The Red Letters #1

The Red Letters: Diving Deep — the Sermon on the Mount

Every Summer since I have been with you we have been looking at a different section of the Word of God and digging in - spending the Summer going deep. This year, as I was thinking about the situation our world is in, it dawned on me that there are no words more meaningful than the words in red — the Red Letters.

When we open our New Testament and read from the gospels, we are familiar with the words of Jesus being printed in red.

Louis Klopsch is credited with the idea of printing Jesus’ words in red. The editor of the Christian Herald magazine, Klopsch came up with the idea of printing some of the biblical text with red ink while he was reading Jesus’ words, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you’ (Luke 22:20). Klopsch decided to print all of Jesus’ words in red, the color of His blood. The first red-letter New Testament was printed in 1899, and the first red-letter Bible was printed in 1901 (‘Origin of Red-Letter Bibles,’ Crossway. March 23, 2006.

We have gotten used to the red-letters, it was, in my opinion a great idea. This Summer, we are going to dive in deep to the red-letters that we know as the Sermon on the Mount. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5:1–12 NRSV

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

According to Roger Hahn, “For Matthew, the mountain is the place of divine revelation. Like Moses who brought the Law from Mount Sinai, Jesus teaches from the mountainside.”

There is a good bit of discussion among Biblical teachers and scholars as to the occasion of the Sermon on the Mount. Because of the verb tense of the word taught in verse 2, it is likely that this was not just a single occasion where Jesus taught, but was Matthew’s collection of what Jesus typically taught as He traveled around Israel with His disciples.

Many years ago the Raleigh, North Carolina News & Observer published an article entitled: “How Do You Measure Up As A Man? The article stated that some extensive research had been conducted on the 20th century standards for measuring a man. The criteria were quite interesting and I thought that I might list them for the men here this morning just so we can see how we measure up.

The Measure of a man

1. His ability to make and conserve money.

2. The cost, style and age of his car.

3. How much hair he has.

4. His strength and size.

5. The job he holds and how successful he is at it.

6. What sports he likes

7. How many clubs he belongs to.

8. His aggressiveness and reliability.

What does Jesus say about the measure of a person?

Jesus also once set down eight principles for the measure of a person. We call them the beatitudes. I think of them as the attitudes of being a follower of Christ. His standards are nothing like those mentioned in the paper. There would appear to be a disconnect between the popular image of the successful person and what God sees as the successful person.

The problem is that we really don’t grasp the true nature of happiness, and because of that it so often seems unattainable. You see, we think that happiness deals with our outer circumstances. We think that the truly happy person is one who has achieved outer success.

Our Cultural Beatitudes Read:

1. Blessed is the person who makes a fortune.

2. Blessed is the person who earns six figures.

3. Happy is the person who has a palace in the city and a summer home in the mountains.

4. Blessed is person who has won the applause of the world.

But on this special day Jesus shared with disciples and, indeed, with all of history, that this concept of happiness is a foundation built on sand. Happiness is not at all based upon what we have. True happiness is based upon who we are. Happiness is not based upon the kind of house that we live in; it depends on the kind of people who live in the house. It is not the kind of clothes that we wear, but the person who wears the clothes.

Beatitudes were for the disciples: Beatitudes — “blessed or happy”

It is important to understand that Jesus did not give the Beatitudes, a word meaning blessed or happy to the CROWD. The scripture very clearly states: “And seeing the multitude, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his DISCIPLES came to him. And he began to teach THEM.”

The beatitudes deal with character, duties, attitudes and dangers of being a Christian disciple. A few weeks ago, we talked about our responsibility to “go and make disciples.” Part of that responsibility is teaching people what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There is no better place to begin that discussion than with the Sermon on the mount, and that Sermon begins with the beatitudes. The Sermon on the Mount is not a universal code of ethics or a legalistic set of rules to follow - it is a call to Christian perfection.

Unless we have a relationship with God, the Beatitudes will seem at the least, a waste of energy, or maybe even foolish. They fly in the face of everything that the world would teach us. The problem so often is that we put the cart before the horse. We study his teaching and hope that His teaching will change us. The fact is that it is Christ who changes us. And, as we are changed, we adhere to his teachings. So, the Sermon on the Mount is the pattern of living for those who have received Christ as Savior. As He begins with the beatitudes, these are the spiritual qualities of all who enter the Kingdom of Heaven: Blessed - fortunate or well off

Having taken His disciples aside, He begins to teach them to keys to deep abiding happiness for the Christ follower.

1. Blessed (or happy) are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven

According to Matthew, this is not about material poverty, but about having a mindset in your very spirit that humbly trusts in God. Roger Hahn adds an interesting aspect of this in his commentary on the book of Matthew:

While this may be true in part, it is not likely that Jesus disregards the extreme economic poverty of His time.

Extreme poverty devastates the human spirit as much as it decimates the pocketbook. Poverty destroys hope, as much now as in Jesus’ time. Further, the word poor already had a long history of being used to describe those who in their financial poverty put all their faith and hope in God. The poor in spirit would be those whose poverty had removed all human hope and left them hoping that God would intervene on their behalf. The poor are promised that the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3) comes to them.

The idea of being poor in spirit is the key to all that is to follow in the Beatitudes. I like the note in the Life Application Bible that describes the beatitudes, and how they all begin with being poor in spirit:

“You cannot mourn without appreciating how insufficient you are to handle life in your own strength.

You cannot be meek unless you know you have needed gentleness yourself.

You cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness if you proudly think of yourself as already righteous.

