attention and win praise, then he was paid in full when he received the attention and praise.
         3. Jesus said the person who did that was hypocritical.
            1. Why?
            2. He publicly presented himself as communicating with God, but his primary objective was creating an image for himself, not communicating with God.
         4. Jesus then presented some new emphases and concepts concerning personal prayers.
            1. Meaningless repetition does not impress God–that was an idolatrous concept.
            2. God is completely aware of our needs before we ask for His help; the objective of personal prayer is not to inform God.
            3. In personal prayer:
               1. Honor and praise God.
               2. Pray for God’s purposes to be achieved.
               3. Ask God to supply your physical needs (not your wants–prayer is not a tool to be used by our greed).
               4. Ask for forgiveness from God as you are willing to extend forgiveness to others.
               5. Ask God to guide you away from temptation and to deliver you from evil.
            4. This focuses on the basic concerns of the righteous person:
               1. Honoring God.
               2. Commitment to the will and purposes of God.
               3. Receiving basic physical necessities.
               4. Receiving forgiveness.
               5. Receiving guidance away from temptation.
               6. Receiving deliverance from evil.
            5. Jesus ended this emphasis with a sober admonition: forgive if you want God to forgive you.
      5. Example # 3 concerned the practice of fasting every week.
         1. The practice of weekly fasting arose in Israel as a means of declaring humility before God.
         2. In many past generations, Israelites suffered severe consequences because their pride made them stubborn before God.
         3. The primary message intended by weekly fasting was this: “God, I am not stubborn and I know my place. You don’t have to punish me to teach me my place.”
         4. But they perceived a problem with fasting as a private act: other people would not be aware that you were fasting.
            1. In the same spirit and with the same motives of the other two examples, it was important to make others aware that you were fasting.
            2. So they put flour on their faces and wore somber expressions to attraction attention to the fact that they were fasting.
            3. Jesus said the attention was their reward; they were paid in full.
         5. Again, he said such activity was an act of hypocrisy.
            1. Why?
            2. They gave the public appearance of humbling themselves; actually, what they were doing was an act of pride because they coveted the attention of others.
         6. If you are fasting as an expression of humility before God, don’t make your fasting apparent to others.
         7. God sees and accepts when people can’t see.

   Alms, prayers, and fasting were long established, unquestioned expressions of righteous commitment to a godly existence. Absolutely nothing was wrong with any of those three acts–unless they were performed for the wrong reason in wrong motives. Done for the right reason and right motives, they were godly acts. But done for the wrong reasons and motives they were ungodly acts that resulted in God’s rejection.

   Consider a couple of examples that relate more to our realities in religious practices.

3. Example #1: a Christian has just arrived in a community and is establishing a new business in the area.
   1. His desires and his motives:
      1. He wants to establish the best and most profitable contacts in the area, so he chooses a congregation that has the greatest potential to help his business.
      2. He gets involved in that congregation in every high profile manner available to him.
      3. What he does is good–there is nothing wrong with his deeds and actions, but his primary motive is not serving the Lord, but building his business.
      4. Good deeds, good involvement, wrong motive.
      5. He builds his business; he accomplished his objective–paid in full.
   2. Taking tax credits for our contributions to the congregation.
      1. Is that wrong? Not to my understanding.
      2. In my personal judgment, it is a responsible act of good Christian stewardship.
         1. Personally, I can use more money for specific support of congregational projects and works if I accept tax credits for my contributions.
         2. I never want to stop growing as a better steward of all of God’s blessings, and I want to constantly grow in generosity.
         3. But there is a difference in a Christian using tax laws to be a generous, better steward, and a Christian using tax laws strictly as a good business decision.
         4. Regardless of our motives, the funds we give will benefit the congregation or the godly work, just as the giving of alms benefited the needy person regardless of the motive of the giver.
         5. But our personal motives will determine if our generosity is of spiritual benefit and reward to self.

We need to jump ahead in Jesus’ sermon to emphasize an important truth. If a Christian brother or sister is personally convinced that it is wrong for him or her to take a tax credit for his or her contributions, then he or she should not take it. I should not judge him in his decision, and he should not judge me in mine. At the beginning of chapter 7 Jesus addresses this truth.

One of many things neither you nor I can do is accurately determine and judge the motives of another person. God knows my motives, and if they honor him, he accepts them. God knows your motives, and if they honor him, he accepts them.

When it comes to motives, we each are responsible to be aware of our own; we each are responsible to honor our own consciences in a manner that is true to our motives; and we each are responsible not to pass judgment on each other’s motives.

We must never forget that in godly acts and deeds, motives matter.

Not When I Am In the Boat

Posted by David on under Sermons

My Dad used to say that there was no such thing as minor surgery if you were talking about his surgery. He said, “Surgery can be minor if it is on someone else; but all surgery on me is major.”

I believe that reflects a perspective we all have. We will say that someone else’s problem is a minor problem; but if we are experiencing the same problem, it is a major problem. We will say that someone else’s crisis is a manageable crisis; but if we are experiencing a crisis, it is not a manageable crisis. We will say that someone else’s difficult situation has a simple solution; but if we are experiencing the same difficult situation, it is too complex for a simple solution.

Nowhere do we reflect this common perspective more than in our faith in Jesus Christ’s ability to help people. Quickly, emphatically, we will tell someone else, “Jesus Christ can help you with any problem or trial that you experience. There is simply nothing that Jesus cannot help you with.” Then we will encourage, even insist, that the person place his or her confidence in Jesus’ help and power. Yet, when we are struggling with any kind of problem or any form of trial, we do not function on that conviction and confidence. Then, when someone tries to encourage us to depend on Jesus’ help and power, we resist their encouragement. Sometimes we are offended by their encouragement.

