Blessed are the Upside Down

Communion

Fun Days - Giving of self

We find ourselves imitating Jesus… Who gave

Each month we participate in communion to refresh our memory...

The worship team is going to play Jesus Paid it all. As they play, come forward, grab the elements - parents - return to your seat and we will partake together

1 cor 11:23-26

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

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Outline

Intro: This Summer…(understand the sermon on the mount, it’s audience and intention)

I love big movie trailers. Even for movies I have no interest in.

Don LaFontaine was the original voice that gave us beautiful lines like: “In a world...” or “This Summer”

And you get a taste of what the movie will be like…at least the highlights.

Well, This Summer, in a world where Jewish Rabbis sit on hilltops and talk, Hockinson Community Church brings you The Sermon on the Mount…That’s right. we will spend the whole summer focused on an event in the life of Jesus that amounted to one afternoon.

This is the longest recorded teaching from Jesus to his disciples and the 3 chapters of it contain some of the most challenging teachings in all of scripture.

We’ll find ourselves dipping into other stories in the life of Jesus, the old testament, and our own lives. I always say that in every sermon I am always preaching to my own heart first…no where is this more true than in our messages this summer.

I would encourage you to read through Matthew 5-7 several times this summer. It’s 10 minutes top of reading, so nothing to stop you from reading through it once a week. If you do, I believe it will have the same impact on you that preparing these messages has had on me. Won’t be comfortable…but it will be worth it.

We’ll begin today with his opening lines as he describes to his disciples what a blessed life looks like.

The Problem: Enough is never Enough

The “Blessed” life. Sounds nice. Sounds patriotic even. After all, ol’ Tommy Jefferson wrote it:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

And boy oh boy are we good at pursuing happiness.

In June of 2019 Market research showed that in 2016 the total value of the self-help industry including books, audiobooks, motivational speakers, etc was 9.9 billion dollars and growing anywhere between 5 and 10 percent a year…

Covid only increased that growth rate as people found themselves lonely, frustrated, and scared

(more here and wrap it up…)

The Result of the Problem: Unsatisfied, dogs chasing cars

There is a problem with the pursuit of happiness for us. The best comparison is like dogs chasing cars. The target keeps moving, and if we did catch it…there’s a good chance it runs us over.

Years ago there was an animated film, Over the Hedge. A group of woodland creatures are recruited by a raccoon, RJ, to do their gathering in a little suburb. At some concern that the humans will miss their stuff, RJ points out all the stuff going in, going out, getting thrown away and end by saying,

“You think they have enough? Well they don’t. For humans, enough is never enough!

If it’s money that we aim for, we find that no matter how much we have, a little more would make life better

If it’s power we crave, we find at the end that in the things that matter most we have no control

If it is pleasure, we find a law of diminishing returns kicking in and no amount of leisure or fun can satisfy

So we keep chasing cars.

Aha! Upside down lenses…Jesus gives a different path. Intentional order...

There is a great little game I found. #upsidedownchallengegame. Catchy, I know.

It’s based on studies done, you can find examples on youtube or the Disney plus series brain games where they have people wear goggles like these that flip your vision upside down.

Then the participants are asked to perform tasks. Much like the backwards bicycle I showed you a few weeks back, it is hysterical to watch people stumble and fumble…for awhile. At a certain point, the brain clicks and we can function...

But not the way we are supposed to.

We were designed to find happiness, to find the blessed life one way, but ever since the fall, we have had upside down goggles on and we have learned to operate in that world…but not with the results we should have.

The challenge is that when you take these goggles off, it is not easy for the brain to reset to factory specs.

Jesus gives his disciples a clear path to the blessed life…but it looks upside down. But…if we begin to walk the path, if we take step after unsure step, we will find that Jesus offers us not only a great way to find a blessed life, but the only one that leads us anyplace different than the dead ends we’ve found in the world.

So let’s look at this upside down (to us) road and see what we find.

Right Side Up Road

After calling disciples, Jesus goes around teaching, preaching about the kingdom. and healing. Crowds gathered.

Matthew 5:1-2 CSB When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them, saying:

He sees the crowd, teaches his disciples. side bar: If you notice Jesus’ choices, nearly everything is about teaching and equipping the 12.

