Battles and Blessings
Matthew 5: 1-12 February 3, 2002
Did you ever have one of those days when everything seemed to fall apart? For example, you got up & discovered the alarm clock didn’t go off – your head is pounding with a bad cold – you cut yourself shaving – stumped your toe on the coffee table – discovered you were out of coffee (you just threw away the old coffee grounds in the garbage & now out of desperation you’re digging them back out of the garbage) – and now outside to the car to discover the battery is dead - so you get it jumped off by your angry neighbor – you finally arrive at work an hour late & then remember that it’s a holiday and you could have stayed in bed & then realize why your neighbor was so angry…
It can happen to any of us… A little seven-year-old boy named Steven had one of those days… He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with it in his hair (have you ever done that, it makes a mess) – when he got out of bed he tripped over his skateboard & cut his lip – then he got toothpaste all over the sleeve of his new sweeter – in school it was gym day & he hated gym – when they chose sides for a game, he was the last to be picked – when he got home for dinner, his mother had cooked lima beans, which he hates – there was lots of kissing on TV & he hates kissing – his bath was too hot, he got soap in his eyes – his favorite marble went down the drain and to add insult to injury, his mom made him wear the pajamas with the little birds on them… As little Steven laid in bed, he said his prayers – “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep – Lord, thank you for this day, but don’t give me another one like this – because I just don’t think I can cope with it… I think I’ll move to Japan…”
Hopefully, you haven’t had a day like this, but all of us have days that stress us out – days that take us into the battlefields of life – and we wonder how in the world we’re going to make it through our battles of the day…
For the past several weeks, Lori & I have been stressed out… I worry about my 94-year old grandmother – I got a call from the rest home Monday to tell me she had had a stroke & they were taking her to the hospital… Lori has been stressed out about her job & her future… I think we’ve all been under a lot of stress lately…
None of us are exempt from the battles of life… I know several of you are going through some tough times right now… You’re facing some battles that you don’t understand & like little Steven, you’re saying your prayers just hoping tomorrow will be a better day… But listen to me, I’m here to share the good news with you… Not only will tomorrow be a better day, but today will be a better day – because we have the JOY of Christ in us & there’s not a battle on this earth that can take away our JOY from heaven…
You see, we have the JOY, we have the means, we have the instructions – We’ve been told by Jesus himself, how to be happy & blessed – and if we choose not to be happy & blessed, guess who’s at fault… (I’ll give you a clue – Not Jesus!)
There’s a story about St. Francis of Accessee, he came from a very wealthy family – he was fed with a sliver spoon – he had everything a person could possibly want – except happiness…
So he left his home, like little Steven, he moved away… He gave up all of his riches – his lifestyle – his earthly kingdom, in search for the one thing he was missing – His happiness, his JOY… and years later, he found it… After all these years, he had discovered the secret to true happiness… Do you want to I know where he discovered the secret?
In the 5th chapter of Matthew – the Beatitudes… It’s here that Jesus tells His disciples, and He tells us the secret to happiness…
Here Jesus begins His sermon on the mount – the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived…
Matthew tells us in verse 1, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. Then He began to speak, and taught them…”
I want you to notice the first thing Jesus did… He saw the crowds… We have to speculate exactly what He saw because the Bible doesn’t describe the crowd… But considering the sermon that followed, I can assume He saw a lot of unhappy people – He must have seen people who were tired & hurting – people who were poor – people who were grieving – people who were hungry & thirsty – people like you & me who were fighting the battles of life…
Our 1st hope in our search for happiness can be found in the assurance that just as Jesus saw the crowds – Jesus sees us…
Our Savior, our Redeemer, our Comforter, the One who loves us the most, HAS HIS EYES ON US – As the song says, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me… He sees us!
