The Kingdom Manifesto - 2

The Kingdom Manifesto - 2

God Blesses those who Mourn

Introduction

This world gives us much to mourn over. When we look at history, at countless wars and atrocities...it is overwhelming. The world has been without war for only 268 years out of recorded 3,400 years (8%). But we don’t even have to look to the past. We can look at current events...holocaust of abortion, wretched racism that infects our culture, maligning of morality, nations threaten with war, politics fragile at best. Even our own lives...relationships that imploded, marriages ended, rebellious children, loss, job dissatisfaction. The world seems broken and beyond repair. There is much to mourn over.

Matthew 5:4 - God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Really? It is easy to see the blessing that comes with some of these other beatitudes, but not this one. Kind of a ridiculous picture. You don’t walk up to a graveside and pronounce the blessing inherent in it. So, what is Jesus saying to us? Well, the bible has much to say about mourning.

In the OT, after the Exile when many of the Jews were still in Babylon, Nehemiah was still in exile, but some of the Jews had been allowed to go back to Jerusalem. He asked about its condition.

Nehemiah 1:3-4 - They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

When Job was struck with unbelievable suffering, his three friends came and mourned with him.

Job 2:11-13 - When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

These were three great friends who showed great concern and care. Until they opened their mouths and showed the opposite by giving terrible advice.

Jesus himself mourned. Outside the tomb of Lazarus, his great friend, Jesus weeps over the loss. Later in his ministry, Jesus stands overlooking the city of Jerusalem and mourns.

Luke 19:41-44 - But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”

Biblically, people mourn when things are not the way they should be. We mourn over things that could have been or should have been.

A marriage that should have lasted.

A friendship that could have been great.

An opportunity that could have been life changing.

A life that should have lasted longer.

That’s what Jesus is talking about in this incredible verse. And he says God blesses us when we see that things are not the way they are supposed to be.

TS - So, what should we mourn over?

1. THE WORLD IS BROKEN

This world is not right. Virtually everyone on any side of any argument would agree on that statement. This world is not right...it is not the way God intended it to be.

We see God’s original intent for creation when we go back to the beginning, to the first few chapters of the bible, in the opening of the book of Genesis. In the Garden of Eden, we see a world that is perfect, a world that is safe, filled with innocence. Now we live in a world that is none of those things. Imperfect. Unsafe. Corrupt. Broken.

And what made the difference? Sin.

Satan enters the scene in Genesis 3, into the perfect world where Adam and Eve have everything they could ever want or need. And he has the audacity to offer more. “Open your eyes...God’s holding out on you. There is more to life than this.”

And he was right. By disobeying God, humanity has experienced more...our eyes have been opened. We see devastation. We see suffering. We see death. More is not always better.

And we feel a sense of loss, of sadness, sometimes of indignation, when we see what is going on in the world. We all see, intuitively, in our soul - this is not how it should be.

Jesus says we are blessed when we get to that place because...we realize our hope is not here, but somewhere else.

2. WE ARE BROKEN

Back to the Garden of Eden and creation. We find that humanity, we, are created in the image of God. We are created to reflect his character, to mirror the nature of our creator.

But we are not so good at that one all the time, are we?

God is a God of Justice. We can easily take advantage of others, make life all about us. That’s not justice...that’s injustice.

God is a God of mercy and compassion. We can feel our hearts grow hardened and cynical. We can easily become jaded to the pain around us.

God is a God of holiness. Of utter separation from the sin of the world. We can blend in with a fallen world without even realizing what is happening.

We don’t measure up do we? We are not who we are supposed to be. The Apostle Paul summed up this struggle really well in Romans 7.

Romans 7:15, 19, 21-23 - I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate...I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway...I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my life. Because of our sin we are forced to acknowledge we are spiritually bankrupt. When sin came into the world in Genesis 3, its effect was comprehensive and catastrophic. The perfect world was devastated, the relationship with God was severed, the innocence in human relationship was marred. We are broken.

