Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Well, good morning, Christ Church.
[00:00:04] Happy trunk or treat Sunday.
[00:00:07] Thank you so much for all you who are doing a trunk and making this a special Sunday for our kids. Can we give them a round of applause?
[00:00:19] I so appreciate you doing that.
[00:00:22] I believe that it's so important that, you know, we are a church that loves and prioritizes and values our kids and makes us a place that they want to be because their faith is so incredibly important. Amen. So thank you for today.
[00:00:38] If we have not had a chance to meet yet.
[00:00:41] My name is Chet, and love to meet you, shake your hand, and as Tina said, I will even buy you a donut today.
[00:00:50] Yeah. Yep. If I don't know you, but I already know you, Jim, so don't get too excited here.
[00:01:00] But we're so glad you're here. And we started a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount a few weeks ago, and we're going to continue that. But before we do, would you bow your head in prayer with me, Father, I thank you so much, Lord, that you are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
[00:01:20] Father, I pray today as we talk about your kingdom, as we think about it, as we, Lord, seek to understand what it means to enter it. That, Lord, you would guide us, you would bless us, you would help us, and that all of it would make sense and click in our hearts in very real ways.
[00:01:39] So bless us in this good work. We pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
[00:01:47] Well, I don't know about you, but I love the Blue Angels.
[00:01:52] I think they're so cool. I didn't get to go to the air show this year. Anybody make it to the air show? Yeah.
[00:02:00] Okay. All right, man. This is a theme here, and. Well, maybe you guys should go next year.
[00:02:08] I didn't go either, though. But I think that it's so amazing what they do. And I think if I was not a pastor, I would want to be a fighter pilot.
[00:02:19] I think, unfortunately, I probably lack the qualifications and skill to do that, but I have seen Top Gun so many times, a video of the briefing room of the Blue Angels before they went out on a flight. And it was amazing to see the coordination, the communication, how they prepare and plan for all of that. And it was really cool because they kind of, like, follow the flight plan with their hand, and they envision that they are making the different maneuvers and talking the same way. So it's like this really cool thing, and it's just amazing to see all that actually goes into it.
[00:03:04] And when I was thinking about that image, I was reminded of something the great C.S. lewis said. He said that to live a spiritually transformed life is like a fleet of airplanes in the sky going together.
[00:03:20] He uses a similar analogy, and he says that for that flight to be. I feel like I'm a little loud. Is that me or am I. I am loud, blasting you out. Okay, thanks.
[00:03:32] Cause you know when I want to yell, I don't want to hurt your eardrums.
[00:03:36] But the flight plan, to be successful, Lewis says it ultimately requires three things. One, that each individual plane works, that they can't, you know, they have to be mechanically sound. Second, that no one's flying and trying to bump into each other.
[00:03:54] And third, that they all know where they're going and they're going to the right place. And Lewis said in the same way, to live a spiritually, number one, your soul has to be in a healthy place.
[00:04:08] Your soul has to be working in a functional. In a healthy way. Second, he said, you can't go through life bumping into people all the time. You can't go through life just making hurtful relationships and damaging one another. And then third, you have to be going in the right direction towards what life is ultimately about. And I thought that's such a helpful way to think. Cause we know the struggle of all those things. We know that the struggle in our own hearts and lives sometimes. We know the struggles of relationships, and we know those times of feeling lost and directionless in life.
[00:04:49] And today I bring that up because we are gonna begin the Sermon on the Mount, which is in the Gospel of Matthew, which we've been looking at, and the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus addresses all those issues.
[00:05:03] He addresses what a healthy soul looks like. He shows us how to relate to each other in ways that please God. And he gives us this grander vision of where our life ought to be going. So today we're gonna begin that and look through it. And it's in Matthew, chapter five.
[00:05:26] And I'm gonna begin reading to you at verse one. It says this.
[00:05:29] Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain. Hence, Sermon on the Mount. Sermon on the mountain. If it was on this stage, it would be called Sermon on the Stage.
[00:05:42] You see how that works?
[00:05:44] But he sat down and his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[00:05:57] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
[00:06:02] Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall Be satisfied. And this is the beginning of the sermon. I'm gonna stop here for today. But today, what I want us to focus on in this, and there's so much to take from this and so much to dive into about this, but today, what I wanna focus on is how this sermon, it shows to us something really important about God's kingdom, something that we need to see and understand. And then secondly, these first four Beatitudes that I read to, and that's what people call the beginning of this, the Beatitudes, because they all start with that word blessed.
[00:06:51] Blessed are this. And so there's kind of like roughly eight or nine of these, depending how you count them. We're just gonna look at the first four today.
