To Mourn is Human

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

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to err is human

o err is human, (to forgive, divine).  (formal)

something that you say which means it is natural to make mistakes and it is important to forgive people when they do You'd think he could find it in his heart to forgive her. To err is human and all that.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

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

Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I. Morally Bankrupt

A. TO ERR IS HUMAN, TO FORGIVE DIVINE

1. err is human, (to forgive, divine)

something that you say which means it is natural to make mistakes and it is important to forgive people when they do You'd think he could find it in his heart to forgive her. To err is human and all that.

2. something that you say which means it is natural to make mistakes and it is important to forgive people when they do

B. TODAY, I titled the sermon “TO MOURN IS HUMAN”

1. We’re constantly looking around and noticing everything that’s wrong, aren’t we?

2. Have you watched the news? [PAUSE]

a. It’s never, “Well, Phillis, everything’s wonderful over here… no murderers thieves or rapists over here — everything is fantastic!”

i. This would get NO TV ratings whatsoever

ii. It makes me think of Anchorman, covering a squirrel that’s waterskiing, “that squirrel can waterski...” NO ONE IS TUNING INTO THAT… I MEAN I WOULD, BUT I’m kind of weird...

b. We are always noticing, and intensely focusing on, the things that are falling apart!

i. When a new congressman/woman is elected, or a new coach, or public official is hired or elected — it’s like “who cares!” … But if they get fired, it’s headline news — SCANDAL, “forget about it… everyone’s tuned in...”

ii. All reality TV is built around the most obnoxious, bombastic, absurd kinds of people, typically. Right?! Who’s going to watch a show about a normal, kind, loving family. “BORING!”

iii. “Housewives of FILL IN YOUR CITY...” and everyone’s screaming at each other and yelling and cutting each other… IT’S ABSURDITY!

iv. But that’s what we gravitate towards, isn’t it. That’s what get’s TV ratings… that’s where our attention goes… WHY?

C. WE ARE MORALLY BANKRUPT

3.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

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

1. Humans are spiritually poor people… We are miserable on our own. We always notice the broken things because we are broken. We always gravitate towards noticing what’s missing because there’s something in us that’s missing.

2. “Poor in Spirit”

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 5

Refers to those in Jesus’ day who recognize and bear their desperate plight, and who long for God’s restoration through the Messiah.

a. But “blessed” only applies to those who acknowledge their brokenness, their spiritual poverty, and whom by faith in Christ are saved.

b. Most people do not want to acknowledge our spiritual poverty and our need for God.

c. But existentially, we experience brokenness… Meaning — in our actual experiences we feel our brokenness… We all sense that something’s missing. “IF I JUST HAD THIS OR THAT, LIFE WOULD BE ALL BETTER” — “WE LOOK FOR GOD SUBSTITUTES WHEN ALL ALONG THE ONLY THING THAT WILL QUENCH OUR THIRST IS GOD, IS JESUS!”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

d. “God put eternity into man’s heart!” — Meaning: “We all have these longings, this 6th sense that there must be more to life than this, we desire for something we cannot quite grasp on our own...”

e. This is the built in desire for God — but we often look elsewhere to fulfill that longing… We compare our morals to that of others — In essence, we compare sin to sin… “I’m not as bad as that person… I’m better than they are!”

i. This results in “the blind leading the blind...”

ii. We are morally bankrupt

iii. Pastor Timothy Keller says it best,

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be spiritually bankrupt. Everybody in the world, besides Christians, if they were to suddenly appear before God, would say, “Hey, I’ve done some good things and I’ve done some bad things.” Right? Isn’t that what everybody says?

In other words, if God suddenly appeared to you and you had to kind of make an account for your life, you would say, “Well now, God, I’ve done a lot of good things. I’ve tried very hard. I’ve made sacrifices. I’ve helped people. I’ve been very good to my father and my mother,” or “I’ve been very good to my children,” or whatever. In other words, “I have a lot of things I’ve done good, but there are a lot of things I’ve done bad.” Now let’s put this in economic terms for the sake of the metaphor.

What you’re really saying is, “I have some money in the bank spiritually. You know, I’m not destitute, but I have debts. I have a lot of debts.

blind leading the blind

“poor in spirit”

debate on these texts

A.

1.

II. Comfort for Mourners

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

A. MOURN

1. DEFINE MOURN

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Grief and Mourning

GRIEF AND MOURNING Practices and emotions associated with the experience of the death of a loved one or of another catastrophe or tragedy.

2. Typically used as the emotion one has when a loved one has died… Jesus, in his sermon we’re examining, is talking about a spiritual mourning — a mourning as a result of our spiritual death/poverty.

