The world puts its stock in us.

Outline

Introduction

• Possibly a joke about preachers who don’t receive the reward that other more obscure people do in heaven.
• TEXT 5:1-12
• Movie Pursuit of Happyness
• I used to think this was Jesus kind of validating the marginalized and oppressed in society, kind of a “cheer up” after all you are going to heaven some day. 
• “I got you Babe” at least we are going to heaven. 
• It is not at all what I expected. 

This passage is talking about blessing and happiness for more than just the marginalized hurting people.  This passage very clearly shows us how to live the good life.  It shows us how living the good life will be a blessing to you, how those who live the good life are a blessing to others, and finally how they are a blessing to God. 

Living the good life will result in blessing (benefit/profit) for you.

• Not just poor, but poor in Spirit.  Those who intellectual recognize their need for God and their own spiritual bankruptcy apart from God.
• Mourn, everybody mourns at some point so it has to be more than a “there, there it’s going to be alright” from Jesus.  It is an emotional recognition of our need for God.
• Humble, Meek…need an illustration of strong humility.
• This truly is “Your Best Life Now” from God’s perspective
• As I mentioned last week apart from a repentant heart these will seem more burdensome and foolish than desirable.  These are the natural result in the life of a person that has committed his or her life to following God and allowing Him to change his or her heart. 

People would be asking, “Jesus are you replacing the torah?  Are these the new laws that we are supposed to follow now?”  Jesus is saying, “No this is the fulfillment, this is the logical end to the torah, this is what your life should look like if you are doing the deal of loving God and His word.”  It is like there have been this group of people who have been trying to convince people that it is about rule keeping, but it’s not.  It is like someone who works in the hospitality industry.  They learn the rules, but the job is not the rules the job is people.  “The customer is always right.” 

Then comes the really mind blowing part, when you live this good life then the whole human race is blessed.  

When you (pl) live the good life it will result in blessing (benefit/profit) for others (the world).

The good life as a preservative to keep the world from spoiling and becoming rotten.   

A Christian musical group, Sixpence None the Richer, had the opportunity to perform on "The Late Show with David Letterman." Leigh Nash, the lead singer of Sixpence, was given the rare chance to be interviewed by Letterman after the band performed.

Letterman's first question was why they chose Sixpence None the Richer as their band's name.

This gave Nash the opportunity to share C.S. Lewis' story of a father giving his son a sixpence to buy him a present. "When the father received the present, he was none the richer because he originally gave the sixpence to his son. The analogy is to God who gives gifts for us to glorify him. He is not richer because of our presentation since he originally gave the gift."

Letterman responded, "That's a beautiful story. If people could stop being so stupid and actually hear that, and live by that sort of thing, then our world would be a better place. God bless you, thank you for playing, and thank you for being here."

"The Industry of Christian Music," Trinity Magazine (Summer 2001); submitted by Lee Eclov, Lake Forest, Illinois

The good life as a guiding light that illuminates the life that we were all created to live.

In order for these two purposes to be accomplished the good life must be distinct and also lived out in view of people. 

When others (the world) see you living the good life it will result in blessing (benefit/profit) for God.

Then the good life will ultimately brings praise to God.   

• God gets, it is always to the benefit of God. 

Conclusion

 Why am I so excited about this?  Because of two words “you are,” when you live the good life “you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world.”  Then God will be praised and that is your ultimate joy. 

Are you living the good life?  Or are you just trying to follow the rules? 

Are you a Christ follower or a rule keeper? 

