A Taste of Heaven

Date: 2022-02-06

Audience: Grass Valley Corps ONLINE

Title: A Taste of Heaven

Text: Matthew 5:1-16

Proposition: Your actions teach people about God

Purpose: Let your light shine!

Grace and peace

Read to kids every night. Usually a chapter at a time. Often: “Keep reading!” Story doesn’t really confine itself to a chapter, does it?

Scripture is the same. Story never fits into chapter and verse!

Chapters/verses weren’t always there. Various ways of section off parts of the Bible began with Masoretic scribes in the 900s, but real, accepted chapters didn’t get implemented until the 1200s and it was 1560 before we saw Bibles with chapter and verse start to work their way into the public eye.

Less than 500 years ago!

Great for helping us find things.

Terrible for helping us understand!

Cut stories, ideas, sometimes even thoughts or words into pieces that only make sense when looked at as a whole.

Worse, sometimes sectioning the parts off can lead to missing the point of the whole entirely.

Three bind men are put in room with an elephant and asked to explain what it is.

Tail – Rope

Side – Stucco wall

Trunk – large serpent

Matthew, writing about Jesus, was trying to tell a long, cohesive story to show us a bigger picture than we can see otherwise. What did we do with it? Cut it into tiny pieces and give them cute titles which separate them from one another. The big picture is much harder to see!

Today we are going to start in Matthew 5, at verse 1, but this isn’t where the story starts. This is an explanation for part of the story Matthew is already in the middle of telling. Here, let me start reading the scripture so you can see.

BTW: Using NIV 2011 today. (Mt 5:1)

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. [1]

Bible prob has heading on order of: Sermon on the Mount or Intro to Sermon on Mount.

Mt 5-7 is SoM, Matthew’s description of perhaps Jesus’s greatest teaching session. Luke includes it too, but the heading there is Sermon on the Plain. Scholars argue whether this was one teaching time or two or a whole bunch all recorded as one. That’s a side effect of reading these pieces like they are separate from the whole story being told. If this was really separate from the rest somehow, like if there was no elephant, but just its trunk, then that argument might matter. But it’s not, so it doesn’t.

Look back at the verses I just read.

Jesus saw the crowds.

What crowds? Look back to the end of chapter 4 (4:25):

25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.[2]

Why were the following him? Go back a couple more verses to 4:23:

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.[3]

And what’s the good news of the kingdom?

Go back a few more verses to 4:17:

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[4]

Put it together:

Jesus is preaching that the KoH is at hand. We’ve talked about what that meant to the people of his day: That a time was coming when you needed to choose where you allegiance would lie – would you choose to live with the Rule of God or would you follow some other system?

Jesus was preaching that the Kingdom of Heaven – God’s reign – was breaking into the world. The time for a choice is at hand!

He took this message on the road, traveling and preaching about it throughout the region of Galilee. He brought evidence with him, bringing about the healing and wholeness that the LORD had promised through the prophets. People from all over started to take notice, and they came together around Jesus to see and hear what he did and said.

What would it mean for them to declare allegiance to the God Jesus was preaching about?

What was expected of them, if they decided to live as subjects to the LORD?

So Jesus sat down to teach them. And now we’re back to Matthew 5, verses 1 and 2, where it says those who came were his disciples.

What is a disciple, anyway?

If you’re thinking that it’s one of the twelve guys Jesus would call out to act as his apostles, you’re getting ahead of yourself. Those guys get picked because there are too many people following to always hear Jesus’ message and he needs some folks to make sure everyone’s hearing him.

No, when Matthew uses the word mathetes (moth-e-tees) he’s referring to anyone who has followed Jesus to listen to his teachings. That includes the committed, but it also includes seekers and the curious.

People who want to know what it would take to live in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So Jesus tells them.

Matthew isn’t giving us the background when he talks about Jesus teaching from the mountain, by the way.

Matthew isn’t really much for giving us the setting.

If I was writing this, I’d tell you about the salt tang in the air wafting up from the nearby Sea of Galilee. I’d talk about the people crowding around and the noise they made and how they shouted questions and jostled one another as they tried to find a place they could see and hear from. I’d mention the bored children playing tag while exasperated parents pled for them to just be still for a few moments. I’d tell you about the clouds that would form and dissipate in the sky above them and how the locals kept an eye on them, watching for signs that one of the storms which were known to blow up with shocking speed in this area was on its way.

Matthew just tells us Jesus taught from a mountain.

But remember that Matthew is always pointing us towards the past, trying to keep Jesus in view as the Messiah, a great prophet, who was both of God and somehow also God, even though he was every bit as human as you and I.