B. What does it mean “BLESSED”

what does it mean “blessed”

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged: New Testament a. The Norms of the Kingdom (5:3–12)

3 The Greek word for “blessed” (GK 3421) describes the person who is singularly favored by God and therefore in some sense “happy,” though the word can also apply to God (1Ti 1:11; 6:15). The common factor between these two views is approval: humans “bless” God, approving and praising him; God “blesses” humans, approving them in gracious condescension. In the eschatological setting of Matthew, “blessed” refers to a promised eschatological blessing, specified by the second clause of each beatitude.

1. Why Blessed? Those who acknowledge their “poverty of spirit” — i.e. their need for something beyond themselves… This leads to a genuine mourning… Because just like we would mourn when a loved one dies — we mourn the fact that we are in a desperate situation — — — When that mourning is aimed at God… when it leads us to repentance… We are blessed! We have an eschatological blessing.

a. Eschatology is the study of the end times...

b. Christianity teaches that in the end Christians are with God in heaven — no suffering, no pain, no death — there is more after this life than this!

c. That’s what it means when it says, “we are blessed!”

3.

C. Who’s Mourning

1. So who’s mourning? The Christian mourns their sin.

a. Pastor Martin Lloyd Jones wrote:

An Exegetical Summary of The Sermon on the Mount 5:4

When one sees God, his holiness and the kind of life one should live, and then examines the reality of one’s life in poverty of spirit, one mourns [MLJ].

2. But because of Christ we are offered what? COMFORT

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

2. What does it mean Christians will be comforted? We will COSMICALLY be comforted in that one day we will be in heaven — but we can be currently comforted knowing that we are not alone — God is with us! God’s church is with us — as Christians, we are to be God’s earthly representation, as the church.

a. Ultimately, there is hope for those who put their faith and life in Christ! We live in a sinful world. We live in a world where there is longing, need, brokenness, and pain. Yes — but ONE DAY, we will be with God… And we can live in hope knowing that God has gone before us, and God is with us.

D. Physical Mourning

1. Now, so far we’ve talked about spiritual mourning — the mourning that comes as a result of our sinfulness.

2. Spiritual mourning is what I believe Jesus is alluding to here — as he preaches his sermon. But the reality is — our spiritual need has physical implications. Meaning what?

a. We live in a fallen world, spiritually, yes… But it effects the physical world, and us physically.

b. Some of you here today are mourning the loss of (1) a friend, (2) a family member, (3) a loved one , (4) a child that has turned away from God, (5) a spouse who left you all alone… maybe you’re mourning because you have (6) a chronic illness, (7) depression, (8) mental illness, or (9) trouble connecting to people relationally.

c. Because of sin, which causes our spiritual mourning, we have real physical troubles — which lead us to mourn.

3. What do we do about our present mourning?

a. What do we do about the physical grief we experience?

what does it mean for them to be comforted?

why are they mourning?

what does it mean for them to be comforted?

physical & spiritual

A.

b. To where can we turn?

1.

c. We must set our gaze upon THE MOURNING SERVANT.

III. The Mourning Servant

A. The Ultimate Mourner

1. QUESTIONS

a. What if there was someone who made a way for us to be relieved from our grief and mourning?

i. Wouldn’t we want to know this person?

b. What if there was someone who could identify with our deepest and most painful sorrow, who has grieved the worst and most painful losses?

c. What if there was someone who could carry our grief, our sorrow, and our mourning — who could hold us and it and walk with us through —> to the end of this life & on to the next more glorious one?

2. Pastor Tim Keller preaches,

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

Why can you and I be comforted? Only because he mourned, because he wept inconsolably and died in the dark.

3. At the cross, Jesus didn’t just model what a humble teacher does — he mourned the separation from the Father and Holy Spirit for the first time in all of existence!

a. We the extent of Jesus’ grief in

Matthew 27:46 ESV

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

b. Jesus mourned being separated from the father God — Why? — So that we will never have to mourn because we’re separated from the Father…

i. Jesus did it so that we don’t have to… we could’ve never done it, because of sin we were destined for separation from God — we were destined for eternal mourning.

ii. BUT GOD MADE A WAY IN CHRIST — By sending his BELOVED, only Son, whom he loved, to suffer and make a way for sinners like us!

c. Jesus was the ultimate mourner so we don’t have to be!

Jesus took on ultimate loneliness and grief so that we don’t have to

Jesus took on ultimate loneliness and grief so that we don’t have to

d. Jesus took on ultimate loneliness and grief so that we don’t have to!

Jesus makes it possible for us to experience joy and life with God & one another

e. Jesus makes it possible for us to experience joy and life with God & one another!

A.

B. So what?

1. “So you’re saying I become a Christian and all my grief goes away?” NO. Any true Christian will tell you that’s not true.

2. What we’re saying is: Christ is the perfect provision for our mourning! What do you do with all that grief? What do you do with all that mourning? It points you to Christ, the ultimate mourner, the suffering servant — the God of grace.

Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

3.

C. Poem by the former slave ship captain John Newton closes these thoughts well (a man well acquainted with grieve because of his own actions):

Now I despond and mourn no more,

I welcome all I fear’d before

Though weak, I’m strong; though troubled, blessed

For Christ’s own pow’r shall on me rest.