1. In the third chapter of the gospel of Luke, we are introduced to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Palestine.
   1. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John.
   2. Immediately after his baptism, he spent some time in the wilderness fasting and enduring some special temptations from Satan.
      1. We are told that Jesus returned to Galilee from his wilderness experience “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).
      2. The news about what Jesus was teaching and doing literally exploded throughout the district (Luke 4:14).
      3. Jesus’ personal popularity zoomed off the charts.
2. The gospel of Luke immediately stresses Jesus’ teaching ministry.
   1. Jesus taught in the synagogues throughout the area and was praised by everyone (Luke 4:15).
      1. Among those synagogues was the synagogue in Nazareth, his home town (Luke 4:16-30).
         1. The lesson that he taught in his home congregation enraged those who attended–which included many people who knew him when he was a child.
         2. They were so upset at what he taught that in the emotion of the moment they were determined to kill him.
         3. A mob took him to a cliff just outside of town intending to throw him off the cliff.
         4. But when they arrived at the cliff, Jesus just turned around and walked through the angry mob as though they were not there.
      2. He went to the city of Capernaum and began teaching in their synagogue on Saturdays (Luke 4:31-37).
         1. The people present were amazed at his lessons and at his teaching style.
         2. One Saturday, a demon possessed man was in attendance.
         3. When he heard and saw Jesus, the demon began shouting at Jesus, “Why are you here? To destroy us? We know who you are–you are the holy one of God.”
         4. Jesus rebuked the demonic spirit, made it hush, or ordered it to leave the man.
            1. The spirit threw the man on the floor as it left his body, but it left him unharmed.
            2. Everyone present was astounded.
            3. Immediately they all began to discuss the fact that Jesus had the power to command demonic spirits to obey him, and they did.
         5. Shortly after this, Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a high fever (Luke 4:38).
            1. Immediately, she got up and began serving them.
         6. That evening everyone in Capernaum who had sick or diseased people in their family brought their sick to Jesus, and he healed every one of them (Luke 4:40)
         7. One morning after that, Peter, a fisherman, had fished all night with his partners and caught nothing (Luke 5:1-8).
            1. On the sea of Galilee, they netted fish at night because the fish fed on the surface at night; in daylight, the fish went into deep water.
            2. After daylight, Jesus told Peter take his net and drop it in a specific spot.
            3. To be polite, Peter did–and he netted so many fish that the net began to break.
         8. Jesus healed a man of leprosy, a disease that everyone regarded to be incurable (Luke 5:12-15).
         9. He instantly restored a paralyzed man to perfect health; in fact, the man walked away carrying his stretcher (Luke 5:18-25).
         10. A Roman military officer who had a dying servant came to Jesus (Luke 7:2-10).
             1. He was so concerned about his servant that he asked Jesus to heal the servant.
             2. Jesus said that he would go with the man to his house and heal the servant, but the Roman officer said that was not necessary.
             3. He trusted Jesus’ power; he said that he knew that Jesus could heal the servant without going to his house–he was not worthy of Jesus entering his house.
             4. And Jesus did! He healed the man long distance without ever seeing or speaking to the man.
         11. Jesus was on a journey and came near the town of Nain (Luke 7:11-17).
             1. As he neared the town, he met a funeral procession.
             2. A widow’s only son had died, virtually guaranteeing that she would face a destitute future.
             3. Jesus felt deep compassion for the grieving mother and raised her dead son to life right there on the road as they were going to the cemetery.
         12. Later, he cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2).
3. Now, I want you to pretend with me just a moment: let’s suppose that someone who has not heard Jesus teach or seen any of Jesus’ miracles walks up to his disciples.
   1. They are standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as Luke 8:22 states, and Jesus is close by talking to and working with people.
      1. The disciples know Jesus will leave soon, so they stay close to the boat.
   2. Let’s suppose that this man asks the disciples, “Is Jesus for real? Does he actually have the power to do all the things people say that he is doing? Or is it just exaggeration? Is it all talk and coincidence?”
      1. The disciples reply:
         1. “You must be kidding! Where have you been?”
         2. All twelve of them begin talking at once.
         3. “We can understand that it is hard for you to believe what you have heard, but we have seen these things with our own eyes.”
         4. “He walked through an angry mob that was determined to kill him, and no one even touched him.”
         5. “We have seen him cast out so many demons that we have lost count.”
         6. “We have seen him heal every single sick person brought to him, and it did not matter what the sickness or disease was or who had it.”
         7. “You should have been there the morning that he told Peter where to drop his fishing net–Peter caught so many fish that the net began to break.”
         8. “We saw him heal a man of leprosy, and the man’s skin was immediately as healthy and clean as it could be.”
         9. “We saw him heal a paralyzed man–the man actually walked off carrying his stretcher!”
         10. “We were there when he healed a man long distance–never saw the man, never touched the man, just healed him!”
         11. “We were standing right by him on the road to Nain when he raised a man from the dead–he stopped the funeral procession and raised the man to life!”
         12. “Jesus has the power to do anything–there is nothing that Jesus can’t do!”
4. Now consider what actually happened in Luke 8:22-25.
   1. Jesus said to these twelve disciples, “Get in the boat and let’s cross the lake.”
   2. So he and the twelve got into the boat and launched it.
      1. As they started, the lake was smooth and the wind was calm.
      2. Jesus was exhausted from all of his people work, so he went to sleep on a cushion.
      3. Sudden, fierce storms could arise on the Sea of Galilee, and one did.
         1. A gale force wind blasted down the lake and instantly churned up white caps that were swamping the boat.
         2. The boat was taking on water so fast that all the disciples were convinced that they were going to die within a matter of minutes.
         3. They woke Jesus up shouting, “We are going to die!”
         4. Jesus woke up, told the wind to be still and the water to be calm, and instantly the lake was as smooth as glass without a puff of wind blowing.
         5. And he turned to the disciples and asked, “Where is your faith?”
         6. And the disciples were terrified, not of the storm that had stopped, but of the man in the boat who stopped the storm.
5. Why? Why were they suddenly afraid of Jesus? Why were they amazed at his stilling the storm? With all the ways they had witnessed Jesus use his power, why were they amazed that he had stopped a storm?
   1. Why? Because they were in the boat; because it was their storm.
      1. All the miracles they had witnessed–casting out demons, healing sickness and disease, healing a paralytic, healing long distance, raising a man from the dead–those were all someone else’s storms.
      2. On all those occasions they were merely spectators.
      3. Not this time–this time it was their life, their death, and their storm.
      4. They had total confidence in Jesus’ ability to take care of someone else’s storm.
      5. But it was an entirely different issue to believe that Jesus could take care of their storm.
      6. They did not believe that the man who could cure diseases, cast out demons, and raise dead people back to life, could do anything about wind and waves–especially the wind and waves that were threatening their lives.
   2. I am afraid that many of us are just like the twelve.
      1. Someone says to us:
         1. “We are really having family problems right now;” and we say, “Jesus can help you–he really can; please let him.”
         2. “I have really made a mess out of my life;” and we say, “It is never too late to let Jesus help you.”
         3. “Everything around me is falling apart;” and we say, “Jesus can get you through this.”
         4. “I am in the biggest crisis I have ever experienced;” and we say, “No crisis is too big for Jesus.”
      2. Then we have family problems, or find our lives in a mess, or see our world falling apart, or have a huge crisis; and we say, “I don’t think Jesus can help me with my situation.”
   3. I want you to focus on two lessons that come from inside that boat.
      1. Lesson # 1: You can’t sink a boat that has Jesus in it.
         1. You can’t sink a life that has Jesus in it.
         2. You can’t sink a congregation that has Jesus in it.
      2. Lesson # 2: Jesus stills storms, but Jesus does not bail boats.
         1. When Jesus stilled the storm, the boat still had a dangerous amount of water in it.
         2. Jesus stilled the storm, but it says nothing about him bailing the water out of the boat.
         3. Jesus is in charge of storm control; disciples are in charge of bailing out the boat.

When the disciples experienced the direct benefit of Jesus’ power in the face of certain tragedy, in fear and awe they asked, “Who is this man?” I assure you, the first time you experience the direct benefit of Jesus’ power in the face of certain tragedy, you, too, in fear and awe will ask yourself, “Who is this man?”

The Importance of Understanding God’s Intent

Posted by David on December 1, 1996 under Sermons

A common problem understood by everyone is the problem created when someone hears or reads what we said, but does not understand our intent in what we said. We were not misquoted; we said the words. But we were misrepresented because the words we said wereinterpreted to mean something we definitely did not mean. That is when we have this impossible argument: “You said this. This is exactly what you said. Am I misquoting you? Isn’t that exactly what you said?” “Yes, that is exactly what I said. But you misunderstood whatI meant by what I said. This is what I meant.”

Let me illustrate the problem. The words are, “I will kill you.” Four simple words. None more than four letters long. What do the words, “I will kill you,” mean? Literally, the words mean that I am going to destroy your life. Is that what those four words always mean? That dependson the intent of the person and the situation, or the context of the situation.

Two good friends who love each other dearly love to play practical jokes on each other. One of them has just executed the perfect practical joke on the other. The perpetrator of the joke is laughing so hard he can’t sit up. The victim of the joke, grinning from ear to ear, says to hisfriend, “I will kill you!” Is he threatening to destroy his good friend’s life? No. He is promising his friend that he should be prepared to be the victim of an even more ingenious practical joke.

What if his good friend, the perpetrator, is murdered one week after playing the practical joke? What if the victim of the joke is arrested and tried for this friend’s murder? What if he has to admit on the witness stand that he said the words, “I will kill you?” How important is it for the jury tounderstand what he meant by those words? Which reveals the truth–the literal meaning of the words, “I will kill you,” or his intent when he said, “I will kill you”?

This illustrates an enormous problem in interpreting and applying the scripture. The problem is as old as the oldest scripture. Among people who accept the Bible as God’s inspired word, disagreements rarely are based on what is said in scripture. People who accept the Bible as God’s word commonly agree on the words. Most disagreements center in the intent of the words. What did God intend by what He said? Always, the context is powerfully related to the intent.

Jesus and the Pharisees agreed on what the law said. They disagreed about God’s intent in what the law said. Often, the Pharisees declared the law meant only what the words literally said. Jesus commonly emphasized that God’s intent went far deeper that the literal wording of the law. Matthew 5:21-48 is an excellent illustration of this problem.

