SYNC UP - Be Poor…

3:33 - Welcome everyone Back - Shout out to those tuning in online - Hope to see you back - or meet you for the first time…

Quick question, how many of you have a smart watch? Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, Garmin, I don’t want to leave anyone out. I’m not on anyones payroll to promote their products, just curious if you have one. Why? Has it ever failed you.

The other day one of my boys was telling the time - over and over - the only problem he was waaay off. Like not even close. They are doing a time unit in school or something like that, so they are a little obsessed right now. So I was a little surprised it was so far off the actual time. Then I realized - his little CubitJr watch. (Yes my 7 year olds have a cheap little target version of a smart watch - they wanted to compete with steps or sleep or something) - but his watch was telling him bad info.

A watch that is off isn’t even as good as a busted clock. A busted clock is at least right twice a day, but this - never going to be right in any time zone.

The cheap watches we used to buy were wrong all the time, because they would bump the button or whatever, but these shouldn’t be all messed up. Then I realized. His watch didn’t Sync up. Still not sure how it ended up being so wildly wrong, but as soon as we synced it up to the cloud, it was “right as rain.” (Groan - I know terrible dad joke) Its just so natural for me…haha.

Here’s the problem, when your phone or your watch or your Internet or your streaming service or your device. Any of it when it’s not in sync it never works right. It’s always off. You try to find the things that you’re supposed to find, but for some reason, it’s not in the place where you expect it to be. Or the thing that you need isn’t working the way it’s supposed to why because it isn’t in sync. All your devices are communicating properly and it causes complications in your life. Hardship and barriers and all the things that this new cloud base services this new sable services is supposed to fix. And it worked great until it gets out of sync

Like the watch…Once we got it synced it up, no problem. All was right - Let me ask you a question -

Have you ever felt out of Sync?

Felt out of sync with people. Like your relationships that were once solid just feel a bit off. Out of sync with your natural body rhythm? Staying up too late, working too much, playing Monopoly go too much, missing meetings…the list is endless. But have you ever felt out of Sync?

If you are breathing, the answer is - Of course you have. All of us have had moments when our lives where out of sync…with ourselves. If we can get out of sync with ourselves, we certainly get out of sync with others. But but but…We don’t just accept it as thats how we are gonna walk through life.

One of the things I love about Summit - reason I am so glad to serve as one of the pastors here - God is up to something - connecting people who may not have the opportunity to connect if it were not for this space. To have their lives, not only intersect but actually start syncing up with one another. So many of us have lives that are synced up - rhythms that sync up.

We are reading the Bible in just under 2 years together (Synced up) We gather for small groups, Summit Youth, Summit Kids, we eat together on Wednesday nights (Synced up) We gather here in this space together (Synced up). Life is better when our rhythms can find that common connections - physically in the spaces, emotional connections, spiritual connections.

If you haven’t found that here yet, can I encourage you. It is available to you. Your people are here at Summit. I know it, because its all around this place. But being in Sync (no not the band) with those around you is one thing…What happens when you feel like you are out of sync with God. What happens when you are not sure what living in sync with God even means?

Over the next several weeks we are going to walk through one of the most famous teaching of Jesus found in Scripture.

Matthew 5

Let me quickly catch you up to where we are in the story of Jesus. This is Right at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. John the Baptist has been proclaiming that the good news is coming. The Messiah is on his way and people need to repent of their sin and be baptized. A baptism of repentance…To get right with God. In Preparation for Jesus!

Then Jesus is baptized, led by the Spirit in the wilderness for temptation in a weakened state. He made it thru, actually he sent the devil packing! Then Matthew records this as the beginning of Jesus Ministry in the area of Galilee. This is the place where he is going to gather his disciples - to make a decision that will change the trajectory of their life for eternity.

This is a major shift in the life of Jesus and His ministry - AND going to wreck havoc on the status quo’s of the community.

Matthew 4:17 CSB

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The Kingdom “has come” near — is NEAR — like right now. NOT in a little while, not in some day in the distant future. Jesus is telling the world one gathering at a time, one village at a time, one synagogue at a time, one…you get it. He is telling them the Kingdom is near now.

Along the way he gathered countless people. The sick, the hopeless, the outcast, the afflicted, the conflicted, the tortured. By the way, Jesus is still doing this today…but then they flocked to him for healing but because they thought the great shift was coming .