[00:06:59] But this sermon, it shows the kingdom something important we need to see about it, but it also shows us the way into the kingdom. And so that's what I want us to think about today. Now, the first thing to see is how this shows us the kingdom. Now, a few weeks ago, I shared with you Matthew, chapter three.
[00:07:21] And we saw this guy named John the Baptist.
[00:07:24] And if you don't remember him, here's what you can remember about him. He doesn't eat donuts in the morning.
[00:07:31] He eats locusts.
[00:07:34] And so John the Baptist came, and he came preaching, Matthew says, and it said that he preached this. He said, repent, baptized. At the end of chapter three, we saw him go and be tempted by the devil at the beginning of chapter four. And then after that, Matthew says that Jesus then began his ministry. And he says, and Jesus began proclaiming, saying this, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[00:08:03] So both John and Jesus are saying the same thing. They're saying, hey, if you want to understand the coming of Jesus, then. Then here's the summary version.
[00:08:14] God's kingdom is here.
[00:08:17] It's present.
[00:08:18] Turn towards it, enter into it, move towards it, not away from it, receive it. And both of them are saying that. Now, I think one way to understand this is just to think about the season we're in right now. I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in an election season.
[00:08:40] Yeah.
[00:08:40] Anybody tired of political ads? Yeah.
[00:08:45] I'm like, how did you get my number?
[00:08:47] Why is everybody texting me?
[00:08:50] And if you notice, really every political ad is the same. And basically it says this. It says, if we're in power, we will do good things for you.
[00:08:59] If our opponents are in power, they will do bad things for you, therefore vote for us. Right. That's kind of. That's every political ad. If you boil it down, here's what we'll do if we're in power, and it's good, and here's what they'll do and it's bad. Now what Jesus is saying is ultimately saying, hey, there is a new sheriff in town.
[00:09:21] The kingdom of heaven is here. There is a new ruling power.
[00:09:27] And what Jesus says is that this kingdom offers something entirely new that you desperately need.
[00:09:39] Now Jesus also, interestingly points us to something that marks this kingdom. See the sermon, it begins, like I said, with the Beatitudes, with these statements of blessing. Blessed is this person. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
[00:10:00] Now this word blessed is interesting because it's a little bit difficult to fully translate. And blessed is a good translation of it, but it has in it the idea of happiness, of joy, but kind of happiness we don't like to use because happiness sometimes have the connotation of being fleeting or passing or superficial. But this word here is. It's hardier than that.
[00:10:31] It's a blessedness. It's a rich joy. It's not just a passing pleasure, but it's this powerful state of being.
[00:10:42] And so what Jesus is showing us in the Sermon on the Mount is that there is a new sheriff in town, a new kingdom has come, and the kingdom is marked by a robust joy. I think it's of us have it as some goal in our life to experience more happiness. Amen.
[00:11:02] Probably none of us here today are like, you know what I would like in my life? I got too much happiness.
[00:11:08] It's out of hand.
[00:11:10] I've never heard someone say that.
[00:11:13] I've heard people throw their hands up in frustration, say I just want to be happy.
[00:11:20] And they're saying that because they just cannot seem to get. And it's marked by a robust joy. Years ago I came across a book and it was called 10% happier.
[00:11:33] And I was intrigued by the book. Cause I'm like, yeah, being happier, I'm in for that. But then I was thinking about the title. I'm like, but ours, you know what I'm saying? If it was like 40% happiness, I might have bought the hardcover, you know what I'm saying? But if you're just offering me a little bit more, not interested.
[00:11:54] But Jesus is offering us tremendously more than that. But here's the deal.
[00:12:02] How many of us in our life, if we're honest, we have tried to find happiness through the outside in approach.
[00:12:12] And what I mean by that is we look at our lives. And if we say, if I change something outside of me, I think it will change something inside of me.
[00:12:21] So we're like, you know what? I need to make my life happy? I need to move.
[00:12:25] You know what? I need to be happy. I need a different job. You know, I need different faces in my life. You know what? I need to be happy? I need a cheeseburger.
[00:12:38] That one will work. It's just out transformation.
[00:12:41] Jesus is gonna show us that actually the change does not begin outside of us. It has to begin inside of us.
[00:12:51] Do you know the way into the blessed life is through spiritual transformation?
[00:12:59] Is that the way into it is for God to be at work in the truest and deepest and most real parts of who I am. Because otherwise I can shuffle everything around in my life.
[00:13:16] It's not ultimately going to change things. You with me, church, and this is the invitation of the Sermon on the Mount, is that will I allow Christ to lead me in this inside out transformation? And that's what these Beatitudes are showing us. Now, like I said, there's about eight or nine Beatitudes, depending how you count them. And I read to you today the first four.
