The Good Life - Living Within Your Means

Live Like Jesus - The Gospel according to Matthew  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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We are going to begin with a short portion of scripture that summarizes Matthew's gospel. Jesus opens his sermon on the mount with eight statements about “the good life”, but the good life is not what you think. Our thoughts may go towards a life of luxury. Whatever you may think is the good life - that’s not what Jesus is talking about. You can live the good life and live with in your means. Even if you don’t have very much. Especially, if you don’t have very much!

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Our Theme for 2025 is “Live Like Jesus”
It comes out of a simple desire to follow Jesus - and to learn better what that means.
1 John 2:6 ESV
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
The last few years we have had themes such as:
2023 “Life in the Spirit”
2024 - “Possessing the Land
I normally two at least two expository preaching series each year.
One from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.
Last summer I also did a series on the Lord’s prayer - the idea was to slow down and spend more time in a shorter text.
It was while I was doing research on the Lord’s prayer that I cam across the Bible Project podcast on the Sermon on the Mount.
It really spoke to me about how Jesus casts a different vision of what life really is and how it is meant to be lived.
I began to get a vision for a different kind of preaching series - spent the whole year in the gospel of Matthew.
Matthew is filled with old testament references, so we will get plenty of that.
This year I want to see life from Jesus’s perspective.
Matthew gives us Jesus’ perspective and contrasts it with the religious expectations of the Jews of his day.
We are going to begin with a short portion of scripture that summarizes Matthews gospel.
Like we did with the Lord’s prayer, we are going to take it slowly, spent time going verse by verse, meditating on it.
And then, through the year we will move through the rest of the gospel, unfolding the greater vision.
Live like Jesus means aligning our minds, hearts and actions with His.
Matthew five through seven contains a text referred to as the sermon on the mount.
The beginning passage is commonly called the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:1–12 ESV
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
It is called the beatitudes because of the eight statements that each begin with the word “Blessed”
We are going to spend a week on each statement - yes, that will take us through the first two months of the year.
Butt it is worth spending the time because these verses will help us to realign ourselves with God’s perspective.
Jesus opens his sermon on the mount with eight statement about “the good life”, but the good life is not what you think.
Our thoughts may go towards a life of luxury.
Having a big bank account.
Maybe a nice car - I would go for a nice truck!
Some people are into clothes - maybe a big shopping spree - without ever looking at the price tags!
Maybe its eating at nice restaurants, going to big ticket shows
Or taking vacations to exotic places.
Whatever you may think is the good life - that’s not what Jesus is talking about.
You can live the good life and live with in your means.
Even if you don’t have very much.
Especially, if you don’t have very much!
Jesus is going to turn everything you think you know about life upside down - and that is how we learn to live like Jesus.

Living “the good life”

In the Bible Project Podcast, Bible Scholar Tim Mackie notes that Jesus was drawing on long tradition of wisdom literature when he refers to blessing or “the good life.”
For thousands of years, people have wanted to know how lo live a good life - one that is blessed by God.
But we tend to think of ‘blessed” mostly in terms of prosperity.
If Jesus wanted to say, “this is how to be truly happy” there would have been a better way to say that.
There is another Greek word that just means to be happy or joyful.
But the word that Jesus used calls to mind numerous references in the Old Testament, like Psalm 1.
Psalm 1:1–2 ESV
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Remember how we said that peace is not just the absence of conflict?
We defined peace as “the way things ought to be.”
The Bible's concept of blessing is like that too.
This guy is not just described as happy, but specifically delighting in God’s law.
He is not without problems or people bothering him, but he doesn’t give in to them.
He is not care-free, but he’s diligent.
That is what the Bible calls “blessed”.
The Biblical concept of blessing has everything to do with how we live, but very little to do with how we feel.
So when someone says, “how are you doing?”
And you respond,”I’m blessed!”
You can say that regardless of how you feel!
It’s not a feeling exactly - its a state of mind.

A good life leads to human flourishing.

Psalm 1:3 ESV
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Blessing is about flourishing - things being the way they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to do.
For a tree,flourishing means that the roots go down and find nutrients.
They draw on those nutrients to produce growth.
And growth eventually leads to bearing fruit.
Bearing fruit means that there is seed there to repeat the cycle all over again.
When we think about the question, “how am I doing?” what if we thought about it in terms of flourishing?
Am I able to draw strength for the day?
Do I have the ability to draw life from a network of relationships and activities?
Do I know I am loved by God and others?
Am I able to find goodness and beauty in my surroundings?
Does what I think about keep me fascinated, intrigued or amused?
Am I able to turn meaningful thoughts into effective actions?
Am I able to find satisfaction in making a significant contribution with my time and effort?
Human flourishing is a lot more than just a good feeling.
And in the same way, blessing is a lot more than just prosperity.
In fact, it may or may not include what we typically think of as prosperity.
But it is prospering, in the sense that prospering means active growth.
Let’s look at it from another angle.

