I once worked at a small company that had recently hired two hot shot entrepreneurs. These men had both come from wealthy backgrounds, they were quite smart, and they had attended top flight colleges, where they had succeeded at every class they took.
When they left school, they both started companies in different areas. One man held basic patents on the MRI process that is now used in all those imaging machines. The other guy was more of a salesman, and deal-maker, able to take relatively low-tech items, make them through his wife’s contacts in Southeast Asia, and sell them at a tremendous mark-up through friends in America. They both were making excellent money, and somehow, they both came to work at a company I was later hired into.
These men, as I said, were successful – they had always been successful – and so they had become arrogant. When they traveled on business they stayed out late and were often late to breakfast meetings. They were full of advice for me and the younger members of the staff about how to dress. But I noticed something about them as I traveled with them and worked with them – although people listened to them and their stories – no one actually liked them – they didn’t even like each other. Of course, they were simply a couple of the most obnoxious men I knew. And our company suffered because of their arrogance, their bullying, and their overconfidence. Eventually, one was fired and I took his job.
These men suffered from a case of being too rich in their spirit. They had never met anything they couldn’t handle, and it damaged their souls. Neither one, I’m sorry to say, had any interest in the things of God, for, I imagined, they figured that they would eventually figure out a way to beat death. The one I replaced was dead within ten years.
One of the characteristics of our God which is often overlooked is how polite God is. Much has been made by certain atheists of complaining that they can’t believe in a God that would send people to Hell. The reality is that God doesn’t send anyone to Hell. God gives us the opportunity to join Him in Heaven by following His Son Jesus Christ – or not. If we don’t want to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, if we don’t want to follow Jesus, if we don’t want to live under God’s rules, God gives us the opportunity to live away from Him, in a land where other creatures who rejected God and Christ live, a place where those angels who did not choose to live under God’s rule live, where people such as Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Pol Pot, Adolph Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, and many other independent-minded people from history live.
You aren’t sent to Hell – it is simply the other option if you don’t want to live under God’s rule. It is the land outside of Heaven, the land where God politely ignores you, the land where you can do whatever you can get away with. In Hell, all you have to do is to convince enough other independent-minded people to do what you want and you’re all set. Of course, having read the history of some of these independent-minded people who aren’t nearly as polite as God, I would much prefer to live under God’s rule. You see, Hell is not bad because God has used His power to make it bad. Hell is bad because God has chosen not to exert His power there, but instead to let independent-minded people exert their power there over one another.
It is people who are too rich in their spirit who end up outside the Kingdom of Heaven, because they are too spirit-rich to humble themselves before God’s rule. They wish to be their own god, and so God the Father allows them to be their own god – away from His Kingdom. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
One of the differences I have seen between the rich in spirit and the poor in spirit is that the poor in spirit recognize how much they depend upon other people, and so they learn to care and to love those around them. The rich in spirit often simply look at other people as objects, robots who have certain functions in life, such as making dinner for me, mowing the lawn for me, serving me at the restaurant, teaching me, loving me, etc. People objects are not loved, they are used and needed, but not loved by the rich in spirit. And when death comes to a people-object, the rich in spirit are disturbed and uncomfortable, because this is inconvenient to them, they no longer have that people-object working for them, like a car that has broken down, it is inconvenient, and needs to be replaced. And so with the rich in spirit, there is no true mourning because there never was a true love for the lost person. There was only the familiarity and convenience of that people-object. And so, they will never be comforted because they never truly mourned. They only replaced the people-object and went on with their life.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” But those who are poor in spirit…they love others deeply for they recognize their shared humanity. They recognize that death is the shattering of a unique portrait of God, an image of God, and that death is much more than the simple breaking of a unique, one-of-a-kind antique vase. And because they realize this, and mourn so deeply because of this, they are the ones who will be comforted one day when they see their loved one again alive with them in the Kingdom of Heaven, for you must recognize your connection to other people to mourn them, and that is your humbleness that keeps you from becoming a little god in your own mind. And so, through the power of Christ and His Resurrection, you will be comforted one day.
There are different types of people in this world. Some are flashy and loud, boasting and proclaiming their greatness and importance to all. We see them in politics, we see them in sports, we see them in the business world like the two guys I once worked with, and we see them in the world of celebrity, people who are famous for being famous and for no other reason. They get their attention, some people love them, and they are remembered.
There are also people who become famous and known because of their evil. Bank robbers, dictators, mass murderers, terrorists. They get their attention and people hate them, and they are remembered.
There are also those people who are not remembered. Some are not remembered because they never do anything for anyone else. They are quickly forgotten.