This is a big deal. Why? They all expected the transformation or the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah to bring with it a great war, a great battle in the physical world around them. A political transition, an overthrown government by physical force and power…

But instead of force, Jesus is going to bring the message of Hope to the people. He was bringing hope, healing, humanity. He was bringing force but not of the world but only of God. So while the masses where gathering on a hillside —people from all over, from Greek and Roman cities, Jewish strongholds, and even beyond the Jordan river.

He was about to give them a message that would wreck there world…in a good way.

A message that will empower them—not to overthrow a government—but empower them to to SYNC UP with the Kingdom of God. To Sync up with the mission of the Messiah, to SYNC UP with the Kingdom that is about to flip everything on its head.

Actually, it is so much more than that…He is about to help people understand they no longer have to be ruled by the fear of death…or separation from the Kingdom of God

DEATH

And Experience LIFE in the Kingdom - right here, right now!

LIFE

Matthew 5:1–12 CSB

When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them, saying:

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Matthew 5:1–12 CSB

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.

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Matthew 5:1–12 CSB

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

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Matthew 5:1–12 CSB

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

—

Matthew 5:1–12 CSB

“You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Over the next several weeks we are going to take time to look at these 8 descriptions of the people who are synced up with God. If you are kicking the tires of this whole Jesus thing. This should be a helpful series. You are not in this space by accident. You might have wandered in here today not really sure what to expect. You might not even be sure if you’re ready for all this church stuff, all this Jesus stuff.

But let me guess, there is something that feels out of sync in your life. If not today, maybe yesterday - or potentially tomorrow. Don’t worry, you are not alone!

Even for those who know Jesus, who have a strong personal relationship, there are moments when life feels out of Sync with Jesus.

Here’s some great news—In this Sermon - Jesus’ sermon — the one I just read — He is trying to help the masses the people who came to see the show, to be healed of what is killing them, to be set free from demonic influence, to be set free from bondage. He is telling them how they can live in Sync with Him. To experience LIFE in the Kingdom here and now.

I have heard it taught in the past that each one of the statements - otherwise known as the Beattitudes - represent different people. But the more I dug in, the more I studied, the more it seems it is not about different individuals, but a different kind of person. It is a different way of BE - ing. To be Blessed people.

MAKARIOS

That word in the Greek is Makarios and it is a descriptive word. It is describing a way of BE-ing. When I started this journey I was going to simple name the series Be Blessed.

On the simplest level that is was Makarios means, the act of being blessed, fortunate, happy, privileged. But Jesus isn’t simply telling people to do these things so they can live a blessed life.

Jesus isn’t saying if you work really hard, if you “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” then..then..then you will live a life of blessing. One author put it like this.

Blessedness…is an objective state, not a subjective feeling - Peter Kreeft

It is the way we are not the way we feel. It is not even something you can force into action, it is a way of being. Given the context one could say, it is how we are seen by God and not our personal feeling. In other words, these are ways we are seen to be IN SYNC with the Kingdom of God.

The entire section is like poetry of sorts, it is designed to be a package deal. There not only is the Makarios to start each descriptive but the first and the last include the same line…for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs…The citizens of Heaven are in Sync

AND AND AND it all starts with

Matthew 5:3 CSB

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

To which some of you say! YESSSS! Finally, some proof I am in Sync with Heaven because I am so broke I cannot even pay attention. I am flat busted. Actually, broke isn’t the worst way to think of this as poor. That is the emphasis of the word - Broke, destitute, without, lacking.

So yes, you are In Sync are you when you are BROKE…in the Sprit.

I was reminded of something the other night. While Matthew is clearly calling out something pertaining to the spiritual side of life, the word does have a physical nature to it as well. In fact, Luke has an abbreviated version of these statements and simply stops at POOR - or BROKE.

There is a bit of a double meaning. All joking aside, how many of us have been in that place where we are seriously lacking in resources. I recall a couple times in my life where I was bankrupt. No amount of clawing or crawling or working was going to fix the situation. 3 jobs, two kids, in my twenties and the economy was tanking.

Can I just say, there was not a single part of me that would have thought of my situation as “Blessed.” I wasn’t putting pictures up on social with everything framed just right. You know how it goes, you stage the shot and put it up in socials #Blessed…

I envied those who had money to live a life of luxury in the small Indiana town I was living in. I saw they were not good people even, I knew some of their dirty laundry as a small town police officer. I wasn’t following Jesus at the time, but I felt something was off. They didn’t deserve it - they were blessed not me.

Ever been there?? that place where you start to question why they have and you don’t. You feel like a good person and your broke. You know they have a truckload of skeletons in their closet, but they seem like they are blessed.

