Mountain Moving Faith
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5:1-9
From the description in the gospels and the geography Palestine, we know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount along the road that skirts the Sea of Galilee between the cities of Tiberius to Metula. The Church of the Loaves and Fish was built in the fourth century along this coastal road to commemorate the Galilean ministry of Christ. About two miles from the seaside town of Tabgha is a 330 foot hill called the “Hill of Beatitudes.” Even though Sermon on the Mound would be a more accurate description, Jesus delivered his longest discourse from this place, and the name, Sermon on the Mount, has endured throughout Christian history. Perhaps, the magnitude of the content, not just altitude, contributed to calling this message a mountain sermon.
In one hundred and eleven verses, Jesus delivered what has been labeled the “Kingdom Manifesto.” Beginning with the Beatitudes, Jesus introduced a new and radical philosophy of relating to the heavenly Father. Jesus preached about a loving God who loved “whosoever” not just religious professionals. Faith was no longer a legalistic code of restricted behavior, but a living covenant that promised blessing. The concepts declared in the Beatitudes still stand in sharp contrast to the dominating world philosophy. Pope John Paul II spoke to a group of teens in March 2000 about the difference between Christianity and modern culture. “Modern culture says, blessed are the proud. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit. Culture says, blessed are the pitiless, Jesus said, blessed are the merciful. Culture says, blessed are the devious. Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart. Culture says, blessed are those who fight. Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. Culture says, blessed are the prosecutors. Jesus said, blessed are the persecuted.”
The pope was right on target. Jesus’ teaching still applies in the 21st century. The truth He proclaimed is not unique because it is ancient; it is special because it possesses divine authority and wisdom. Our need to embrace the radical teaching about reconstructing our heart by this first century carpenter is greater than ever. While the terms may be familiar, the truth is still fantastic.
The term Beatitude is derived from the Latin word for blessing, which is BEATUS. Several scholars have attempted to define blessing. Most definitions include reference to divine joy or happiness. Blessing is God’s favor extended to an individual resulting in positive emotion or reward. I’m convinced that pastor and author Max Lucado developed the best definition of blessing in his book, The Applause of Heaven. Blessing is sacred delight. It is God doing what gods would be doing only in your wildest dreams. It is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It is what you have always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. It is having God as your biggest fan, and your best friend. It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is delight because it thrills.1
It is this “sacred delight” that Jesus promised in the Sermon on the Mount. To an unlikely cast of character, Jesus makes incredible promises. But, the eight characters mentioned are not individual people standing in line at the Blessing Bank waiting for the next teller. These eight blessed characters provide a mental picture of the process that God leads Christ-followers through as they experience the new relationship proclaimed by Christ.
I. RECOGNIZE YOUR STATE
The first step in the process is to recognize our state. Jesus referred to spiritual condition not physical location when he promised the “kingdom of heaven” to those who are “poor in spirit.” Poverty resulting from the lack of resources is not a virtue any more than great wealth can secure entrance into God’s Kingdom. Poor in spirit is recognizing your insufficiency to earn God’s blessing. The Bible clearly teaches that all have sinned and fall short of God’s holy standard. We are sinful, yet special.
The Bible says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are special to God, but God does not love you because you are special. He loves us by divine choice and demonstrates His love by sending Christ to die for us, even though we sinned against His holy love. You can not do anything to make God love you more or less. No one possesses enough spiritual resources to purchase God’s blessing for two reasons. First, the price is too high. Holiness, purity, righteousness, glory, honor, and power transcend financial compensation. Like the popular MasterCard commercials, these things are priceless. For everything else, there is MasterCard. Second God’s sacred delight is not for sale!
“I Don’t Give A D---“ The Archbishop of Paris once told a story of three young men who were visiting the cathedral of Notre Dame. On a dare, one of the young men entered the confessional booth and made a false confession to the priest. The priest, aware that the young man was deceiving him, assigned him this penance – stand in front of the crucifix in the church, look Jesus in the eyes, and say three times, “All this you did for me, and I don’t five a d---.” The young man and his friends laughed as they entered the sanctuary. He looked into Jesus’ eyes and said, “All this you did for me, and I don’t give a d---.” The third time, he couldn’t say the words. The young man returned to the confessional booth and made a sincere confession to the priest. He went on to become a priest and eventually, became the Archbishop of Paris.
II. REPENT OF SIN
The second character, mourns illustrates the next step in the process of receiving sacred delight. Upon gaining a proper understanding of your sinful condition, you must repent of sin. Just as blessing and poverty of spirit seem odd together, sacred delight and mourning stretch this paradoxical teaching. Mourning is grief expressed over the loss of something meaningful to you. Expression is critical to understanding mourning. It is not enough to know your sinful condition; you must demonstrate repentance. A fourth grade Sunday School teacher asked the class what repentance meant. One child said, “It means you’re sorry for something you did.” Another said, “It means you’re sorry enough to quit.” To mourn over sin is to express the appropriate sorrow that leads me to stop sinning.