And so with the crowds around him, he begins to teach, and he starts with this description of what makes for a blessed life. The word blessed is an inner happiness…a permanent, unshakable kind of joy.

We’ve already noted that our pursuit of happiness leads to things that only satisfy for a moment…Jesus is calling them to follow him on a path that runs deeper.

The first step to the happy life is to:

Know your need (3)

Verse 3

Matthew 5:3 CSB “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

Ok, so absolute confidence that heaven was not only a real place, but the place that you belong…that is a pretty huge step on the way to a happy life.

Sometimes, I think people get focused on the very good news that they are avoiding hell. That the worst here is better than the best there…and so it can’t get worse.

What gets forgotten, and is really life-changing, is that the best here…your wildest hopes, dreams, joys…are worse than the worst of the kingdom.

Not some boring cloud ride for eternity…but real joy, purpose, life! As a follower of Jesus we get to begin to enjoy some of that now…but it only gets better…That is blessed...

But who gets that kingdom?

Those who recognize that they have a poverty of spirit. The one who gets the kingdom, the one who can be right with God, is the one who knows they have a need.

Sound familiar? It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. That was 2 weeks ago as we looked at the calling of Matthew and the reasons the pharisees found themselves on the outside looking in to a dinner party full of sinners who knew what they were.

The OT stories are a pattern of God’s people doing right, turning away, then God saving the day. At the heart of every upswing was a leader or a group of people who knew their need.

The kingdom of heaven isn’t filled with the perfect, it’s filled with the authentic…those who know their failures and have turned to God for redemption and transformation. More on that in a minute.

Because it goes beyond awareness to find the happy life.

King Josiah in 2 Kings 22 was doing the right things. He was one of only a few good kings of Judah as the kingdom neared it’s final end.

He decided it was time to repair the temple of God that had been ruined over the years by neglect and misuse.

As they cleaned, they stumbled across a copy of the law. Most likely scrolls containing all or part of what we call Genesis through Deuteronomy.

The law was read in the presence of the king…the first time the whole of it had been heard in generations…and as the promises and warnings of God for his people were read, check out what happens:

2 Kings 22:11 “When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.”

He immediately sent for a prophetess to seek the Lord on what they ought to do.

Josiah was more than aware of his need. He took it one more step down the path to happy.

We can’t just know it, we need to:

Grieve your need (4)

verse 4

Matthew 5:4 CSB “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

God gives grace to Josiah because of his grief. Ultimately, grace and real happiness comes to us the same way.

Parents…ever discipline your kid…but you can tell in no uncertain terms that they have zero remorse. As far as they’re concerned, you are wrong, their behavior was just fine, and they are taking the discipline to get you off their back.

Never been an issue with our kids, but I’ve heard that’s a thing.

Trust is a challenge after that huh? Do I let little johnny go back on the playground trusting he won’t kick sand in that little tikes face again?

In the letter to the Romans, Paul is dealing with some people who have built a little judgement issue. They see people on levels with God, and see themselves a little higher up.

And so he says the one who judges is without excuse, you condemn yourself and then he adds one of my favorite lines:

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

When we know our need, and see God’s great kindness, our hearts should be grieved at our rebellion against him.

And like Josiah, when we grieve, we find the joy of God’s grace right there to lift our head and say, I love you, I made you, I died for you, so you could be with me.

This knowing and feeling our sin, our need for God to save us gives us a clear and accurate view of ourselves. We see ourselves accurately and then put that vision into action and

Be Changed: Bring yourself under training (5)

Verse 5

Matthew 5:5 CSB “Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.”

Happy are the humble…again, along with mourning and being poor…not on many vision boards of the who’s who.

This word, humble or meek is a powerful word. It’s the word that the Bible uses to describe Moses…not weak, not passive…but powerful. And under direction.

It’s the same word used of Jesus. Jesus says it of himself!

I came across a saying from Southern Horse breeders: “The meekest horse wins the race”

Not the strongest and fastest horse, but the one who most leans in and submits to the training and direction given.

For that horse, the power is under control and focused.

Moses knew and felt his weakness, and so submitted not only to God’s call, but to his direction. And God used him like no other before or since!

