On Its Head (4.30.17) 1
Sermon Title: On Its Head, 4.30.17
Epistle Reading1 Corinthians 1:18-2518For the message of the cross is foolishness(A)to those who are perishing,(B)but to us who are being saved(C)it is the power of God.(D)19For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a](E)
20Where is the wise person?(F)Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?(G)Has not God made foolish(H)the wisdom of the world?21For since in the wisdom of God the world(I)through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save(J)those who believe.(K)22Jews demand signs(L)and Greeks look for wisdom,23but we preach Christ crucified:(M)a stumbling block(N)to Jews and foolishness(O)to Gentiles,24but to those whom God has called,(P)both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God(Q)and the wisdom of God.(R)25For the foolishness(S)of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness(T)of God is stronger than human strength.
Gospel reading Matthew 5:1-12
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,2and he began to teach them.
He said:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(B)
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.(C)
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.(D)
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(E)
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.(F)
8Blessed are the pure in heart,(G) for they will see God.(H)
9Blessed are the peacemakers,(I)for they will be called children of God.(J)
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,(K) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(L)
11“Blessed are you when people insult you,(M)persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.(N)12Rejoice and be glad,(O)because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.(P)
- When I was in seminary I took both Hebrew and Greek in one month intensives. Attempting to learn Greek and Hebrew in one month each is a little like getting a sip of water out of a fire hose!
- Aside from an irrational fear of fire hoses, the lasting impact these classes had on me is a fascination with the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible. The Greek word that Matthew used when recording Jesus' blessings of the Beatitudes is (Makarios)μακάριος. Not surprisingly, it means blessed, fortunate, or happy. Interestingly, however, the Greeks used this wordto describe the island of Cyprus. William Barclay, a bible scholar, noted that they did this because Cyprus is so beautiful, rich in resources, and fertile, that a person would never need to go beyond its coastline to find everything he or she needed for perfect happiness. To quote professor Barclay, "Makarios describes that joy which has its secret within itself, joy that is serene, untouchable, and complete within itself."
- For many of us, this turns the idea of blessedness on its head. Being blessed is not, primarily, based on how much we get, take, or consume. Instead, it depends on an inward disposition and the joy and happiness we receive from it. This joy is complete within itself, not needing anything from the outside to make us happy. The way Jesus describes this kind of blessedness or happiness radically changes our relationships. It flips them on their heads. Specifically, it changes how we relate to God our creator, and other people.
- This morning we are starting a series on the most famous sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. The series is entitled Jesus Manifesto. In the sermon on the mount, we find Jesus' public declaration, description, and invitation into the kingdom of heaven. In this introductory sermon get a glimpse of how radically different Jesus understands blessedness compared to the world. Put differently, we are see how Jesus' understanding of blessedness turns the world on its head.
- In the beatitudes Jesus turns how think about blessedness in relationship with God on its head. Often people view God in one of two ways, either a cosmic sugar daddy, granting our every wish, like Santa but better, or a moral tyrant that is not to be trifled with. The truth is, He is neither.
- Popularized by the Health and Wealth gospel, many people think of God like a drive up window. If you make your order properly, and pay the proper amount, you can have it your way, and go on with the rest of your life. This manifests itself in our prayers looking more like wish lists than honest open dialogues with the creator of the universe. This becomes a real issue in people's faith when God does not perform for them.
- I know a woman whose husband died of cancer. She prayed and prayed for the cancer to be removed but it was not. After he passed away, she said " I don't care about God because He doesn't have anything to offer me." The middle of tragedy and pain is not the time to get into a theological debate, so the Holy Spirit shut me up. However, there are two huge flaws in her logic. First, only one person has defeated death. In fact, there is only One who has even been said to have defeated death, and in Him we can live eternally. His name is Jesus Christ, and outside of Him she has no chance of ever seeing her deceased husband again. The other problem is that the purpose of prayer is not to get God to do what we want. The purpose of prayer is to die to every part of ourselves that does not come from Him. Does, Jesus say blessed are those who get God to do their will? No He says blessed are those who mourn, are meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, not for their own will to be done.
- Weturn things upside down,thinking like the person the Lord is speaking to in Isaiah 29 when the Lord says, "as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formedit, 'You did not make me?' Can the pot say to the potter, 'You know nothing?'" Instead, we pray that God heals our loved ones in this life, and the next, but always, sincerely, concludewith, 'not my will but your will be done.' We should pray to be blessed, not by getting stuff from God, but for poverty in spirit, and meekness,allowing God to form us into who He wants us to be, His beloved sons and daughters.