[00:13:42] And when I used to read the Beatitudes, I used to think about them as talking about all these different groups of people. So, like, the first one is blessed and the poor spirit. So I'm like, that's one group of people. And then the second one is blessed are those who mourn, and that's another group of people. And then the other one is blessed are the meek, and that's a group of people. And on and on. But now I don't see it as talking about all these different groups of people, but talking about the transformation of one person and that these Beatitudes are a pathway and they build on each other.
[00:14:20] And the first one is the starting point.
[00:14:25] If I'm gonna allow God to change me from the inside out, where does that begin? It begins here. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
[00:14:41] They will walk through the door of the kingdom of God.
[00:14:45] Now, I'm sure we all know the feeling of being financially poorer than we want to be.
[00:14:52] Amen.
[00:14:54] We all, and maybe some of us, we're really good at that. You know, we're like, I get that I'm identifying with Jesus, but Jesus is not talking about our finances.
[00:15:05] He's talking about our spirit.
[00:15:09] And so what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Well, I think one of the most helpful ways to understand this is I have so much love and respect and admiration for the recovery ministries of our church, for overcomers and AA and organizations and ministries like that.
[00:15:31] So powerful, so helpful, amazing ministry.
[00:15:34] And every one of those programs starts in the same way that if you are going to get healthy, if you're going to get sober, the first step is to admit that you have no power over your addiction, is to say, I can't do this, say this is beyond me.
[00:15:58] And to take that step is absolutely essential to everything that follows.
[00:16:06] And really that whole idea was built from the Sermon on the Mount, but that's a whole other story.
[00:16:11] But this is what Jesus is saying. The first step to change is to acknowledge that I can't do it, that my problems are bigger than me, that the challenges are too much and I don't have the resources or the capability or anything to do what ultimately needs done in my life. You with me on this? And that is the beginning point of transformation in our lives.
[00:16:41] It reminds me of my son Teddy. He's three now and he's at the age where he wants to do everything himself.
[00:16:48] And so inevitably we'll be getting all the kids in the car to go somewhere, which by the way, I hate car seats.
[00:17:02] I would rather be get hit with a two by four then get kids, my kids, in and out of car seats. I can't. I do it. Don't be like, oh, you don't put. No, I do it. I just don't like it.
[00:17:16] You with me?
[00:17:18] And so inevitably there's these moments where we're running late trying to get all three kids in the car seats. All of them are 13 point harnesses now, you know, and it's like driving me crazy. And then Teddy, you know, will be coming in and I'll be like trying to rush them into the car seat, get them buckled in and be like, no, no, I want to do it.
[00:17:39] Like, oh great.
[00:17:42] And I'll be like, no, Teddy, we're in a rush, yada, yada, I want to do it, you know, And I'm like, okay, all right, fine, you try and do it, which I know you can't because we've been down this road, but I'll stay right here. And then when you can't do it, tell me and I'll help you. And so he'll be like, dad, can you help me?
[00:18:02] Like click, slam the door and speed off. You know, that's what good parents do.
[00:18:12] And I don't help him until he admits he can't do it. You with me? The help doesn't come until that point now I help him in a very smug way.
[00:18:23] The good news is God helps you in a very merciful way.
[00:18:28] God is a way better father than I am.
[00:18:31] And that is good news for all of us. But the point still stands that the beginning point is saying, God, I have nothing to offer.
[00:18:41] I can't do this. This is beyond me.
[00:18:46] I am lost and done without you. And here's what's so fascinating about this. Maybe some of us today, we think the thing that is gonna keep away from God is the messes and the sins and the brokenness in our lives.
[00:19:01] But the thing that will keep you away from God are the things that you think you do good and it buys you credit with him.
[00:19:09] That's what will actually keep you away, is that thinking you can do it on your own, thinking that you have something to offer and not getting to the point where you can just truly, in a real way, say, lord, I am poor in spirit. I got nothing.
[00:19:28] And then we take the next step. Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn.
[00:19:34] So as I come to terms with the spiritual reality of my soul, then Jesus says, the next step is I mourn it.
[00:19:46] I think about my life, and I think about all the times and ways I've tried to do it without God.
[00:19:55] And I grieve it, man.
[00:19:58] I see that more clearly now.
[00:20:01] And I mourn it now. I was thinking about this recently. I read a book some months ago, and it's called the Mind, Body Prescription by John Sarno. And it was kind of just a book that I had caught wind of. And. And basically the argument of the book is that you and I, we are holistic people, that you're not just a body and a mind and emotions, but that all is one being. You're an embodied being, which I very much believe. You know, you're a soul and body. All those things are the fullness of who you are. And so he says, and they're all related.
