“Mourning”
The Words of Jesus – The Beatitudes
FCC – October 14, 2007
Text: Matthew 5: 4
Introduction: Today we are continuing a new sermon series on The Beatitudes. This was the first recorded sermon of Jesus and He taught about attitudes for the Kingdom. Jesus took His followers up a mountain and taught them how they were to differ as disciples from the rest of the world. The Message referred to Jesus’ disciples as His ‘climbing companions’ (Matthew 5: 1-2). So during this time, we are going to challenge each of us to become climbing companions of Jesus as we journey up the mountain of God.
At the beginning of each of the Beatitudes we have the word ‘blessed.’ The climbing companion of Jesus who displays the Kingdom attitude is ‘blessed.’ We’ve already have explored the meaning of ‘blessed.’ It means more than just circumstantial happiness or that I will get want I want. No. It means that if I follow God I will be deep down fully satisfied. We also talked about how it was often translated, ‘O the contentment of…”
Last week we looked at the first Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is the first step to enter and live in the Kingdom. We have to realize that we aren’t God and to empty ourselves of pride and personal independence, to find the kingdom of God. The first step is to recognize our need.
The next step up the mountain of God is found in Matthew 5:4 (NIV) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Jesus summarized His ministry by quoting from Isaiah 61:
Isaiah 61:1 (NIV) The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Celebrate Recovery is a 16 year old Christ-centered recovery program that was started out of Saddleback Community Church in California. It has grown and spread throughout the United States and in several countries. The program is based on 8 CR principles based on the 8 Beatitudes. In Cape there are 3 Celebrate Recovery chapters: at Lynwood BC, La Croix, and Bethany BC. It is the dream of local founder of CR to have a CR chapter every night of the week in our area. God has put it on the hearts of some in our church to start a CR chapter here at FCC. So these next few weeks, we will look at the Beatitudes and then a principle of recovery.
Celebrate Recovery principle #2: Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
TESTIMONY - Before we look at this secondBeatitude, we have a testimony from Judy **** about his experience in CR.
This morning I would like to ask three questions of our 2nd Beatitude.
1. What attitude does Jesus want?” Mourning. What does the word ‘mourn’ me? It means to ‘beat the chest in grief.’ It is the sorrow which brings tears to the eyes. The word Jesus used apparently is the most strongest of the nine words for grief in Greek. It was used to mourn the dead.
In scripture there seems to be three kinds of mourning:
a. Normal or personal mourning – Life brings it’s share of pain and heartache and mourning…and the ability to cry is actually a gift from God to help us work through our deepest hurts. Crying, weeping, or mourning is a very, natural, normal and personal experience in life. If we don’t mourn the pain we hold in can actually poison our system.
David mourned over the loss of his son - 2 Samuel 18:33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!"
Jesus wept over the death of His friend Lazarus and also wept over the spiritual condition of Jerusalem. Isaiah 53 says that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Psalm 42:1-11 (NIV) For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. [2] My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? [3] My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long,"Where is your God?" [4] These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. [5] Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and [6] my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan,the heights of Hermon--from Mount Mizar. [7] Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. [8] By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me--a prayer to the God of my life. [9] I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" [10] My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"[11] Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
This Beatitude is often used at funerals and in a very real sense God is a God of comfort. God is our true source of comfort in times of need. Yet, that is not the kind of mourning that Jesus is speaking about here.
b. Ungodly mourning – This is the sorrow or grief of the person who can’t satisfy his lust, or get what they want. In 2 Samuel 13, Ammon, the son of David grieved to the point of getting sick, because he wanted to sleep with his sister Tamar. This is ungodly mourning. When we want something that is out of the will of God and we mourn—throwing a tantrum—God is not obligated to comfort you. In fact, if you know Him, He will make you miserable. We are going to talk about this in more detail under our second point.
c. Godly mourning--Only one kind of sorrow brings life, and that is godly sorrow over sin, which leads to repentance. 2 Cor. 7:8-10 (NIV) Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while--yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
This is the mourning leads to repentance…and this is the mourning Jesus spoke of in this Beatitude.
Jesus requires His climbing companions to be mourn leading to repentance.
2. What is the clashing world value? Happiness at any cost. Jesus presents attitudes in His sermon that produce as clash between the world and the Kingdom. This Beatitude of Jesus, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” seems oxymoronic. One sermon I read this week was entitled, “Happy are the sad.” This doesn’t make sense to the world as most of us who a worldly mind-set in pursuit of happiness. The world says:
• Blessed are the rich, the powerful, the happy and the self-confident.
• Have a good self-image.
• Believe in yourself.
• If it feels good, do it.
• Do what makes you happy.
• God wants you to be happy.
When we are on all out search for happiness at any cost, we are in step with the world and at odds with the kingdom. Jesus teaches that His climbing companions are to different…their attitudes should reflect the Kingdom and not the world.
Happiness is never an end in itself, but a by-product of God’s work in our lives. It comes to those who don’t seek it. God’s primary concern is not our happiness, but our holiness… which by the way, the by-product of is blessedness…deep down-satisfaction. O the contentment of those who mourn.
Celebrate Recovery understands this principle. Most folks start out on the path to destruction looking for happiness. In fact, people seek happiness by evading reality by having fun. To recover, you have to have a reality check. Celebrate Recovery principle #2: Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
Jesus demands that His climbing companions mourn for their sins. They are to first become poor in spirit, and then mourn. John Calvin – “For if we are poor in spirit, we cannot avoid weeping; we cannot be other than distressed. We are not, after all without feelings, like those madmen I mentioned earlier, who expect us to remain as immovable as an anvil or a rock! Such a thing goes against our nature to press us to the point where we bend and break: we can no longer hold ours heads up, our breath is taken from us, we are, so to speak, dead men.”
To enter and live in the Kingdom, we have to recognize our need of God and then mourn for our condition…and the reward is great!
3. What is God’s reward? Comfort. The 1st step into the Kingdom of Heaven is to be poor in spirit. The 2nd step is to mourn…the reward is to be comforted. Mourners are not blessed, because they mourn. They are blessed because they find comfort. Back to Isaiah 61:
• Comfort comes when we mourn over our sins. Isaiah 61:2-3 (NIV) to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
John Stott – “Such mourners who bewail their own sinfulness, will be comforted by the only comfort which can relieve their distress namely the free forgiveness God. ‘The greatest of all comfort is the absolution pronounced upon every contrite mourning sinner.’”
• Comfort comes when we mourn over the sins of others. Psalm 126:4-6 (NIV) Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
• Comfort is given to give to others who mourn. Psalm 119:136 (NIV) Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed. 2 Cor. 1:4 (NIV) who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Conclusion: Jesus requires His climbing companions to mourn their sin, to reject happiness and embrace holiness, to find the comfort of God. William Barclay translates this Beatitude like this: “O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world’s suffering and for his own sin, for out of his sorrow he will find the joy of God!”
Mourners are blessed, yes happy, because they are the only ones who are forgiven. Psalm 51:8-13 (NIV) Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