Friends, we are not alone… This is KEY! You must understand, no matter how BIG your battle might be – no matter what the circumstances are – You are not alone… We have Jesus in our corner and He is pulling for us – He’s our cheerleader, He’s rooting for our team – He wants us to win the battle and He gives us the instructions & the armor to fight the good fight…
I read a story about a man who illustrates this point… A few days before he died, his pastor went to visit him in the hospital… As he entered the room, he noticed an empty chair beside the man’s bed… The pastor asked him if someone had been by to visit… The old man said, “No, I let Jesus sit in that chair, and I talk to Him…”
The pastor was puzzled, so the man explained – “Years ago, a friend told me that prayer was as simple as talking to a good friend. So every day, I pull up a chair, invite Jesus to sit, and we have a good talk…”
A few days later, the daughter of this man notified the pastor that her father had died… She said, “When I walked in the room, I noticed a strange thing… His head was resting , not on the pillow, but on an empty chair beside his bed…”
Friends, we are NOT alone… Jesus sees us & He is with us to the end…
After seeing the crowds, the second thing that Jesus did was to go up on the mountain… Jesus saw the crowds, but instead of going to the crowds, he went up on the mountain… He didn’t immediately go into their midst – He didn’t just rush into the middle of them & start healing the sick & preaching to them… No, No, No! Before He went to the masses, He went to the mountain…
That’s our 2nd hope of assurance as we fight our battles… Before we face the battle, we need to face the mountain…
When we face battles in life, Jesus calls us to the mountain… He wants us to leave the valleys of life & all the earth therein, and meet Him on the mountain… That’s where He gives us our instructions – that’s where we go to receive our pep talks…
It’s when we go up on the mountain where Jesus fills our cups with hope, assurance, courage & strength – the armor that’s needed to fight our battles…
Jesus calls us from our hectic lives and says, “follow me to the stillness of the mountainside…” He wants us to turn our backs on the noise of this world so we can hear the still, small voice of the Father…
The reason many of us don’t hear God isn’t because we have Him tuned out, He’s simply flooded out by the overwhelming demands of everyday life… God’s summit is clear & clean, with fresh air to fill our spirit… But in order to experience God, we have to leave the business & the noise of the world below, and begin the journey of climbing the mountain…
It’s amazing to me, and especially to Lori, that when I’m putting something together, like Breelynn’s new bicycle or connecting an entertainment center, and I get to a point that I don’t understand – it’s then & only then, that I refer to the instructions… It’s like stopping to ask directions, men just refuse to do that…
I’ll tell you why I don’t like asking for directions… I preached at a little country church one Sunday that was about 20 miles Southwest of Meadville right in the middle of nowhere… Honestly, when I turned off the Interstate, I went from a 4 lane highway to a gravel road that was built for a skidder – and the further I went, the smaller it got…
Well, it was getting closer & closer to the 11:00 service hour, but I wasn’t sure I was getting any closer to the church… Finally, Lori insisted I stop & ask directions – I said, “ask who – there’s nobody out here except us…” We kept driving until I saw a man cutting hay on his tractor…
I stopped & in my Sunday suit, I went out in this hay field and waited for the man to turn around & come back towards the road… The first thing he said to me was, “You… must… be… lost…” He added about three syllables to every word… I could tell they didn’t get too many strangers out their way…
I said, “Yes sir, do you know where the Methodist Church is?” He said, “Well, I hate to tell you this, but I’m not a Methodist…” I said, “Well, that’s okay, but if you were a Methodist, how would you get to the Methodist Church from here?” He said, “Well, I’ll probably let my daughter drive me there…” So much for directions…
Friends, when we face the battles of life – don’t try to get through them by yourself – you’ve got to stop & read the instructions & follow the directions… Jesus went up on the mountainside – and God calls us up to the mountain – Before you even begin to fight your battle, seek the wisdom of the Lord… Let Him prepare you for the battle…
That brings us to the next thing that Jesus did – He saw the crowds, He went up the mountain, and then after He sat down, His disciples came to Him, then He began to speak, and taught them…
And that’s our 3rd hope of assurance as we fight our battles… The Bible says, “after Jesus sat down, His disciples came to Him, and He taught them…” If we’re to win the battle, we have to come to Christ… the Christ who has an important message for us…