As he shares that Jesus was handing down his wisdom from a mountain, Matthew’s original audience, First Century religious Jews, would think about the ways God has handed wisdom down to his people from mountains before. And, for those of us who’ve held Matthew’s big picture in our heads from the beginning of his Jesus story, we would remember that he has repeatedly linked Jesus to Moses, guiding us to think of Moses as the model Jesus came to be the fulfilment of. It’s like Moses was the small trick a magician does to say, watch, I can make this little thing happen, while Jesus is the follow up which shows the ultimate expression of that. Like a magician producing a bird from a rose, then in a flash the bird becomes the magician’s assistant.

It sounds weird to us now, but that duality exists in scripture, starting with the creation story in Genesis 1, in which the universe is created, but then, in a way that makes the impersonal creation of the cosmos something very VERY intimate and personal, God shapes humankind out of dust and then breathes life into us with his own breath. The same duality is seen in many places and many ways, particularly in the forecasts of the prophets, which often had a two-pronged fulfilment – one immediate and local in nature, one farther out and larger, more world-stage than back yard.

Moses received the wisdom of God on Mount Sinai at the beginning of the Exodus – the covenant that God’s people would be expected to live by. And now Jesus is sharing the wisdom of God from a mountain – the new covenant which would govern life inside the Kingdom of God just as the old one governed life for those who wanted to journey to that Kingdom.

God laid out the broad strokes of his covenant in the Ten Commandments, which he gave us in two sets of instructions, one about who they were and one about what they do, then instructed all of Israel that if he was to be their God and they were to be his people, this is how they would live.

Jesus, in the next few verses, is going to lay out the broad strokes of his covenant in the same way, beginning with what we read in Matthew 5:3-6.

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled. [5]

We’ve given this form of blessing a fancy church name: a beatitude. It’s an old, old form used to express a point.

Don’t’ lose your place here, but flip to Psalm 1:1 for a moment.

1 Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night. [6]

Blessed is who? The one who meditates on the way of God. Why? The psalmist gives several reasons, but ultimately says

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.[7]

OR, in short, blessed are those who meditate on doing things God’s way because God’s way leads to success while going against it leads to destruction.

No, I said that the first batch of beatitudes Jesus just shared are like the first half of the Ten Commandments – they define who the people are he is talking to. And just as we can show that those ancient commands apply to us today, I believe we can also see that these beatitudes apply to us as well.

What defines us, or perhaps I should say, what defines those who choose to declare allegiance to the Kingdom of Heaven? What is it that being poor in spirit, mournful, and meek defines?

Not to be cryptic, but what is it that Matthew told us Jesus was preaching?

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

Those who recognize they are poor in spirit, those who mourn over how they have strayed from the path of God, those who humbly turn back to him, who are those people?

The repentant.

Oh, LORD, I went my way, the way you warned me not to go, and it is leading me to destruction. I am so sorry. I’m turning back to the things you have for me.

What is that? It’s repentance. And what does it show? A hunger and thirst for righteousness. Which, by the way, God has promised to fill, as Jesus reminded us in verse 6.

What we’ve just learned it how we enter the kingdom of heaven. What defines those who choose to enter its gates. What do we still need to know?

One time, years ago, I went to Disneyland with some friends. I paid my admission. I started to enter the Magic Kingdom. But then a guard tapped me on the shoulder and told me I couldn’t stay. See, I was wearing a shirt that had some slogans written on it. The font side said “Jesus Jives”. The back said, “Satan sucks.” Disney had a rule against the S-word. No, they were fine with Satan. It was the other S-word.

I had done what I needed to do to enter the kingdom, but I was out of compliance with the way I needed to live in it. I had to change my shirt.

This is obviously NOT a perfect example of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. But it’s the same general idea. Here, let’s let Jesus tell us what living in his kingdom entails.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [8]

The merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers… These are characteristics of those who are living in allegiance to God.

Pure in heart scares people. When they hear that, many think “Whoa, that’s not me! I have thoughts I wouldn’t want anyone to know about. I often do or say the wrong thing. If I just let what’s inside of me come out, the world would be a darker place. Obviously, I’m not pure of heart!

Well, good news. Being pure of heart and being perfect in all your thoughts and deeds are different things.

Think of King David. He was a vicious, bloodthirsty killer at times. He murdered people, both directly and indirectly. He committed adultery. He sometimes allowed bad things to happen when he could have stepped in and made them right. He wasn’t anywhere near perfect in thought and deed, was he?

Yet, again and again, he is described as a man after God’s own heart. A man of pure heart. Why?