1. In Matthew 5:21-48 Jesus specifically focuses on six understood laws that had a significant impact on daily life in the real world of first century Jewish society.
   1. Those six are:
      1. Matthew 5:21-26: “You shall not murder” coupled with “The murderer is guilty.”
      2. Matthew 5:27-30: “Do not commit adultery.”
      3. Matthew 5:31, 32: “If you divorce your wife, do not merely abandon her.”
      4. Matthew 5:33-37: “You shall not break your vows, but you shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord.”
      5. Matthew 5:38-42: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
      6. Matthew 5:43-48: “You shall love your neighbor” coupled with “You shall hate your enemy.”
   2. I want us to look at each of those six in a brief overview to see the contrast between the Pharisees’ literal, legalistic applications and Jesus’ emphasis on God’s intent.
      1. We could spend weeks examining all the material in these verses.
      2. There is far more I would enjoy sharing about each of these six statements than I have time to share this evening.
      3. I make this special request: Instead of focusing on details that are of special interest or concern to you, please try to stand back from a focus on details and try to see the broader picture, the broader context.
      4. Remember Jesus is speaking to his disciples who must live and function in first century Jewish society in Palestine.
      5. I hope the handout you have will help you do that.
2. Consider the six in order.
   1. “You shall not murder; the person who commits murder is guilty.”
      1. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, that was simple, direct, and self-explanatory: “It meant what it said, and said what it meant.”
      2. Jesus said that the guilt resulting from murder involved matters more than merely the physical act of killing someone
         1. Commonly, anger led to contempt.
         2. Contempt led to murder.
         3. One’s hostile anger could get him in trouble with the court.
         4. One’s contemptuous treatment of another was a more serious court matter.
         5. To contemptuously reject a person as being utterly worthless and unworthy of any consideration or respect was such a serious matter that the divine court would sentence that contemptuous person to the fire of hell.
      3. So Jesus said, “Accept responsibility for your own emotions and your responsibility to respect other people. In all relationship problems, pursue reconciliation diligently.”
         1. The person who restrains himself from committing the physical act of murder has not fulfilled the intent of the law.
         2. God’s intent went beyond the physical restraint that prevented murder; it prohibits the hostile anger and contempt that can lead to murder.
         3. Where there is respect for people, there is no murder.
   2. Do not commit adultery.
      1. Again, as far as the Pharisees were concerned, this was simply understood: do not commit the physical act of adultery: do not have intercourse with someone else’s wife.
      2. Jesus said that more is prohibited than the physical act.
         1. The problem begins long before the physical act occurs.
         2. The problem begins when a man deliberately looks at a woman for the purpose of visualizing the act of adultery with her.
         3. It is that lustful indulgence that says within, “I surely would if I could.”
         4. Jesus said that is the moment when the man becomes guilty of adultery.
      3. He admonishes them not to let a God-created need, a God-given desire to be perverted and destroy the entire person.
      4. Do anything necessary to prevent that from happening.
   3. If you divorce your wife, she must understand that she has been divorced; do not merely abandon her.
      1. The context of this command reflects a world and a situation that are completely foreign to us.
         1. Women had no significant status at the time of Israel’s exodus from Egypt or in the first century world.
         2. Men possessed all rights and status, so a wife was little more than a possession.
         3. There was a time when a man who did not want to be married merely abandoned his wife without informing her–since she received no explanation, she did not know if she was married or not.
      2. This was the situation that the law originally addressed.
         1. The men of Israel were instructed not to abandon their wives without explanation–if a man was divorcing his wife, she must be fully informed that he was divorcing her.
         2. Of course, the wife did not have the right to divorce her husband; only the husband had the right to divorce his wife.
      3. The Pharisees applied this law in this way:
         1. When you divorce your wife, you must do three things.
         2. You personally must place a simple writ of divorce in her hand.
         3. You must make certain that she clearly understands that it is a writ of divorce.
         4. You must do this in the presence of witnesses.
         5. She must clearly understand that she has been divorced.
      4. Jesus said that the intent of God was not focused in correct divorce procedures.
         1. God was not encouraging frivolous divorce.
         2. Frivolous divorce results in adultery.
      5. Very likely the adultery problem and the divorce problem were strongly inter-related–both commonly involved the indulgent, lustful searching eyes.
   4. Don’t break your vows; fulfill your oaths.
      1. The Pharisees focused this law on making your vows or oaths correctly.
         1. Since this was basically an illiterate society, business deals did not utilize written contracts or guarantees.
         2. Deals were closed and guarantees were made by oath: “I swear by . . . that I will do this.”
         3. If a person did not swear by the right thing, the oath and the promise it confirmed were not regarded as binding.
         4. Thus a person could lie and steal legally if he were imaginative with his oaths.
      2. Jesus said be so devoted to doing exactly what you promised to do that an oath is unnecessary.
         1. Evil, dishonest people need oaths.
         2. Honest people of integrity will do what they say they will do.
   5. In matters of injury, you will take eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
      1. When this law was given, it was a merciful law, a law of limitation.
      2. One could not inflict more harm on someone than he had received.
      3. The Pharisees focused this law in the concern for justice; justice must be served.
      4. Remember that Jesus described the righteous person as gentle, merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker.
      5. The person concerned about the intent of God will refuse to seek vengeance or retaliation–he focuses his actions on mercy, not on justice.
         1. He presents a threat to no one, not even those who are unjust to him.
         2. In a gentle spirit, he does more than is demanded of him and is generous.
   6. Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.
      1. Love your neighbor was clearly declared from the earliest history of Israel; hate your enemy is not found in Scripture.
      2. Perhaps the Pharisees defined neighbor to exclude certain peoples, and made a distinction between neighbor and enemy.
         1. If so, the same legal injunction that required you to love your neighbor also required you to hate your enemy.
         2. What Jesus says would suggest that they focused on hating your enemy.
      3. Rather than addressing the distinction they made between neighbor and enemy, Jesus addressed God’s intent clearly: love both.
      4. He gave two reasons for doing so, reasons that would have great meaning to those who wanted to be righteous:
         1. Reason # 1: That is what God does.
         2. Reason # 2: If you don’t, you do nothing more than ungodly people do.
      5. His admonition: Imitate God; let God be your standard.
3. It is quite easy to see how the religious leaders would accuse Jesus of seeking to destroy the law.
   1. His description of a righteous person was radically different from theirs.
   2. His interpretation and application of the law was radically different from theirs.
   3. His understanding of how a righteous person would conduct himself was radically different. The righteous person:
      1. He opposed within himself anger that targeted other people and contempt for other people.
      2. He accepted responsibility for his own feelings and attitudes, and he committed himself to reconciliation.
      3. He refused to abuse sexual passions.
      4. He rejected frivolous divorce.
      5. He was a person of integrity, a man of his word.
      6. He was committed to mercy and kindness, not to vengeance and retaliation.
      7. He was committed to the best interests of his enemies as well as his neighbors.

In all of these contrasts, one theme runs through each. Understanding God’s intent will always affect the way we treat other people.

Always seek to understand God’s intent in what God said. Never stop learning how to treat people as God intends for the righteous person to treat them.

Gratitude Blesses the Grateful

Posted by David on under Sermons

Consider these good parents who have a truly fine daughter. These parents love their daughterdeeply. And she is a daughter who would bring honor to any set of parents. She is considerateand respectful. She takes her education seriously. She is outgoing and makes friends easily, butis wise in selecting friendships. She is involved both at school and at church. And she naturallyexhibits a good spirit and good attitudes.

But, like everyone, she is not perfect. She has a few habits that frustrate her Mom and Dad. InMom and Dad’s thinking, if she would just change these few habits, she would be the idealperson. They want her to be that ideal person for her own sake.

At first, her parents encourage her to change these few habits. In time, it is obvious thatencouragement will not bring the changes they want, so they begin to insist. When insistencedoes not work, they demand. When demands do not work, they threaten. When threats donot work, they become angry and alienate their daughter. When she finishes high school, sheleaves home determined to have as little contact with Mom and Dad as possible.

At any time in this stalemate, the parents easily could have listed all the wonderful qualities theyappreciated in their daughter. At any time in this running confrontation, the number of qualitiesthey admired vastly exceed the irritating habits.

But because the parents exclusively focused their attention and concern on her irritating habits,they rarely thought about the qualities they admired. They spent their time being frustratedabout the few habits that irritated them. In time, their frustration became an obsession thatblinded them to their daughter’s admirable qualities. All they ever thought about were herirritating habits.

Because they were ungrateful for her many good qualities, because they focused only on thehabits that frustrated them, they lost their daughter.

