Matthew Series, Week 10 - Ever Deeper

  The olympic games are right around the corner and people are finalizing the competitions so they might qualify for the games. In a 2016 article, they looked at the probability of a U.S. swimmer getting an opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games (https://www.yourswimlog.com/what-are-my-chances-of-going-to-the-olympics/). For the 2016 games in Brazil, 362,320 swimmers registered to compete. Team U.S.A. sent only 49 of those swimmers. That means that the odds of one of those 362,320 swimmers that started out making the team was .0013%. In comparison making it in the NFL is a .03% and making it to the NBA is a .02%. The standard is so high, because the US team is only looking for the best, and if you’re not the best, then better luck next time.

And it’s this idea of an impossible standard that brings us back to our summer series in Matthew, where we’ll be picking it up again in chapter 5, starting in verse 21. And as we open to Matthew 5:21, lets refresh ourselves with what we’ve gone over so far in the Matthew series.

In the first nine chapters, through Jesus’ life, Matthew has helped us understand his identity. This was done through the proclamations of the Magi, John the Baptist, and God the Father. This identity was then challenge by devil, when he tried to change Jesus’ purpose. But Jesus rejects the temptation of the devil, and we see Jesus reveal his identity and purpose in his calling of the first disciples. 

Once Jesus’ identify as the Messiah, Son of David, Prophet like Moses, and Unique Son of God, is establish, we get, what is referred to as the Sermon on Mount. Jesus’ sermon opens up with his identity being reaffirmed by his taking the position on the side of the mountain, and it’s his identity that sandwiches the identity of who his disciples are. Within who Jesus is, those who become his disciples are those that will come to an understanding of their righteousness is not good enough. Jesus’ disciples are those who understand that they are righteously bankrupt compared to God’s standard. When they come to this realization, then they will be those who are poor in spirit. 

It’s this idea of coming to this realization, that all fall short of God’s standard, that we continue with Jesus into the first point of his sermon. 

Let’s turn and read together Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 21.

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In the first point of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ties several topics together in a threefold pattern. He uses, one phrase to bring up the topic, one phrase to deepen the topic, and then gives a short application of what he’s talking about.

For the first two of the threefold pattern, Jesus uses the phrase, “You have heard it said…,” and adds to it, “But I tell you…” We have said it before that these phrases speak to Jesus’ divine nature. That, as John puts it in the opening of his Gospel (John 1:1), Jesus is the Word of God. Here, Jesus is fulfilling that role of the Word; he does this by taking the teachings of Scripture and revealing the depth of obedience that is required. 

In each of the topics that Jesus covers, the word “heard” is key. “You have heard it said.” The Pharisees and teachers of the law would teach God’s law and the people would hear it. But paraphrase and devotional type of application by rabbis had convoluted the meaning of it for the people. Jesus’ intention was to bring the people back into a right understanding of the Scriptures. Therefore the people will not hear second hand, but instead, are being told directly from God himself on the matter. In these phrases, we see the divinity of Jesus working itself out. If Jesus wasn’t God, then he should have said something along the lines of, “Thus saith the Lord.” Yet, Jesus doesn’t and either reveals that he is blaspheming or is indeed the Word of God made flesh.

And so the Word of God, Jesus, reveals that murder isn’t just the act of killing someone without justification, its anger lodge against another. Adultery isn’t just the act of having sex with someone outside the biblical marriage covenant, it’s desiring someone sexually that isn’t your biblically defined spouse. Oaths are not a way to add weight to your word, instead our word should be good enough. Retaliation isn’t us getting our way, but rather we are to give grace even when we are put into very hard situations.

Jesus’ examples of the law and of what is truly required of us, grabs, what seems to be, our natural desires and reveals that we cannot even hold anger, lust, or vengeance in our heart. If we even hold these, we have failed to meet the standard of the law. 

Following each revelation of the fuller and clearer look at the law, we see the third part of the pattern that Jesus uses. In each we have a mini application. 

Are you holding anger? Go and reconcile with the person. In the case Jesus gives, a right relationship with others is necessary for a right relationship with God. Later on in chapter 6, Jesus will connect the forgiveness of God with our forgiving of others. The two relationships, us and God and us and people, are linked in righteousness.

Are you lusting? Remove that thing from your life. In this case, Jesus uses dramatic language to speak about getting rid of those things that cause us to lust. He is not implying mutilation of the body, but rather, his words speak to the necessity of getting rid of the things that cause us to lust. So, get off that computer, set up boundaries for your relationships, avoid situations that you know would cause you to lust and therefore sin.