Jesus had no need, but in choosing to identify with humanity placed himself under the Father as the Son perfect in obedience, not defensive, totally surrendered to God’s will and direction.

Consider the path we are on;

We have seen our need, we know we need God

We have felt our need, our sin causes us to mourn what could have been

The logical next step is choosing to bend the knee and surrender our lives to the one who can help us.

As we bend to the will of God, we will find our selves being transformed. Not first one the outside…behaviors and appearances…but on the inside, desires and passions.

The happy person has learned to:

Get Hungry: Feed the right Desire (6)

verse 6

Matthew 5:6 CSB “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Here is where that brain flip from upside down to right side up begins to click in place.

Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

Solomon wasn’t advocating for his sons to wear body armor. His concern was not the organ, but the center of our person, and the driver of all we…choose.

We are intellectual creatures, able to reason, able to create…but at our deepest level we are heart creatures, and once our hearts are set on something, we become experts at using that intellect to lie to ourselves about what matters, what we need

It’s subtle and explains most of what is wrong in the world today.

Solomon’s father David wrote in one of his songs:

Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

Set your heart on God, make him your heart’s desire…and it will be filled.

The one who sets their desire on food, will always be hungry again. The one who sets their desire on stuff, will find it wears out.

But the one who hungers and thirsts for God’s righteousness…the one who wants what matters most, will actually find…filling.

Consider our progression: Recognizing our need, our incapability to get to God, grieving over that need, and submitting with humility to God’s direction, that’s going to affect desires.

The desire for those things which now grieve you will diminish, and replacing it will be this hunger and thirst for what brings no grief…may make things hard sometimes when old desires fight against this new one…but in the end, satisfaction and fullness in relationship with God.

Now being changed in these ways on the inside, the transformation on the outside can begin. And the first thing Jesus notes that the happy, the blessed person will have is:

Have Mercy (7)

verse 7

Matthew 5:7 CSB “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

I’ve noticed that I’ve never seen a parent discipline a 6 month old for their failure to walk. Or a 5 year old for not having a job that contributes to the family income.

Why? Because that would be stupid.

Why is it stupid? Because to set those expectations would be foolish. How do you know that?

Because you were 5 once. You are aware that you didn’t walk until a certain point, and that every baby will progress in this differently.

Right expectations change the way we engage with others.

It’s actually the number one thing I focus on with engaged couples. Or any couple. What are the expectations you bring that you are about to find out are dead wrong?

That is where, if you trace it back in any relationship, things break down. When one person fails to live up to an expectation. Boiled down to simplicity. And when they don’t, we get angry or resentful or frustrated or even regretful of the relationship.

So I encourage couples to discuss and talk about their expectations, to pay attention to the expectations they don’t even realize are expectations.

Why am I mad? Because I expected my spouse would keep the home as clean as the one I grew up in…Not the point here…but very connected.

If expectations kill relationship, mercy is the healer. Mercy is recognizing that the other person is far from perfect, will be inconsistent at times, will not know how to walk at 6 months or have a job at 5…oh, we’re back there…

Mercy is the opposite of judgement. Mercy becomes our default setting when we start to realize our own poorness of spirit, and the see God doing the work to change us.

Let’s tag back to Paul’s comments on judgement. It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

And as we begin to crave God’s righteousness…it doesn’t make us judgmental toward others who aren’t as righteous as us…it makes us kind, merciful. Because we know how deep our own need is.

How could I judge your brokeness when I am so put together with the glue of God’s kindness?

Giving Mercy creates happiness in two ways

1. Your peace of mind. How much calmer can you be, when you give people the benefit of the doubt?

The driver who cuts you off, if you were concerned for them and their worry, curious about what is going on that prompts their hurry…instead of angry.

If the person who is rude in the store prompts care in your heart instead of retaliation.

We’ll get to peace making in a moment…but the power of mercy to care for your own soul!

but 2, Jesus says the merciful are blessed because they will receive mercy. Flip that around, and it makes the alternative a little frightening.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable of a master who forgave a servant who owed him a huge sum of money who then went to another servant who owed him small change and tried to choke the little sum out of him.

In the parable the master hears about it and is angry.

