WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
THE LOST STAR WARS
Have you seen Star Wars? Have you seen every Star Wars movie?
In May 1977, Star Wars was released and quickly became one of the highest grossing movies of all time. Cast members became instant stars and any toy or product with the Star Wars logo flew off store shelves. Fans couldn’t get enough as they lined up to see the film in the theaters multiple times. Perhaps you were one of those fans? Still, the producers were worried. The sequel wouldn’t be released for another 3 years. How could they make sure fans wouldn’t lose interest?
Director George Lucas came up with an idea: Let’s create a short Star Wars special that we can air on television next year to continue interest. In 1978, Lucas wrote a story about how the characters celebrated the holiday season. Instead of Christmas, he would call it “Life Day” so no one was left out. The plot of this program would follow Chewbacca’s family as they awaited his return home from a recent mission. However, Han Solo and Chewbacca would be delayed by Darth Vader who wanted to ruin Life Day for the entire universe.
THE SAGA BEGINS
Lucas sold the idea to ABC who was eager and willing to make anything with the name Star Wars for their network. It might have been an instant Christmastime classic, but by the time production was scheduled to begin, George Lucas was too busy with the early stages of making The Empire Strikes Back. ABC gave the special to the hands and direction of a team of staff writers who worked on many of the short-lived television variety shows.
Early on, it looked like the show might be pretty good. Almost all of the original cast signed on and agreed to appear. The production team was on board for special effects. There would be cameo appearances by other well-known stars like Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, and Bea Arthur. Ads promised never-before-seen action and an animated segment. It looked like a surefire winner.
The Star Wars Holiday Special aired at 8pm on November 17, 1978. All expectations instantly evaporated during the first 15 minutes, which consisted of Chewbacca’s family arguing in Wookiee language…without subtitles. It foreshadowed the rest of the program: a tacky variety show with a Star Wars theme. It mostly showed Chewbacca’s family whining and grunting while they watched television. The television showed song and dance numbers, a cooking show, and Jefferson Starship performing “Light the Sky on Fire.” As the show progressed, most of the 20 million viewers switched channels to see the newest episode of Wonder Woman.
REBEL FIGHTERS
Today, anyone with a DVD player or a streaming service can see most any classic movie any time they would like. In 1978, however, the idea of seeing Star Wars in your own home was irresistible, which explains why the ratings were so high. Despite the large audience, reviews were awful and true Star Wars fans hated it.
So did George Lucas.
He was furious. This special had corrupted his beloved story. Because of his anger, Lucas managed to prevent The Star Wars Holiday Special from ever airing again. He assumed that the show would be an unfortunate, but quickly forgotten misstep in his career. But that’s not what happened. 1978 was the beginning of the Video Cassette Recorder revolution, so there were some viewers who taped the show.
This set in motion a vast bootlegging network that began to distribute this show to only those fans willing to pay for a copy. Comic Conventions would see this film distributed to people who knew that it would never be available anymore. Rarity meant value.
Many copies are of very poor quality, but now with the digital availability of channels on YouTube, you can watch this terrible show online any time you’d like. Lucas has been forced to give up on his goal of cleansing his reputation by erasing the Holiday Special from existence. He once said, “If I had a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that program and smash it.”
Unfortunately, the internet is forever. Star Wars might be popular, and I don’t want to minimize Jesus by comparison. But the parallels in these stories are there.
The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ most famous message. Great crowds of people came from all over to see and hear what Jesus would say and do next. Unlike the Star Wars Holiday Special, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the greatest message ever preached. The popularity of Jesus drew crowds and thanks to the witnesses who wrote down this message, it is available for us to read forever.
This morning we begin our series for 2023 by going through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. His sermon spans Matthew chapters 5-7. More specifically, for the next 8 weeks, we will be exploring the Beatitudes section of Jesus’ famous sermon. The Beatitudes are the beginning verses of Matthew 5.