But there are also those people who work hard, who have tremendous power under the control of their personalities, who go to work every day, who get up early in the morning and prepare things for their families, who took their jobs seriously and did many things for many people – nothing spectacular, nothing grand, but important. They might have been the bus driver who got up at 5 am to warm up the bus for the children on the snowy morning, the baker who had the donuts waiting by 5:30 am, the custodian who came in at 3 am to make sure the furnace was operating, the truck driver who drove through that storm to make sure the groceries or the gasoline would be waiting for everyone in town on Friday morning. That person might have been the secretary who stayed until 6 o’clock to type that last letter, the teacher who stayed up until 11:30 to grade those last few papers, the engineer who checked and double-checked the loading on that bridge last weekend, the nurse who lifted Mr. Smith out of bed for the third time today so he could walk to the bathroom.
Like powerful farm horses which are under wonderful control, these are the meek of the earth, for that is what the word “meek” referred to in the old days. Not timid, not shy, not mousy, but with great strength under firm control is what the word meant. And “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Indeed they shall, for the famous leave their names and the notorious their legends, but the meek eventually own everything in the world, for it is the meek secretary that takes money from the business owner, the meek gardener who takes money from the rock star, the meek nurse who is paid by the rich woman’s insurance company, the meek caterer who the politician pays to impress people. It is the meek who accomplish everything worthwhile on this earth, and so they inherit the earth after the great ones pass on.
There are some people who are always filled – their lives are successful, their days are relaxed, they never know hunger or thirst. Many Americans are this way, particularly when it comes to food and water – we have enough, we never really feel hunger, we never really feel thirst, we are ok. In fact, I haven’t heard any of you tell me that you plant a garden because you are afraid you’ll go hungry. I haven’t heard any of you tell me you’re going to drill a well or find a spring because you’re afraid you’ll die of thirst. We have been blessed.
Yet there are those among us who hunger and thirst for righteousness. We feel a tremendous emptiness in our lives, we want to do right, we want righteousness in our lives, we complain of injustice, incompetence, a life where we just aren’t able to do the right things we’d love to do. How many of you, if you won the lottery, would build homes for some people? How many of you, if you won the lottery, would pay for someone to get the best medical care in America? How many of you, if you won the lottery, would do something right for someone else, something you can’t do today, something that is out of your price range? How many of you hunger and thirst for righteousness in your lives? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Jesus sets all things right. Sometimes in this life, sometimes we wait for the next life, but if you truly want righteousness as if you had not eaten for a week or drank any water for three days, follow Jesus Christ and you will be filled.
But if you are full of your own righteousness, if you think you are always doing right, if you have become happy at the condition of the world around you – you are not hungry, you are not thirsty, and you will not be filled because you are satisfied with what you have. Your stomach has shrunk to meet the level of righteousness in the world around you and thus, that is all you will find.
Be hungry. Be thirsty. Look for and demand more and more righteousness from yourself and pray for it in the world around you – and you will be filled as Jesus rushes in supplies like the Red Cross arriving after a tornado.
And do you desire revenge? Do you want to correct the world’s wrongs with revenge? Do you want to take all the evil people in the world and make them pay for what they’ve done to the world, to your friends, to you?
That will get you nowhere, for Jesus also said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Do you want to be shown mercy? We all do. We want mercy – it’s the other guys we seem to want justice for. But Jesus tells us to be merciful, to be kind to people who deserve harshness, to be gentle to those who deserve rough treatment, to love people who did stupid, nasty, evil things and to help them out when they finally lose. And if we show mercy consistently, our Father will show us mercy, allowing us to spend eternity in His Kingdom rather than alone outside with those who do not show mercy.
Will you keep your hearts pure? Will you stay focused upon seeking God’s face? Will you love only God, will you follow God’s Son, will you seek God’s will? “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Of all the comments of Jesus, this one is the hardest, for how do we stay focused upon God? How do we keep from dirtying our hearts with the love of money, the love of pleasure, the love of things, the love of our self and stay focused upon the pure love of God? It is hard, very hard, and that is the path of Holiness, that is the path that leads us to self-discipline, that is the path that demands we crucify daily our other loves, our impurities, our idols. That is what we are focusing upon with our World Changer’s Group on Sunday evenings at 6:30 – how to keep our hearts pure and focused upon God’s will.
And then there is peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” But what is the peace that we are to make? Is it peace between tribes of people, is it peace between two different people? Is it peace between nations? Yes, but it is much more than that – it is peace in our own souls. How do you find peace between nations, between tribes, between people? You first help make peace within a person’s soul, by taking away the fear, taking away the worry, taking away the hatred and the anger and the frightening images of death.
And if you want peace within your friend’s soul, you must first find peace within your soul.
How does this peace come? By understanding that God loves you completely. By understanding that God is completely good and always has your long term best interest at heart. By understanding that God has all the power God ever needs to put you in a place of safety, of goodness, of joy – and the only thing that is keeping God from doing this for you is your inability to trust in God’s love, God’s goodness, and God’s power.
Trusting God and having faith mean the same thing. If you trust God completely, you will have complete peace. And when you have complete peace, you can begin to explain that peace and joy to your friends, your neighbors, and your family members.
And you….you will be known as a peacemaker, a child of God. Seek the peace that comes from trusting in God’s love, God’s goodness, and God’s power.