Matthew 18:32-33 “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’”

The poor in spirit know they have been forgiven. They know the depths of their debt. A failure to have mercy is a failure to remember.

Two more outward results of seeing right side up. We’ll take these quickly. Having been changed in all these ways, we will look at our lives, evaluate them and

Become Pure (8)

verse 8

Matthew 5:8 CSB “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

To be pure in heart, is far more than to have never seen a movie with a bad word. In fact, that’s not the point at all.

The heart is where our core self lives. It is where life and choices come from.

Anyone old enough to remember the old Ivory soap commercial? 99.44% pure.

What do we want from pure water? 100% H2O. Let a toddler drink from your glass and it’s now 99.44% H2O, and .56% whatever they had for lunch. Nobody’s happy drinking that water with the floaty on top.

Does your heart have pure focus on God? My guess is not quite.

None of us live there perfectly, none of us purely have hearts purely for God.

But…let me remind you…that these lower on the list, are outcomes of what comes before.

If you try to make your heart purely focused on God, you will frustrate yourself.

But, if you realize your need, if it grieves you, as you experience the kingdom, as you allow God to shape you, empower you, and transform you…The power of the purity of Jesus, his holiness is that you can’t make him dirty, he transfers purity to others! I shared a video this morning on the church facebook page…if you didn’t see it earlier, so check it out…it deals with this idea wonderfully.

At the core, the pure heart sees God because it is looking for Him.

Last one, the result of this progression, from poverty of spirit through purity of heart is that we become those who:

Practice Peace (9)

verse 9

Matthew 5:9 CSB “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

Not just peace “livers”. We don’t just live peacefully, but those who make peace happen.

Happy are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.

Consider, beginning to end this progression. It’s not about us bringing anything to resolve the conflict with God.

It’s not about us being able to heal any wound

It’s not about us at all...

It’s about God being the peace maker.

Loving us in our need

Comforting us in our sorrow

Shaping us in our humility

Filling us in our hunger

Showing us mercy

Showing us himself

And the result of God’s work in the human heart is that we begin to become who God made us to be. Genesis 1 and 2: In His image he made them.

In His image he made us.

Happy, blessed are those who are who they were created to be.

The world warps us, our sin breaks us, God restores us to our original design. Nothing better than that.

That’s the invitation today then. Whether for the first or hundredth time, I pray you see your need and it begins this progression of allowing God’s peacemaking to bring you to the point of joining him as a peacemaker. One who draws people back to their original calling and design.

As the worship team comes back up, I need to give one warning.

Ramifications: You won’t fit in…but it’s worth it

In this world, this kind of living will cause you problems.

Because of Jesus

why?

Matthew 5:10-12 CSB “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

You’ve taken the goggles off. You see the world right side up, and are living that way. But we live with people who still see the floor on the ceiling. And they are convinced that this is how the world works.

That happiness comes from having your way

Happiness comes from having enough

happiness come through finding the right job, the right spouse, the right toy, the right identity, the right position...

And when they see you finding the blessed life in poorness of spirit, in grief, in humility…that will cause a reaction.

Some will be curious…some who already feel the goggles might be contribuiting to their headache...

But in this world, Jesus warns his followers…not everyone will react well.

But even in this he says…Rejoice.

Blessed are those who are persecuted…and he repeats the promise for the poor in spirit. The kingdom of heaven is theirs. Your reward is beyond the world’s kingdom, and perescution because you believe and follow Jesus is proof you believe and follow Jesus.

In my youth ministry days, I took our students to a conference that used Oregon State University’s campus. If you haven’t learned, I am a Duck…through and through.

I made a decision that I was going to wear an oregon duck shirt EVERY DAY. On day three another youth pastor at this conference approached me and quietly whispered, “I thought about wearing my UO stuff…but I chickened out.”

I’m not suggesting that you wear Christian tshirts around all the time. Many of them are corny anyway. but…Like a Duck fan at OSU, you and I living with a right side up view…we live different. We can cover that up, or we can walk it out. We can stay safe in our homes, or we can carry his peace to the world who needs it…may reject it and us…but we know…in our poorness, what God gave up so that we might know him. He’s calling us to walk with him to do the same.

Conclusion and Call: Be glad and rejoice…this happiness can’t be taken