My grace would soon exhausted be,

But his is boundless as the sea;

Then let me boast with holy Paul,

That I am nothing, Christ is all.

APPLICATION

1. Humans are spiritually poor people.

We are miserable on our own. We always notice the broken things because we are broken.

We cannot fix ourselves.

We need Jesus.

2. Sin causes spiritual and physical grief.

Christians are people that are aware and mourn sin and the effects of it.

Actually, one of the signs that you’re a true Christian is that sin grieves you. [i.e. You have a conscience. You mourn over wrongdoing and sins…]

3. Jesus was the ultimate mourner so we don’t have to be.

Jesus took on ultimate loneliness and grief so that we don’t have to!

Jesus mourned being separated from the father God — Why? — So that we will never have to mourn being separated from the Father God!

Jesus is the only anecdote to our present brokenness — Jesus is our hope for life and joy with God.

Historically, (1) Pursue Jesus in His Word, (2) Pursue Jesus in His Church, and (3) Pursue Jesus in and through His people [fellow Christians].

COMMUNITY GROUP REFLECTION: (1) Reflect on the reality that we tend to notice what’s broken instead of focusing our attention to what’s good. (2) Reflect on . (3) How does Jesus offer hope to mourners and those stricken with grief?

COMMUNION

L: In the night in which he was betrayed, Our lord Jesus took bread,He gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.Do this for the remembrance of me.

L: Again, after supper,He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying; this cup is The new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.Do this for the remembrance of me. Silent Reflection – to prepare our hearts toCome to the Lords table

L: Jesus' death brings us life and this meal reminds us that we are fed by Jesus and forgiven because of Jesus.

C: We rejoice that You have died, have risen, and are now with the Father advocating for us. Amen.

L: With our money, time, and talent we give generously, knowing that through Your Son, Jesus, You have generously given to us.

C: We rejoice that You have given everything and we joyfully give everything back to Your care. Amen.

L: If you believe Jesus died to forgive you your sins you are welcome to come,

L: Come for all is ready

BENEDICTION

As you go from here, remember the promise of God: “I will rescue those who love me, I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.I will rescue them and honour them.” So go from here with joy, confident that the love and mercy of God goes with you.

, from re:Worship.com

notes:

brunner — emotional sadness

An Exegetical Summary of The Sermon on the Mount 5:4

When one sees God, his holiness and the kind of life one should live, and then examines the reality of one’s life in poverty of spirit, one mourns [MLJ]. The comfort they receive is another elaboration of the blessing about the kingdom of heaven in the previous verse [BSC].

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

In many cases, people say, “This is ridiculous. This is unfair. This is just silly. It’s unrealistic. Who in the world could live like this? Just take it away.” So what do we do? If you see the glory of it and, therefore, see the terror of the Sermon on the Mount, what do we do? How do we embrace it in any way? How does it help us?

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be spiritually bankrupt. Everybody in the world, besides Christians, if they were to suddenly appear before God, would say, “Hey, I’ve done some good things and I’ve done some bad things.” Right? Isn’t that what everybody says?

In other words, if God suddenly appeared to you and you had to kind of make an account for your life, you would say, “Well now, God, I’ve done a lot of good things. I’ve tried very hard. I’ve made sacrifices. I’ve helped people. I’ve been very good to my father and my mother,” or “I’ve been very good to my children,” or whatever. In other words, “I have a lot of things I’ve done good, but there are a lot of things I’ve done bad.” Now let’s put this in economic terms for the sake of the metaphor.

What you’re really saying is, “I have some money in the bank spiritually. You know, I’m not destitute, but I have debts. I have a lot of debts.

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

Secondly, you have to mourn. Again, we’re talking about … Poor in spirit. The little phrase in spirit has helped us see this is metaphorical for a spiritual thing. What does it mean to mourn in spirit? It means to repent. You see you’re spiritually bankrupt. You see that not only the bad things you’ve done merit punishment, but even the good things you’ve done merit punishment, and you have absolutely nothing to recommend you to God. You start to repent. You mourn.

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012–2013 The Norms of the Kingdom

Why can you and I be comforted? Only because he mourned, because he wept inconsolably and died in the dark.

Christ was the perfect provision for our mourning

“A deep doctrine of sin, a high doctrine of joy, and the two together produce this blessed, happy man who mourns, and who at the same time is comforted.” MLJ

not all will be comforted, the elect will be comforted… you will be comforted if you’re in Christ.

The former slave ship captain John Newton closes these thoughts well:

Now I despond and mourn no more,

I welcome all I fear’d before

Though weak, I’m strong; though troubled, blessed

For Christ’s own pow’r shall on me rest.

My grace would soon exhausted be,

My grace would soon exhausted be,

But his is boundless as the sea;

Then let me boast with holy Paul,

That I am nothing, Christ is all.