WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
IT’S A POP STAR CONSPIRACY
We live in a world filled with conspiracies about what is real and what isn’t. Everything from Elvis still being alive in a gas station in Minnesota to the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot.
Musicians cannot escape their own conspiracies it seems as evidenced by Elvis. But there are others:
1. Justin Bieber is a shapeshifting monster. At a concert in 2017, hundreds of Australian fans claimed to have witnessed the teen idol transform into a lizard before their very eyes. Amazingly, in this age of camera-enabled smartphones, there’s no footage of this shocking moment, but there is video of Bieber in which some conspiracy buffs insist they can see his eyes turn into a lizard-like black. (Other celebrities who have been tagged by conspiracists as reptilian include Mark Zuckerberg, Bob Hope, and the late Queen Elizabeth.
2. Deaths are also frequently claimed as faked. Elvis and Michael Jackson are 2 frequently mentioned. A third, Tupac Shakur has been said to have faked his death. Shakur died in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting in 1996. Or did he? At the time of his death, the rapper was signed to Death Row Records, a label founded by Marion “Suge” Knight, who as of 2019 is serving a 28-year prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter. He has a long rap sheet of other violent crimes, and Shakur so feared being murdered by Knight that he faked his death and fled to Malaysia.
3. Taylor Swift is said to have really died and has been replaced by a body double to continue bringing in money to her record company. In the video to the song, “Look What You Made Me Do” there is a line where Swift says, “Sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Cause she’s dead.” The song is supposed to be about personal rebirth and leaving the past behind, but some fans believe this line is a secret coded admission that she really died and the woman we now see walking around performing is an impostor, hired to keep making hits and raking in millions for the record company.
4. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are clones. The story goes that back when they first became famous in 1999, the teens got into a serious accident together when they were dating. Not wanting to let go of its cash cow, Jive Records replaced Britney with a clone (and they trot out a new one every few years when the current one goes crazy). As for Justin Timberlake, the current incarnation is also a clone, while the real one is still in a coma from that accident.
5. The Beatles aren’t even real. They weren’t four guys from Liverpool named John, Paul, George, and Ringo who got together to form a band, write song, and tour the world. It would be physically impossible for four individuals to have produced so many hit albums in such a short period of time, while maintaining a vigorous touring schedule. So how was the deception pulled off? By the use of “multiples”—a revolving door of lookalikes who played the roles of the “Fab Four” singing and performing songs written by teams of record label employees.
No one is safe from these kinds of stories. The moon landing, JFK…it seems that we live in a world where people are persecuted for just existing and having success.
This morning, we come to our last beatitude in Jesus’ Great Sermon on the Mount. Though this is the last one, we are going to split it up into 2 Sundays. I want us to consider the things Jesus is saying in these 3 verses that make up the final beatitude. For today, let’s read just verse 10 of Matthew chapter 5.
MATTHEW 5:10
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Up to this point, Jesus has preached some difficult sayings. Things that people have to work on and if successful, they will have lived a difficult but noble and admirable life. Being humble, meek, merciful, peacemakers is hard, but something we all aspire to. Then he takes all those things and says, “Guess what? Those things prepare you for this last one.”
Blessed are those who are persecuted.
Jesus is preparing these people for something. He is giving them an awareness about the life of a disciple. If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, this Messiah you have been waiting for for centuries, you need to hear these words because this is the way you live as a follower, a student of Jesus.
But are those who are persecuted blessed? It seems like an obvious oxymoron. I certainly don’t feel blessed when I am persecuted. These people at this time did not like being persecuted and did not feel blessed. It was terrible! Jesus, why can’t you deliver us from persecution? Take all of these terrible people out! Send your armies to deliver us!
But Jesus says, no. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. For the sake of being righteous, you are going to be persecuted. Which is funny because he previously in his Fourth beatitude said,
MATTHEW 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Jesus told them to hunger and thirst for righteousness. They would be filled with it! And now that they are filled, they would be persecuted for it?! What a dirty trick, Jesus. How could you do this to us? Of course, I am being facetious here. It wasn’t a trick. But it is the truth. Those who seek righteousness in its purest form are doing what is right and they would be blessed. We spoke about this a couple of weeks ago and I encourage you to go to YouTube and listen to that lesson if you want to know more about it. But let me continue from that lesson and say that right living—righteousness—is the best way to live. The blessing we get from a clean conscience and knowing that our eternity is secure is an enormous blessing.
If we examine the life of a righteous person, we see that:
1. Persecution is part of our Identity
As a disciple of Jesus, our identity in him is one of persecution. Why? If we are like our Teacher, our Lord and Savior, we will be persecuted just like he was.
JOHN 15:18-23
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
Jesus never said, follow me and do what I did because then the world is going to think you’re great. There’s nuance to this…don’t hear me wrong. I am not saying you don’t have to be kind or love others because they already hate you. NO! We absolutely must be kind and gracious to people around us. This is part of our pursuit of righteousness. If we are pursuing righteousness, we will be kind, loving, and gracious to other people DESPITE their hatred of us.