Ideas

• There is a coherence and solidarity to this passage that often gets missed because it is so often broken up into separate parts.  Like the blind men who each have a hold of a different part of the elephant, when you only examine one part you miss the whole message.  Often there is a focus on the individual beatitudes or a lengthy exposition on how Christians are to be salt and light, but it should not be missed that one directly proceeds from the other.  Followers of Christ are salt and light in this world only to the extent as they are characterized by the beatitudes.  Which in turn will result in people giving glory to God. 
• “you are the salt of the earth” “You are the light of the world” so what then it meant by, “LET your light shine…”?  If you are something, how then does there need to be a choice to do it?  Maybe that is the paradox of the salt, it cannot lose its saltiness and remain being salt.  The same as we cannot “be” salt and light if we do not “let” our light shine through good deeds.  Essentially then what Jesus is saying is, “When you live like this then you add flavor to, preserve from spoiling and bring light into the world so much so that they will praise God.”  
• We are supposed to be different.  These qualities run contrary to the natural inclinations of human beings because the natural inclination of human beings is to serve ourselves and not God. 
• If you posses these qualities you deserve congratulations because they are the end of the law, they are the goal that the law is intended to produce.  Jesus then goes add one additional one about himself so they understand the true significance of who he is in relation to that which is has come from God in the past.  
• The big question is application.  Jesus seems to be saying that these qualities should be present in the life of followers of God, he is stating a fact (blessed, happy, congratulations) not giving them an imperative.  The application could be a question: “Are these present in my life as a result of following God, if not then why?”  The application could be a challenge live out these out before other people so that God will be glorified.  The application could be an encouragement that if you feel different then you are on the right track and if you are not distinct then what is the point. 
• These qualities seem a bit “wimpy” why would anyone desire them?  Answer: examine the alternative. 
• Poor in Spirit                         No intellectual need for God
• Mourn                                    No emotional need for God
• Humble                                  Proud
• Desire for Righteousness  No concern injustice
• Merciful                                  Vengeful, Harsh, Sadistic
• Pure Heart                             Manipulator
• Peacemaker                         War Maker
• Per. For doing right              Left alone for inaction
• Mocked for Christ                 Left alone for not following           

Persecuted for Righteousness Sake But more particularly, the seven characters here described are all in the teeth of the spirit of the world, insomuch that such hearers of this discourse as breathed that spirit must have been startled, and had their whole system of thought and action rudely dashed. Poverty of spirit runs counter to the pride of men’s heart; a pensive disposition, in the view of one’s universal deficiencies before God, is ill relished by the callous, indifferent, laughing, self-satisfied world; a meek and quiet spirit, taking wrong, is regarded as pusillanimous, and rasps against the proud, resentful spirit of the world; that craving after spiritual blessings rebukes but too unpleasantly the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; so does a merciful spirit the hard-heartedness of the world; purity of heart contrasts painfully with painted hypocrisy; and the peacemaker cannot easily be endured by the contentious, quarrelsome world. Thus does “righteousness” come to be “persecuted.” But blessed are they who, in spite of this, dare to be righteous.[1]

“God Blesses”

-Poor in Spirit (realize their need for Him)           -Kingdom of Heaven

-Mourn                                                                       -Be comforted

-Humble                                                                    -Inherit the whole earth

-Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness                -Be satisfied

-Merciful                                                                    -Be shown mercy

-Pure Hearts                                                             -Will See God

-Work for Peace                                                       -Called Children of God

-Persecuted for doing right                                                -Kingdom of Heaven

-Mocked and Persecuted for Following Jesus   -Great reward in Heaven

1.      Here (above left column) is how you should act, this is what your attitude should be like, this is how my disciples should be characterized.

2.      The result of living like this is that you will be salt (add flavor, be distinct, preserve) and you will be light, a city on a hill (light to see clearly, a beacon to guide, stand out in a prominent place, illuminate other objects, dispel darkness). 

3.      The ultimate purpose of people seeing you live in this way is so that God may be praised.

Scriptures

Hunger for Righteousness

13     Rise up, O Lord, confront them, bring them down;

rescue me from the wicked by your sword.

14     O Lord, by your hand save me from such men,

from men of this world whose reward is in this life.

You still the hunger of those you cherish;

their sons have plenty,

and they store up wealth for their children.

15     And I—in righteousness I will see your face;

when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.[2]

Pure Heart

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.[3]

13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,b so that we may serve the living God!