1. Ingratitude is a powerful, destructive force that ruins people and relationships.
   1. We witness that truth in people’s lives all around us; in fact, our extended families likely haveexperienced that truth.
      1. Too many wives lose husbands because small things that irritate the wife make herungrateful for the many good qualities she admires in him.
      2. Too many husbands lose wives because the husband focuses so exclusively on the smallthings that disappoint him that he is ungrateful for the wonderful things that bless him.
      3. The same thing happens in congregations.
         1. The things that irritate us about each other are small and few when compared to the things wevalue and appreciate about each other.
         2. But when those small things capture our full attention, we are ungrateful for all the things we value in each other.
      4. In all relationships, gratitude is dependent on awareness–destroy awareness, and gratitude dies.
   2. We can easily fall victim to this same tendency in our relationship with God.
      1. In everyone’s life, the dark moments, the fearful times, the times of distress and grief, and moments of intense loneliness are inevitable.
      2. Those are the times when we allow the distress of the moment to swallow us with discontent. Those moments are so powerful and can be so overwhelming that they move us to:
         1. Feel angry with God.
         2. Feel abandoned by God.
         3. Feel betrayed by God.
      3. When we are consumed with resentment directed at God, it is impossible to recall one thingthat calls for gratitude.
         1. “What do I have to be grateful for?”
         2. “It is God’s fault that I am having this problem; why should I thank him for anything?”
   3. If we are respectful, God understands and accepts our times of frustration and distress.
      1. Moses blessed me by helping me understand that.
         1. In Numbers 11:10-15, Moses was stressed out, and in his distress he was certain that Godexpected far too much.
         2. It was a horribly depressing moment during Moses’ leadership.
            1. He had gone through the ordeal of getting Israel out of Egypt.
            2. He had endured the distress of getting them across the Red Sea.
            3. He had led them with all their moaning, groaning, and complaining to the Mount Sinai.
            4. He had successfully pleaded with God to spare their lives when they made and worshipped thegolden calf.
            5. He had received the law, built the tabernacle, and instituted the religious orders and worship.
         3. After all of this–after seeing God work in the plagues of Egypt, after walking across the RedSea on dry land, after being watered and nourished by God in the desert, after hearing God speakin a voice and seeing the presence of God on Mount Sinai, the people were deeply depressedbecause they were tired of having no meat to eat.
      2. After everything God did directly and visibly for these people, there was no gratitude in Israel.
         1. Every family was in their tent crying, and every man was standing at the entrance of his tentcrying because they were sick of eating the same food day after day.
            1. What a disheartening sound–several hundred thousand depressed people crying!
            2. As they wept, they were asking themselves, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (11:20)
            3. God’s anger was hot.
            4. Moses was beside himself with the situation–he was supposed to lead this mass of depressed people.
         2. It was more than Moses could take–he had had enough of this job and these people.
            1. He did not turn on God.
            2. But he clearly stated how he felt and what he wanted.
               1. “God, why have you been so hard on me?”
               2. “Why did you dislike me so much that you gave me the responsibility for all these people? Why did you put this burden on me?”
               3. “These people were not born because of me.”
               4. “I did not promise that I would take care of them like a nurse cares for her child. I did notpromise them that I would give them a land in order to keep a promise I made to theirancestors.”
               5. “Where am I going to get enough meat to feed all these people?”
               6. “I cannot be responsible for them anymore–the burden is just to big for me.”
               7. “If this is what you expect, then if you love me, please kill me right now.”
            3. I find God’s reaction amazing and insightful–he was not angry with Moses.
               1. He told him to select seventy men that he knew were capable of working under him and usethem to help meet the burdens of leadership.
               2. Then he told Moses that he was going to feed Israel meat until they were sick of meat.
            4. Israel was so focused on their appetites they completely forgot everything God had done forthem, and their discontent destroyed their gratitude.
            5. Moses was totally disheartened and distressed by an ungrateful people.
            6. God was angry at ungrateful Israel, but God was not upset with Moses.
      3. I learned one of my most valuable lessons about gratitude from David, the author of many ofthe Psalms.
         1. This is the lesson I learned: you can be both distressed and grateful at the same time.
            1. You cannot live this life without experiencing distress.
            2. It is neither healthy or wise to experience distress and not be honest about your feelings andemotions.
            3. But you can be honest about your distress and be sincerely grateful at the same time.
         2. David provides us many examples of this in his psalms, but let’s note just a couple.
            1. In Psalms 13 David is stressed out because of the pain his enemies are inflicting.
               1. In verses one and two you can hear the distress as he questions God.
                  1. “God, when are you going to notice my situation?
                  2. “Are you going to forget me forever?
                  3. “How long are you going to refuse to look at me?
                  4. “How long am I going to have to endure this sorrow?
                  5. “How long are my enemies going to be allowed to afflict me?”
               2. David is demanding in verses three and four.
                  1. “Answer me, O Lord, My God.
                  2. “Help me understand, or I am going to die.
                  3. “If something does not happen soon, my enemies will be celebrating their victory over me.”
               3. Obviously David feels defeated and very alone–and he is very honest about how he feels.
               4. But David also affirms his faith and gratitude in verses five and six:
                  But I have trusted in your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountiful with me.
               5. David’s situation at that moment is extremely difficult, but David clearly trusts God andappreciates everything God has done for him.
            2. In Psalms 22:1, 2 David voices his distress to God, and about a thousand years later Jesus uses that exact statement as he died on the cross.
               1. When David made the statement, he was crying out in distress.
               2. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I cry all day and can’t rest at night, but youwon’t answer me.”
               3. In verses 11-18 he graphically states how his enemies and evil people are troubling him–he istrapped in the center of a circle of strong bulls; he is poured out like water; his bones are out ofjoint; his heart is melting; and his strength is drying up.
               4. In verses 19-21 he cries out, “God, you are my help, don’t stand so far off–come quickly anddeliver me.”
               5. His distress is painful and real–but so is his gratitude in verses 24-31: “I will tell all my brothers your name; I will praise you in the middle of the assembly; I will tell everyone to glorify you and stand in awe of you. I know that you are the God who takes care of the afflicted.”
         3. David:
            1. Saw and fully felt the immediate.
            2. He was honest in his times of distress as he talked to God, honest about what he felt andhonest about what he thought.
            3. If he was angry, or afraid, or felt abandoned by God, he was honest about it.
            4. But no matter what he saw or felt in the immediate distress, David never failed to see the “bigpicture,” and he always held to the knowledge of all that God had done for him in his life.
            5. No matter how distressed he was, he always was grateful to God for being his Lord; he alwaysglorified God; and his confidence in God was always greater than the distress of the moment.

You and I do not control what happens to our lives. What happens to our lives is not within the power of our choice. You and I do control our awareness. We choose to be consumed by thedistress of the immediate, or we choose to remain aware of the ways God has touched and blessed our lives.

That is an important choice each of us makes. If we choose to be consumed with our distress and live in discontentment, even life’s best situations are filled with gloom and depression. If we choose to always remember the many ways in which we are blessed by God, we are able live ingratitude even when we are experiencing distress. Then, in even life’s worst situations, we will find light instead of darkness, find hope instead of despair.

Gratitude always blesses the grateful.

The Righteous Person In an Unrighteous Society

Posted by David on November 24, 1996 under Sermons

I have two sons, both of whom work in the “real world.” Neither of their work environments are influenced to any significant degree by the religious world. One is the director of a Chamber of Commerce, and one is an accountant in a major accounting firm. My older son preaches and teaches Bible classes; my younger son is a deacon in the Highland congregation in Memphis.

Both have talked to me about how far removed much of our teaching emphasis is from the day-to-day realities encountered when you do your non-religious job in a non-religious environment.

One of the great challenges that has always confronted Christianity is the challenge to address real life and real problems in the world and age of the moment. Most religious bodies fail to do that in every age. As Christ’s church, we commonly do a less than desirable job of helping people use Christ’s teachings to address real life and real problems of today. I am not talking about changing anything Scripture teaches. I am talking about realistically and understandably using scripture to address what is happening in people’s lives right now.

It is too easy for any religion or church to initially decide what it believes, what the important issues are, where it stands, and to focus all future attention on dealing with the concerns of the religion or church’s, not the spiritual needs of people as they struggle with life.

