Pastor
Dan Eddy
Matthew
5 1-12
Living
the very happy life
Part
1 – Obtaining Riches
2-6-11
I.
Introduction
– Happy person – Grandma Eddy
I
want you to think of someone that you know or knew in your life that truly
lived a happy life in Christ.
For
me, it was my Grandma Eddy. She was a happy person, despite the fact her mother
died giving birth to her. She lived the happy life in Christ despite losing her
16-year-old daughter to pneumonia. She lived the happy life despite her and her
husband’s dairy going belly up. She was happy despite having a stroke at age
82, losing her husband of over 60 years at age 83. She died a happy person at
age 90, with not so much as a penny to her name.
What
riches had she obtained in her life to allow her to live a happy life in Christ…despite
all this sadness?
In
this morning’s Gospel reading, Jesus paints a picture of living the very happy
life in Him. You were given the happy life to live, like Lily did this morning,
on the day you were baptized.
II.
True
understanding of blessings
You
are probably saying “I didn’t see the
word ‘happy’ once in this reading.” Technically you are right. But in the
original Greek text, the word translated as “blessed,” μακάριος, also means happy.
Blessed or true happiness is a state of well-being in
relationship to God that belongs to those who respond to Jesus' ministry.
These
blessings or states of happiness are not wishes, vague platitudes, but states
of being…promises from God delivered to those who believe in Jesus Christ as
their Lord and Savior.
So
replacing “blessed” with “happy” in this text will open windows
of opportunities to enjoy living with your Savior in the Kingdom of His Church.
III.
Background
of text
By
the way, most of the audience originally listening to Jesus’ Sermon on the
Mount lived in a miserable, oppressive, poor, hopeless society. They were
people rejected by their religious faith community of Pharisees and Sadducees,
and overtaxed and enslaved by the political power of the
Please
put out your Introduction to Happiness
Sheet. Notice these happy traits are
not based on pleasure, wealth, material possessions, or what you or I think is
happiness, but is based on an objective standard from God.
I’ve
described these states of happiness as “Riches
Obtained.” And note that Jesus not only describe 8 different conditions of
happiness but emphatically states the certain benefits you can expect in these
states of happiness. The benefits for the blessings or happiness either happen
now and/or in the future here in this life, with the ultimate happiness and its
fulfillment in the life to come.
So
let’s go through what Jesus describes as a happy people.
IV.
Happy people
are….8 traits…state of condition with promised expectation (vv3-10)
Verse 3: Happy people are…
1. Poor in spirit. In other words, humble.
They recognize their continual sinfulness. They seek the Lord’s help constantly.
They value Heaven over Earth. The life to come is more important than the life
today. At yet ironically, they treasure life more now than most people, because
of the life to come. It’s an inward attitude. It’s the way they look at sin.
Confession of sin is a frequent occurrence in their life, and so is receiving
Christ’s continual forgiveness offers that state of happiness. That why theirs
is the
Verse 4:
Happy people are…
2. Mourners. People who weep and cry over
loses in life…friends, family, and the loss of money, material items…changes in
jobs, homes, our nation, and world. These mourners release their sorrows by
lifting them up to the Lord. They face their grief. They are not in denial
about it, by avoiding it through self-medication or narcissistic behaviors.
They don’t avoid funerals, take their kids to them, but treasure them because
they weep in hope, knowing that there’s good to life today, but the best is yet
to come. That’s why mourners will be comforted. That consolation brings more
longing for the Lord’s healing in body, mind, and spirit.
2 Corinthians 7:10
ESV: “For godly
grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly
grief produces death.”
Some of the greatest comfort in life for me have
come at funerals, either ones I have preached or attended. And believe me over
the past 3 years, in my life there has been much grieving, but also much
consolation.
Verse 5:
Happy people are…
3. Meek: Not weak. They are
gentle and not arrogant. While the first two happy traits are internal. This
one is external. It’s how you look to other people. It’s one way to show your
happiness. Meek people are patient. Quick to listen. Slow to speak. They do not
assert themselves over others to further their own agenda.
Now the benefit Jesus promises seems
a bit strange. “They will inherit the
Earth.” What does that mean? Well, in the Old Testament, God promised the
Israelites that if they followed His commandments and teachings they would be
blessed with plenty of food, drink, shelter, and material items. He didn’t
promise a specific amount for specific actions, but it’s amazing how when the
Israelites followed God’s commands how well off they were, and when they
disobeyed, turning their meekness into weakness (aka. arrogance), how He took
blessings away from them.
When we have been meek as a country
that trusts in Christ look at how much he has blessed us as a nation.
Ultimately, inheriting the Earth is
a future promise as the next life will be on the Earth but re-created at the
End to be the perfect paradise, much like Adam and Eve enjoyed before their
fall into sin.
Verse 6:
Happy people are…
4. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness. In other
words, they seek out what’s in God’s Word so they can think, speak, and do
God’s will.
When we
hunger and thirst we seek nourishment for our bodies because they need it. And
certain foods and drinks bring us satisfaction…so it is for those hungering and
thirsting for the ultimate in righteousness…Christ Jesus.