15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. [4]

Commentary

5:3–10 The good life (cf. Lk. 6:20–22). The discourse begins with a rounded portrait of the true disciple in the form of eight ‘beatitudes’. Neither blessed nor ‘happy’ adequately translates makarios, which is rather a term of congratulation and recommendation. These qualities are to be envied and emulated; they make up ‘the good life’. Each is followed by a reason, pointing out that no-one will be the loser by following this way of life, however unpromising it may appear in the short term. The rewards are at the level of spiritual experience and relationship with God rather than of material recompense. The key phrase, which opens and concludes the series, is theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This refers to the people who acknowledge God as their King and who may, therefore, confidently look forward to the fulfilment of his purpose in their lives.[5]

The change to the second person brings a direct application to Jesus’ audience. The last beatitude is picked up to emphasize that the persecution which results from following Jesus puts his disciples in the succession of God’s faithful servants. The distinctiveness which makes them the object of persecution is then illustrated by the two images of salt and light; each is essential but has its necessary effect on its environment only if it is both distinctive from it and yet fully involved in it. So disciples must function in society as an alternative and challenging community. It is by their visible goodness that they will bring glory to the God who has made them so.[6]

Poor in Spirit the explanatory words, “in spirit,” fix the sense to “those who in their deepest consciousness realize their entire need” (compare the Greek of Lu 10:21; Jn 11:33; 13:21; Ac 20:22; Ro 12:11; 1Co 5:3; Php 3:3). This self-emptying conviction, that “before God we are void of everything,” lies at the foundation of all spiritual excellence, according to the teaching of Scripture. Without it we are inaccessible to the riches of Christ; with it we are in the fitting state for receiving all spiritual supplies (Rev 3:17, 18; Rev 3:17, 18, Mt 9:12, 13).[7]

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted—This “mourning” must not be taken loosely for that feeling which is wrung from men under pressure of the ills of life, nor yet strictly for sorrow on account of committed sins. Evidently it is that entire feeling which the sense of our spiritual poverty begets; and so the second beatitude is but the complement of the first. The one is the intellectual, the other the emotional aspect of the same thing. It is poverty of spirit that says, “I am undone”; and it is the mourning which this causes that makes it break forth in the form of a lamentation—“Woe is me! for I am undone.” Hence this class are termed “mourners in Zion,” or, as we might express it, religious mourners, in sharp contrast with all other sorts (Is 61:1–3; 66:2). Religion, according to the Bible, is neither a set of intellectual convictions nor a bundle of emotional feelings, but a compound of both, the former giving birth to the latter. Thus closely do the first two beatitudes cohere. The mourners shall be “comforted.” Even now they get beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Sowing in tears, they reap even here in joy. Still, all present comfort, even the best, is partial, interrupted, short-lived. But the days of our mourning shall soon be ended, and then God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Then, in the fullest sense, shall the mourners be “comforted.”[8]

The foregoing beatitudes—the first four—represent the saints rather as conscious of their need of salvation, and acting suitably to that character, than as possessed of it. The next three are of a different kind—representing the saints as having now found salvation, and conducting themselves accordingly.[9]

Merciful The foretastes and beginnings of this judicial recompense are richly experienced here below: its perfection is reserved for that day when, from His great white throne, the King shall say, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and thirsty, and a stranger, and naked, and sick, and in prison, and ye ministered unto Me.” Yes, thus He acted towards us while on earth, even laying down His life for us; and He will not, He cannot disown, in the merciful, the image of Himself.[10]

Pure in Heart And in what striking contrast would such teaching appear to that which was then current, in which exclusive attention was paid to ceremonial purification and external morality! This heart purity begins in a “heart sprinkled from an evil conscience,” or a “conscience purged from dead works” (Heb 10:22; 9:14; and see Ac 15:9); and this also is taught in the Old Testament (Ps 32:1, 2; compare Ro 4:5–8; Is 6:5–8). The conscience thus purged—the heart thus sprinkled—there is light within wherewith to see God.[11]

Peacemakers the peace-receivers become transformed into peace-diffusers. God is thus seen reflected in them; and by the family likeness these peacemakers are recognized as the children of God. [12]

Persecuted for Righteousness But how, it may be asked, could such beautiful features of character provoke persecution? To this the following answers should suffice: “Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” “The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” “There is yet one man (said wicked Ahab to good Jehoshaphat) by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil” (Jn 3:20; 7:7; 15:19; 2Ch 18:7). [13]

And now, continuing this mode of direct personal address, He startles those humble, unknown men by pronouncing them the exalted benefactors of their whole species.

