Quick Sermons for Permanent Fixes Lesson 1
Fix your Attitude
Matthew 5:1-12
Who is the real you? How do you know? Ever heard someone say, “I just don’t feel like myself today?” Ever said it yourself? How did you know?
William James: “I have often thought that the best way to define man’s character would be to seek out the particular moral or mental attitude in which, when it came upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: This is the real me!”
Jesus addresses our attitudes in His sermon on the Mount. If you have a Bible, turn to Matthew 5. How do we define someone who is blessed? Good looks? Money? Lots of time? Nice house or car? Lucky in all they do? The world says that blessings are found in stuff that happens outside of us – stuff we can’t control. Here Jesus teaches that the path to blessedness or being fortunate is the opposite of the world’s path to fortune.
This morning we start a series on the Sermon on the Mount. I will feel free to leave it occasionally, but generally we are going to move through these three chapters of Matthew. Jesus talks about what it takes to be His disciple and He says that we have to fix some things in our lives if we want to follow Him. It doesn’t mean you must be perfect to be his disciple, it means this is what you work on when you are his disciple.
We are all familiar with quick fixes. They are temporary and don’t usually work for long if at all. My wife tells the story about the time she and her sister found some Oreos left out on the counter and ended up needing a quick fix. It seems that some Oreos were left out and they decided to eat them. Knowing they would get in trouble for eating them, the girls decided to just lick the cream out of the middles of all the cookies, which they did. But then, they realized that leaving the flat cookies would still get them caught. What could they do? Then one of them had the perfect quick fix – mayonnaise. Hey, it looked like cream and soon the cookies were restored to their original splendor. Knowing that leaving mayonnaise out could make someone sick, they carefully placed the Oreos in the refrigerator and were shocked when their scheme was discovered later.
Unfortunately, the girls had a problem and tried to fix it with a quick fix. Often times in our own lives we try to cover our mistakes with a quick fix. Jesus says that we need to look for permanent fixes to our lives, not quick ones. I call these sermons Quick Sermons for Permanent Fixes. It will only take me about 20 minutes to preach these, but it will take you 20 years to put them into practice in your lives. This morning I want us to look at what Jesus says about attitudes. If we are going to be his disciple, we must fix our attitudes.
Matt 5:1-12
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn ,For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
When Jesus says that these people are blessed – your Bible may say happy – he means that they are fortunate. They are to be envied. It’s not that they are bubbly people all the time, but they are people that we would like to act like, to know. They are role models. And which of us wouldn’t like to get our attitudes under control?!
I promised this sermon would be quick, so let’s look quickly at the attitudes Jesus describes for us and see how we can fix our own attitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Poor in Spirit is not a phrase we use often anymore. It is the opposite of self sufficiency. To be poor in spirit is to admit that we are on the receiving end of God’s welfare program. We must acknowledge our spiritual poverty – that is indispensable for the kingdom of heaven. It is not something that we earn but a gracious gift of God. Only those who acknowledge their own spiritual poverty can realize God’s wealth. So – how much do you depend on God? How “good” are you? The first step in fixing our attitude is to realize that we can’t do it alone. When we realize that, we are ready to move on to step 2:
Blessed are those who mourn ,For they shall be comforted. To fully understand the contrast in this verse it could be translated happy are the unhappy. It does not refer to people who have lost someone they love, but rather those who realize their own sinfulness and it makes them weep. They mourn their loss of innocence, righteousness and self respect. When was the last time your heart broke because of your own sin? When was the last time you cried as you confessed to God? When was the last time you confessed to God? The promise is one of comfort and we are reminded that Jesus promised to send a comforter. When we mourn over our sins, we are comforted by the grace and forgiveness of God.
Alexander the Great had a portrait made and in it he placed his finger over an unsightly scar. Jesus tells us that we cannot hide our scars. But when we have the courage to examine them, we are ready to move on to the next attitude.