Matthew tells us that Christ sat down as He began to teach… It was Jewish custom that when the Rabbi was about to give an official teaching, he would always sit down… That’s why some professors prefer to teach sitting down… That’s why the Pope gives his official teachings sitting down…
In the days of Jesus, a Rabbi might teach as he stood or strolled along, but the serious teaching came only when he was seated… As Jesus sat down, this indicated the importance of what He was about to say… (Maybe I should sit down for the rest of the sermon – because it has great importance…)
First of all, we have to come to Christ… There is no way He can help us or teach us, unless we first come to Him… Secondly, when we come to Him, we have to listen to what He says… How can He teach us if we don’t listen… And then thirdly, we have to act upon what He tells us… In other words, we have to go where He tells us to go, and do what He tells us to do…
Friends, Jesus is sitting down, the disciples come to Him, and He is about to teach them a very important lesson about life & happiness… a lesson that is not only meant for them, but it’s meant for each of us…
When Jesus had their attention, He began to teach, saying, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger & thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are pure in heart, who are the peacemakers, & who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness – for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”
The word “blessed” in the original language was the word “Makarious,” and it meant to be “well-off, fortunate, supremely blest, or happy…” Here, in these eight poetic statements, Jesus gives us the instructions, the secret to our happiness… The secret to life itself… Thanks be to God! He didn’t leave it up to us, He told us how to be happy…
The reason some of us aren’t happy is because we’re too busy searching for happiness & we can’t seem to find it… but we’re too busy looking in all the wrong places…
Sometimes I’ll be looking for my glasses and they’re right there on the tip of my nose… It’s like the old saying, many of us “can’t see the forest for the trees…”
The problem with finding happiness is that WE try to define happiness – we let the world tell us if we’re happy or not – and the world doesn’t know what real happiness is – only Christ can define real happiness… And He did!
I think some of the biggest battles we fight, are brought on ourselves, in out pursuit of happiness… The truth is that we are in a battle of two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world & the kingdom of God…
In this battle there is a struggle between the flesh & the spirit… The flesh is drawn to this world while the spirit is drawn to God… And friends, you can’t win a battle against God…
I want to close this morning by encouraging you to pick your battles wisely… because sometimes, we may win the battle – but we’ll loose the war…
Whatever battle you might be fighting today, take courage in knowing that God is on your side…
When ever I think about battles, I think about David & Goliath… If there was ever a lopsided battle, this is it! You would think that David wouldn’t have a chance… Goliath was a giant… He had already defeated 100’s of soldiers… His sword was believed to be 10 foot long - most soldiers only came up to his waist… Yet David, a small little shepherd boy, agreed to fight him…
I’m sure Goliath must have thought it was some kind of joke when David showed up on the battlefield, with what appeared to be only a slingshot… But that wasn’t the case…
David had much more than a slingshot… I told you it was the most lopsided battle ever fought… You see, David had God on his side… When he came to fight Goliath, he didn’t come in the name of the king – he didn’t come in the name of David, He came in the name of God – and poor Goliath didn’t even have a chance… That battle was won before it ever started…
Friends, when we fight our battles in the name of God, you might as well start the victory lap, because the battle has already been won… (Amen, that should have got an amen too)
The Bible tells us that:
· Paul said, “All things work to the good of those that love the Lord…”
· “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain…”
· “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me…”
· Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled…”
· “Fear not, for I am with you…”
· And He also said, “Blessed are those…”
God wants you to be happy – and I want you to be happy – but if we’re ever going to find real happiness – we’ve got to start looking in the right places…
St. Francis found it right where Jesus told us it was – in the Beatitudes… If you haven’t found it, you can start today… God may be calling you to be St. (name) of Newhebron…
Let us fight the good fight with the blessings of God, knowing that we are to rejoice & be glad – for our reward is great in heaven.
And listen, Saints don’t loose battles – in victory, they win the war…