That is what Judaism had done in the first century. Centuries before, they decided what they believed, what the important issues were, and where they stood. And in each new generation, the synagogue teachers focused on the concerns of Judaism. It did not focus on the spiritual needs of people who struggled with life.

In the sermon found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus dealt with the spiritual needs of people struggling with life. The teachings of the Pharisees made the struggle worse. Jesus addressed matters that would help people spiritually in the real world.

Last week we looked at the contrast between Jesus’ description of a righteous man and the Pharisees’ description. Tonight we want to look at Jesus’ statement about the life of a righteous person in an unrighteous society. Please note that the Jewish society was a religious society, but, by Jesus’ definition, it was an unrighteous society.

Read with me Matthew 5:13-20.

1. In this reading, Jesus used two “you are” statements.
   1. In that day, in that religious society, for a Jewish teacher to say “your are” was unusual.
      1. In Matthew 7:28, 29 the writer notes at the end of the sermon that:
         1. The people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.
         2. And that they were amazed because Jesus taught them as a person who possessed authority.
      2. A number of statements recorded by the gospels note the fact that Jesus’ teachings amazed people.
         1. In Matthew 13 Jesus was visiting in his hometown.
            1. Verse 54 states that people in his hometown were astonished.
            2. “Where did he get this wisdom? Where did he get the power to perform these miracles?”
         2. During the last week of his life, Jesus had some major confrontations with Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
            1. In Matthew 22, the Pharisees asked him if it was proper for Jews to pay Roman taxes, and he silenced them with his answer.
            2. The Sadducees asked him whose wife a woman would be in the next world since she had been married to seven brothers; again, Jesus silenced them with his answer.
            3. The crowds of people who witnessed this give and take were astonished at Jesus’ teachings (22:33).
         3. Once when Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem, John 7:32 states that the chief priests and Pharisees sent some officers to arrest Jesus because they disapproved of his teachings.
            1. Verse 46 says that the officers returned without Jesus.
            2. They asked, “Why didn’t you arrest him?”
            3. The officers answered, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.”
         4. Mark 11:18 states that the chief priests and scribes wanted to destroy Jesus–they were afraid of him because he astonished the multitudes with his teaching.
         5. Twice more it says that Jesus’ teachings amazed the people because he taught as one having authority.
            1. Mark 1:21, 22.
            2. Luke 4:31, 32.
      3. Some of their amazement occurred because of the content of his teaching and the wisdom reflected in his teaching.
         1. But content and wisdom do not explain the amazement generated because he taught as one having authority.
         2. In the synagogues, or in virtually any study or teaching situation, there was an approved, accepted, correct way to teach the scriptures.
         3. Either the scripture to be discussed was read, or the topic to be discussed was stated, and the relevant scriptures on that topic noted.
         4. Then the teacher established the proper interpretation or understanding by establishing the position of the rabbis over generations.
         5. “This is the correct understanding because rabbi A said, and rabbi B said, and rabbi C said, ” and so on.
         6. Any one who disagreed would do so by citing a different line of rabbis.
         7. No one dared to say, “This is the correct understanding because I say…”
         8. You did not talk about “my position” or “my understanding.”
      4. That is, nobody did but Jesus, and what he said dealt with real world realities.
   2. Jesus was distinctive in his teachings, no only in what he said, but in how he said it.
      1. His concept of a righteous person was distinctively different from the common concept.
      2. Anyone who accepted his concept and devoted himself or herself to that concept would become a person who was distinctively different in that highly religious society–a society that was devoutly religious, but was not righteous.
   3. For a teacher to say to his disciples that “you are” the avenue through which God will accomplish His world purpose was unusual.
      1. He did not say that the word of God was the salt and light of the world.
      2. Nor that the scribes or religious teachers were the salt and light of the world.
      3. Nor that the priests were the salt and light of the world.
      4. Nor that the synagogue was the salt and light of the world.
      5. But, he said his untrained, uneducated disciples were the salt and light of the world.
      6. The world was not going to be saved or enlightened by Israel’s religious institutions and teachers, but by those who followed him and his teachings.
   4. Both images of salt and light are simple but profoundly powerful.
      1. “You, my disciples, are the salt of the earth.”
         1. Then a question to those disciples: “If the salt loses its taste, can you put the salty taste back in it?”
         2. Have you ever had a box of salt to spoil? Have you ever had a box of salt loose its taste? Of course not.
         3. Salt is sodium chloride, and as long as sodium chloride is sodium chloride it retains it properties which includes its taste. As long as salt is salt, it has its salty taste.
         4. Then what was Jesus talking about?
            1. Salt was a precious commodity in Jesus’ day because virtually everyone needed it.
            2. They had no means of preserving food by freezing or canning–salting food, especially fish or meat, was one of the few means that they had to preserve it.
            3. As under any government, the best items to tax are the items people use the most.
            4. A salt merchant would pass a government check point and pay taxes on his salt–and lose a part of his profit.
            5. Too make up for lost profit, he would add other white crystalline substances to it.
            6. If the salt passed through several merchants, and each did the same thing each time it was taxed, the salt would become so diluted by other substances that it was too weak to preserve food. It was salt “that had lost its taste” because it was diluted.
         5. What can you do with diluted salt?
            1. It is dangerous–there many be too little to taste or to preserve food, but there is still enough to kill plants if you put it on the ground.
            2. You cannot throw it away without doing damage.
            3. Unless you throw it away where you want nothing to grow–so you throw it in the road.
         6. God would work through Jesus’ disciples to save the world, or Jesus’ disciples would become so diluted by the world that they would become dangerous and destructive.
      2. You are the light of the world.
         1. As light, you will be obvious, as obvious as a city sitting on a tell. (A tell is a hill; specifically, an ancient mound in the Middle East composed of remains of successive settlements.)
         2. The purpose of lighting a lamp is to help everybody in the room to see.
         3. So you don’t hide the lamp under a basket (lamp’s were small and gave off a very dim light), but you put it on a lamp stand–high enough to light the room.
         4. Don’t hide the light you will radiate because of my teachings; don’t be afraid to be distinctive.
         5. Let it shine. How? By doing good works.
            1. The good you do will be so distinctively different to the religious society that people will not be giving you credit.
            2. Your distinctiveness will be so unique that they will glorify God.
         6. The Jewish people were quite accustomed to watching religious people perform religious deeds–they were not accustomed to religious teachings making people good people who did good things.

2. Jesus knew that he would be accused of trying to destroy God’s law because his teachings and his method of teaching were different.
   1. If Jesus’ teachings and presentation were:
      1. Different.
      2. Presented in a style not used by anyone else.
      3. Reached different conclusions.
      4. Made God’s message relevant to present realities.
      5. He knew that the religious leaders would declare that he was not teaching the truth; that he was not teaching scripture; that he and his teachings were dangerous; and that his teaching were destructive.
      6. And he was right–that is exactly what happened.
   2. Jesus stated clearly that his teachings were no threat to God’s law.
      1. He did not come as a teacher to abolish (completely destroy) the law and the prophets–the way the Jews said “scriptures.”
      2. He came to accomplish the ultimate purposes of the law and prophets–the law and prophets would achieve their basic purpose and goal in what he was doing.
      3. Nothing could destroy the law–it was impossible for the law not to achieve its God-given purpose.
         1. “Any disciple who uses my teachings to nullify even the least command of the law will be least in the kingdom of heaven”–not out of it, but least.
         2. “Any disciple who lives by and teaches the law will be great in the kingdom of heaven.”
      4. Jesus knew, clearly understood, that the traditional teaching of the law had perverted the message and the intent of the law.
      5. His teachings would reveal and establish the correct message and intent of the law, for they would reveal God’s message and intent.
      6. The law was not threatened by Jesus or his teachings.
   3. Then he gave this warning to his disciples who would commit themselves to being the righteous person he described: “If your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
      1. The point is clear: unless their righteousness was greater than the righteousness of their religious leaders, they would not be a part of the kingdom.
      2. That brings up interesting questions.
         1. Could they know more about the scriptures than the scribes and Pharisees?
         2. Could they study more?
         3. Could they recite more commands or give more applications?
         4. Could they be more judgmental?
         5. Could they attend more religious assemblies and religious functions?
         6. Could they pray more?
         7. No!
      3. The rest of the sermon reveals the “how”?
         1. They can learn a more correct understanding of God’s purposes and intents.
         2. They can learn correctly the message of God’s teachings.
         3. They can have better motives and better hearts.
         4. They can practice the things God defines to be good: such as forgiving others, treating others as you want to be treated.
      4. Just as their righteousness must exceed the religious expressions of their religious environment, if we are to be Christ’s church, so must ours.
         1. How will we do that?
            1. By knowing more than everyone else?
            2. By studying harder?
            3. By reciting more commands and more interpretations?
            4. By being more judgmental and hostile?
            5. By attending more assemblies and religious functions?
            6. By praying more?
            7. I sincerely doubt that is possible.
         2. How then?
            1. By committing ourselves to be the righteous person Jesus described.
            2. By learning God’s real intents and purposes in His word.
            3. By better understanding the message of God through Christ.
            4. By having better motives and better hearts.
            5. By devoting ourselves to things Jesus stressed such as forgiveness of others, and treating others as we want to be treated.