[00:20:39] And so what his book argues is that sometimes our health issues are not just biology, but they're emotional pain in our life that's aggravating them or making them worse or whatever. And that seems like a reasonable position to me. And so in the book, I was kind of intrigued by it. And he says, and one of the things that really can hurt your health is like, this repressed rage. And he spent a lot of time talking about that. So I was, like, reading this book, and I was like, this is kind of interesting stuff. And I was thinking about it, and I Was like, am I. Do I have any repressed rage?
[00:21:16] And I was thinking, I was like, I'm not really mad at anybody else. But then I thought, but I do have some real rage against myself.
[00:21:26] And I started going down this line of thought and I was thinking about just like mistakes and failures and all the things in my life that God has done or trusted me with. And I was just thinking about this, but. But I wasn't doing it from this place of like, you know, unhealthy shame. I think I was really doing it more from a place of mourning. Like, man, I really, it really hurts my soul to think about ways I've dishonored God in the past.
[00:21:56] It hurts my soul to think about ways I live my life that was outside of what he was calling me to do or be. And it was like kind of this powerful moment of prayer and thinking that I was in. And I just spent a little bit of time doing it and I left it. And honestly, it was like a weight was off of my soul. And I felt a sense of comfort. But even more than that, I felt a sense of man. I don't want to keep making the same mistakes in my life.
[00:22:29] I don't want to keep going down any path that moves me away from God.
[00:22:36] And that's what this next beatitude is, is meekness. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now, meek's a word we don't use, but really what that word means is humble.
[00:22:51] Is teachable.
[00:22:53] Is someone who's willing to learn and grow and isn't super thick headed and think they have it all figured out. And so look at the progression of this. I recognize that I'm poor in spirit. I mourn it. Cause if I don't mourn it, I will likely go back to some of those ways. You with me?
[00:23:14] If I'm just sorry for the effects of it, but not sorry for how it dishonors God, I don't think the change will run deep enough in my life. You with me? And so I mourn it. But then I don't just stay there.
[00:23:30] Now I go to this place where I say, God, teach me your way.
[00:23:37] I want to know your direction and your wisdom and your desires for my life.
[00:23:45] I don't want to keep going down those other paths. I want your path for my life. And I'm open, I'm teachable.
[00:23:54] I'm willing to learn and grow.
[00:23:58] See, the problem is if I am not open to God's direction, then I will keep going down the path that Makes sense to me. And the proverb says, there is a way that makes sense to a man, but it is the way of death.
[00:24:18] Here's what Proverbs is saying. Every dumb idea in your life you thought was a good idea, at some point, you with me.
[00:24:26] And that is a reality that should scare all of us.
[00:24:30] Teach me your way, Lord.
[00:24:34] Not my way, but your way. And that's the meek. And I found that sometimes the people who are most brilliant and competent often have an accompanying humility to them.
[00:24:50] I have a great professor at school. His name, he's got the coolest name ever, Thor Madsen.
[00:24:58] Is that awesome?
[00:25:01] I begged Allie to name Teddy Thor.
[00:25:05] I was like this.
[00:25:07] She wouldn't go for it.
[00:25:09] But he's. What I think is hilarious is like, you know, professor, total nerd, and your name is Thor. Like, just kind of. Not a hammer, but I got an encyclopedia, you know, but he's awesome. But this guy truly is.
[00:25:26] He is brilliant.
[00:25:28] Like, so unbelievably brilliant. Read everything, recalls it, understands it at just these incredibly high levels. And I love having the opportunity to learn from him. And, you know, there's been many times in class and stuff where, like, myself or someone will say something that isn't all that brilliant, and then he'll kind of be, like, very gracious, and be like, I think what they were getting at was this. And I'm like, I wasn't getting at that. But, yes, let's pretend like I was.
[00:25:54] Where it doesn't come in and just, like, smash and obliterate and humiliate. But is just meek is great. His strength under control is using their brilliance to bring other people up. And I just have to believe that that part of his brilliance is connected to his meekness.
[00:26:15] Cause a humble heart is a teachable heart, God, because this is what the Beatitude says, the meek will inherit the earth. What does that mean? It means that God can entrust stuff to teachable people.
[00:26:30] God can entrust stuff to people who receive it as a stewardship. They say, this isn't about me and it doesn't belong to me. But I'm gonna try to honor God best because he has loaned it to me for a time.
[00:26:45] And God can do a lot through meek people.
[00:26:49] And so I recognize my spiritual poverty.