Do you need to add a “by heaven” or in our modern day, “on my parent’s life” to your yes or no? Jesus’ application here is to either do what you said you were going to do, or do not agree to something you know you cannot fulfill. If you fulfill your yeses, and no’s, then your word will be good enough and you do not need to try to add the weight of God or something else to it.

Do you feel the need to retaliate? Isn’t it natural to want to get back at someone? To be the winner, to have the last word, to one up, and show your superiority? Let’s be honest, it feels good. But feelings are not what are to be fulfilled here. Jesus points us to the fulfillment of the righteousness that is required of us, and that means, our desires may not always be fulfilled. Therefore, Jesus call us to do good beyond anyone’s requirements, and pray for those that you would rather punch in the face.

Jesus calling us to realize the depth of what is required by God, because it isn’t us who are the standard, but rather God. Jesus ends this section with the words, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Which gives us a second bookend moment in this sermon.

If you remember back a fews weeks, right before this passage we’ve covering today, Jesus transitions from the fact that he is fulfilling God’s Word with this statement, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What Jesus just shared, in this first topic of his Sermon on the Mount, is the surpassing righteousness that is required from all people. The law of God is required to be kept perfectly. This is what James says in the second chapter of his letter, “8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker (2:8-11).”

The righteousness that is required, and that Jesus reveals here, is a righteousness that is beyond anything that any of us can do. In the closing statement of this first section of his sermon, Jesus’ shows just how far our righteousness needs to surpass that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Jesus reveals that we are to, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

It is God, not man that our righteousness is compared to. The surpassing standard of righteousness leads us to the very person of God; it’s him we are compared to, not each other. And who can hope to match the perfection of God? The answer is, nobody. This is why Paul writes those famous words in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Because the righteousness of God is far beyond the standard that humanity can achieve on its own.

And there it is, the standard of righteous, and we must ask ourselves, just in these four areas, of anger, lust, truthfulness, and retaliation have I met the standard of God? Because if we have broken even one, held on to anger, looked at someone a little to longingly, told that white lie, or defiantly told someone ‘no’, we have not met the standard. And I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we realize that we haven’t. We all have fallen short. 

But that’s a good thing to understand, because it puts us into that place of Jesus’ opening words of this sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

As Jesus brings our understanding of righteousness deeper, as we allow the Word of God to reveal his perfection, we can begin to understand our need to come before God without any notion that we bring anything to the table. That we are utterly hopeless, and must fully rely on the grace of God. Because in that place of being poor in spirit, we can find that the righteousness of God is placed over us. Jesus fulfills this righteousness and imparts it to us. And all we have to do is accept it, following him where he leads us.

Jesus isn’t revealing this deeper understanding of the law to bring us to despair in our inability to attain it. No, the opposite is true. When we understand our position clearly, then we can seek to remedy it. And that remedy is found only in person and work of Jesus.

And so this week, I want to challenge you to walk through each of these four topics, anger, lust, truthfulness, and retaliation, not only to see where you struggle with and fall short, but also to see how to rectify it. Not in the sense of being righteousness enough, I hope at this point we have realized that it’s not possible in ourselves to achieve that, but rather, to rectify it in a way that Jesus calls us to apply these things. Though we fall short in meeting the standard, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, he still calls us to right relationships. If we are holding anger, let us seek to fix the relationship in forgiveness. If we are lusting, let us remove that object of lust from our lives in a healthy way. If our word is not good enough, let us work to either fulfill our yeses or our no’s, so that our word alone will be enough. And if retaliation is consuming us, let us extend grace to those we want to retaliate against by doing something good for them.

God has called us to the realization of our need for him. That his standard of perfection is unattainable outside of trusting in Jesus as our Savior. Let us therefore move forward, not in our own abilities or strength, but in reliance of Jesus. The one who brings us ever deeper into a right relationship with God. Amen.

July 4th, 2021 - Freedom Because of Jesus

  It is a rare occasion that the fourth of July falls on a Sunday. And it is not my custom to share a topical sermon on a holiday unless that holiday is a Christian one, like Christmas or Easter. The reason for this is, because when we gather as the Church to worship on any given Sunday, our focus should be on the person of God and how we are to come closer into relationship with him. Secular holidays tend to focus on the individual person rather than on God. 

There are secular holidays that we honor, like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Memorial Day. And there are secular holidays that we do not honor, like St. Patrick’s, President’s, and Valentine’s Day. Each of these we could bring biblical themes into, and maybe someday, if God leads, we will, but for the foreseeable future, I have never felt led to take a Sunday and speak on any of these. The reason for this is, due to the fact that the world desires us to look towards self, when the Bible and the Holy Spirit call us to turn our eye upon God.  