We are salt and light only if Christ is in us and our lives are dedicated to doing the things he wants us to do. We are salt and light only if we let Jesus teach us and change us. Only because of Jesus can we be salt and light. Without Jesus, we are not salt, and we are a part of the darkness. Allow Jesus’ teachings to make you a good person who does good things. And don’t be ashamed of being distinctive when Jesus does that.

A Congregation’s Greatest Asset

Posted by David on under Sermons

Let’s suppose that God spoke to this congregation directly this morning, and that He said this to us:

“You are growing in your faith in my Son. Your confidence in His death, His resurrection, and my power is increasing. You are opening your lives to my Word and my Spirit. You arepraying with a new earnestness. Because you are placing more faith in me and less faith inyourselves, your potential is growing. Therefore, I will bless you with a tremendous asset. Thisasset will increase your outreach. Your capacity to do my work will increase. Your vision willgrow. This asset will be an open door for serving me in ways that will amaze all who see you.”

If God gave us that asset, what would it be? Someone says, “It is money.” With the rightattitude and proper stewardship, money can be an asset. But having money will not create thoseblessings and opportunities.

Someone says, “It is removing our debt.” That would be an asset. But no indebtedness will notcreate those blessings and opportunities.

What is this internal asset that God could give us? Let’s ask God.

1. “God, what is this incredible asset?”
1. God responds, “The great asset I give you that creates great potential for outreach andministry is diversity.”
1. “Wait a minute, God. Let me get this straight. You want us to believe thatdiversity is an asset that creates extraordinary potential?”
1. “God, diversity is not asset or potential–diversity is handicap.”
2. “Diversity means that we are not alike within the congregation; that weare in fact very different.”
3. “The fact that we are different in our membership is a problem, or atleast the beginning of problems; it is disadvantage, not advantage.”
2. If you are convinced that diversity in a congregation is problem rather than anasset, may I ask how you formed that conclusion? Why do you think diversityto be a spiritual liability?
1. I anticipate that most of us would say that the goal of the church is to beuniform and to produce uniformity.
2. If the goal of Christ’s church is uniformity, then diversity would be aproblem.
2. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, diversity was used to generate opportunity toachieve God’s greatest purposes.
1. How many intimate disciples did Jesus have? Even the children would replythat Jesus had twelve disciples.
1. In those twelve men, do you see uniformity or diversity?
2. You see incredible diversity–I could easily illustrate that diversity inmany ways.
3. To me, the most striking illustration of their diversity is seen in Matthewthe tax collector and Simeon the Zealot.
1. Matthew, prior to becoming one of the twelve, collected taxesfrom Jews for the Roman government.
1. Because he collected taxes for the government thatdestroyed Israel’s independence and stationed an occupationforce in their country, Matthew was regarded to be a traitorito his own nation by many of his fellow Jews.
2. Many Jews were insulted by Jesus choosing a tax collectorto be one of the twelve.
2. Simeon, before becoming one of the twelve, belonged to theZealots, a radical religious/political group that believed Jews whocollected taxes for the Roman government were committingtreason against God.
1. They believed that God expected them to assassinate Jewswho assisted the Roman government.
2. So Zealots killed tax collectors when it was possible.
3. Thus Simeon would have killed Matthew prior to discipleship.
1. How could Jesus select as two of the twelve men that werethat different? That defies our expectation andunderstanding.
2. Matthew and Simeon had nothing in common before theyfollowed Jesus, and the only thing they had in common asdisciples was that they both followed Jesus.
3. In fact, neither Matthew or Simeon would have had much incommon with the other 10 disciples.
4. Jesus deliberately creating such diversity within the twelve declares an important lesson that we must see and understand clearly.
1. The diversity that Jesus established within the discipleship clearly emphasizes his determination to save all kinds of people.
2. Peter could never have worked effectively with the peopleMatthew could identify with, and Matthew could never identifywith and effectively communicate to the people that Simeon couldteach.
2. If we understand the diversity Jesus deliberately created within the twelve, it should not surprise us that he deliberately designed the church to be diverse.
2. Is the church by divine design to be diverse? Is diversity within the church the intent of God, Christ, and the Spirit?
1. Unquestionably!
1. Look at what the book of Acts clearly reveals to us about the establishment andgrowth of the church under the specific guidance of Christ and the Spirit.
1. From day one in Acts 2 it existed in a complex diversity.
1. The first converts were made from the people who came toJerusalem to observe the Passover.
2. Those who first heard and responded to the good newsabout Jesus’ resurrection included Jews from Galilee andJews from Judea–who had major differences; Jews fromPalestine and Jews from non-Jewish nations–which hadeven greater differences; and converted non-Jews, who hadeven more differences.
3. Then, under the direct guidance of Jesus and the Spirit, thegospel was extended to non-Jews who already believed inGod in Acts 10.
4. Then in Acts 11 we learn that the gospel was extended tonon-Jews who did not believe in God, and from Acts 13 thatGod commissioned two of his best preachers to work in theRoman world among non-Jews who worshipped idols.
5. Within a few years after the church was established, it wasincredibly diverse–more diverse than any of us have everknown it in our lifetimes.
2. In fact, congregations were so diverse that it was common for thecongregations to have problems accepting their own diversity.
3. Romans 12:3-8 is clear documentation of that fact.
1. Within your diversity, don’t be concerned about yourown significance and importance.
2. Focus your concern on a desire to have soundjudgment in using your God-given potential for faith.
3. A congregation, in its diversity, is like the physicalbody of a person.
4. There are many different body parts that have totallydifferent functions, completely different purposes,and dissimilar abilities.
5. Determine your gift that God has given you as a partof the body and function diligently doing what Godenabled you to do.
2. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 documents God’s design for a congregationto be diverse in even greater detail.
1. Paul told the diverse congregation at Corinth that the churchand the physical body are alike because the church exists asChrist’s body in this world.
2. It is formed from Jews and non-Jews, from slaves andpeople who are free–you do not find any greater differencesthan are found in those two groupings.
3. If you do not have diversity, you do not have a body becausea body must function in many distinctly different ways toexist.
4. God placed each person in the body; our differences comefrom God; and God has a use for each one of us within thebody that will bring health and strength to the body.
5. God never intended for all of us to be alike doing the samethings.
3. Allow me to give a clear, practical illustration of the blessing of diversity.
1. David Chadwell has one body, and all its parts are interconnected and mutuallydependent.
1. My eyeball and my thumb have absolutely nothing in common as body parts.
1. They have nothing in common in their individual functions.
2. Their purposes are not even remotely similar.
3. They are not even made of the same tissue and certainly do not have thesame structure–an eyeball and a thumb are about as dissimilar as you canget.
2. My eyeball could arrogantly say, “The body would be in a terrible fix if it didnot have me.”
1. “I am the body’s light.”
2. “I am the body’s guidance system.”
3. “Without me, the body can’t function.”
3. The thumb is a very low-profile member of our bodies.
1. We use it constantly without realizing that we are using it.
2. Our thumbs probably find themselves in more critical, dangeroussituations every single day than any other part of our body.
3. Yet, we take thumbs so for granted that we never consider how importanta thumb is.
4. Tape your thumb securely to the palm of your hand for a half a day.
1. See how much you miss it; see how often you think aboutit-not having your thumb available.
2. You will be astounded at the hundreds of things that youcannot do within only four or five hours, things that youconstantly do without even thinking.
4. My eyeball and my thumb are very essential parts of my body.
5. But the only two things my eyeball and my thumb have in common isthat they are both a part of my body and they both are sustained by thesame life force.
1. But my thumb and my eyeball need each other and are dedicated totaking care of each other.
2. If some trash gets in my eye, my thumb is instantly there to be ofassistance.
3. My eye is constantly giving guidance to my thumb as it dailymaneuvers through dangerous situations.

