Beatitude Series # 2
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted
Original date April 18, 1999
Revised May 5, 2001
Intro. Church bulletins
„h "Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled . Proceeds will be used to cripple children."
„h "The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning."
„h "Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 PM. Please use the back door."
„h "Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary."
„h "The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment."
„h "The Rev. Merriwether spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience. "
„h "The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, ’Break Forth Into Joy.’"
„h "Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on ’It’s a Terrible Experience’."
„h "Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM. Please use large double door at the side entrance."
„h "Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community."
„h "The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy."
„h "Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow."
„h "Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones."
„h "The choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir."
Sometimes we say the wrong things or say things that we don’t mean.
We can be sure that God says what he means.
Seinfeld, George does the opposite
George gets a girlfriend and a Job; George experiences a better life because he resolves to do the opposite.
God asks us to do what is completely the opposite of every human instinct that we posses.
Jesus said if you want to be great you have to be humble
If you want to be a leader you have to become a servant first
It is the kind of lifestyle that gives Joy through Morning, Freedom through Surrender, Liberty through Confession.
Read and stand together
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted:
Prayer
This does not fit together for us
Didn’t Jesus talk about an abundant life?
Doesn’t he want us to have Joy in Our lives? Then why this expectation of mourning?
This is completely the opposite than what we have learned. But Jesus knows that true blessedness begins with deep sorrow.
Blessed are those who mourn is foreign to us
1. Stan Real men don’t cry steryotype
Cute Girl Barbie dolls
2. Marlboro Man
3 Verdict read "Defendant showed no emotion’
Jesus said show emotion
1. Parents talking about Kennedy’s death
2. Challenger
3. Oklahoma city
4. Princess Diana
What’s the benefit of showing emotion?
Jesus did say Laugh with those who Laugh and weep, with those who weep
But that is just the tip of the iceberg, This verse means a lot more than showing compassion for others
The Key point that Jesus is stating in this verse has to do with sin
I Samuel 15:35 Samuel mourns over Saul’s sin
Nehemiah 1:4 Nehemiah mourns the condition of Jerusalem
Psalm 51 David is mourning his sin with Bathsheba
Luke 22:62 Peter weeps bitterly after denying that he knows Jesus
Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.
If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. I hear people saying, "We need angry leaders today!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" I don¡¦t think so "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).
What we need today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It’s easy to get angry, especially at somebody else’s sins; but it’s not easy to look at sin, our own included, and weep over it.
from mourning over sin
1. Pride
Anibal Story. The prison of pride for most of us is not as blatant as this. However our reactions are much the same. The stubbornness is very familiar.
The prison of pride is filled with self-made men and women who are determined to pull themselves out by their own bootstraps even if they land on their backside. The only thing that matters is that ¡§I did it my way¡¨
You¡¦ve seen these people
The Alcoholic who won¡¦t admit the drinking problem
The woman who refuses to talk to anyone about her abusive situation
The family that falls apart because no one will admit the problem and deal with the real issues.
And God says to us ¡§ if we will confess our sins, He is faithful and Just and will forgive. Which brings us to the other enemy of Spiritual mourning
2. Apathy
Me? A sinner, I pay takes, I watch my speed make sure the car has enough gas coach a little league. Oh listen I know that I am not perfect but who is I mean I am no Hitler, or Slovadon Milosovich. So we justify and rationalize until we feel better. Because somehow we think if we feel good about ourselves then God will feel good about us. But God doesn¡¦t care about the latest Reuters Poll He wants us to be Be broken before Him and weep over sin Max Lucado writes
¡§To mourn over sins is a natural outflow of poverty of spirit. The second beatitude should follow the first. But that¡¦s not always the case. Many know they are wrong. Many deny their weakness. Many know they are wrong yet pretend they are right. As a result they never taste the exquisite sorrow of repentance.
Sometimes we get hung up on Apathy that Jesus has taken care of our Sins
It¡¦s all under the Blood
Every time we sin it¡¦s like driving fresh nails into the hands of Christ (Hebrews)
Mourning over Sin
I am a good enough person
1. Sins of a Nation
Have you mourned the sins of our nation?
a. There is difference between mourning and moaning its about contrition not complaints.
...When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the
KANSAS SENATE, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this
is what they heard:
..." Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness
and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says,
"Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have
done.
...We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We
confess that.
...We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it
Pluralism.
...We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery,
...We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare,
...We have killed our unborn and called it choice,
...We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable,
...We have neglected to discipline our children and called it
building self-esteem,
...We have abused power and called it politics,
...We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition,
...We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called
it freedom of statement,
...We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and
called it enlightenment.
...Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from
every sin and set us free.
...Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent:
to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these
things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
------- " Amen.!! " -------
...The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out
during the prayer in protest.
...In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is
pastor, logged more than 5,000
phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
...The church is now receiving international requests for copies of
this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
...Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "
The Rest of the Story ", and
received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever
aired. With the Lord’s help, may
this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire
so that we again can be called, " one nation under God. "
2. Sins of a church
Crooksville
3. Sins of ourselves
Personal story friend in High School
Have to mourn to be comforted
When was the last time you mourned over sin?
Jesus wept over Jerusalem just before he died
Story