My point is that Jesus promised persecution for his followers. We already know this is going to happen. So stop thinking that we can somehow overcome the persecution. That if we are more amiable, more genial and accept sin that people will change their minds about us. There are these kinds of Christians and churches everywhere. And they aren’t seeing explosive growth. It’s actually people who are seeking righteousness who are more attractive to a seeker of Jesus. Someone who wants Jesus will MORE likely find a church that is desiring to live the truth of God’s word because that is what a seeker is looking for. And again…nuance…doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be gracious and loving and fair and reasonable.
2. How you Handle Persecution is a Measurement of your Faith in Christ.
How are you going to handle this persecution? Are you going to whine that life isn’t fair? Are you going to go to God and scream at Him for bringing terrible situations to your life? Or do you see the blessings of persecution? Jesus said the persecuted would be blessed because of righteousness’ sake.
We already said it isn’t going to feel like much of a blessing to be persecuted unless your frame of reference is switched. If we think back to all the earliest martyrs of the Christian faith, they weren’t complainers about their persecution but welcomed it. They embraced it as a part of their identity and then, often times, thanked God for finding them worthy of that persecution.
Have you ever in times of persecution, in times of doubt and pain, in times when others are mistreating you…thanked God? No… We often pray for God to take away that pain. To take away that doubt. To take away the mistreatment. To take away our tormentors…God make them move to the opposite side of town! Make them move to another state! God, take them out…. for good! Ouch. But do we thank God? Thank you, God, for…I’ll use my own situation…Thank you God for Dan. He is terrible. He uses Scripture to get his way. He abuses our neighborhood. He yells at me. Thank you. Help me to be a blessing to him.
I AM STEPPING ON MY OWN TOES NOW! I MUST BE CRAZY!
But this isn’t far off. And it’s a lesson I need to hear. I hope you do too. It’s not far off. Let’s look at Peter and the other Apostles in Acts chapter 5.
Turn over there. This is a long passage and I don’t want you to miss this. You may want to underline some things or take note of some of this.
ACTS 5:17-42
These same apostles who feared their death and persecution while Jesus was alive walking with them in person now feared no one. They were jailed and told not to preach Jesus anymore and now they escaped prison by the power of God in an angel of the Lord and were told to go and keep preaching.
Dr. Luke recalls this time when they have filled Jerusalem with their teaching. Peter’s answer when told not to preach was we obey God rather than men.
And they are persecuted because of it. Physically beaten by them. What did Peter and the other Apostles do?
“God, why did you allow this to happen to us?” No…
“God, take this pain from us!” No…
“God, make these people go away and make this easier for us.” No…
They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name…they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Wow! That is how they handled their persecution. This same Peter who denied knowing Jesus is now praising God for being beaten in his name. Can we say the same?
3. Persecution Can Come from Other Christians.
I’m not saying every disagreement with another believer is persecution. That’s ridiculous. But there are those who are “fake righteous.” People like the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the high priests of Acts 5. Those who hypocritically talk the talk of righteousness while becoming a stumbling block to those who are hungering and thirsting and don’t like that you are finding your righteousness in places outside of their leading. They want you to look like them. Not like Christ. Do it our way or you are lost! Do what we say or you aren’t a real Christian! You aren’t keeping all the made-up laws and traditions and preferences we added! You need to do these things…
No. Jesus said you will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake. And many times, it comes from the hands of the religious people who are stuck in their ways.
That’s what the Apostles in Acts 5 were experiencing. What was it they were upset about with the Apostles most? Not that they were teaching goodness and righteousness, but their biggest concern was in verse 28,
“…you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
Their sins were called out. They were exposed. And these religious leaders didn’t like that. It meant they were also still sinners and also guilty. Gamaliel was a voice of reason to those who wanted to kill these Apostles for this. Yet they were still beaten.
Persecution is part of the commitment we make. When we are baptized, we have reconciled that persecution is part of our commitment. We aren’t still trying to figure out whether we really are committed or not. We made that commitment.
Back to our beatitude…Jesus says those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Blessed are they for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Who else was this blessedness spoken for? Our First beatitude.
MATTHEW 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
If we are the humble poor in spirit, we inherit the kingdom of heaven. For those poor in spirit, we acknowledge that we deserve nothing but receive everything. At the same time, the poor in spirit will be the same people who seek righteousness for the sake of being righteous humbly and submissively. Those people also receive the kingdom of heaven. These 2 beatitudes have the same reward. And it’s fitting, isn’t it?
CONCLUSION
I said we would be splitting this beatitude into 2 lessons. Today, we have heard about those who are persecuted. Next week it becomes a little more personal. These beatitudes have been about the “those.” Blessed are those who…
Next week, we read Matthew 5:11-12. Jesus says, “Blessed are you…”
Jesus’ intention isn’t to just make these statements about other people who are out there. Some anonymous group of people that maybe we can identify with. Jesus intends that YOU take on these identifying principles because YOU will be reviled and persecuted. And I want to make sure we all start to see that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount isn’t for other people out in the world. That Sermon was for you. It was given 2000 years ago but it was meant for all of us in this room and for all those who call themselves Christian. Look forward to next week. It will be the last in our beatitude series. But this is just the beginning with the Sermon on the Mount.
I encourage you to read ahead and start to contemplate what these beatitudes mean for you and your walk with Christ. That is our theme this year. We aren’t just going through the Beatitudes to learn a lesson about something a long time ago. We are doing this so we can be better in Walking with Christ in 2023.
INVITATION