The promise to mourners is the comforting embrace of a loving God. Genuine grief expressed over our poverty of spirit ignites God’s forgiveness, which brings cleansing to our heart and restores our relationships with the heavenly Father. Jesus beautifully described that God’s comfort to mend our mourning spirit. In another passage, Jesus declared that He did not come to condemn the world but to bring life. God’s desire is not to beat us down with guilt, but mourning allows us to experience His amazing grace.
III. RESEMBLE THE SAVIOR
God is the one who reveals our sin and as Romans 4:4 says, “His kindness leads us to repentance.” Salvation, adoption into the heavenly family, regeneration, born again, and reconciliation all describe the initial work of God, but His work continues transforming new believers into mature Christ-followers. When Christ issued the call, “Follow me,” he referred to a reconstructed life that was radically different from a life without Christ.
The change is not an outward change like the popular extreme makeover shows. God transforms your heart, soul, mind, and strength from the inside-out. The great preacher and Bible scholar, Martin Loyd Jones said, “Happiness is the great question of ages. The whole world is longing for it and tragically seeks to find happiness by futile means. Genuine happiness, a sacred delight that transcends circumstances is what Jesus promised in the Beatitudes, and He revealed that this elusive delight flows from inward transformation to your soul. It is not a goal to achieve, but sacred delight is a gift to receive.
Let’s consider the final six characters in groups of three. Blessed are the meek, hungry, and merciful. These three don’t strike you as a terrific trio, but the rewards promised to those who apply these concepts are certainly desirable. Submitting, trusting, and forgiving are not natural tendencies. We naturally pursue self promotion, thirst for personal pleasure, and harbor anger. Meekness should never be confused with weakness. Jesus chose to identify his personality as meek (Matt. 11:29), and the disciples were terrified that even the wind and waves obeyed His command (Mark 4:41). Meekness is allowing almighty God to shape your life as the master designer. Many see submission as losing, but Jesus promised a great inheritance. This truth would be echoed by the apostle Paul who said, “having nothing, yet possessing everything.” (2 Cor. 6:10)
Hunger and thirst communicate ongoing desire. Even before your were born again, God created you with a desire to know your creator. The quest to know God is never completed this side of heaven. Paul wrote about seeing through a foggy glass and longing to experience fullness of glory and knowledge. Toward the end of His earthly journey, he said, “not that I have already obtained it, but I press on toward the goal to win the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phi. 3:14)? Jesus made a glorious promise to those who approach God with a hungry soul. They will not de disappointed, “for they shall be filled!”
The transformation into Christ-likeness continues as you extend forgiveness to those who have wronged you. Some identify the greatest attribute of Christ as love or holiness, but I’m convinced the most defining characteristic of Christ is forgiveness. Certainly the most poignant words uttered by Jesus on the cross were, “Father forgive them.” To be like Christ we must learn to forgive, and to forgive me must experience hurtful deeds and acts of ill will against us. When you have been mistreated, you have two options: get made or give mercy. Because of Christ forgiveness, you possess a greater capacity to forgive others.
Hatred, bitterness, unresolved conflict has been described as a rabid dog that turns against his owner. To forgive does not mean to condone or ignore negative behavior, but it does mean releasing the burden to get revenge or to punish for selfish reasons. Forgiveness liberates you from pretending to be the “judge of the living and the dead.” Christ already occupies that role. Max Lucado shared the following letter in his book, The Applause of Heaven:
“I caught my husband having an affair to another woman. e swore it would never happen again. He begged me to forgive him, but I could not – would not. I was so bitter and so incapable of swallowing my pride that I could think of nothing but revenge. I was going to make him pay and pay dearly. I’d have my pound of flesh. I filed for divorce, even though my children begged me not to.
Even after the divorce, my husband tried for two years to win me back. I refused to have anything to do with him. I refused to have anything to do with him. He had struck First; now I was striking back. All I wanted was to make him pay. Finally he gave up and married a lovely young widow with a
couple of small children. He began rebuilding his life – without me. I see them occasionally, and he looks so happy. They all do. And here I am – a lonely old, miserable woman who allowed her selfish pride and foolish stubbornness to ruin her life. Unfaithfulness is wrong. Revenge is worse. But the worst part of all is that, without forgiveness, bitterness is all that is left.
