Your True Colors
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Good morning. My name is Bob Hostetler, and
I’d like you to play a game with me,
a game that almost everyone in the room can play--
maybe not Aidan Oglesbee but certainly Kyla;
AS A MATTER OF FACT,
even Graham Crain can play this game.
It’s nothing fancy . . .
I would like you to imagine with me--
now, this part is a little scary, so brace yourself--
imagine that a tornado is coming
straight for your house,
and all your family members and pets
--even your hamster--
are all safe somewhere. Okay?
Now, what if I told you
that you had just enough time
to dash back into your house
and save three things from destruction--
small or large, as heavy as you want,
but only three. . .
What would you save?
I want you to take a few minutes & think about it, because I’m going to ask for several of you to share
what you would save. . .
Just three things.
If you faced the loss of everything in your house,
everything you own,
except for three things,
what would you choose to save?
ANYONE? [Invite audience participation]
That’s an interesting exercise, isn’t it?
Because it forces you to decide
what you really value . . .
which is not something
we routinely give a lot of thought to.
I don’t think anyone here,
except maybe Dave Wilkes,
has ever tried to pick up a girl with the line,
“Hey, Baby, wanna go uptown and maybe (chk chk)
talk about our values?”
But it can be very insightful and rewarding,
to take a careful look at
the things that really matter to you,
your most deeply held values,
your “true colors,” so to speak.
And that’s what we’re gonna do this morning,
with the help of God’s Word, the Bible.
So, if you have a Bible with you, would you please open it to the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, chapter 5, as we look at the first twelve verses of that chapter and then kind of survey the rest of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.”
Now, a lot has been written, and said, and taught
on these chapters that make up our text today;
and a lot of people stumble around in these chapters, because they misunderstand some basic things that are going on.
So I want us to try to look at it with new eyes this morning. . .
Because I believe that the true meaning of these verses
opens up to us if we study this passage
as Jesus’ statement of his core values,
of the values he holds dear,
of the things that really matter to him . . .
and to the Kingdom.
And the first thing that Jesus says he values is . . .
KINGDOM VALUE #1 - TRUE HAPPINESS
Now, I believe this is a message that a lot of us Christians today really need to hear. God--in Christ--values happiness, blessedness.
Look at Matthew 5:1-12:
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:1-12, NIV).
Now, don’t panic--we’re not gonna go verse by verse through all three chapters of the Sermon on the Mount.
But I do want to spend just a little time here
before we kinda barrel our way through the rest of the text.
It’s important to understand, first, that when you read the word, “blessed,” in your Bible, you’re looking at a translation of a Greek word, makarios, which means, “happy.”
But it’s a happiness that’s different from the circumstantial “feel-goodism” that we associate with the English word . . . It’s a deep, abiding, joyful kind of happiness Jesus is talking about here.
And it’s a happiness that’s also different from what his first listeners were accustomed to.
Theologian and philosopher Dallas Willard says,
“misunderstanding of these ‘blesseds’ given by Jesus in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 have caused much pain and confusion down through the ages and continue to do so today.”
You see, most people read,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and
“Blessed are those who mourn,” and think,
“Hmmm. I guess I should try to be like that.”
But Willard says, “they could hardly be more mistaken.”
Translators even get into the act and try to make those verses say something that makes more sense to them. They’ll translate v. 3 to say, “Blessed are those who know their spiritual poverty.”
But that’s a mistranslation. Jesus said,
“Blessed are the spiritually poor,”
“the spiritual zeroes,” to use Willard’s phrase.
So how can we make sense out of these verses?
Scholar Alfred Edersheim helps us out when he says:
The promises attaching. . .to the so-called “Beatitudes” must not be regarded as the reward of the states with which they are respectively connected, nor yet as their result. It is not because a man is poor in spirit that his is the Kingdom of Heaven . . . The connecting link is in each case Christ Himself: because He . . . , “has opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all. . . .”
Jesus is saying, in effect, “You know what? You guys think happiness comes from being rich, and powerful, and self-assertive, and hedonistic;
I’m telling you, true happiness--
the happiness I value,
happens when the Kingdom of God comes upon:
the spiritually bankrupt,
those who mourn,
the meek,
the merciful...
He’s saying, yeah, I value happiness, but it doesn’t depend on bein’ rich, or beautiful, or assertive--
true happiness is available to everybody!
He’s saying, “that’s the kind of happiness I value!”
What a GREAT intro to his value statement!