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Meekness is the same word as humility. When you are aware of your sin and truly distressed by your sin, there is no place for pride. Meekness means that you take a true view of yourself. It is not too high a view because you know that you are sinful and imperfect. It is not too low because you know that you are loved and forgiven by God. Being meek does not mean being a doormat. It means that you take a good, honest look in your spiritual mirror. As one more modern paraphrase says, “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are – no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” The promise is that the meek will receive the high places that they would never claim for themselves. God will exalt the humble the Old Testament says. So how are you doing at putting others first? Are you too proud? Are you happy with who you are? Work on meekness.
Once you have begun to work on meekness, you are ready to turn the corner. Now Jesus says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
For these people their one desire is to live rightly before God. Now you come to real question. How badly do you want to live righteously. Look at your life. What changes would you have to make to live righteously? How badly do you want it? David says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.” (Ps. 42:1). Do you long for God that way? Temptation is strong, make no mistake and you have to want to defeat it. But lust is not so tempting when you’re starving. Pride is not much trouble when you’re dying of thirst. How badly do you want to live rightly before the Lord? Notice that the promise is that you will be filled. But according to your hunger you will be filled. When you are tempted to sacrifice your righteousness, stop and pray. God has promised to help you. When you are tempted, pray something like this, “Lord, you’ve promised to comfort me. You promised that your Spirit would comfort me. I desperately need to be comforted now. I do not want to sin, I want to be righteous.” See if God doesn’t answer your prayer within 3 minutes. It’s the three minute temptation buster. Pray that prayer and see if God doesn’t bring you comfort and relief from the temptation within 3 minutes.
As you cultivate a hunger and thirst for righteousness, it will show itself in your actions. That’s why the next thing Jesus says is, Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. As we become more and more like God, we have to change the way we treat other people. Are you merciful or just? It is an interesting thing, but as you become more and more like Jesus, it will finally happen that you will find yourself in the position of being right. Somehow, someone will be wrong and they will have wronged you. Now what are you going to do about it? Someone has said that Forgiveness is surrendering my right to hurt you for hurting me. How you act when you are right shows your character. Do you extend forgiveness or let them squirm just a little? Do you immediately seek to reconcile the relationship, or do you revel in the power of being right a while? Notice the promise – we receive mercy as we show mercy. God is always in the position of being right with us and he will treat us with the same measure we use with others.
Next Jesus says, Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. We sang the song, Purer in Heart, O God. That song scares me to death to sing. Read the words of it and it will scare you, too. The purity of heart to which Jesus refers certainly involves having a heart that is completely devoted to Jesus, but in the context it deals more exclusively with our relationships to other people. We are pure to one another. There is no duplicity or hypocrisy. The person we are at church is the person we are at home and at work or school. We are transparent. Only the pure in heart will see God because on judgement day He will judge our hearts. So, how pure is your heart? Do you feel like there are two yous? Do you have a secret life? Are you afraid to let people here see the real you? Would your kids say that you are the same person at church and at home? How pure is your heart?
Jesus then shows us how our actions can ultimately make us like God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. God is the supreme peacemakers and these people are known as His children. This is not someone who is willing to settle for peace at any cost – that’s a peacekeeper – but someone who creates an atmosphere of peace. They literally make peace. They spread God’s true peace to those around. What effect do you have on people? Are you an arguer? Do you stir people up or calm them down? It’s all a matter of your focus and your attitude.
The last beatitude is Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is not an attitude as much as it is a result of a new kingdom attitude. When we are like Christ, we can expect to be treated like He was. How much persecution do you face for your religious beliefs? Do you face any at all? Those who hold onto to righteousness in the face of persecution are ready for the kingdom.
Well, how are your attitudes? If you will work on adopting these, you will be blessed indeed. Perhaps this morning you have become aware of the sin in your life and your need for God. Let me tell you that He promises to comfort those who obey his commands. His command to be saved is to repent and be baptized. Perhaps you’ve made that commitment, but you realize that your heart is not pure – you have dealt wrongly with your brothers and sisters. Whatever your heart problem, quit trying to put a quick fix on your life and get a permanent one.