What is a beatitude? Some people like to play on words with this and say these are the “attitudes” we should “be.” The attitudes we should do. We should “Be” these “attitudes.” I like that. These are certainly attitudes we should be. This whole Sermon is the attitude that we as Christians should be striving to follow. That’s the purpose of Jesus’ preaching this message. However, that is not really what this word beatitude means.
“Beatitude” comes from the Latin “be-at-us.” The Greek word here is “makarios” which means “happy” or “blessed” and it is that word “blessed” which begins each of the beatitude statements. Some commentators say these are things we should “delight” to be. The people who do these things are fortunate and blessed recipients of God’s grace and favor. The beatitudes refer to the deep inner joy of those who have long awaited the salvation promised by God and who now begin to experience its fulfillment.
Let’s read through the Beatitudes this morning and then we will spend the rest of our time in our first beatitude.
MATTHEW 5:1-12
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
What a wonderful set of statements and I know we will be blessed by going through each of these over the next 8 weeks together. Jesus takes many known ideas and statements and changes the meaning for these people and gives them a deeper focus. Instead of lowering the standard and telling these people that they no longer need to sacrifice animals—giving the blood of bulls and goats—he says, this is how you might remember and have heard these things said…but I want you to do more. Jesus raises the standard from the Old Testament sacrificial system. Rather than a mere activity to perform, Jesus expects us to internally transform. This is an attitude adjustment. We cannot continue to live as we once did. We cannot continue to do whatever we want and then rely on taking a goat or a sheep or a dove to the Temple once a year. Jesus wants us to see the world the way he does.
Let’s now focus on the first beatitude this morning:
MATTHEW 5:3
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
THE POOR IN SPIRIT
What was Jesus trying to tell the hearers that famous day on the hillside? What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
Luke’s parallel account speaks a bit differently. Luke 6:20 says,
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
What was Jesus saying? Was he talking about people who are physically and monetarily poor? Well, yes and no. The background to this beatitude comes from Psalm 86:1-5
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
In this Psalm, David is speaking as one who is poor in spirit. David was a king and was not monetarily poor. He was wealthy and had all he needed to take care of himself. However, in this Psalm, David is recognizing that he has places in his life that money and power cannot and will not take care of his true needs. In this Psalm, David speaks of God’s mercy and steadfast love which protects him and takes care of him in his need.
Jesus is teaching the crowds of disciples this same concept. Those of you who are poor in spirit, you are blessed and the kingdom of God is for you. Some of the crowd Jesus was speaking to WAS poor! Let’s not overlook this. These people definitely needed to hear these words. Chasing after wealth isn’t going to benefit your spiritual position—find your poverty a head start to the kingdom. But this is the good news of Jesus which is for everyone.
It is, however, those who see themselves as a spiritual beggar and a pauper before God. Those who are totally destitute of personal righteousness before a holy God. These are the people who should delight. You are blessed.
Let’s examine this idea a bit more fully. I believe there are many ways we can apply this passage. I want to look at just a couple of those ways. Perhaps as we look at this, you’ll see more, but let’s see a couple of ways this applies to us.
1. The poor in spirit have a humble and contrite spirit.
The poor in spirit do not see themselves as having everything in life figured out. Everyone, whether they sense it or not, is powerless without God…bankrupt, helpless, unclean, and unworthy before a perfect and holy God. We all need God whether we know it or not. In this beatitude, Jesus is saying that those who do know it are the ones who are blessed. If you recognize this about yourself and your life, you are blessed. You are humble about your need of God. You submit yourself to Him and His will. You are contrite and remorseful about your life and need for a God of grace and forgiveness.
The poor in spirit are like what we see in Luke 14:11
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
We recognize our helplessness without God and we humble ourselves to his will. We go to God for our needs, not reliant on our power to work harder or smarter. Yes, we can pull up our bootstraps, but it is God who blesses us, not our own power.
