HAPPY THE PEOPLE....
Matthew 5:1-12 - February 1, 2004
MATTHEW 5:1-12
51Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying: 3"Blessed (HAPPY) are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed (HAPPY) are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed (HAPPY) are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed (HAPPY) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed (HAPPY) are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed (HAPPY) are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed (HAPPY) are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10Blessed (HAPPY) are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed (HAPPY) are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Dearest Christian Friends:
What makes you happy? We could easily think of three things that make us happy, and then again we might think of many more things that make us happy. We may think of things that make us happy in this life. Today, the Lord reminds us as believers you and I are happy simply as we sang in our Psalm, "Happy the people the Lord has chosen." We are happy because God has worked faith in our hearts so that we can see in Him our Savior from sin. We are happy no matter what happens in this life, because the Lord is on our side. First and foremost, we are happy because the Lord has chosen us.
In 1 Peter, which we are looking at on Wednesday evenings, we came to chapter 2:9 which describes the happiness of believers because of the titles that the Lord gives them. He says: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light"(1 PETER 2:9). This Epiphany season we look at the Light of the world, and we realize that we sit in the light of knowledge of salvation. We sit in the light of the Savior of the world, because God has chosen us. Happy the people the Lord has chosen.
Today, we learn in these verses that HAPPY THE PEOPLE
I. who seek Jesus’ salvation
II. who imitate Jesus’ life
III. who suffer for Jesus’ sake
I. Happy the people who seek Jesus’ salvation
Matthew, chapter 5 begins the Sermon on the Mount. It continues through chapter 6 and chapter 7. 51Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Jesus was at the high point of His ministry, because the crowds were still coming to Him to hear the message that He had to preach. The crowds came to hear and His disciples had been chosen. The disciples were also there to hear and learn. We are told: His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying. Then we have these eight blessings. The NIV uses "Blessed are they." The original really says, "happy." Of course, if we are happy and as the people are happy, that means a blessing from God.
Jesus begins teaching happy are those who seek out Jesus’ salvation. Already the crowd was there. Already the disciples came to see. As Jesus sat on the mountain, He would teach and preach to them these words: 3"Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When He talks about the poor in spirit, He doesn’t mean poor in faith. But He means poor in spirit as the world considers people. You may remember the parable that Jesus told about the rich man and poor Lazarus. Lazarus was poor according to the world. He lay outside of the temple letting the dogs lick his sores. Yet, when his life came to an end, Lazarus went to heaven. The rich man did not.
Jesus adds: 3"Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. You may remember Mary and Martha and Lazarus, Jesus’ friends. Mary and Martha were not exactly happy that Jesus did not show up in time before Lazarus had died. Even when Jesus came, He wept. Yet, they were comforted, because Jesus reminded them that He was the Resurrection and the Life. Happy the people who mourn, because they are comforted with the message of salvation.
Then Jesus continues: 5Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Jesus speaks to these crowds here. You may remember when He spoke to the crowd of 5,000 and the crowd of the 4,000, they were on the mountain again. There was no food, and the Lord fed them. The people were happy, because they were filled. They were satisfied. Now the Lord Jesus reminds there is more to Him than just being a bread-king. Jesus says people are truly blessed when they seek out God’s righteousness. They will be filled and satisfied.
You and I look at many different things in this life that we might be satisfied and content. Sometimes, we find that the things we are so excited about that we think will make us satisfied do not satisfy. They simply don’t last. It is a difficult world in which we live, because the world tells us that we can be content and satisfied if only we had the best of everything. We can only be content and satisfied if we could keep up with everyone else in this world with the symbols of prestige. Yet, the Lord reminds us how we can be truly filled. We are truly happy and blessed when we seek out God’s salvation. He says: "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare"(ISAIAH 55:2). Isaiah spoke to God’s people as they too were looking for bread and food and clothing. Isaiah reminded them that there is more.
There is God’s Word. It is the richest of fare. Only in God’s Word are you and I told that our sins are forgiven. Only in God’s Word and in the Sacrament that we celebrate this morning are we given free forgiveness. It doesn’t cost us a thing. Oh, true, we have to believe in God’ forgiveness. But we believe because God has made us believe--by His grace. Yet, we know how difficult it is to be sometimes content and happy and satisfied in this life. Again, the world tells us we can’t be, because there is always something bigger and better, newer and improved, for us to buy or to strive after.
Today, our Savior reminds us to let the rest of the world go in that direction. Let the rest of the world seek out that which is newer and better and improved. Jesus says the world is always going to do those things anyway. We need to struggle to realize to not let that influence affect us.
In Luke the Lord told His disciples about the pagans who are busy with occupying themselves with food and clothing. He says: "For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well"(LUKE 12:30,31). You and I and every believer are filled and satisfied and content when we look to God and seek His salvation.
Happy the people who seek Jesus’ salvation. Happy the people who imitate Jesus’ life.
II. Happy the people who imitate Jesus’ life.
In the middle of these verses, in verses 7, 8 and 9 Jesus doesn’t get before the crowd and say, "Here is what I am going to do." Jesus doesn’t say to them, "You should follow my example." Jesus doesn’t say that with words, but as He talks about the next things that make people happy and blessed, they are going to see them in the life of Jesus, aren’t they? We see them in verse 7: 7Happy are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. What better place to learn mercy than from Jesus as He was nailed to the cross and did not retaliate. He did not shout out words of revenge or anger. But as they raised the cross, Jesus said: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." The epitome of mercy! Happy are the people who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Jesus goes on: 8Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God. You and I know and the people got to see it as Jesus walked and talked about on the earth that He was the purest in heart. In our Gospel lesson (LUKE 4:20-32) Jesus told them, "Today, the Scripture is fulfilled." The people marveled and were amazed even though they wondered: "He still is Joseph’s son, isn’t He?" By the end of that account, they sought to put Him to death. Yet, they could not deny the purity of Jesus’ heart.