He’s saying, in effect, “brace yourself, folks, cuz I’m about to show you a set of values that are NOTHIN’ like the world’s values!”
And so he does! Notice verses 13-16, where we see:
KINGDOM VALUE #2 - AN OUTWARD FOCUS
Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” (in v. 13) and “You are the light of the world” (in v. 14).
His words in verses 13-16 make it clear that
he values an outward focus.
“Let your light shine before men,” he says, “that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NIV).
You see, at various times in their history, the Jews- the people God chose to be a “light to the Gentiles”--chose instead to become a cloistered little community, a little Amish-like enclave, afraid that the world’s darkness might put out their light.
But Jesus is saying, “Nuh uh!” He’s saying, “I value an outward focus. Get the light out into darkness, dudes!”
In verses 17-20, he introduces another value, one which is summarized in verse 20, and that is . . .
KINGDOM VALUE #3 - RADICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS
In verse 20, Jesus says:
“I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 17:20, NIV).
BUT--and this is important to grasp--he’s not introducing a NEW LEGALISM here; he’s saying that the KIND of radical righteousness HE values is qualitatively different from the sanctimonious legalism of the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day.
Using example after example,
Jesus amplifies what he’s talking about,
showing first that he values righteousness that:
1. Is inward vs. (only) outward
In verses 21-30, he says, in effect, “I’m talking about a righteousness that doesn’t just say ‘do not murder,’ and ‘do not commit adultery,’ but one that goes to the sources of those sins--the anger and lust that are also sinful.”
Next, he says, I value righteousness that:
2. Captures the spirit vs. merely the letter of the law
In verses 31-37, his examples address two commands that had been grossly abused, one regarding divorce and the other regarding oath-making. And he points out that even if you’re following those laws, if you’re undermining divine standards for marriage or honesty, you’re not pursuing the kind of righteousness he values.
And then, in verses 38-48, he says, in effect, I value righteousness that:
3. Exceeds the demands of the law
The law God gave to Moses didn’t require turning the other cheek
or giving your tunic away,
or going the extra mile,
and it sure didn’t require loving enemies!
But Jesus says, “I value righteousness that exceeds the demands of the law!”
He even goes so far as to say, in verse 48,
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48, NIV).
But not only does Jesus’ value statement reveal that he values true happiness,
an outward focus,
and radical righteousness,
if you’ll look at chapter 6, from vss 1-18, you’ll see:
KINGDOM VALUE #4 - SINCERE WORSHIP
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus addresses the issues of giving to the needy,
prayer, and
fasting,
and he says, basically, I value sincere worship;
but be careful not to misunderstand his words here.
Jesus is not saying that only private worship is acceptable. We must remember as we look at these verses what he said in chapter 5 about being the light of the world and a city on a hill. . . . He’s not suggesting that we need to keep our Christian testimony or our religious convictions under wraps; not at all.
He is saying, however, “don’t show off, don’t parade your piety and spirituality in front of other people; instead, let your spiritual worship--
your giving,
your praying,
your fasting--
let it be done to please God, and not to gain the notice or admiration of anyone else.”
Are you still with me? I hope so, because I want to point you to the remainder of chapter six and the first 12 verses of chapter seven and suggest that there Jesus is saying, “I value. . .”
KINGDOM VALUE #5 - THOROUGH TRUST
He says,
in verse 19, “Don’t store up treasure on earth,”
in verse 25, “Don’t worry,”
and in chapter 7, verse 1, “Don’t judge,”
each of which pertains to things we can confidently leave to God.
Jesus is saying, in effect, “I value a heart that trusts me so completely that it doesn’t worry about wealth, or clothes, or food, or even whether so and-so ought to be doing such-and-such differently.”
He says, in chapter 7 verse 7, just:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7, NIV).
I think he’s saying, “I value that kind of trust.”
But allow me to point out just one more kingdom value, and then I want to take just a few minutes to discuss our values here at Cobblestone, and your personal and family values.
Look with me at Matthew 7:15-27, where we see:
KINGDOM VALUE #6 - FAITHFUL FOLLOW THROUGH
In the final point of his great statement of core values, Jesus talks about false prophets, saying “by their fruit you will recognize them,” and then he points out that:
“Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21, NIV).
In other words, “the proof is in the pudding.”
Jesus is saying, “I value not only
true happiness,
an outward focus,
radical righteousness,
sincere worship, and
thorough trust,
but I also value
faithful follow-through.”
Those are the core values of Jesus Christ
and the kingdom of God . . .