Yet today is different. There has been a building up in my spirit for the last year to speak on this particular secular holiday. Our nation celebrates the fourth of July because it’s the day that we declared our independence from what was seen as an oppressive government. But for those of us who’s citizenship is in heaven, and who understand that this citizenship is greater than our citizenship to any human nation, the fourth should mean more.

For Christians, the fourth represents the closest thing that a human nation can create in the light of the teachings of the Bible. No nation on earth today, nor since the nation of Israel was torn to sunder, has a nation so purposefully been founded on the precepts that come from the Word of God.

Jesus proclaims in John 8, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (8:31b-32).”

The Bible is replete with imagery of the freedom that is found in following God. So much so, that in 1807 a Bible was produced that is now known as the Slave Bible. This Bible was brought about because missionaries wanted to reach African slaves in U.S., but at the same time, these missionaries had to make the Bible agreeable with slave owners. 

This resulted in a Bible that cut out the freedom passages that God had revealed. There are 66 books that are universally accepted in the canon of Scripture, and about 1,189 chapters. In the Slave Bible, 52 of those books are cut out, and out of those 1,189 chapters, only 232 remain.  

Now hearing those numbers, where do you think the bulk of the books and chapters where taken out of? Old or New Testament? If you’re like most people, one would think it would be out of the New Testament, because the first words of Jesus’ public ministry, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, were, “18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (4:18-19).”

But the reality is, only 50% of the New Testament was removed; whereas 90% of the Old Testament was taken out. Why? Because the freedom that is found in the New Testament is rooted in the work of God throughout the Old. The freedom that believers can experience through the resurrected Lord, has its foundation in the work of God in Israel to bring about Jesus. In fact, Jesus’ first words that we just read, were a quote from the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament. As Christians, we must understand the need to understand and enjoy the Old Testament, because everything that we are given in the New Testament is founded on the work done before.

Last week in our study of Matthew, we read these words from Jesus in the fifth chapter, “17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

The fulfillment of the Word of God is what Jesus came to accomplish. In fact, in Jesus’ first public words in the Luke passage we referred to earlier, Jesus goes on to state, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21b).”

God’s freedom work didn’t start with Jesus, but in Jesus, God’s freedom work reached it’s breakthrough moment. This is why Paul writes these words in Galatians 3, “19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (19-23).”

God’s work throughout the span of human history has always been about bringing freedom. Even in the curse of Genesis 3, that Paul is referring to in Galatians 3, we can see clearly the working out of freedom. In fact in the midst of the cursing of the serpent, God speaks these freedom words, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (v.15).”

Even in the midst of the shackles of sin being placed on humanity, shackles that place the human race into a state of eternal death and separation from God, God himself gives the promise that freedom will one day occur. Paul points out that this freedom is in Jesus.

And because God’s work has always been a freedom work, James writes in his letter, “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do (1:25).”

And so, if we claim we have called on the name of Jesus, we must walk in his freedom. For as the Scripture states in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Therefore as the Scriptures teach, we must follow it in understanding the freedom that God seeks to establish in our lives. This freedom comes in three truths in the Bible.

The first truth is that, in Christ, we are free from sin. Paul writes in the book of Romans chapter 6, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin (1-7).”

The power of sin in our lives has been crushed in the crushing of Jesus body on the cross. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the power of sin that enslaves the world, is broken and we are freed. Not only from the eternal destination that we were on, but also from sin’s control over our thoughts and actions now.

Does this mean we no longer sin? No, but now, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have a choice to allow sin to have power over us or not. We now have freedom to fully choose, fully knowing the price that has been paid for that choice. 

The second truth of freedom that is found in the Scriptures, is that we have freedom to come before God, because of Jesus. Paul writes in Ephesians 3, “7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.”

No longer is the wrath of God on us for our sin, therefore now we may freely enter into the presence of God without fear that we would be struct down. The presence of God is no longer a place of fear, but rather a place of refuge. Instead of a holy fire that would surely destroy us if we were to enter in it in our sin position, those who have accepted the free gift of Jesus as their Savior enter into God’s holy fire so that they may be cleansed by the loving embrace of God. Not destroyed, but purified.

The final truth of freedom that we find in God’s Word, is that  we have the freedom to do right. In the second chapter of Peter’s first letter he writes, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (2:11-21).”

Our freedom, therefore, is not to indulge in our sin, but to live lives in honor of God. We must not fall into the thought that freedom is to do whatever one wishes, but rather true freedom is to live in the truth that God has ordained, within the boundaries he has established. 