In verse 9: 9Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. We think of Jesus who didn’t come to bring an earthly peace, did He? The fact is Jesus said He came to bring a sword that would divide households, mother and daughter and father and son because of the truth. The peace that Jesus brought was the peace that the world overlooks. It is the peace that the world sometimes forgets. This peace is the peace of forgiveness and understanding and appreciating God’s forgiveness. Jesus says then we are called sons of God.
Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Again, we look to Jesus’ example for our example. Jesus sets a very high standard for us, doesn’t He? Jesus never did sin. He never sinned once in thought, word, or deed. Jesus reminds us to follow that example to realize God’s forgiveness and to imitate Him. In Colossians Paul writes these words: "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you"(COLOSSIANS 3:13). How did the Lord forgive us? God didn’t come and ask us if we needed to be forgiven. God didn’t come and ask us if we wanted to be forgiven. God didn’t ask us to pay for forgiveness. Jesus did not come to ask us anything but Jesus came to forgive us. Jesus says to us as those who follow in His footsteps and want to imitate His life, we would also be so unconditionally forgiving. We don’t necessarily have to wait for someone to come and apologize. Jesus didn’t. He was forgiving to Pontius Pilate, to Judas, to the guards who nailed Him to the cross though they did not receive the benefits of that forgiveness. So He is with us. So we are to be with others. Again, it is a high standard, but it is worth the effort.
Forgiveness is a high standard because this world has such low standards. What does our world look at? Our world and the society in which we live likes to look out for itself. The world and the society in which we live likes to walk all over people, so they might get ahead. The world and the society in which we live likes to make sure that everyone else is left behind in the dust. The Lord says to us to imitate Jesus’ life. We are reminded to put others first before ourselves rather than--"me first." Paul writes in Philippians: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves"(PHILIPPIANS 2:3). Jesus says look to the interest of your neighbor; and of course, everyone is our neighbor.
Jesus says, "Happy are the people who imitate Jesus’ life. As we come to the end of this section, Jesus says happy are the people who suffer for Jesus’ sake.
III. Happy the people who suffer for Jesus’ sake.
Remember that Jesus was on the mountainside and was going to preach this long sermon, three chapters long in Matthew. The crowds were there to listen and learn. The disciples were there to listen and learn, and Jesus was beginning to prepare them for what they would face for standing up for the Gospel. 10Happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The disciples had given up lucrative businesses. They were fisherman, tax collectors, and various other occupations. Jesus did not promise them a life of ease. In fact they would be persecuted because of the truth. They would think of John the Baptist who preached repentance. But where did he end up? John ended up in prison and was beheaded.
This persecution is so important that Jesus mentions it twice. He says: 11"Happy are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. It doesn’t sound too pleasant on the road ahead for the disciples. It doesn’t sound too pleasant, because they would face persecution. People would lie about them and falsely accuse them. Jesus says they would still be happy or blessed.
In fact He says: 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. Here Jesus was trying to get the focus of the disciples and the crowd in the correct direction. Why were they to be happy? Why would they be blessed? Not because of all the earthliness that surrounded them, but because of their reward that was yet to come in heaven. Even if they were to be falsely accused, even if they were to be mistreated, even if they were to be persecuted or some of the disciples put to death, they would still end up in heaven.
After all, Jesus reminds them, Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Jesus says nothing has changed over the years. Jeremiah and Isaiah, two of the greatest prophets, were very often mistreated and disliked by the people, because they did not want to hear the message. They did not want to hear God’s pronouncement of judgment on them even though it was the truth.
In our Sunday morning Bible Study(ACTS) we have been looking at Paul on his missionary journey. We have learned that time after time and city after city he was always kicked out because of preaching the Gospel. In his first journey after being in one of the small towns and preaching, they dragged him out, stoned him and left him for dead. Does Paul give up? No, he realizes that he is happy and blessed; because he suffered for the sake of the Gospel. Does he go home? No, he goes back to revisit the churches that he had started. We are told what he and the other disciples do in Acts 14: "Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said"(ACTS 14:22). Left for dead; and yet, he says that is a part of persecution that strengthens and encourages.
Sometimes we face tribulation. Sometimes we face trials. Sometimes we face temptations. Probably, we are not going to be stoned and left for dead, but that does not make them seem any less than what Paul faced. Today, the Lord reminds us: "Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven." Paul writes in Romans 8: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"(ROMANS 8:18). He says this life, these temptations, this persecution--what awaits us? It is the glory of God!
Happy are the people the Lord has chosen to be His own. Don’t forget that. Sometimes we might feel alone or off by ourselves. Sometimes we might feel forgotten and forsaken or forlorn. The Lord wants us to remember that refrain: Happy are the people the Lord has chosen to be His own. As Jesus points out at the beginning of this sermon, we learn: happy the people who seek out God’s salvation. Happy the people who imitate Jesus’ life. Yes, even happy the people who suffer for Jesus’ sake, because great is the reward in heaven. The only place where we are going to find all this happiness is in God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah says: "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty" (JEREMIAH 16:15). Happy are the people who are called Christians who bear the name, the Lord Almighty for they are chosen by God to be his own! Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