Because a pure heart is about your attitude and your effort, not your success or failure to live up to God’s ideals.

Thankfully! Or we’d all be screwed by our own past history and inclinations to do the wrong thing!

David lived out repentance for the mistakes he realized he made. And he consciously made an effort to live the way God intended him to.

I’m not saying there aren’t times he should have thought about his choices and made better ones! There were plenty of those.

I’m not saying he shouldn’t have tried harder at times or that it’s okay for him to have done bad things because he didn’t think them through first. He should have and it isn’t!

What I’m saying is that the thoughts, impulses, and mistakes of your life aren’t what is being talked about when we talk about a pure heart. Instead it means putting your attitude and your efforts towards the goal of living your life to the ideals God established to the best of your knowledge and ability. The more you focus on that, the better you get at the other stuff.

Living in repentance doesn’t mean you won’t ever get off course again. It does mean you should be doing what you can to avoid that and always being willing to turn back when you realize you’ve gone astray.

Does that make sense?

A couple of things that will go a long way towards keeping your heart pure are remembering to live out mercy and do everything you can to make peace.

When you realize all that God has forgiven you for, it should make forgiving others easier. I’m not going to say easy, but at least a little easier. Choosing to show mercy is always an option, and that’s what Jesus is advocating for here. It’s what he says brings blessing. That’s an outward action, by the way. It doesn’t mean you have succeeded in letting go of your inner turmoil, anger, confusion, hatred, or desire to enact some level of revenge. It means you have made the decision to show mercy.

Being a peacemaker is similar. It’s not just about refusing to create or add to conflict. It’s about seeking harmony. It’s about making an active effort to reconcile a situation that isn’t peaceful. It’s about letting your closed fist turn into a handshake, but its even more about trying to get others to do so as well.

Jesus tells us something that we probably already know: This isn’t a popular thing to do. None of these things are. Living out God’s way and rejecting the other ways of the world upsets people, especially those who are certain that there is no choice but to do what they have decided is the only or best choice. Jesus knows that when you show mercy or work for peace, for example, the people who don’t want to do those things will begin to take their anger out on you as well.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [9]

There is an ugly truth here. When you stand up for God and his ways, you will be attacked. Always unfairly. Usually with falsehoods or distortions or reminders of how you have done things the wrong way in the past. Don’t let that shake you! As Jesus said, it means you are in good company. Be sure to show the same mercy and effort to reconcile with your attacker. Maybe your example will be able to win them into the kingdom as well.

At this point, your Bible probably ends this section and has another header, suggesting that a whole new idea is about to happen. Yeah, that’s wrong. The next thing Jesus says is a continuation of what he’s been saying.

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. [10]

And this is the point of everything he has just gone through for us.

It is our ACTIONS that show God to people.

From our actions they determine who our God is and what he is about.

What we do tells people what we believe. What we say or think? Meaningless, at least as far as how others will respond to us. If we say one thing and do another, it just makes our action stand out more. And when we are agents of the Kingdom of Heaven who have pledged our allegiance to God, what we do tells people what we think about God.

Let that light shine!

Everyone’s going to see it, because it can’t be hidden.

What would salt that isn’t salty be worth? Nothing. It would just be grit.

If you lit a lamp and stuck it under a bowl? Worthless. Pointless. It gives light to no one. It’ll burn through the air in the bowl and gutter and die.

Those who choose to enter the kingdom of heaven are expected to be the light that draws people in from the darkness. We are expected to show mercy, to live with single-minded integrity, to work for peace and harmony. To bring healing to the world by bringing the world to the healer.

These are the broad strokes of living in the kingdom of heaven. This is the life Jesus is calling us to follow him into. This is how we will find ourselves comforted and filled and blessed.

This is where you want to be!

If you haven’t considered it before, let me ask you to do so now: Where does your allegiance lie?

If God is the source of life, as I believe him to be, and billions of others along with me, then would you rather be with him, a part of his kingdom, or would you rather continue in your path away from him, away from life, heading towards destruction?

If you want to choose life, it’s as easy as walking through a gate. Just offer your allegiance to God and begin to follow Jesus. That’s repentance. Then change your shirt and work to learn what it means to live out the principles of the king you have chosen to follow.

I have good news on that front. Jesus is about to give some detailed explanations of how to apply these principles in real life. We’ll look at those in the coming weeks. For today, please close with me in a word of prayer?

[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 5:1–2. [2] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 4:25. [3] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 4:23. [4] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 4:17. [5] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 5:3–6. [6] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 1:1–2. [7] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 1:6. [8] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 5:7–10. [9] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 5:11–12. [10] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 5:13–16.