Ye are the salt of the earth—to preserve it from corruption, to season its insipidity, to freshen and sweeten it. The value of salt for these purposes is abundantly referred to by classical writers as well as in Scripture; and hence its symbolical significance in the religious offerings as well of those without as of those within the pale of revealed religion. In Scripture, mankind, under the unrestrained workings of their own evil nature, are represented as entirely corrupt. Thus, before the flood (Ge 6:11, 12); after the flood (Ge 8:21); in the days of David (Ps 14:2, 3); in the days of Isaiah (Is 1:5, 6); and in the days of Paul (Eph 2:1–3; see also Job 14:4; Jn 3:6; compared with Ro 8:8; Tit 3:2, 3). The remedy for this, says our Lord here, is the active presence of His disciples among their fellows. The character and principles of Christians, brought into close contact with it, are designed to arrest the festering corruption of humanity and season its insipidity. But how, it may be asked, are Christians to do this office for their fellow men, if their righteousness only exasperate them, and recoil, in every form of persecution, upon themselves? The answer is: That is but the first and partial effect of their Christianity upon the world: though the great proportion would dislike and reject the truth, a small but noble band would receive and hold it fast; and in the struggle that would ensue, one and another even of the opposing party would come over to His ranks, and at length the Gospel would carry all before it.[14]

Losing saltiness It is not the mere want of a certain character, but the want of it in those whose profession and appearance were fitted to beget expectation of finding it.[15]

Whether salt ever does lose its saline property—about which there is a difference of opinion—is a question of no moment here. The point of the case lies in the supposition—that if it should lose it, the consequence would be as here described. So with Christians. The question is not: Can, or do, the saints ever totally lose that grace which makes them a blessing to their fellow men? But, What is to be the issue of that Christianity which is found wanting in those elements which can alone stay the corruption and season the tastelessness of an all—pervading carnality?[16]

Salt operates internally, in the mass with which it comes in contact; the sunlight operates externally, irradiating all that it reaches. Hence Christians are warily styled “the salt of the earth”—with reference to the masses of mankind with whom they are expected to mix; but “the light of the world”—with reference to the vast and variegated surface which feels its fructifying and gladdening radiance.[17]

A disciple of the kingdom who does not live like a disciple of the kingdom (5:3–12) is worth about as much as tasteless salt or invisible light.[18]

Letting one’s light shine is living according to the perfection of the kingdom and thus manifesting the righteousness of the Torah according to its correct interpretation, examples of which are shortly to emerge. The love commandment provides the foundation for these good works (cf. 22:37–40).[19]

Illustrations

• Blessed are the merciful – call from telemarketer.
•  

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[1]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:11

[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 17:13-15

[3] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Heb 10:22

b Or from useless rituals

[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Heb 9:13-15

cf. compare

[5]Carson, D. A.: New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA : Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, S. Mt 5:3

[6]Carson, D. A.: New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA : Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, S. Mt 5:11

[7]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:3

[8]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:4

[9]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:6

[10]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:7

[11]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:8

[12]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:9

[13]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:11

[14]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:13

[15]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:13

[16]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:13

[17]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Mt 5:14

disciple *Disciples. Students of rabbis or philosophers, normally committed to memorizing and living according to their master’s teachings.

kingdom *Kingdom. This term means “rule,” “reign” or “authority” (not a king’s people or land, as connotations of the English term could imply). Jewish people recognized that God rules the universe now, but they prayed for the day when he would rule the world unchallenged by idolatry and disobedience. The coming of this future aspect of God’s reign was generally associated with the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. Because Jesus came and will come again, Christians believe that the kingdom has been inaugurated but awaits consummation or completion. “Kingdom of heaven” is another way (Matthew’s usual way) of saying “kingdom of God.” “Heaven” was a standard Jewish way of saying “God” (as in Lk 15:21).

[18]Keener, Craig S. ; InterVarsity Press: The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 1993, S. Mt 5:10

cf. confer, compare

[19]Hagner, Donald A.: Word Biblical Commentary : Matthew 1-13. Dallas : Word, Incorporated, 2002 (Word Biblical Commentary 33A), S. 100