I Am Sorry Series

Introduction: Frank and Edna had been married for 40 years and so there children surprised them with a party to celebrate their marriage. The night was filled with laughter, good friends and memories.

Later that evening Frank and Edna got back to their house and they began to go through the cards from their many well-wishers. One card was unusual and it caught Frank and Edna’s eye. The outside of the card was Bright White, lined in gold foil with very beautiful calligraphy type handwriting. When they opened the card they found the following message;

Dear Frank and Edna, I am so proud of you, 40 years of marriage is fantastic accomplishment, because of your faithfulness I am going to give each of you one wish. – God

Frank was skeptical and he began to wonder who sent them this little note. Edna was always the optimist in the family. She said. “Frank what it is true. What if god wants to give each of us a wish.” Edna then said, I wish we could go on a cruise around the world. Instantly there on the dining room table was a pair of tickets for a world cruise.

Frank was shocked and without thinking, he said, “I wish I had a woman 30 years younger then me, to go on the cruise.” Immediately he discovered he was 90 years old.

Words have a way of getting us in trouble do they not. The wrong words can cause discord in families and strain the workplace. The wrong words can bring damage to every one of our relationships. If we are not careful, the damage can be irreversible.

If you study scripture, you know God was deeply concerned about relationships. From the moment he created a helpmate for Adam to last chapter in the book of Revelations God has been in the business of creating and mending relationships.

Not only is God interested in his relationship with us, he wants us to have a relationship with one another – to live in community with one another.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used 8 phrases to help us live in community. These 8 phrases when used properly will strengthen our relationships with one another as we strive to please God.

By way of review last week, we learned…

These 8 phrases were for the disciples of Jesus. The first two verse of Matthew 5 tell us His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them

What did he teach them? The key to a blessed life was found in relationships.

Key # 1 to a blessed life is have the ability to say, “I need you”

Today as we look at our second statement let me make one observation; these statements build on one anther. You cannot grasp statement #2 until you get you hands on the first statement “I need you”

It is my hope this past week you were able to use statement #1 in your relationships with others, if so you are beginning to understand the what it means to have a blessed life and you are ready to move on to the second statement .

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

2 and he began to teach them saying:

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.

In the routine of the day-to-day, ordinary living, this statement seems so absurd. Remember another word for blessing is happiness, so Jesus is telling his disciples, and us, we find happiness in mourning. It just does not make sense. Everything in life teaches us that the key to happiness is not found in mourning, but in seeking our own way.

Pleasure brings happiness

Money brings happiness

Entertainment brings happiness

Fame and praise bring happiness

Mourning does not bring happiness, in fact, avoiding pain, suffering and disappointments are necessary for happiness.

To discover what Jesus meant and did not mean, we have to understand the concept of mourning. Once we understand biblical mourning, we are on our way to understanding how mourning affects all our relationship with God and with other believers.

The Meaning of Mourning

Certain kinds of sorrow are common to all people, believers and non-believers. Some sorrow is legitimate focusing on loss or disappointment while other sorrows focus on selfishness and sin. To help us understand the difference we have to look at the three types of sorrow.

Improper mourning

Improper mourning is carrying legitimate mourning to illegitimate extremes. It is grieving so hard for so long, one ceases to function normally, this grief becomes sinful and destructive.

An example of this is found in the book of 2 Samuel 18 & 19, David discovers his rebellious son, Absalom was killed in battle. Absalom had wrecked havoc in the kingdom, destroying David’s credibility and integrity.