[00:26:52] I mourn it.
[00:26:54] I say, God, I want my heart to be teachable.
[00:26:58] Not stubborn, not overconfident, but teachable. And then Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
[00:27:13] Then my appetite of my soul begins to Change.
[00:27:22] As I walk in my spiritual poverty and I mourn it, I'm teachable before God. Then what begins to grow in me is a desire more and more for God, a desire for his righteousness, for him to be at work in my life and to mature me and make me all that he wants me to be. I remember as a kid watching the movie Big. Anybody ever see that movie, Tom Hanks?
[00:27:51] And Anybody remember the piano scene?
[00:27:56] That's all I remember about the movie.
[00:27:59] No, but if you remember, the movie is about a young boy who goes to an amusement park, can't get on a ride, and then he goes and he makes a wish that he would become an adult so he could go do that. And he goes to bed. And then he wakes up, Big. As an adult. Now, watching that movie as an adult, I'm like, I would wish the exact opposite thing. Amen.
[00:28:22] I want to be a kid.
[00:28:24] Rub my belly, feed me ice cream. Amen. Anybody?
[00:28:29] No? We'll talk later.
[00:28:32] But he longs to be that new creation, something different, developed, fully mature, capable than he is right now.
[00:28:45] And is there something in our heart that. Man, I just. I long for God to make me a new man.
[00:28:52] That's a good longing. Jesus says, do you look at your life and you're like, you know what, man? God, I just. I long for you to make everything right in me and through me.
[00:29:06] And for me. I long to be who you want me to be. Which I realize is an even bigger transformation from a kid to an adult.
[00:29:19] But, man, I long for it. Jesus says, if that's what you long for, you will be filled.
[00:29:26] Jesus says, that is an appetite to grow. There's a lot of appetites in our life that you don't wanna grow, but this is one he says, this one can grow.
[00:29:37] Hunger and thirst for righteousness. So here's my challenge today as we consider the Sermon on the Mount. As we think about this, as. As we open our hearts to this, and as we invite God to change us from the inside out.
[00:29:54] I want all of us to say this prayer today and this week.
[00:30:00] Say it for yourself.
[00:30:02] Say it for your family.
[00:30:04] Say it for our church.
[00:30:06] Say it for those people that you love.
[00:30:09] It's a very simple prayer. Just say, God, give me a greater hunger for you.
[00:30:16] God, give me a greater hunger for you.
[00:30:20] If you're a follower of Jesus today, I think that what tends to happen is we lose our hunger for God, and we get content with just going through the rhythms of serving and doing godly things.
[00:30:38] We get content with the gifts that God gives us.
[00:30:44] And we begin to settle in our hearts and say, well, I'm full, but I want you to know today that there is something better than God's best gifts in your life. It is the gift of God himself.
[00:31:00] And I want to be a person and I want to be a church that says yes. I am so thankful for the blessings of the God. I'm so thankful for the direction of God. I'm thankful for the provision. I need it all. But more than that, I want God himself. My soul hungers for him.
[00:31:18] He is my joy, he is my strength, he is my delight. Because when my soul hungers for God, Jesus says, God will fill that.
[00:31:28] And then you know what?
[00:31:30] A lot of the outside things of life look altogether different.
[00:31:35] A lot of the things we worry about and wrestle about, all of a sudden those become secondary issues. And our soul is living from the robust joy of God's presence.
[00:31:47] And it is a game changer.
[00:31:50] And so you pray for that and I'll pray for that. And let's agree to pray for that as a church family. God, God give us a greater hunger for you. Let's pray.
[00:32:06] Lord, we do just come before you and we open our hearts now to you, Lord. We see the beauty, the power, the wisdom and precision of this message. And we, Lord, just ask that you could meet each of us in our own heart with the truth and the power of it.
[00:32:31] Father, help us to just be real in our spiritual poverty.
[00:32:37] Let that not be the issue that keeps us from your kingdom.
[00:32:41] Let it not be pride, some sense of being morally better than we are.
[00:32:47] Let us be humble and broken and beggars before your great mercy, for you are a God who loves to be merciful.
[00:32:59] Father, I pray we could mourn what we should mourn in our life.
[00:33:05] And we would pray that prayer with all our heart. Teach us your way, O Lord and Lord, may our hunger for you grow.
[00:33:15] May we be like the psalmist who just says, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your dwelling. Then I'll go to God, to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, I pray you would be the joy of our hearts, of our lives, of our church, that our hunger for you would be the most powerful hunger in our lives. And we trust, Lord, that in your grace and your kindness you'd fill it.
[00:33:42] Bless these good people, Lord, in Jesus, great day. Amen.