The poor in spirit are the opposite of the proud, conceited, arrogant, and disdainful. Only the poor in spirit can enter God’s kingdom. Others will never feel their need nor know their poverty until too late.
It’s like the parable we spoke of a couple of weeks ago from
LUKE 18:9-14
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Go, learn what this means. I desire mercy not sacrifice. All their lives, these Pharisees had sacrificed. Giving tithes, fasting, making sure their animals were lined up for the sacrifice on Passover and other holidays. And in the rest of their lives, they were unjust and merciless to the very people who needed God most.
The Pharisees had been waiting for the Messiah. Not because they needed saving. But because they wanted to show God how good they had been. “God, look how righteous I am. Look at how great I am. Look at me and my ability to give you exactly what you said you wanted.”
The sinner, the tax collector, was poor in spirit and cried out to God: be merciful to me, a sinner!
The poor in spirit realize that no matter how much good I have done, I have room for improvement. I have places where I haven’t done good. And I need God to fill those places…not only that, but to fill in the places I think I did good too because my standard isn’t God’s. God is the only thing that can get me to a holy place and to the righteousness worthy of his name and his presence.
2. The poor in spirit have a spirit of poverty.
The poor in spirit must possess his wealth as if he had none. Ready to resign it all at any moment without regret. I think of Job who had a lot, but it was all taken from him by satan. What did Job say about it?
Job 1:21
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
In everything, Job followed God. He did not blame God and he did not sin but was ready to give glory to God in all his circumstances.
I also think of the widow in Mark 12
MARK 12:41-44
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Everything we have is God’s. And we must be prepared to give it all to him. Not because God is cruel. Some people are truly suffering poverty. Those people need help and we should give it to them. James teaches that we help people in real need.
James 2:15-17
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Give to the poor, feed the hungry, house the homeless, help the sick find a doctor, clothe the naked…but ALL of us who have this must ALSO live ready to give up everything to follow Jesus.
Why are the beatitudes such a beloved portion of the Bible for a Christian? We love them because they give us a portrait of Jesus and who we are becoming in him! No one sympathized with the poor more than Jesus. Both the physically poor and the spiritually poor.
The Sermon on the Mount teaches us what it means to be a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom.
We have our own picture of what it looks like to be a Christian—certain behaviors that fit and certain ones that don’t. Particular attitudes that we think someone ought to possess and others we think they shouldn’t. In our culture, that looks a particular way: perhaps it means being of a particular political persuasion, aligning ourselves with certain groups within the Christian subculture, being of a particular denomination or not denominational at all, some people think being a Christian means that your race and ethnic background means you are closer than others of other races and backgrounds (which isn’t true of course, but there are people who believe this). Others today think it means you can or cannot participate in certain things: dancing, smoking, having a drink of alcohol, swimming, listening to certain kinds of music, watching certain television shows or movies. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be careful about some of those things…what I AM saying is that for our culture and our circumstances, Jesus repaints the picture. Jesus shows a different idea of what we are supposed to look like and flips the image on its head.
When we think we have it figured out, Jesus rewrites the script.
The poor in spirit cry out to God for help, depend entirely on his grace to meet their needs, have a humble and contrite spirit, experience God’s deliverance from evil, and enjoy his undeserved favor.
Why are the poor in spirit blessed? Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Someone once said that if we think we are poor in spirit, maybe we haven’t gotten there yet. Humble yourself more.
There is a hymn that I won’t sing this morning, but reference the words:
Rock of Ages by Augustus Toplady
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
I need Thee every hour. We sang that song because we do need Jesus every hour. Every moment of every day. We must be poor in spirit. We must approach God knowing we have nothing he needs, but he has everything we need.
CHALLENGE & INVITATION
1. Read the whole Sermon on the Mount. Look for where you see yourself poor in spirit. Think about what that will mean for the rest of this series. Does this mean we will need to pay close attention to what Jesus is calling us to?
2. Cards – give them to neighbors, friends, family members. Use as a bookmark in your reading.