And just as he was careful and intentional
about communicating his core values,
we want to do the same here at
Cobblestone Community Church,
and I promise to do it as briefly as possible,
because I don’t wanna make Jordan Saas late for his beauty nap.
So. . . what are the core values that the leadership of Cobblestone Community Church has identified, those values that we believe God has placed in our hearts and helped us to identify?
We’ll put them in the form of an acrostic. They are:
Character & Integrity
1 Chronicles 29:17 says,
I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity (1 Chronicles 29:17, NIV).
We at Cobblestone Community Church value character and integrity in our teaching, in our leadership, in our finances, in our relationships. Next,
Outward Focus
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28, NIV)
we at Cobblestone value an outward focus. Thirdly, we value . . .
Biblical, Culturally-Relevant Teaching
It may not be a sin to bore people with the Bible, but we have no desire to take that chance. We believe wholeheartedly that
The word of God is living and active, [sharp and penetrating] (Hebrews 4:12, NIV),
and we highly value the accurate and effective teaching of the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Next, we value . . .
Broad & Deep Relationships
“Love the brotherhood of believers” (1 Peter 2:17, NIV)
1 Peter 2:17 says. We value relationships that are broad--and that does not refer to my waistline--but rather to our intention to make possible a broad range of relationships, not just gathering in huddles here and there, but it’s our goal for the whole body to rub shoulders often, students and families, kids and adults, singles and marrieds, cats and dogs--just checking to see if you’re still awake.
But we also value deep relationships, and for that reason we plan an emphasis on finding support, accountability, and intimacy in small groups.
Next, we value . . .
Loving Leadership
the kind of leadership Paul the Apostle referred to when he told the Corinthian church,
I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good (2 Corinthians 12:15, NLT).
Next, we value . . .
Edifying Worship
We have no loyalties, traditions, or agendas in worship other than to do what Hebrews 12:28 says, and that is to
worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28, NIV).
Next, we value . . .
Sincere Encouragement
We want a spirit of grace and encouragement to characterize the way we lead, the way we follow, the way we relate to one another in this church, as the Bible says,
encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV).
We’re coming down the home stretch now, as we turn to . . .
Trusting Prayer
God’s Word, the Bible, says:
Devote yourselves to prayer (Colossians 4:2, NIV).
We want to do that, not because we believe in the quantity or quality of our prayers but because we believe in the power and grace of our God.
Next, we value . . .
Open, Warm Fellowship
We believe Jesus meant it when he said,
whatever you [do] for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you [do] for me (Matthew 25:40, NIV).
So we want to make a special effort to make our fellowship warm and welcoming to everyone, and especially to those who might never have entered a Christian church before.
Next, we value . . .
New and Innovative Methods
In the spirit of Paul the Apostle, who said,
I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22, NIV),
we’re willing to try “all possible means”--new OR old--to love men, women, and children into life changing encounters with God.
And FINALLY, we value . . .
Evaluation and Effectiveness
1 Thessalonians 5:21 says,
Test everything. Hold on to the good (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NIV).
We value constructive criticism and regular evaluation, because that will help us to “hold on to the good” & not waste our time and effort on methods, programs, & activities that don’t work.
Now, let me just take another minute or two to say two things to you:
1. If those values don’t match up with the values YOU hold dear, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you--or with us! It may mean this isn’t necessarily the church for you, the place where God wants you to focus your energies . . . THESE are the things that matter to the leaders of this fledgling church, but whether you share those values or not, WE STILL LOVE YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY and we’ll serve ya pizza in just a few minutes just to prove it to ya!
2. If these values DO grip your heart and soul, then I invite you to consider joining our efforts to launch a new and distinctive church in Oxford next Palm Sunday, April 8, 2001. I believe God is bringing together a group of likeminded people to link arms for his glory!
3. I want to ask you to take the final moments of this time together to search your heart, and honestly consider this question:
What are the things that really matter to you?
What are YOUR core values?
And does your life reflect those values?
If the answer to that last question is yes,
then I want to say to you,
“Cool! That’s something to be really thankful for.”
But if the answer is no,
then what needs to change--
your values? . . . or your life?
Either way, God is here
to help you with that this morning,
and I invite you to call out to him
in the final moments of our time together . . .
and in the moments following worship,
if you’d like someone to talk to or to pray with you,
a few counselors will be waiting right here
wearing a name tag like this one;
you can just come up and shake our hand,
and we’ll take it from there.
BENEDICTION
MENTION APPLICATION CARDS