A good life is doing what is right.

Psalm 1:4–6 ESV
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
The biblical definition of blessing includes righteousness - doing things God’s way.
So the person who appears to prosper, but does not do it God’s way, will not have a lasting prosperity - not truly blessed.
Blessing, unlike happiness, is not something that changes with the wind.
Blessing is substantive, it will stand the test of time and circumstances.
It holds up under close scrutiny.
If you are blessed - that is not just a passing thing - you aren’t blessed one day and not blessed the next.
The blessed life is something that you cultivate.
You work at it by determining to do things God’s way.
Blessing comes from developing consistency in doing things the right way- that is righteousness and it is blessing.
Now I would be amiss not to mention that our righteousness as Christians doesn’t just come from what we do - it comes from what Jesus did!
Jesus Christ is our righteousness.
1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
You don’t have to be good enough because Jesus is good enough.
What we do in terms of learning to live a righteous life, we do in response to what He did for us.
That applies to blessing as well.
To be blessed means to be “highly favored” by God.
That is how He looks at us.
When we get hold of that truth - get it deep down in our spirit and begin to act like it - then we can truly say we are blessed!
Matthew 5:3 ESV
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus says that we are blessed when we are poor in spirit.
That doesn’t mean “poor and miserable.”
In order to understand what Jesus is saying, we need to redefine “rich” and “poor.”

Finding Treasure

We will get to the rest of the Sermon on the Mount later this Spring - but right not it is important to look ahead to see how Jesus defines true riches.
Where does Jesus say that we find treasure?
Matthew 6:19–20 ESV
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Tim Mackie also does a podcast on this verse and He points out that what is translated as “treasure” simply refers to stuff that people collect.
There is no inherent value, other than the fact that people seem to want to keep it and store it up.
And that leads to an observation...

Your treasure is whatever you value.

What Matthew calls treasure is the stuff that we all gather.
Are you familiar with the term SWAG? It is the free stuff that companies give away to thank employees or to attract customers? It is an acronym for Stuff We All Get. People want to work for or buy from the company with the best SWAG.
Sag is also slang for people who dress nice or who carry themselves in a way that is considered “cool”. Yo man! You got Swag!
Well your treasure is the Stuff We All Gather.
Don’t know what I am talking about? Look down in your basement or up in your attic.
Check the top shelf of your closet or maybe its piled in a corner of your living room?
It may or may not have any monetary value, but its valuable to you or it wouldn’t be there.
It may be ironic to refer to it as treasure - but that’s your treasure!
Jesus presents an alternative to hoarding - it’s heavenly hoarding!
And it is guaranteed not to spoil!
It cannot diminish in value.
Collect stuff in heaven - literally in the sky.
Before I talk about what that means lets talk about what “poor in spirit” means.
Many commentaries will say that poos in spirit mean spiritually humble, keeping a low profile, so to speak, spiritually.
On the other hand, you have people who think it literally means “poor people” - like you are blessed if you are literally poor.
Like if you are literally poor, that means you are spiritually rich.
Neither of these explanations seems right to me.
Tim Mackie says that the phrase “poor in spirit” is best translated “the powerless”
It comes from the understanding in Eastern thought that a person’s spirit is their life force.
It is their personal energy -the impact of their life or their influence.
He calls it “their vibe”
A person who is poor in spirit may in fact be a poor person, but more than that, its the person who has no options.
They can’t assert themselves - they are severely limited in the expression of who they are - they are, practically speaking, powerless.
And this is where Jesus flips the whole idea of being poor or powerless on its head.

Our values come from our desires.