To see the incredible blessing of diversity, look at your own body. When all members of your body are healthy and strong, your body is incredibly capable.

As a congregation, the greatest practical blessing God can give us is diversity. But we cannot accept or use that blessing without knowledgeable faith and understanding. The more diverse we are, the more God can use us for all His purposes. The more diverse we are, the more people we can touch with the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

Thank God everyone in the congregation is not exactly like me. Thank God everyone is not exactly like you. Because you and I are so evil? No. Because if everyone were exactly alike, there would not be a body.

Jesus’ Description of a Righteous Man

Posted by David on November 17, 1996 under Sermons

Jesus Christ stands at the heart and center of everything we are spiritually and everything we do religiously. We belong to Jesus. Jesus is our Lord as well as being our Savior. We are saved because of Jesus. We are forgiven because of Jesus. We can be children of God because of Jesus. Nothing is more important than understanding Jesus. All proper Christian knowledge begins with a proper understanding of Jesus. A proper knowledge of the epistles begins with an accurate understanding of Jesus. Paul urged Christians to develop the mind of Christ.

I want to begin my Sunday evening studies with you by reaffirming and advancing our understanding of Jesus. I want to begin our focus on Jesus by developing an overview of the longest recorded sermon of Jesus in the gospels, the Sermon on the Mount.

This evening I want us to examine Jesus’ description of a righteous person by looking at what we call the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12.

1. Important background considerations:
   1. Matthew 5:1 states that Jesus gave these teachings to his disciples.
      1. Though a massive crowd of people continued to follow him, he created a context in which he could address his disciples.
         1. He went up on a hill and sat down.
         2. His disciples gathered around him.
      2. It is particularly important that we understand that he is teaching disciples.
         1. These are people who have already committed themselves to follow Jesus for the purpose of learning anything he wants to teach them.
         2. They have already accepted the fact that he is the teacher, and that nothing is more important than learning from him.
         3. These are people that belong to him, that follow him on a day-by-day basis who are committed to learn anything and everything that he can teach them.
         4. They are not there to question or challenge; they are there to understand.
   2. It is equally important to understand that Jesus is teaching his disciples a totally different concept of religion, of spirituality, of relationship with God, and of relationship with people.
      1. The most influential voice, the most powerful religious teachers in Israel, are the Pharisees.
         1. The concepts and teachings of the Pharisees were accepted as being truth by “the man on the street” in Palestine.
         2. The positions and thoughts of the Pharisees were so commonly accepted and had been so commonly accepted for such a lengthy period of time that they represented what most Jews accepted to be the “way things are.”
      2. In this sermon, and in much of Jesus’ teachings, he is contrasting his teachings and concepts with the thoughts and understandings that the common Jewish population accepted without question or doubt.
      3. This contrast was very evident to those who seriously listened to his teachings.
         1. Jesus is not merely telling them something different.
         2. He is sharing with them thoughts and revelations that radically oppose what they always accepted, always understood to be the truth of the scriptures.
2. Interestingly, Jesus begins this series of contrasts between himself and the Pharisees by presenting his description of the righteous person.
   1. The beatitudes are a composite description of Jesus’ righteous person.
      1. He is not talking about eight different kinds of people who follow God.
      2. He is talking about basic qualities of righteousness that are typical of the person that God acknowledges to be righteous.
   2. Those eight qualities are:
      1. The righteous person is poor in spirit, or, he or she recognizes his or her spiritual poverty and owns that spiritual poverty.
      2. The righteous person mourns, or, because he or she sees and owns his or her spiritual poverty, he or she is grieved because that poverty exists.
      3. The righteous person is meek, or gentle, or under control.
      4. The righteous person is famished for righteousness–he or she has a consuming appetite for righteousness, that is what he or she wants and wants to become.
      5. The righteous person is merciful–the person who abuses them, or offends them, or hurts them, or treats them unjustly will receive mercy, not justice; and the righteous person will extend mercy to those who have failed.
      6. The righteous person is devoted to developing and having a pure heart; he or she does not merely want to look pure in deeds; he or she wants to be pure within.
      7. The righteous person is a peacemaker; he or she is the kind of person who can help those who are alienated find reconciliation.
      8. The righteous person is willing to endure suffering and mistreatment for Jesus’ sake.
3. Jesus’ description of a righteous person stood in total contrast, stark contrast with the Pharisees’ concept of a righteous person–and remember that was the commonly accepted definition of righteous person at that time.
   1. The Pharisees’ description of a righteous person was the exact opposite of Jesus’ description.
      1. The righteous person was a religiously accomplished person (he had no spiritual poverty to own).
         1. By virtue of his accomplishments, he knew he was right, he knew he had God’s truth.
         2. He could say, as the Pharisees did to Jesus, “By what authority do you do these things?”
         3. He could say, “We have Moses on our side, and we are descendants of Abraham.”
         4. He could tell you in detail what was right and what was wrong in any situation.
      2. The righteous person took pride in his religious achievements (he had nothing religiously to mourn).
         1. In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican who were praying at the temple, the Pharisee in his prayer is a superb example (Luke 18:9-14).
            1. God, I thank you that I am not like other people who do not do your will.
            2. I don’t swindle, I am not unjust, I don’t commit adultery, and I don’t take advantage of other people.
            3. I fast two times every week.
            4. I give you ten percent of everything I receive, no matter how big or small it is.
         2. I am proud of what I am not, and I am proud of what I do.
      3. The righteous person was aggressive as he opposed those he declared to be God’s enemies (meekness or gentleness was weakness).
         1. Like the Pharisees did when they came from Jerusalem to Galilee to examine the deeds and teachings of Jesus.
         2. Like the Pharisees as they followed Jesus searching for mistakes as they were doing when they saw his disciples stripping raw grain and eating it on a Sabbath.
         3. Like the Pharisees, who were certain Jesus was evil, and plotted to discredit and destroy him.
      4. The righteous person was knowledgeable (he had no need to hunger for righteousness); he did not seek understanding–he dispersed understanding. He fed those who were starved to understand.
         1. Jesus never taught the Pharisees one thing.
         2. They were always certain they understood and Jesus did not, they were right and Jesus was wrong, and they had the right interpretation of God’s will and Jesus was misrepresenting God’s will.
      5. The righteous person exercised righteous indignation (mercy compromised God’s will).
         1. It was an act of righteousness to trap someone that you declared was teaching error.
         2. It was an act of righteousness to falsely accuse and discredit someone who was doing what you declared to be evil.
         3. It was an act of righteousness to destroy a person who was a religious threat to what you knew was right.
      6. The righteous person was ceremonially pure; he ate the right things, washed his hands the right way, practiced the commands regarding body purity–purity existed in how you used your body, not your emotions, not your motivations, not your inner being.
         1. Purity had nothing to do with the mind and the heart.
         2. Purity concerned only your body.
         3. Is it not easy to see how that reasoning could lead to the mock trials and execution of Jesus?
      7. The righteous person was devoted to justice, to condemning the wrong doers, to destroying those who violated the commandments (not to making peace).
         1. It was perfectly consistent with the Pharisees’ concept of righteousness to bring the woman captured while committing adultery to Jesus and say, “The law says kill her, so what do you say?”
      8. Obviously, from this description of righteousness, a righteous person would not endure suffering in loyalty to Jesus–in this definition the righteous person would inflict suffering on those who were loyal to Jesus.
4. Those who accepted and lived by the Pharisees’ description of a righteous person became hardened, inflexible, judgmental people who did evil things for what they declared to be godly purposes.
   1. They were cold and unsympathetic to the failures and struggles of others.
   2. They became emotional deserts and loveless religious robots who always went through the motions of doing the declared right thing without feeling and without faith as God defines faith.
5. Those who would accept Jesus’ description of a righteous person:
   1. Had citizenship in God’s kingdom.
   2. Would receive comfort for their spiritual grief.
   3. Would endure in this world.
   4. Would have their craving for righteousness satisfied.
   5. Would receive mercy when they made mistakes and failings.
   6. Would see God.
   7. Would be called God’s children.
   8. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Those who are righteous by Jesus’ description become warm, alive, and filled with kindness, love, and compassion just as was Jesus. The righteousness Jesus described will make us Christ-like.