If we have placed our trust into Jesus as our Savior, we must live lives that honor him. We must do everything, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit, to walk in the light of Jesus, and be led by the peace of the Spirit. Too often the Church has allowed sinful actions to go unaddressed for fear of losing power in this life. Ministers did not speak out against the enslavement of people as the missionaries who cerated the Salve Bible didn’t. Pastors stood by as gas chambers were built, and the millions of people were sent to their death. We must speak out to injustices as they come into view in our own time, and we must stand firm on the absolute truth found in God’s Word.

Right now, we are in a culture where people are wanting to Church to follow the world’s movements. Critical Race Theory, BLM, De-fund the Police, LGBTQ, the Trans movement, and a host of other movements that desire the Church recognize and embrace them. In a time such as this, the Church must arise to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). She must lead a life that would shine before the world so that glory may come to our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). True freedom is not that ability to do whatever one wants, but rather to recognize that it is sin that binds us, and Christ who frees us. The Church must not embrace one sinful action, over another. One injustice for another. No, the Church must stand on the principles of the whole Word of God.

It is July 4th, the day that freedom is proclaimed. A freedom that many people now look at with disdain. Why? Because the foundation of freedom, which is Christ, has been trampled upon, not just by those who are at odds with it, but even from those in the Church who have not always walked in the full freedom of Christ. A freedom from sin, that leads into the presence of God, and that walks in truth in front of the world. 

Let us sing of the freedom we have, not just in the land of the U.S., but in the Savior, the God come down, who died on a cross, while we were bound in the slavery of sin. Let us proclaim him, as the freeing Savior he is. Because his freedom will outlast any freedom we have in a governmental system.

This week I want to challenge you to walk through each of these truths of biblical freedom. Have you received the freedom from sin? To gain this freedom, you must accept that you’re a sinner, that you are bound to things that God says are evil, and not of him. You must then accept that you cannot free yourself from that bondage of sin, and that only by accepting that Jesus paid your price to sin through the cross, can you be set free from it.

Next, ask yourself, do I walk freely into the presence of God? To gain this freedom you must come to a place where you realize that the freedom Jesus has brought you into, means that you are fully welcomed into the presence of God. That even when you falter to sin, Jesus has already covered that sin in his blood on the cross. Though you may succumb to sin’s calling you back into its bondage, those chains will never hold tight, because Christ has forever broken their locks. All it takes now is a confession of the failing, and clinging to the gift of salvation.

Finally, are you walking in that freedom in front of the world. Do you call sin out in both the world’s systems, and in the Church? Speaking the truth in love, for the reconciliation of people back to God? Do you walk in humility and honesty of your own failings. Do you seek the reconciliation of people and relationships back to God, or do we try to use our freedom to cover up sin in ours or other people’s lives? To walk in this freedom, we must embrace the truth, that sin is what it is and should not be covered but called out, and speak God’s absolute truth in love to the world around us.

God calls us out of slavery to sin and into his freedom, and so, let us, as the Church, echo the words of the Psalmist when looking towards God, “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts (119:45).”

Let us all walk in the Word of the Lord, which brings freedom for all that would listen, amen.

Matthew Series, Week 9 - Jesus Identifies Us

  If you take any type of combat training, whether it be in firearms, or some sort of hand-to-hand engagement, you have probably run into a diagram referred to as the “Level’s of Awareness’ or being “Situational Aware.” Situational awareness is simply being alert to what is going on around you. 

These levels usually come in four colors to help a person remember them more easily. The “White” level is what most of us live our lives in without knowing it. This usually occurs when we’re at home, lounging about. Or those moments in our lives where we’ve been caught off guard, by a car not there one moment and then somehow, is there the next. Or when someone jumps out at you as you’re walking down a hallway. That’s living in white, being relaxed and completely unaware of the world around us.

The next level is “Yellow.” Being in a state of yellow means that you are relaxed, but you are scanning the room noticing your surroundings. You might get out of your car at the gas station and do a quick look around to see if there’s something amiss. You might sit, looking towards the door, as to be able to see who enters and exits. Basically your paying attention so you’re not caught off guard.

The “Orange” level follows, and at this level you have noticed something that could be a threat, or at the very least is out of place. You notice two people arguing, you notice it’s a 115 degrees out but that person is wherein a sweatshirt with the hood over their head, or maybe there’s simply a knock at your door at 1am in the morning. Being in orange, means you have identified the potential threatening situation, therefore you are seeking more information, and are preparing a plan to mitigate the potential of harm towards you or others.

The final level that is “Red.” Being at the red level means that the threat is real, and you must do something in response to that threat. Whether that be purposeful fight or purposeful retreat.

Being aware of our surroundings is a good skill to have in order to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. To be able to identify a situation, whether good or bad, helps us be prepared while others are not. 