You cannot be merciful without recognizing your own need for mercy.

You cannot be pure in heart if your heart is full of pride.

You cannot be a peacemaker if you believe that you are always right.

You cannot identify with Christ in the face of negative reactions from others without dying to yourself and renouncing your own rights.”

All of these beatitudes are rooted in humility, being poor in spirit.

2. Blessed (or happy) are you who mourn for you will be comforted.

a. The only sure way not to mourn in this life is not to love. Those who do not love do not know the loss and pain that is associated with it.

b. Alfred Lord Tennyson penned the now famous words, “’tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” And we know these words to be true in spite of the great pain that we experience when we lose.

c. But there is an additional understanding here, because Jesus is making it clear that even when we mourn, we will be comforted.

i. By others that we love that remain with us.

ii. By our heavenly Father who understands the pain of loss.

3. Blessed (or happy) are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

a. This is, at the very least, highly unexpected.

b. Although our culture says that meekness is a character that is good to have, I sometimes think that we only want to see that attribute in those around us, not in ourselves. A study was done a few years back that discovered 85% of Americans claim to be better than average drivers. Well, truth be known, by definition, only 49% are better than the average! We expect or at least desire others to be meek, but we hold ourselves to a different standard!

c. Yet, Jesus says it is the meek that inherit the earth. We know that Christ’s economy differs substantially from the economy of our world. Our world economy would say that it is the one who would trample on others who will get to the top—but in Jesus’ economy, it is the one who is meek that will inherit the earth.

Psalm 37:10–11 NRSV

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Sometimes we equate meekness and weakness, but the two words are not close to the same. The meek person is someone who doesn’t throw their weight about and demand their own way. God will give them the high place they wouldn’t seize for themselves.

4. Blessed (or happy) are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled.

a. In seventh grade I went to a retreat that our youth group was having. The speaker was known as “PG” on our district—His name was Gordon Wetmore - he now is a pastor over in New England. On the first night of the retreat he preached on what it meant to give your life entirely to Jesus and allow Him to sanctify through and through. I was only 12 years old, and I thought I was too young to make that kind of commitment. I decided that I would reject the pull of the Holy Spirit that I felt as the invitation was given.

b. Afterwards, I remember feeling like I was kind of in a fog. God had asked me to take a step toward Him in obedience, but I refused. I had walked away from His clear direction in my life.

c. I spent the next several years hungering and thirsting for the righteousness that I had turned away that night. Yet, I did not feel the Holy Spirit at all for several years. I am so thankful that I kept hungering, thirsting, and even pursuing—because one day the drought was over, and the Holy Spirit made Himself known to me once again!

Hungering and thirsting are powerful words - in the same way that we hunger for food and thirst for water, we, as followers of Jesus should hunger and thirst for righteousness.

5. Blessed (or happy) are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

There is a movie - it’s a few years old now, but it has a great scene about mercy that I want to show you.

Video clip—“The Study scene” from The Grace Card

6. Blessed (or happy) are the pure in heart for they will see God.

a. The writer of the book of Hebrews talks about what it means to be pure in heart in Hebrews 12:14: “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” [1]

b. Notice, Jesus does not say blessed are those who have perfect performance—but a purity of heart—a purity of intention.

c. Holiness involves purity of heart & intention.

7. Blessed (or happy) are the peacemakers for the will be called the sons of God.

a. We sometimes believe that happiness comes to the one that fights hard enough to get his own way—but Jesus says it is the peacemaker that is happy. We are really struggling with this one today. In this climate of racial division and inequality, I want to be known as a peacemaker. We need to be careful what we say, and what we post on social media. We need to recognize that some of the things that are being posted are furthering the racial divide not helping to be a peacemaker. I do not think that if Jesus were on Facebook today that every time somebody posted “Black Lives Matter”, He would respond with “all lives matter.” I get the temptation to do so, but let’s try to understand that when the vast majority of people are saying “Black lives matter”, they are not saying that your life or mine doesn’t matter.

They know that all lives matter. Jesus told the story of a shepherd who had 100 sheep and one got lost. The fact that He left the 99 in the fold to go after the one that was lost does not mean that He didn’t care about the other 99. He went after the one because that one mattered. Saying that the one lost sheep mattered didn’t mean that the others don’t matter, it simply meant that the one needed help at the moment. We need to stand up and do whatever we can to be peacemakers in this time of division!

b. One person armed with the Gospel of peace can change the world. Telemachus did. He was a monk who lived in the 5th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery but he put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar" and he thought, "this isn't right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, and tried to stop them. The crowd became enraged and stoned the peacemaker to death. When the Emperor of Rome, Honorius, heard about the monk he declared him a Christian martyr and put an end to the games. Legend has it that the very last Gladiator game was the one in which Telemachus died.

8. Blessed (or happy) are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

a. Maybe the legendary story of Telemachus brings us to the last of the beatitudes ready to hear its message.

b. We really know nothing of persecution for our faith—but it certainly seems like the day may be coming and maybe soon.

c. Nobody enjoys persecution, so why would He say blessed or happy are those that are persecuted because of righteousness…the answer is in what they receive. Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven! Remember, this is just our temporary home—we are just passing through, and someday we will receive our reward. There can be persecution here but great reward later!

One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said,

"Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand."

The mother said, "Oh? What is it?"

The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the whole world in His hand. Is that true?"

The mother replied, "Yes, that's true, honey."

"But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?"

Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true.

With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?"

That is what the beatitudes are about – God showing through.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996 (electronic ed.) (Heb 12:14). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.