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Introduction
Introduction
I grew up in Orlando, FL. Most people make assumptions about you when you say that you’re from Orlando. One of the most common assumptions is how lucky I am to have been able to go to Disney World every single day.
Disney was and still is expensive. The entrance fee alone is $109 per adult. An Annual Pass is about $1299. That’s the price just to enter. When you factor in the amount of money you would spend on food and drinks and other purchases, the price is only higher.
When we look at the Beatitudes, we find that we also make some assumptions about them. When you read one of the most famous sermons in Scripture, one can assume that when you see the term “blessed” that it means that you it behooves you to do that act that is blessed.
As we explore the final Beatitude, persecution, it’s important to understand that the Beatitudes are not entrance fees into the kingdom, but rather, the kingdom living in you!
Body
Body
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Makarios is a state of existence in relatioship with God in which a person is “blessed” from God’s perspective even when he or she doesn’t feel happy or isn’t presently experiencing good fortune.
Structure: statement of blessing + statement of identity + reason.
Matthew, the author of the book named after him, was a Jew. Like many of the Jews of his day, he eagerly anticipated the coming kingdom of Heaven. When Jesus called him to follow him, his life and perspective changed.
The kind of kingdom that Matthew and his brethren anticipated was a political kingdom, but the kingdom that Jesus sought to establish on earth was a kingdom of character, of kingdom life.
Jesus makes the pronouncement that the Kingdom had come, and that it was open to all who accepted the invitation to receive it.
To all.
Not the perfect.
To all.
Not the blameless.
To all.
The problem is that in Jesus’ day, it was the tendency of the Jewish leaders to develop external righteousness without regard for inner righteousness. The taught and practiced a belief system that focused on right doing than right being.
Desire of Ages Chapter 2—The Chosen People
But with too many of the people obedience was not prompted by love. The motive was selfish. They rendered outward service to God as the means of attaining to national greatness.
Desire of Ages Chapter 2—The Chosen People
In order to supply the place of that which they had lost, the priests and rabbis multiplied requirements of their own; and the more rigid they grew, the less of the love of God was manifested. They measured their holiness by the multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with pride and hypocrisy
Desire of Ages Chapter 2—The Chosen People
Those who desired to serve God, and who tried to observe the rabbinical precepts, toiled under a heavy burden. They could find no rest from the accusings of a troubled conscience.
Contrary to what the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, Jesus focuses on the inner transformation of the heart by the arrival of the kingdom of heaven - which will then direct the transformation of the entire person - word, thought, action, and deeds. The kingdom life!
To a Pharisee, the Beatitudes would sound like an entrance fee/requirements - something that you needed to do/pay in order to get in.
If we were to read the Beatitudes the same way, it would imply that it was good for Jesus’ disciples to seek out persecution in order to gain his blessing. Unfortunately, many people take this viewpoint.
(The Evangelical Persecution Complex - The Atlantic - August 4, 2014, by Alan Noble) States that Persecution has an allure for many evangelicals. There seems to be a very broad view of what it means to suffer for Christ - from martyrdom to mild ridicule by non-believers. To be a true believer, one must be persecuted. So every slight or disagreement can be interpreted as persecution. The danger of this view is that believers can come to see victimhood as part of their identity.
Jesus is not saying to seek out persecution, but rather comforting those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. It is undeserved persecution.
While he comforts, he also confronts those who are doing the persecuting. While the text does not name those who are doing the persecuting, it could very well be the religious leadership of Jesus’ day, who persecuted those who did not adopt their particular brand of righteousness.
In other words, they persecuted those that did not conform to their version of righteousness.
If I can bring that a little closer to home, they are the ones that you see at the grocery store and they judge what you have you in your shopping cart.
They are the ones that always say something about what you’re wearing (or not wearing).
They are the ones that judge you by their standards, throw in some Scripture and Ellen G. White quotes out of context to shame you into conforming to their world view with no other evidence outside of their interpretation and preferences.
No one here does that, do you?
I remember when I was an undergrad at Southern Adventist University. It was my first semester as a theology student. I was nervous and eager to learn! One of my classmates introduced himself to me and asked if I was vegetarian. I told him that I had not crossed that river yet, and, with a big smile on his face, told me that I could not be a pastor because all pastors had to be vegetarian.
I’ve had instances where I was told that I could not work as a pastor because I was unmarried because the Bible says so!
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
The irony of the religious leaders is that in their self-righteousness, they were persecuting the people who stood for true righteousness.
5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”
11 “Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
They will be persecuted on the account of Jesus.
The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 5 10. Persecuted
Citizens of the heavenly kingdom may expect to have tribulation in this world (John 16:33), for their characters, ideals, aspirations, and conduct all bear silent witness against the evil of this present world (cf. 1 John 3:12). The foes of the heavenly kingdom persecuted Christ, the King, and they may be expected to persecute His loyal subjects (John 15:20). “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
Suffering. Pain. Persecution. They all come with the discipleship package. Again, it must be stressed that we do not seek persecution, it will come to us.
Our response? Rejoice and be glad. The only two imperatives
Rejoice and be glad?
Is it possible that Jesus was trying to tell them, and us, that kingdom living is about doing, but about being.
Being in relationship with him.
Being glad in him.
We rejoice not because of the reward of the kingdom, but because we have found that cooperating, serving, and living for Christ is the true joy of existence.
According to Montefiore, the exhibition of joy in hardship is ‘distinctive of Christianity and of its saints and apostles and martyrs. And doubtless many thousands of humble sufferers have risen superior to their troubles and afflictions through the memory and influence of the beatitudes’ (Gospels 2, p. 44; but b. Šabb. 88b does speak of rejoicing in suffering)
We rejoice because the only entrance fee into the Kingdom of Heaven was paid for at the Cross.
We rejoice because ew don’t have to pay with our blood, because of the blood that was already shed on Calvary.
We rejoice because event he midst of persecution we have the privilege of the promises of Christ:
He will never leave, nor forsake us.
Even when are in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, he is with us.
He stands besides us and stands for us.
In a little while, the pain will subside.
In a little while the wounds will heal.
In a little while we’re going home.
A home with no more pain, no more nights, no more tears, no more crying again
And praises to the great I Am
We will live in the light of the risen lamb.
Until then, my heart will go on singing.
Until then with joy I’ll carry on
Until the day, my eyes behold the city,
Until the day, God calls me home
Appeal
Appeal
Friends of mine, that invitation Jesus made to the First century believers is still the same invitation that He gives us today: you CAN start living the Kingdom Life today. Kingdom Living today prepares us for the Kingdom Coming.
Kingdom Living transforms us from the inside out.
Kingdom Living is more than just behavior modification, it’s living in sync with the heart of Christ.
Maybe some of you have been experiencing a flat, joyless, obligation-driven faith.
Maybe you some of you see yourself in church out of duty rather than desire.
If that’s you, then Jesus is inviting you here, today, to accept that kingdom in your heart.
Let us pray...