Hope For Those In Despair

Posted by David on under Sermons

In most of the nations of our world, the majority of the population live in open despair. Their despair is no secret–the truth is it cannot be hidden. There is not enough food to feed families, and what they eat we would not consider eating. They exist in crude, inadequate forms of shelter. Every day they face incredible hardships and short life spans–when we observe their hardships we wonder how they survive at all. They endure sickness and disease with little hope for medical treatment.

Despair is no stranger to the people in our society. We have people who live in open despair in our society. We have our homeless, our hungry, our jobless, our people who exist in inhumane conditions. But the majority of people in our society who live in despair live in hidden despair. In daily life they try hard to act as if everything is fine in their lives. But it is anything but fine. Some are trapped in horrible marriages and endure outrageous abuses. Some struggle with deep depression and are filled with anger. Some are trapped in addictive behaviors that they struggle to hide. They often wonder if their lives are worth living, often think that there is no reason for them to go on. But they are determined to keep their despair a well hidden secret.

I want to ask you a serious question. What do all these people need? These people who are living in open despair or hidden despair in any society, what do they need. We answer, “They need the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ!” May I ask a second question. If these people heard the gospel, if they received the gospel, how would this good news about Jesus Christ address their despair?

I am in total agreement that it can address their despair, but it can only if one thing is true. The good news of Jesus will address their despair only if it gives them hope. Not speculative hope, the hope that says, “Well, maybe things can get better.” Not wishful thinking hope, the hope that says, “I wish this could change.” But the hope emphasized in the New Testament, the hope based on solid assurance.

Last weekend we heard the great commission emphasized, and it should be emphasized. But I am convinced that Jesus’ great invitation must always accompany Jesus’ great commission. It is the great invitation that reveals the solid hope of Jesus’ great commission.

1. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus issued his great invitation:
   Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
   1. There are several striking things to note and to accept in Jesus’ great invitation.
      1. Jesus wants struggling people to come to him.
         1. He did not call those who are confident that they have their lives together.
         2. He did not call those who would have us believe that they have no problems.
         3. He called the people who are so distressed in their lives that they can hardly struggle on.
            1. The word weary here literally means “those who have worked to exhaustion.”
            2. These folks have struggled with life until they are exhausted.
            3. Their burdens are so heavy that they are being crushed under them.
      2. He wants the struggling and the burdened to put themselves in his hands, to place themselves under his control, and to allow him to teach them. He assures the struggling and the burdened that:
         1. He is gentle.
         2. He is humble in heart.
         3. Jesus is not some egomaniac that exploits people to advance his self-importance.
         4. Instead, Jesus is totally devoted to helping the weary, struggling person who is being crushed by his or her life.
      3. This great invitation includes a promise, a promise that is stressed twice: “I will give you rest; you will find rest for your souls.”
         1. When we are distressed, we can’t rest.
         2. When we are struggling and so burdened with life that it is crushing us, we can’t rest.
         3. But Jesus promised that if we come to him, he will extend a rest to us that we can receive and experience.
2. One of the rich blessings that has touched my life has been the joy of witnessing the hope of the good news at work.
   1. In West Africa:
      1. I gave a Bible to a woman who had never touched a Bible before.
         1. Even though she could not read, you could see the joy in her face and her eyes.
         2. She had a child who was going to school who could read her Bible to her in the evenings.
      2. I listened as a converted witch doctor implored me to return to America and tell the people who supported my mission work how much he appreciated being a Christian.
         1. His conversion had cost him his wife, his property, and his prestige.
         2. But he regarded those to be acceptable sacrifices when he compared them to what he found in Christ.
   2. In Kaliningrad, Russia, I was the first American invited by the Institute to speak in English about Christianity to their students.
      1. For four days the lecture hall was packed with students who listened with total attentiveness–no one left the lecture hall for any reason even when I spoke for over an hour.
      2. The first day a few professors came.
      3. By the last day, professors took over the first row of seats in the lecture hall.
      4. The first day, a lady professor told me that she had never entered a church.
         1. The second day she told me, “You are sharing things that can be useful to our people.”
         2. The next day she said, “I see that I need to give serious consideration to the things that you are saying.”
         3. The last day she said, “I am ready to go to a church.”
3. But here in our own country equally moving experiences have touched me.
   1. A few years ago I met a young woman whose life was about as messed up as a life can get.
      1. Though she was an accomplished, capable professional, she was struggling to find a reason to live.
         1. She was close to recovery from anorexia.
         2. She was a recovering alcoholic.
         3. She was as depressed as a person can be and still be alive.
         4. She lived every day of her life terrified by fears that she could not identify.
      2. Years prior, at the lowest point of her life, she was converted to Christ and became a member of a very controlling religious group.
         1. When she could not instantly overcome her problems, when she could not meet their demands, the group was ordered to withdraw their support and association and she was told that she was possessed by demons.
         2. When I met her, she knew that she needed God, but the thought of seeking God terrified her.
      3. She was so filled with fear that she literally could not enter a church building to study or to worship–church buildings were places that hurt struggling people.
         1. At that time we were conducting some group work one night a week for struggling people.
         2. She came, but she stood outside the door trembling; when she could come in, she might be so overwhelmed with fear that she would have to get up and leave.
   2. She was rooming with another young lady who was an agnostic.
      1. This lady’s father delighted in getting her drunk when she was six because he thought it was funny to watch a drunk child stagger around.
      2. She was an alcoholic before she was 10.
      3. Though her family never worshipped, they forced her to attend Bible classes and worship.
      4. In Bible class, as a child, she became friends with the teacher’s daughter.
         1. After a class, the teacher caught them together.
         2. The teacher told her daughter, “This is the kind of person that you must not associate with.”
      5. She detested the church and God from that day forward.
   3. Listen to what happened.
      1. The agnostic lady said to the fear-filled lady, “This class is obviously helping you. I will go with you so you will be able to walk in the building.”
      2. That is the only reason the agonistic came.
      3. But the agnostic could not believe how the group and the discussion was building hope.
      4. By the third class the agnostic was coming because she wanted to be there.
      5. That led to personal studies and, in time, to baptism into Christ.
      6. I have never seen a person in any country any happier than was this lady on the day she was baptized.
         1. She said, “For the first time in my life I understand what love is. For the first time in my life I know what a friend is.”
4. The hunger, the burning desire that I have for us as a congregation focuses on three great needs.
   1. I want us to grow as we expand our mission outreach into the world.
      1. I want our commitment to reach out to other peoples in other nations to capture our imaginations.
      2. I want us to bring the good news of the hope of assurance to other people.
   2. But I also want us to grow as we develop and expand our outreach to the Fort Smith area.
      1. I want that commitment to also capture our imaginations.
      2. I want to bring the good news of the hope of assurance to those who know despair all around us.
   3. And I want each of us as a part God’s family to grow and develop spiritually as never before.
      1. I want each of us to understand and to trust the hope of the gospel as we never have before.
      2. I want the assurance of our hope to draw us closer together than we have ever been, to make us more respectful and forbearing with one another than we have ever been.

Jesus was the most compassionate, merciful man who ever lived. When you read the gospels, his unselfish compassion is beyond belief. Again and again he astounds you with how much he cared, and who he cared for. He amazes you with the kindness and consideration he extends to the most unlikely people. Constantly he proved that his great invitation was genuine, that it was sincere, and that he meant it.

With all my heart and being, I want us to be a congregation in which we can see Jesus in each other. I want everyone of us to know that we will help each other when we are struggling. I want those who visit with us to see Jesus in us. I want them to know that this is a congregation that helps anyone who struggles and lifts burdens.