- Praying this is asking the Lord to give us boundaries in which we ought to live. Some look at these boundaries and claim that God is a moral tyrant who just wants to ruin our fun. However, what is it like to be around children without boundaries? These children are insufferable to be around. What's worse is that, deep down, they do not really feel loved because their parents do not care what kind of person they become. Our heavenly Father, in contrast, is deeply concerned with who we become. He did not create this world as a nice terrarium so His human pets can have an easy and cushy life. Instead He created us so we can become free responsible lovers. The world says blessed are those who try to trick God by doing the bare minimum to get into heaven. Jesus flips this on its head by saying blessed are those who purely seek to become true sons and daughters of their Heavenly Father, because they will fully experience and express His love.
- We are beings created for loving relationship. Jesus' turns how we relate to others on its head when we love others without relying on them to love us.
- The love of others is what Henri Nouwen calls the second love. We know this love always has its shadow side. A side that has the possibility of wounding us with things like hate, betrayal, and black mail. Nouwen encourages us to root our identity in the first love. The love we find in Christ, the love of God, in whom there are no shadows. Rooted in this first love we can be something the world knows little about. Nouwen writes "When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possibleremain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”This flips how we relate to others on its head.
- The world typically tells us to relate to others in two ways,manipulate, or be manipulated. It is a dog eat dog world out there, and you better be the one eating or you're going to get bit. In this definition, love is when you allow someone else to manipulate you in hopes that they will give you something, or vice versa.Jesus turns this way of relating on its head. The difference is illustrated in a story I once heard. A preacher did a sermon on serving others. After the sermon, one of the surely parishioners, something we cannot relate to, but bear with me, came up to him and said, "so I guess this means you have to serve me!" Without skipping a beat the pastor said, "Yes, but you are not my master!"
- The world says, blessed are those who are merciless because they will be the master over others. Jesus says blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. This is foolishness to the world. As Paul puts it, "the message of the cross is foolishnessto those who are perishing,but to us who are being savedit is the power of God." It was foolish for God to come down and die on a cross for a people who hardly thank Him.
- It is foolish to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of others. It is foolish to wake up at the crack of dawn and help with Community Breakfast. It is foolish to serve, and pray with, and love on people in Love Ops, who may never pay us back. It is foolish to be vulnerable, sharing our faith with people who may not agree, through things like Alpha or Bible and brew. It is foolish to reach out to families affected by special needs. It is hard, and consumes a lot of time and energy. However, I am reminded of a sandwich board I saw a man wearing. On the front it said "I'm a fool for Christ" and on the back it said "Who's fool are you?"
- In a world that says blessed are the bullies that get what they want, we say blessed are the bullied. Blessed are we when we are bullied and respond like fools, respond as sons and daughters of God. Respond by loving the bully but never allowing them to move us an inch from who God has called us to be. When we do this we will be meek but strong, pure but not a push over. We will become like Jesus. C.S. Lewis characterizes Jesus as Aslan the lion in the Chronicles of Narnia. When Aslancomes back to life Lucy and Susan play with the big cat. Lewis writes, "It was such a romp that no one ever had except in Narnia: and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten, Lucy could never tell."
- I would like to invite all of you on a journey. A journey to become a bunch of fools, to become a people the world does not recognize. A people that outsiders are not quite sure if we are more like a thunderstorm of truth and justice for the weak, or kittens of meekness and mercy for those who are hurting and broken. A people who will turn the world on its head.
- To begin this journey, I would like everyone look on the back of your bulletin. It says "Blessed is the man/woman who ______for he/she will ______." I would like to start by having all of us create our own Beatitude. In other words, take a situation or reality in your life that the outside world would see as a curse or problem to be avoided and look at it through God's eyes. Look at how God can bless you through that difficulty. To get the creative juices flowing I would like to share with you the Beatitude that I created for myself.Blessed is the man who has a learning disability, for he will learn reliance on God. It is through my disability that God has taught me that I cannot do what He is calling me to do on my own. Through it I have learned to rely on God.
- So let us be blessed. Not blessed by being dependant on outside circumstances for happiness and joy, but blessedness like the island of Cypress. A blessedness that is complete within itself. A blessedness that comes from being beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Let us pray. Lord, thank you for blessing us. Not the blessings of more and better stuff but the blessing of being your beloved Children in the likeness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, In your name we pray Amen.
- Receive this blessing and benediction. Let us go forth a blessed people. Blessed not because of external circumstances but by being who our Lord created us to be.