And it’s this idea of identifying something that brings us back into our sermon series on Matthew, where we’ll be picking it back up in chapter 5, starting in verse 1. And as we open up to Matthew chapter 5, verse 1, let’s recap where we are so far. 

In the first eight weeks of our series, we saw that the identity of Jesus was front and center. We read through the genealogies, the proclamations from the angel, the wise men, John the Baptist, and God the Father as to who others say Jesus is. In these proclamations, we saw that there were several parts to Jesus’ identity. Jesus is the King like David, he is the prophet like Moses, he is the foretold Messiah of Old Testament, and he is the unique Son of God. We then saw this identity challenged by the devil, who was trying to change Jesus’ identity and mission so that he would be subjugated to the devil’s rule. Jesus rejects the devil’s temptation and moves on to share with us who he claims to be.

From Jesus’ own words, he is the one who is bringing the kingdom of heaven. He is restoring God’s intended creative order, and he is calling all the people of the world to repentance. This is who Jesus sees himself as, and from here on out, we will see how this call to repentance and to enter the kingdom of heaven works itself out.

So let’s read together Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 1.

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

He said: 3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

14 “‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

17 “‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

Now in the passage I just read, there’s a lot for us to cover. In fact, entire teachings could be given on each one of these sections. But our goal here in these summer series is to see the overarching connections with the Scripture. So, we are going to break these three sections, into four parts, and show how they connect with each other.

Out first part encompasses just the first 2 verses, and continues briefly with the identity of Jesus. Coming out of the first four chapters which focus on Jesus’ identity, we are immediately taken into one of Jesus’ five sermons, that Matthew shares with us throughout the Gospel. These opening verses are very important because it connects back into two aspects of Jesus’ identity. We’re told that, “he went up on a mountainside…and he began to teach them.”

An Old Testament staple of encountering God was on a mountain top: Abraham on Mt. Moriah, the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai, Elijah on Mt. Carmel to name a few. The mountain top was a symbol of getting close to God. And so where does Jesus go? He goes to a mountain and we get his first sermon. This is interesting because it speaks to two aspects of Jesus’ identity. The first is the one we’ve been talking about for a while, Jesus is paralleled as a Prophet like Moses. From Mt. Sinai, Moses shared the commandments given by God to the people. And so, in keeping with being a Prophet like Moses, Jesus also goes to a mountain and shares the commandments of God. 

But there is a difference here. When Moses was on Mt. Sinai, he was there 40 days being instructed by God with the commandments. We saw previously that Jesus also spent 40 days, but in wasn’t for instruction, but rather to reinforce his identity. So when Moses speaks from the mountain, he uses phrases like “Thus saith the Lord.” Yet, when Jesus speaks from the mountain he uses the phrase, “But I say to you.”

The aspect of Jesus paralleled with Moses is seen clearly in the mountainside proclamation of the Word of God, yet, Jesus is greater than Moses, because Moses relays God’s Word, whereas Jesus’ words are from the mouth of God himself. 

And how does Jesus begin his teaching? By calling out the identity of those who would follow him.

This bring us into our second part of the passage, where Jesus identifies what his disciples would look like. Instead of going straight into teaching the commands of God, Jesus’ gives us a brief look at the person who would be his disciple. 

We get what are called the Beatitudes, which means the greatly blessed. In other words, those that have these qualities are the ones who are truly the blessed of God. Their identity is one of whom God approves.

And so we have the blessed being poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek or humble, those that thirst for the righteousness of God, those who are merciful, those who are pure of heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted like the prophets of old.

These traits identify the disciples of Jesus. These are the ones that will enter the kingdom of heaven, and be called the sons of God. And if you are this, if you have this identity as Jesus’ disciple, then you will be what we find in our third part of the passage.

In this third part, Jesus talks about salt and light, which describes the mission of his disciples. A disciple of Jesus, who is the greatly blessed, will be salt. Not salt that is only good for footpaths, like the salt from the Dead Sea, which was contaminated with impurities, but pure salt. Salt without the impurities, which is flavorful and can preserve the sustenance of life.

In the same vain, Jesus’ disciples, who are greatly blessed, will be light. Not light that is kept to one’s self, but light like a lamp or city on a hill. A light that cannot be hidden, but is on display for all to see. The blessed ones of God, will then live lives that are distinguishable in the world, and will effect it. They will be flavorful and on full display for the world to see.

This brings us to our final part of our passage. From the identity of Jesus, to the identity of his disciples, to the mission these disciples are to carry out, we are again brought back to Jesus’ identity. This shows us that the identity of a disciple is surrounded by who Jesus is. 