Remember all that stuff that we just talked about - what makes it valuable? - simply the fact that you want it.
What if you could change what you want?
“Well in that case, I might get rid of it - or most of it.”
Bingo! Now we are getting somewhere!
Why? Because if I don’t need it or want it, it is not important.
The point of my message is not to make you clean out your garage, but if it has that effect - you will be blessed if you do!
The point of “blessed are the poor in spirit” is the second part of the verse “for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Your desires are misplaced if you think that earthly stuff is really all that important.
After all, “you cant take it with you.”
And the people you leave it to probably don’t want it as much as you think they do.
What is important? Things that have eternal value.
1 John 2:24–25 CSB
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
This is “heavenly hoarding” - treasuring every moment with God.
Remembering everything that God has spoken.
Cherishing every moment spent in His Presence.
Holding on to every truth that you learn as if it were a precious gem.
Collecting the fruit of the spirit - make sure you get the whole set!
Desiring spiritual gifts - working tirelessly at refining it like a piece of fine art.
Sowing seeds of kindness and generosity like you would buy stock.
So what does that help the “powerless” or the poor is spirit - if that is what it means.
it essentially means that the powerless are not really powerless.
You may not be able to control your circumstances.
In first-century Israel, people could not vote.
They might not have any choice as to their job or their career.
Most people would not have access to education or travel or any other means of changing their social standing.
What can you change? You can change what you desire.
What you desire changes what you value.
You set your sights on an invisible Kingdom that exists beyond the skies.
Not only does it exist beyond the skies, but Jesus is right there to tell you about it.
You start to listen to Jesus.
You start to store up the things that He is saying.
You store them away, even the things that you don’t understand yet.
You notice that His truths are like precious gems.
You tuck them away in your heart - no one can take them from you.
No one would even suspect you of having anything of value - after all, you are powerless.
If ‘poor in spirit” really does mean “powerless” there is so much irony in Jesus’ statement, because the so-called powerless are the new owner/ investors in the Kingdom of God.

Redefining Power

Psalm 34:15–19 ESV
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
You may feel like you don’t have options - like you are stuck in circumstances that you don’t want or like.
But you have a place of appeal.
God, who created the world and everything in it is still in control.
When we say God is in control - it can be misleading.
God doesn’t control everybody and everything.
But God does intervene, especially when things are out of control.
The psalmist reminds those who think they are in control that God is watching.

Worldly power is an illusion.

Psalm 34:21–22 ESV
21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Everyone is accountable for their actions.
There are powerful people in this world who believe that they are the masters of their own destiny.
That is only partly true.
Money, power and influence can go a long way.
But God is watching, and He is not unconcerned.
God is extremely patient - He often allows evil to go on for much longer than we think it should.
But he also wants people to see the natural consequences of their actions - intervene too soon, and people think they’re OK.
God’s perspective is that of all history and eternity.
Sometimes it is best to just let things play out - let evil be sen for what it really is.
Augustine of Hippo, one of early Christianity's most influential theologians, grappled with the existence of evil. He concluded that God allows evil to exist not as a force of chaos but as a necessary part of free will, enabling us to choose good. This teaches us that the presence of evil ultimately points to a loving God who desires authentic relationships.
We also see this attitude in Jesus, who rather than seizing power, laid his life down and gave us an example to follow.
Philippians 2:5–8 NLT
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
You could even say that Jesus became “poor in spirit”.
Whether you interpret “poor in spirit” as humility, poverty or powerlessness - Jesus became all three.
He had power.
He gave it up.
And by doing that He empowered each one of us.
So how do we do this? How do we receive the Kingdom?
We live like Jesus.
We emulate and reflect Him.

Heavenly power is a reflection.

Psalm 34:4–5 ESV
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
The psalmist says, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me.”
We begin by seeking the Lord.
Today begins a week of prayer and fasting at the beginning of a new year. Let’s begin by seeking the Lord. You may be powerless to do anything about your circumstances, but no one can stop you from telling God about them. And no one can prevent Him from hearing and answering.
It also says that those who look to Him are radiant.
When you turn to God for His answer, your face begins to reflect His light.
You are not empowered by your circumstances; you are empowered by God.
Recall the biblical figure of Esther. She was an orphan and faced monumental challenges, yet she rose to the occasion because she trusted in God’s plan for her life. When the fate of her people hung in the balance, she stepped out in faith. Just like Esther, we must remember that our circumstances don't limit us; God’s empowerment equips us to accomplish mighty things, regardless of where we started.
You are not powerless, you belong to God and everything that He has is yours.
2 Peter 1:3 NLT
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
When thinking about “the good life” we are tempted to think that if only we just had a little more, then we would have the good life.
The truth is that the good life is never about having more, but about enjoying what we have.
Matthew 13:12 ESV
12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Until you learn to be satisfied with what you already have, you will never be satisfied with more.
This is “the good life” you already have it.
If you have Jesus, you have the good life.
Being “poor in spirit” whether that means poverty, humility or powerlessness, that does not disqualify you.
In fact it may qualify you - if it causes you to look to God for everything that you need.

Questions for reflection:

How are you doing? Are you blessed? Can you say that even though you may be powerless to change your circumstances? Where does blessing come from?
Are you “poor in spirit”? Is that something that we should aspire to? Or is it something that people do not normally choose for themselves? Jesus would say to you: you may not have chosen this path, but you can choose your attitude.
Is the Kingdom of heaven yours? Have you cried to the Lord? And has He heard you and delivered you? Does your face reflect his radiance? How does looking to heaven help you to live “the good life” on earth?
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