The final three characters are the pure, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. Each describe the ministry of Christ, and God promises a special blessing to those who demonstrate Christ-likeness. To the Hebrew mind, the heart represented the core being. Solomon warned in Proverbs 4:29, “above all else guard your heart.” Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-19 “It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles but what comes out of your heart.” Purity was used in reference to approaching the presence of God. Animals, utensils, and the priests had to be pure in order to be accepted or welcomed into God’s presence. Christ-followers are blessed because their hearts have been purified by the blood of Christ.
Jesus promised the pure would see God. Perhaps you have been in a doctor’s office and heard the nurse say, “The doctor will see you now.” Through purity we gain access to God. Purity allows you to see the unseen and hear the inaudible. God invites you to experience an intimacy with the heavenly father. He allows pure souls into His holy presence. King David knew the beauty of God’s presence and the tragedy of sin robbing his joy, so he prayed for God to create a “clean heart, renew his spirit” that he would not be cast away from God’s presence (Ps. 51:10-11).
To the peacemakers, Jesus promised glorious recognition as “sons of God.” Throughout Scripture, we see individuals described as someone’s son. In our culture, your last name or Social Security Number provides identification, but in as eastern culture people were identified as being someone’s son. To be recognized as God’s Son is one of the highest honors ever experienced. You may recall the Pharisees attempted to kill Jesus when he claimed to be God’s son (John 8: 48-59). Jesus usually referred to himself as the son of man, a title used by the prophet Daniel, instead of Son of God because of the elevated status implied by the term “Son of God.”
Peacemakers receive this special honor because they participate in the same mission as Christ by sharing the gospel with those who are lost. Peacemaking requires the pre-existing condition of conflict. Souls without Christ are at war with God. The Bible describes the unsaved as “enemies of God” (Rom. 5:10) and “children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). Jesus is not prescribing political diplomacy; He is proclaiming the responsibility to point the way to the Prince of Peace. The apostle Paul declared that the saints of God are ambassadors who possess the ministry of reconciliation. I love the description of the peacemakers as one “who builds bridges with wood from an old rugged cross.”
The final unlikely character who receives sacred delight is the persecuted follower of Christ. They receive a “great reward” in the kingdom. Again, note that terminology is significant. Persecuted believers are rewarded in the Kingdom not delivered from difficulty in this life. Blessing and reward are often confused. This is not the venue for a complete discussion, but divine rewards are administered in eternity while blessings may be experienced on earth. In Revelation 2:8-12; 3:7-13, Jesus addressed the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia. These churches were the only two out of seven that He did not rebuke. He praised them for tremendous faith during severe persecution and revealed that more suffering was coming. Jesus’ consolation to these incredible saints was, “They would not be hurt by the second death. Hold on and endure patiently.” This promise to persecuted believers reminds us to live for eternity, to lay up treasure in heaven, and to look for joy in eternal truth not temporary things.
Ben Hooper was born in the foothills of East Tennessee. Ben’s mom never married, but this was during a time and cultural setting when single mothers and their children were ostracized and criticized. Other parents did not let their children play with the “bastard child.” As he grew older the kids mocked Ben with questions like, “Did you ever find out who your daddy is?” During elementary school, Ben stayed at his desk to avoid the playground where the attacks could be brutal to child’s self-esteem. At lunch Ben ate by himself.
It was big new whenever anything changed in the foothills, and one summer when Ben was twelve years, a new preacher came to town. Ben heard great things about the young pastor, and how he made everybody feel loved by God. One Sunday, though he had never attended church I his life, Ben decided to go hear the preacher. He slipped in late, sat in the back, and left early.
Each week Ben was mysteriously drawn to hear more about the loving God who sent His only begotten Son to save the world. On about the sixth week the message was so engaging that Ben forgot to leave early. When the service ended, others had clogged the aisle preventing Ben’s quick escape. As he was making his way out, Ben felt a hand upon his shoulder. Turning around, he look up and saw the smiling face of the new preacher who asked the question Ben feared most, “Hey young man, whose child are you?”
All the noise stopped. Everyone turned to look at Ben. Ben’s heart sank. His mind was racing, “Not you too. I thought you were different. How can I get out of here?” Before Ben could say a word, the preacher smiled and said, “I know whose boy you are. I can see the family resemblance. You are a child of God!” Then the preacher patted Ben on the back and said, “That’s quite an inheritance you’ve got. Now go and live up to it!”
Ben said that day changed his life. At a small country church in Tennessee, he was elected into the family of God and later reelected as the governor of Tennessee. He was not just a kid without a father. He was a child of the heavenly Father. Like Ben Hooper when we learn who we are in Christ, it changes everything. When we attach more value to what God says than what others say, we begin climbing the mountain of divine blessing.