Referring to this identify, Jesus states, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of all that has come before; all that was spoken of by the prophets of God. He is the climax of all the word and works that have been planned throughout the nation of Israel’s history. From the moment God creates, to the moment Jesus sits on this mountain, all things have been leading to this one moment. Abraham’s call, Israel’s formation, the first temple’s establishment and destruction, the exile of the Jewish people, their return to the land and the rebuilding of the temple, is all being fulfilled in Jesus, because Jesus is the point of it all. He is God’s end game.

And so, Jesus shares that what he is about to say isn’t to abolish, but to bring about a true understanding of what it all meant. And it will be through Jesus’ words, that the identity of the blessed of God will come to pass. This recognition of Jesus’ words being of vitally important is emphasized at the end of his sermon in chapter 7.

The question then for us is, do you want to be the blessed of God? The one that can enter the kingdom of heaven and be called a son of God? Do you want to be identified with Jesus as his disciple? Who will be the salt and light of the world? If so, how are we then to be identified as Jesus’ disciples?

There are three steps to being identified. Everything that we need to know is within the passage. We start at the end with Jesus’ words in verse 20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

To be identified as the blessed, to be the salt and light of the world, to enter the kingdom of heaven and be called sons of God, our righteousness, our goodness, must be greater than the ones who are seen as the most righteous of the people, or we will cannot hope to gain all that Jesus just talked about. Our goodness must be greater in our thoughts and actions, than the most spiritual among us.

But if you hear that and instantly realize that it’s impossible, then you have made it to step two. We cannot do that. We cannot be the most righteous, or out do another’s goodness. So there must be no hope. Except, if we were paying attention from the start of Jesus’ sermon, we would have already realized that Jesus told us what we must truly do. The opening of Jesus sermon begins with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Everything that followed this first statement hinged on understanding those first words. This is a common Hebrew teaching method, where the first words set the tone for what is to follow.

To be poor in spirit is to recognize that I can never be as righteous as the Pharisees, and I can never hope to surpass them. Why, because no matter what I do, my righteousness is tainted by my own sin. Jesus says that he has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, and it’s in the those teachings that we get things like Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

Or what God says through the prophet Jeremiah in the 22nd verse of the 2nd chapter, “Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me…”

Those who read the words of the Law and the Prophets, that Jesus has come to fulfill, recognize that they are bankrupt of righteousness. This means they realize that they cannot help to be good enough; to keep the commands as great as the greatest among them. 

And when we come to that realization, we have reached step three, there’s only one thing to do, we mourn. We mourn over our sin, because we are lost in sin without any hope of fixing it ourselves. This mourning should then lead us to be meek, humble before God, a person who is thirsting after his righteousness because there is no other place to turn. It is here that we must do as the Psalmist says in the opening to the 143rd Psalm, “Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.”

And it’s because of the mercy of God to us, that we are merciful towards others. Our hearts are then purified, not in our righteousness but in God’s. And we seek to make peace, because God has made peace with us through Jesus.

When we come to the realization that our righteousness is nothing, we are right where we need to be. When there is nothing to turn to in us, we must turn and rely solely on God’s mercy.

If our desire is to be identified as a disciple of Jesus, we must come to the realization that there is nothing we bring to the table. We have no good deeds, no good works. Even when we do what the world calls good, it’s still not to the standard of God and falls far short. And if we haven’t realized it yet, Jesus is going to spend the next two and half chapters giving us a glimpse of the impossible standard of God.  

But there’s hope. There’s blessing for those who are poor in spirit. There’s comfort for the mourner, an inheritance for the meek, a filling for the thirsty, mercy for the merciful, there’s sight to be given, there’s adoption to be brought into, and a kingdom to be gained.

And what does it take? To trust in the person, the identity of Jesus. The God who came down, to bring us out of our sin and to himself, not by anything we can do, but by everything that he has done through his work on the cross. Each of us must walk through those steps in our our lives to come to a point where we can accept the salvation that God offers.

This week I want to challenge you to walk through the sections on the Beatitudes, and the salt and light. As you read through it, seek God to make you poor in spirit, to be a mourner over sin and death. To be meek, thirsty, and pure in heart. To be a peacemaker, and one who would be strong in persecution. And then seek God to use this identity he has given you to be salt who flavors those around you and light that points others to him.

Let us be who God has called us to be, his disciples, who find their identity in Jesus and no where else. Amen. 

Matthew Series, Week 8 - Kingdom Stones

  Back when I worked construction, one of the most annoying thing I would encounter were plans that told you what the end result looked like, without any direction on how things were to be done. I’ve shared the story of the dome my dad and I spent an entire job figuring out. But there are other time just like that. One of the best stories is one that happened right after I moved down here. 

