Sermon Tone Analysis

Happy Are The Humble

Micha 6:1-8 & Matthew 5:1-12

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

Matthew 5:3

Last week we began our journey through the Beatitudes.

We learned the word “blessed” can be substituted with the word “happy”.

The Greek word “makarios” is translated “blessed” and incorporates the meaning of wholeness, joy, well-being, and a holistic peace that is expressed by the Hebrew word “shalom.”

If you want to know this kind of peace, the kind that passes our own understanding, the kind of happy that makes you feel totally complete and whole, then this series is for you!

Let us turn to God’s word for us today.

May we learn what it means to be supremely blessed and made whole.

Our Old Testament reading is from the prophet Micah and our New Testament reading comes from the words Jesus spoke at the beginning of his most famous sermon called the “Sermon on the Mount.”

(Mount = Mountain) Let us listen for God’s word for us today.

Micah 6:1-8

1. Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

2. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.

3. "O my people, what have I done to you?

In what have I wearied you?

Answer me! 4. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord." 6. "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 5:1-12 The Beatitudes

1.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2. Then he began to speak, 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 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 receive 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 for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11.

Blessed are you when people 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 in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus said something preposterous on that mountain that day.

He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” With these words, Jesus launched into the greatest sermon ever preached.

The Sermon on the Mount (mountain) is stunningly brilliant and captivatingly fresh.

Jesus quotes no rabbis, religious authorities, or ancient authors.

In this sermon Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter with amazing authority as he tells his disciples how to get into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew presents Jesus as the teacher, and the scholars present the Gospel of Matthew as the Teaching Gospel.

Here we have the ultimate teacher teaching us how to become blessed—whole, happy, joyful.

I encourage you to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) over the next seven weeks.

Allow the teaching words of Jesus, the teacher, to teach you how to be happy—in a whole, complete and joyful way.

What Is Poor In Spirit?

Have you noticed that when Jesus began this teaching, He does not begin with curses but with blessings?

I have been thinking all week about verse three of Matthew five when Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit—the kingdom belongs to them.”

This statement is like saying that the general admission tickets at Dodger field have the best seats in the house.

That’s ridiculous!

We would say, “Blessed are the season ticket holders, those with the reserved seats.

Happy are the skybox executives with the full buffet.

Blessed are the press credentialed who get into the post-game locker room.

Happy are the celebrity fans, frequently shown on camera.

Blessed are the players who have access to all that fame and money!”

No, that is not what Jesus is teaching.

Jesus is teaching us the opposite.

Blessed are the fans in the worst seats in the stadium—the kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

What Jesus is saying at the beginning of this sermon is that in order to be happy we must learn how to be “poor in spirit.”

Jesus is not talking about being physically poor.

We need a theological perspective to understand this poverty.

In today’s world we are taught: “Stand on your own two feet.”

“Reach for the top.”

“Make something of yourself.”

“Plan your work and work your plan.”

“Be assertive.”

“Look out for number one.”

We are advised to spike our resumes with action verbs and finesse the facts.

We turn “garbage collector” into “sanitation engineer,” and “short-order cook” into “culinary surgeon.”

We list initials before and behind our names, display our degrees on the wall, and keep our credentials handy.

Conventional wisdom says we should make ourselves large in stature.

To be “poor in Spirit.”

Is to be at odds with the world.

To be “poor in Spirit” is the exact opposite of words like “Haughty, self-assertive, self-sufficient, self -concerned, self-reliant, self-supporting, self-contained, independent or an autonomous spirit.”

Last week, in Jesus class, Miss Jac taught the young children through the object lesson of slime that selfishness is lack of consideration of others.

She had the kids pick their favorite color of slime and then she paired them with someone who had a different favorite color.

The kids had to work it out.

Then the children had to make the slime together and figure out who measured, who stirred, who kneaded, and who added what to what.

Then at the end, they divided their slime—each taking half.

Jac asked the class if they could share some examples of people being selfish.

One child said, “I would…but I don’t want to make them look bad.”

Instead, Miss Jac shared about our two dogs and how Jonah is way more selfish than Journey!

The child who didn’t want to make one of us in here look bad—well that child is poor in spirit!

That child is not selfish and did not lack consideration!

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

Mother Teresa said, “The poor can see better.

The poor stand a better chance of being saved by God because they know the truth: without God, they don’t stand a chance at all.”

Being poor in spirit is to be spiritually bankrupt before God.

Those who know they are spiritually poor are humble in mind.

Humility means “low-minded.”

“Blessed are the low-minded, the humble, the poor in spirit, the spiritually bankrupt, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”

In his book, Phillip Yancy wrote:

“Why would God single out the poor for special attention over any other group?

I used to wonder.

What makes the poor deserving of God’s concern?

I received help on this issue from a writer who listed the following “advantages” to being poor:

V The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.

V The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.

V The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

V The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.

V The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.

V The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.