Good diets bring satisfaction to our
bodies and minds when we eat and drink the right things. That’s when we walk
away from the table satisfied. But how many times have we consumed a whole bag
of potato chips and walked away unsatisfied? So that’s the difference between hungering and
thirsting after the world’s morality versus Jesus’ righteousness.
Our hungering and thirsting for God
begins again at His Supper as we dine on His true body and blood.
It’s amazing how we then can walk
away satisfied in the Lord.
Verse 7;
Happy people are….
5. Merciful. Mercy is not getting something you
deserve. When you speed, you deserve a ticket. When you yell at someone, you
deserved to get yelled back at. When you ignore a loved one, you deserved to be
ignored.
But when you act in a merciful way,
if someone hurts you by what they have said or done and you don’t respond in
kind…you are being merciful.
You are forgiving someone else even
if they didn’t ask for it or don’t necessarily deserve it.
You are extending undeserved
forgiveness, because Jesus has given you His undeserved forgiveness. We
deserved death in Hell because of our sins.
Extending forgiveness to others has
less to do with them and more to do with your spiritual well being. That’s
where the happiness is appreciated…knowing that God has extended His mercy to
you, so you can joyfully pass it onto others.
Verse 8:
Happy people are…
6. Pure in heart. Not necessarily perfect. It
is only by the blood of Christ Jesus that we are considered perfect in God the
Father’s eyes. No, here the Greek word translated as “pure,” καθαρός, also means
pruned, as in pruning a branch. Pruning a branch is done to bring about a
bigger, healthier, more fruitful plant.
In other words, you become pure in
heart when you’re faith is tested through a family conflict, personal health
problem, financial difficulty. As your faith is tested, and you pray more, and
meditate on God’s Word more…you get the promised benefit…you see God more
vividly in more and more moments of the day. And that feeds you mercy, appetite
for righteousness, and meekness.
Verse 9:
Happy people are…
7. Peacemakers. They see conflicts as
opportunities for reconciliation, strengthening others’ faith, or bringing
unbelievers into the faith. They become
the mediators to bring peace to work, at home, in the congregation, knowing that
when this happens…people know they are Son of God. And life is a lot more happy
when people can live peacefully with each other.
Peacemakers express that joy of
being forgiven; proclaim forgiveness, and teaching others to do the same. Oh, what
happiness that can bring to our world.
Last one…Verse
10: Happy people are…
8. Those who are persecuted. This seems
very strange that those who have been wrongly treated because of their faith in
Christ can somehow find happiness in people treating them badly. But I guess
this is more of an attitude that “stick
and stone may break my bones, but God will never hurt me.” There’s a level of happiness and contentment
in this believer’s life that ultimate persecution brings its own ultimate
reward in the afterlife.
V.
You are
invited into this happiness
And
did you notice that the first 8 blessings or traits of happiness were spoken of
by Jesus in the third person while verses 11 and 12 use the word “you?”
In
verses 11-12, Jesus is inviting you, the listener, to partake of these
blessings by painting the greatest irony. That the worse things get in this
life, the more He wants you to keep rejoicing and to keep being glad…because
not only will you be going to Heaven, but the implication is your reward their
will be great. Heaven, by itself, is its own reward. But, I have no idea what a
great reward in Heaven is…but with God you know it’s got to be good.
And
that should bring a smile to your face today…because the person who lived the
ideal happiness faced the ultimate sadness when He was nailed to pieces of wood
and suffered miserably for you and me. And yet because He did…you will never
have to face that ultimate sadness….everlasting death in Hell. And He rose from
the dead in the flesh to give you the ultimate happiness. Jesus lived all these
riches, these traits of happiness, perfectly.
And the
Lord does not want a disconnect between the life today and the life to come. He
wants you to be happy. Otherwise, salvation could appear shallow to us.
See
these obtained riches as the Lord guiding you to take these seeds of happiness
and plant them so you can reap the promised benefits.
Think
of it like you’re in a football game. I hear there’s a big football game on
today. I want you to think of the way you play offense as the riches obtain,
the traits of happiness. Pretend like you are playing on the Green Bay Packers
offense. They didn’t get rattled in their game against the Atlanta Falcons when
they ran the ball back 102 yards for a touchdown. No, they came right back with
a sustained drive. Two yards here. Three yards there. Five yards over there,
and, boom, first down. They kept that happy attitude on their sustained
offensive drive…heading for the goal line…those touchdown moment, the benefit
expected. Have the Lord help you strive for those touchdown moments. The Lambeau
leaps as we, Packer fans, know them.
And
know that along way…there will be penalties, injuries, interceptions, as Satan
plays defense, but, keep asking Jesus to help you experience this happiness…those
touchdown moments, knowing you have already won the Superbowl trophy.
Remember
where you’ve been so that you can see how far Christ has brought you. I have
been taking picture of all this snow I’ve been shoveling so in July I can sit
along the beaches in Scituate, call up the pictures on my iPhone, and laugh at
all that snow, because it will be gone.
So
today…take your baptismal faith…plants the seeds it gives by living the blessed
or happy life in Christ and experience more the promised benefits of being one
of God’s precious children. Amen.