We mourn when we recognize these two truths...this world is broken, we are broken. Hopelessly so, it seems. The only right response is to mourn. In fact, this is where we see the connection between the first and second beatitudes.

Matthew 5:3-4 - God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

God blesses those who can’t do it. And blesses those who mourn that, due to their sin, they can’t do it. We mourn over our inability to fix it. We are spiritually bankrupt before God. We don’t have what it takes. God is holy, we are unholy. And the only right reaction to our sinful brokenness is to mourn over it. We have dishonored the God who made us. We have offended the Lord who saved us. Sadly, there are many who don’t feel that way. Not only do they not mourn, they don’t give it a second thought. Some even brag about it.

ILL – years ago I did a sermon series where I had people write letters to their past selves (tried it here and like 3 people did it). We had hundreds of these letters posted on the walls in the lobby of the church. The overwhelming majority viewed their past decisions, sinful decisions, as something to be respected. “These things made you who you are. Go down that same road. Make that same decision.” What?! Where is the remorse? Where is the repentance? Where is the mourning over sinful actions that hurt you, hurt others, and dishonored the Lord? Those made you who you are…that’s the point. You could have been so much better! So much happier! So much holier!

So, we don’t defiantly defend our actions. We don’t disregard them with some apathetic dismissal that “well, we are all sinners.” We recognize our spiritual bankruptcy, and we mourn over it. But notice what Jesus said about those who mourn over such things...” for they will be comforted.” The blessing is to be found in the comfort.

TS - So how are we comforted in this?

1. THIS WORLD IS BROKEN, BUT JESUS IS GOING TO FIX IT

Romans 8 says that the creation has been under the curse of sin and has been groaning in that brokenness, as in the pains of childbirth, for redemption. That it is in pain, ready to give birth to something new.

Revelation 21:1-5 - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

There will be a new earth, a new creation. And all the things that cause mourning will be gone. No more death, sorrow, crying, pain. And God will be with us, the new restored relationship. It will be a place that is perfect, that is safe, filled with innocence. God will restore what he originally created.

In Matthew 19:24, Jesus speaks a great promise to his followers and says that at the renewal of all things people will have restored to them all that they sacrificed for him, plus some. The word he uses for ‘renewal’ of all things literally means, “New Genesis.”

God blesses those who mourn that the world is broken because they will be comforted when they are reminded that their hope is not here, but there. Not now, but then.

Colossians 1:3-5a - We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.

TS - how are we comforted in this?

2. WE ARE BROKEN, BUT JESUS IS GOING TO FIX US

While we may be broken now, that will not always be the case. We will receive new bodies, redeemed bodies. Not just a replacement for the body you have, but the body you always wanted. Thank God! We will be remade to be what God originally made us to be.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 - For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:22-23 - 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

This is not something we talk about very often, but how great of a promise this is. God will remake the world...and he will remake us. And this remaking starts now. Notice v. 5.

2 Corinthians 5:5 - God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

When we place our trust in Jesus, we are not left on our own to try to figure out how to follow Jesus, how to be more like Jesus. No, God gives us his Holy Spirit to live within to strengthen and empower us to live rightly for him. And He, the Holy Spirit, begins the work of transformation in us.

Interestingly, Jesus says in Matthew 5:4 that those who mourn will be comforted. The word for comfort is ‘paraclete’ - one who comes alongside. That same word just happens to be the same word Jesus uses to define and describe the identity of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises in John 16 that the Comforter will come to you.

So yes, we will be comforted...by the Comforter. God the Holy Spirit will be working in me and transforming me until Heaven is my permanent residence and this process is completed.

Ephesians 1:13b-14 - And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Yes, the world is broken, we are broken. But Jesus is going to remake all of it, all of us. So, we are blessed when we realize our hope is not in this broken world, but in Heaven. We are blessed when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, lives within and begins that work of transformation in us.

You can have this hope. The hope that today, right now, is not all there is. You can have the hope of eternity, that the Lord will remake you, and you can be part of the re-created world.

BELIEVE/REPENT/CONFESS/BAPTIZE

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