The crew I was building out an office space on the third story of a building.  The job was typical with simple straight walls for offices spaces. In fact throughout the entire job, there was only one rounded area. It was a large semicircle round wall that was about 20 feet in length. Now, the fact that it was a semicircle wasn’t the problem, in fact there were times when we made curved walls by starting at the ends and eyeballing the curve. But this semicircle had to be a certain round. I was told that no matter how they did it, the curve never turned out the way it was supposed to. Finally the crew got frustrated and called the architect to find out how he had gotten the curve. The architect told them that they needed to go back 100 feet to get the center point and then make the curve off of that. Well, there was a problem. They were on the third story of a building, and the curved wall was about 20 feet from the windows. 

It’s easy to draw something on a sheet of paper, it’s a whole other thing stop build it. What need up happening, was that the crew had to wait until everyone left the parking lot, find a place big enough to make the semicircle, then build their track on pavement, and then carry it up to the their floor. The actual work wasn’t hard, but getting it to where it would work the way it was supposed to took time and effort. 

And it’s this idea of building something into exactly what it is supposed to be that brings us back into our Matthew series where we’re going to cover the rest of chapter 4 this week beginning in verse 12. And as we open to Matthew 4:12, let’s look back on what we’ve covered so far. 

In our first seven weeks of our series, we have really been looking at the identity of Jesus. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew has walked us through who this Jesus really is. Through the genealogies, the parallels, the prophecies, and the proclamations, we have seen who everyone says Jesus is: He is the prophesied Messiah, a King like David, a prophet like Moses, and he is the God come down to his creation. This identity is then challenged by the devil with the temptation to get Jesus to choose a different path as his Messiahship. Jesus rejects the temptation of the devil and as we move into the final verses of chapter 4, we’ll see an overarching understanding of what Jesus’ Messiahship truly is.

Let’s begin reading in Matthew chapter 4, verses 12, where we’ll read through the rest of the chapter.

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Now the reason why we’re reading through the whole chapter, is so we can hear the whole passage together. It’s important that we hear sections of Scripture read together so that we can hear the connections between the verses. The New Testament style of writing is meant to be heard and not just read. And as we hear the whole section, we can hear that it all builds upon itself. And by hearing the passage together, we can here how Jesus himself sees what his Messianic work is.

Let’s break this passage down into two parts. The first part of the passage is Jesus’ message. In verses 12-17, we see Jesus’ purposeful movement and declaration. Let’s move backwards from verses 17 so we can better understand this part. 

In verse 17, we’re told that, “Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Just in this one verse we get the foundation for the rest of what Matthew is trying to let us know about Jesus. First, this is word-for-word the same call that John the Baptist proclaimed in chapter 3 verse 2. So what does it mean? The Greek word for repent (metanoeó [met-an-o-eh’-o]) means to change one’s mind or purpose. It literally carries with it the idea that when we turn to God, we are to think and act completely differently. The way in which we view the world, and the way we are to respond to it, is to be completely different than the way in which the world calls us to think and act.

So how are we to think and act differently? The answer to that question comes in chapters 5 and and throughout the rest of Matthew. But for now we just need to know that Jesus is calling people to completely remove themselves from what their doing and thinking, and follow what he is going to be teaching. 

Second, Jesus gives the reason that a person must repent, which is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew being a good Jew here is using heaven instead of God, which Mark uses, this is simply a sign of respect towards God’s name. This is because the Jewish people are very cautions in using the name of God, even up to today where many stay away from God’s name entirely simply saying “the Name” when referring to him. But we must understand why Jesus uses kingdom terminology here.

If you did the homework last week and dove into the temptations of Jesus and the temptation in the Garden, you would have seen some parallels there. Where Adam and Eve fell to the temptation and all creation is cursed because of it, Jesus overcame the temptation, not once but three times, which means the restoration of the creation can occur. If we go back to the beginning of the Bible, we’ll see that within the creation chapters of Genesis, a kingdom subtext can be seen. God is the Creator, he is the one who decrees what is brought into existence, in other words, what can be a part of his kingdom. God then creates administrators to carry out his will within this newly establish kingdom. But the administrators fail, and a civl war ensues. Jesus is now proclaiming that he is the one who will bring about the end of the civil war, and bring the kingdom back under the rulership of its rightful King.

Finally the terminology of “at hand,” points us to the reality that what follows are the beginning stages of that restored Kingdom. It will not be fully restored, but the restoration has begun. 

By understanding what Jesus’ message is, we can understand why he then went where he did. This is our second part of the passage, Jesus’ call. Capernaum was a cross roads of trade. Jews and Gentiles alike used the city for commerce. It was the perfect place to begin Jesus’ ministry because at the crossroads of Capernaum, the world came together. The people of God, the Jews, and the nations of the world, the Gentiles, met in one place, just as it would be in the restored Kingdom of heaven. 