Here you are following Jesus, trying to get it right asking the same thing the Psalmist said. He starts out with this…

Psalm 73:1–3 CSB

God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart. But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

He lists a pile of evidence that shows these arrogant and prosperous people to be wicked, and then just lays it all out there.

Psalm 73:12–13 CSB

Look at them—the wicked! They are always at ease, and they increase their wealth. Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?

Lets be honest with each other for a moment. How many of us have been in this place? Where we see whats happening around us, we see the wealthiest people on the planet and wonder how do they rate!

But look at what happens next. The Psalmist has an AHA moment.

Psalm 73:16–17 CSB

When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless until I entered God’s sanctuary…

He thought, the psalm writer, that the wicked but wicked were better off than he was. Until he entered into the presence of God. This is the space that we realize that all the worldly wealth of those who are wicked is worthless.

This is the point that Jesus is getting to…The double meaning between Luke and Matthew suddenly SYNC UP. For it is when we are poor that we learn we must depend on God. The comforts in our wealth can actually cause us to slip, to stumble, to miss God and rely on ourselves. And yes - nearly everyone in this room is wealthy - financially when it comes to the global population. Not all but most of us.

Jesus is kicking off this message with a call to those in the crowd - many broke physically, financially, and spiritually - that their poverty, their bankrupt spirit is the place they meet the new King.

IN SYNC - Realizing you are Spiritually Bankrupt

Jesus is saying that you, me, we - we find this synchronism with the Kingdom of Heaven — when we finally come to the end of ourselves and realize we bring nothing to the table. We are poor in the simplest sense of the word. We are poor in Spirit.

It’s not about wealth you can have wealth and still realize your are bankrupt before the Lord!

We are IN SYNC when we realize we cannot bargain our way into the Kingdom. We cannot buy our way into the Kingdom. We can not go to church enough times to earn favor to get in, clean our life up shinny enough to earn a pass through, we cannot use our intellect, our lineage, our power, our influence, our TikTok stats to gain access to the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is simply nothing you can do on your own, no amount of Bootstrappin will SYNC UP. Some of you are bootstrappers. And you might wanna argue with me on this you might wanna like push back and say, PC I know I can, or but what about all that I have done…look at all that I’ve done.

Others will say Yes and Amen, because you know not all boots are made the same, not all straps have the same leverage.

Remember, Jesus is here to reveal the Kingdom of God to a people who have been living — in some form or fashion — by the law for millennia - Thousands of years.

At this moment in time, things are not going well. Jesus shows up and tells a very realistic parable in Luke 18

There are two guys who walk into the Temple to pray. One of them is a religious leader, the other is hated by his own people. the Elite prays with self-righteousness praying about how much he does, fasting, praying, tithing - He is coming in as “RICH”

but the other guy comes in recognizing how “POOR” he actually is asking God for mercy on him because he is a sinner.

That brokenness, that poorness in spirit is exactly what Jesus is talking about. Jesus said this about the man who called himself a sinner.

Luke 18:14 CSB

I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The law - the Jewish laws proved that there is no hope in personal endeavors to bootstrap your way in. To claim some sort of spiritual richness to get into heaven, but the opposite. OK, back to the start if the sermon on the Mount…

Matthew 5:3 CSB

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

When you come before Jesus recognizing your spiritual bankruptcy - you have access to the Kingdom of Heaven. Here and now…THEIRS IS!!!!!

KATI ON THE KEYS PLEASE

Wanna Live in SYNC with the Kingdom…you don’t actually have to do anything…you only have to realize that without Jesus you have nothing to offer to get in…And that is why this is so beautiful.

Jesus is inviting you to realize that it is all DONE, to know that HE is your wealth. Your Spiritual richness is not wrapped up in religious activity but a direct relationship with Jesus.

I realize that many in these seats have been in relationship with Jesus for years. Well, right here is where you too remember the moment with your spiritual poverty lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven and right now you start praying for those in the room who are ready, right now to admit they are bankrupt.

To admit they have nothing to bring to the table, but Jesus is inviting them to the table anyway.

Salvation Invitation -

Lord I am broke / I have nothing to offer beyond myself / Jesus forgive me of my sins / Heal me of my brokenness / Make me whole / Fill me with your Holy Spirit / and Make me a Citizen of Heaven / King Jesus / I know you died for my sins / I know you are alive today / And I know I am you child / I commit my life to you / as imperfect as it may be / I will live for you today / and for the rest of my life…Amen.

Up for Prayer - I Surrender All CeCe Winans…