And finally, you will be persecuted. Oh yes, it is coming, it is here already. Perhaps it is the persecution that sends you to the lions, but perhaps not. Perhaps it is the persecution that keeps you from being invited to lunch with a certain group of people you work with. Perhaps it is the persecution where someone gently teases you about whether the Bible has an answer for some question – or perhaps it is the persecution where someone yells and screams in your face because someone years ago told them that if they prayed stronger their mother would live, and they prayed and their mother died. Persecutions will come, and when they come to you, be happy and blessed, for “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
You see, if people persecute you because they recognize you as a follower of Christ, you have become a modern day prophet. You have made the pro team, you are doing what God’s will is because people have become uncomfortable around the Christ that is in you.
Now this persecution should not be because you are acting like a jerk. For notice that the first part says “persecuted for righteousness”. If you are being persecuted because you are doing right, then you are covered by this blessing. So always check yourself –are you doing right? Or are you being a jerk?
You will notice what our readings said. In Micah, God said:
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
In the Psalm of David, David asked:
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
and God answered:
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
Are some of these sayings from the sermon hard to follow? Paul pointed out to the Corinthians and us that what seems foolish to the ordinary person is wisdom to us who are being saved.
The path of Holiness, the path that leads to God’s face is not easy. It has been called a narrow path, a path that goes through a "wicket gate."
For most of us, this doesn’t mean much, but for the English pastors and people who came up with this “wicket gate” saying, it had tremendous meaning. For in the game of cricket, what the British play instead of baseball, one player throws a 3 inch leather ball from 66 feet away to hit a 9 inch wide wicket gate, trying to knock the crosspieces off the gate. Imagine trying to walk through this 9-inch-wide wicket gate! Imagine running down a 9-inch wide path!
That is how following the path of Holiness has been compared.
And clearly, we can’t do it consistently.
So that was why Christ had to die.
To defeat the requirements of the law of Moses, Jesus had to die for us. For we could never reach Heaven on our own merits. None of us could remain good enough. The gate is too narrow.
And so Jesus, the Son of God, and God the Father decided that following Jesus was enough, attempting our level best to do what Jesus asked, committing our lives to Jesus. And when the time came to judge our goodness, to decide whether or not God the Father would allow us to spend eternity with Him and Christ, the key question would be – have you been trying to follow Jesus?
Notice it is not: “Did you succeed in following Jesus?” for no one could say yes. But instead, “Have you been trying to follow Jesus?
For a person who is trying to follow Jesus has a poor enough spirit that he or she can be taught, over the decades and centuries and thousands of years, those people whose spirit is poor enough can be taught how to be holy, but those who do not try cannot ever be taught, for they already believe they know the answers. And thus they are not allowed in the Kingdom of Heaven with God the Father and Christ.
So I say to you, be humble in spirit. Seek God’s face. Follow Jesus more and more every day, make learning God’s will and finding God’s face your only priority in life and you will be blessed, know peace, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
In the Psalm of David, David asked:
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
and God answered:
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
Are some of these sayings from the sermon hard to follow? Paul pointed out to the Corinthians and us that what seems foolish to the ordinary person is wisdom to us who are being saved.
The path of Holiness, the path that leads to God’s face is not easy. It has been called a narrow path, a path that goes through a "wicket gate."
For most of us, this doesn’t mean much, but for the English pastors and people who came up with this “wicket gate” saying, it had tremendous meaning. For in the game of cricket, what the British play instead of baseball, one player throws a 3 inch leather ball from 66 feet away to hit a 9 inch wide wicket gate, trying to knock the crosspieces off the gate. Imagine trying to walk through this 9-inch-wide wicket gate! Imagine running down a 9-inch wide path!
That is how following the path of Holiness has been compared.
And clearly, we can’t do it consistently.
So that was why Christ had to die.
To defeat the requirements of the law of Moses, Jesus had to die for us. For we could never reach Heaven on our own merits. None of us could remain good enough. The gate is too narrow.
And so Jesus, the Son of God, and God the Father decided that following Jesus was enough, attempting our level best to do what Jesus asked, committing our lives to Jesus. And when the time came to judge our goodness, to decide whether or not God the Father would allow us to spend eternity with Him and Christ, the key question would be – have you been trying to follow Jesus?
Notice it is not: “Did you succeed in following Jesus?” for no one could say yes. But instead, “Have you been trying to follow Jesus?
For a person who is trying to follow Jesus has a poor enough spirit that he or she can be taught, over the decades and centuries and thousands of years, those people whose spirit is poor enough can be taught how to be holy, but those who do not try cannot ever be taught, for they already believe they know the answers. And thus they are not allowed in the Kingdom of Heaven with God the Father and Christ.
So I say to you, be humble in spirit. Seek God’s face. Follow Jesus more and more every day, make learning God’s will and finding God’s face your only priority in life and you will be blessed, know peace, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
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