This is why Matthew draws our attention to a prophecy by Isaiah. That from this point light breaks into the darkness that surrounds the people in death.

By understanding that Jesus is being very intentional in where he is going and what he is saying, we can then understand the who of the kingdom that are being called.

We’re told that as Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee, he calls four men into his kingdom. Now we usually tend focus on the “fishers of men” statement by Jesus, but we’re looking at the overarching theme here, so this time we’re going focus on the word “immediately.” This word (Greek eutheós [yoo-theh’-oce]) carries with it the understanding that there was no hesitation involved on the part of the men called. The command is given and the men followed. 

We see here a reenacting of the salvation history of Genesis. The basic story of the first twelve chapters of Genesis is that, God created, but was rebelled against; so God works to restore the creation, by calling a group to himself through which he would save the world through Jesus. This group of people are called Israel. 

Here, we see Jesus overcoming the rebellion, and then calling to himself a new group through which he will send out his message of restoration among the nations.

 

This leads us into what were told Jesus does next, “he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

In Genesis, before the fall of Adam and Eve, creation was perfectly good. As Paul tells us, death hadn’t entered into the world after Adam. And we see several times, that God calls the creation good. But after the fall, the creation is horrifically marred. Sin happens and brings about death, and disease and all the rest of the suffering we see today.

But with Jesus, we see the beginnings of a creation returned to its perfect goodness. Yet, though Jesus is showing us these beginnings, the real cure comes through repentance. Turning away from our own thoughts and actions, that are contrary to God’s, which is what the Bible calls sin, is what is needed by humanity. And that repentance and turning must be directed at Jesus, through which the forgiveness of sin can only be found (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). 

And where are the people coming from to receive Jesus’ healing, “from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” All places where both Jew and Gentile are from. Jesus’ kingdom is a cross national, racial, gender, sexual, ethnic, and every other boundary that is humanly made. And all people are called to the same proclamation, repent; turn from what you think is right, to what God calls right. Why? Because the kingdom of God is at hand, and the civil war will be done away with. This is your opportunity to come into the kingdom while there is time.

Because when we get to the end of Matthew, we’ll see how there will come a day, when the kingdom will no longer be accepting entry, and so as long as the kingdom has not been fully realized, as long as it is “at hand,” there is still time to repent.

How do we do that? Well, we seek forgiveness for being in rebellion against God. We ask God to forgive us our sins of thinking and acting like we are gods unto ourselves. We repent of what we think is greater than what God thinks. We must come to that point were we accept God’s rule over us as better than our own rule. Then we accept the free gift of forgiveness that is only given through Jesus. At the end of Matthew, we learned about the cross, and how it is the payment for our sin. Our sin was paid for on the cross by Jesus. Our rebellion crushed through the crushing of him. His blood was spilt so that ours wouldn’t have to be. And then, we must follow immediately. No hesitation, no holding onto our own, but following wherever Jesus leads, because he is the King and everything we need is only found in him.

But it’s more than just an individual thing. Jesus’ message includes my individual salvation, and more. As we’ve walked through this passage I hope you’ve noticed one thing: Jesus’ message is a total restoration message. It’s a restoring of God’s created order from the opening pages of the Bible. It’s his kingdom restored. It’s the world made right. And as we follow, we are called to that restorative process. Not in the sense that our actions bring salvation, but that our actions point people to the salvation that is found in Jesus alone. Jesus uses building illustrations throughout his teaching. And throughout the rest of the Scriptures we are see as part of what Jesus builds. In fact we are called stones.

Peter, that first man called by Jesus in this passage, wrote these words in his first letter to the church, “As you come to him, the living Stone (Jesus)—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

We are stones being used by the Greater Builder to construct his kingdom. This is done when we live in accordance with the call of God on our lives to be witnesses to the full restoration of the kingdom that is ahead. And if the world continues to move at the break neck speed its on, that full restoration is right around the corner. 

So this week I want to challenge you with this one thought, “How are you doing as a stone in the kingdom?” Are you doing your job? Are you making the kingdom strong? Are you supporting the other stones, your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you showing the world the work that God has done in you to build his kingdom?

This week I want to challenge you to wrestle with this idea, of being a stone placed in the kingdom for God’s glory, seeking God to fit you better into your place, so that your brothers and sisters would be strengthen and that the world will see that the kingdom is at hand, so that they might repent and be saved.

Let us each see Jesus’ kingdom and long for that day, but as we live here, let us be about our Father’s business pointing others to the eternal life that is only found in Jesus. Amen.