Kingdom People
Sermon
Building Character
With God's Laws And Declarations
Years ago when Richard Shepard, pastor of St. Martin's Church in downtown London, died, the congregation lost a great pastor. It was said he had restored life and joy in the congregation. A newspaper showed a picture of the pulpit of that church. The Bible was lying open. Underneath the picture were these words: "Here endeth the first lesson."
That's the way the beatitudes of Our Lord strike me. They are the first lesson in Christian living. It would have been better if they had nailed such words atop the cross of Christ instead of labeling him "King of the Jews." Jesus is king in the art of spelling out in short sentences the summary of Christian character. They are the introduction to the greatest sermon ever preached, recorded in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew.
These words were spoken from a sitting position. While in seminary one of our students was severely injured in an automobile accident, thereafter confined to a wheelchair. We took turns carrying him around, as necessity demanded. There were no ramps for wheelchairs in those days! He preached from a wheelchair. From that sitting position he commanded attention and respect. His "senior sermon," as we were required to do, preached before fellow students and faculty, was a highlight of my seminary days.
Jesus preached or taught --Êboth have the same impact -- from a sitting position. It wasn't because he could not stand. He was following a rabbinical custom. When a rabbi spoke from a sitting position, he was speaking as an authentic spokesperson for God. The professor's "chair" is derived from this background.
Matthew wrote about this event in Jesus' ministry in descriptive detail. When he says Jesus "... began to speak," his point is this: Jesus spoke with courage. He did not shrink from what needed to be said. In the Psalms we read of the "poor," the characterization of the true people of God, "... those who know their lives are not in their own control and that they are dependent on God. 'Poor in spirit' makes this explicit" (The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume VIII, p. 178, by M. Eugene Boring).
For many years I gave Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from memory as the sermon of the day. It usually takes 22 minutes to preach. I can testify to the fact that hearers squirm when they hear Jesus' words articulated. For example, when Jesus said, "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, while the log is in your own eye?' You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye" (Matthew 7:3-5).
Any preacher using the language Jesus used might not be crucified but could be criticized, if not chastised! I remember a lady in my first parish saying to me, "I didn't like it when you looked right at me and raised your right eyebrow." (I probably did raise an eyebrow!)
The first lesson in the declarative beatitudes is, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Consider Jesus' use of the word "poor."ÊWhat's so blessed about being poor? When I learned a friend inherited three million dollars I was envious, especially since he was already a millionaire. I could hear myself talking to myself about how I would like to have a little slice of his inheritance. I wouldn't have to worry about making ends meet every month. And, many of you could ask the same question: What's so "blessed" about being poor?
A service station attendant told me, after he asked me what I did for a living (I didn't have my clerical collar on and told him I wrote a few books), that he had written a book about his experiences as a vagrant for two years. He deliberately became a homeless person in order to experience what it means to be destitute. One of his comments stuck in my memory. He said, "I had the feeling of having no power, no prestige, and no influence." He said he was insulted as well as assaulted. He now knows what it means to be poor.
In this society of the new millennium, most do not know what it means to be poor. I do. I was around when the stock market crashed in 1929 and as a teenager experienced the difficulties of a nationwide depression. The "bread lines" still stick in my memory.
Thousands of people staged daily demonstrations in The Poor People's Campaign of 1968, in Washington, D.C. Affluent America did not think highly of the idea of building a "shantytown" within the shadow of the Capitol. And, when the rains came with its mud, and the accompanying problems of sanitation and health, and all the other problems connected with keeping thousands of poor people in the heart of one of our great cities, many rejoiced when Shantytown, U.S.A., had to be abandoned. Some applauded when the bulldozers came into view, clearing away the debris, once more making our nation's capital beautiful and safe for democracy.
The feelings were so intense about The Poor People's Campaign that one of my fellow pastors who housed some of the poor in the church building, without the approval of a congregational meeting, had to leave that parish and eventually left the ministry.
The mistake that those in charge of The Poor People's Campaign made was not stating over and over again that the unfortunate circumstances which occurred in Washington due to the elements were some of the very conditions which make poor people poor. Without opportunity, without funds, the poor cannot fight the elements, cannot fight circumstances, and cannot experience being a full member of society. The countless homeless in this country is a present-day case in point -- people with "no power, no prestige, and no influence." Even good people in a parish I served had difficulty reconciling the use of their exterior sign as a shield and sleeping place for a homeless person. Most of us have no concept of what it means to be poor.
Jesus would not have been oblivious to The Poor People's Campaign, if he had made a personal appearance at that time. He was not oblivious to the tyranny of Rome and the bigotry of Jerusalem. I don't think Jesus would be oblivious to the problems of the homeless, the hopeless, and the hungry. That's why he labeled so-called "religious people"Êin his day hypocrites. He said, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Today he might say, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of American culture, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus used the word "poor"Êdeliberately. He knew what it means to be poor. Born in a stable, crucified on a city dump, with a seamless robe the only legacy left for his persecutors, he was poor. This is what makes the beatitude "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." believable. Jesus took what the world considers paramount, earthly savings, and proved it to be folly "... where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal...." He beckons us to share with the least of humankind, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me"Ê(Matthew 25:40). Kingdom people share.
We cannot understand this beatitude unless we know something of what it means to be poor "with no power, no prestige, and no influence."
The beatitude tells us there is a difference between happiness and bliss. The word "happiness"Êhas its root meaning "hap" which means "chance." Happiness, therefore, depends upon chance and/or the circumstances of life. That is why so many people looking for happiness never find it. They are looking for happiness in things or circumstances. If you seek happiness, you are no better than the nonbeliever. The "Don't worry; be happy" craze was a shallow philosophy.
The word "blessed" means something else. It means "bliss."ÊWhereas happiness is more subjective, bliss is more objective. It is a look at God. The reason why the disciples were called blessed was because they possessed the qualities which made them receptive to God's gifts.
For example, it is impossible to help an alcoholic if an alcoholic insists he or she is not one. The first lesson an alcoholic has to learn is to accept the fact of being an alcoholic. This is hard to do. It involves confession. It involves swallowing one's pride. It involves the acknowledgment that a person needs help.
Good people are much like the alcoholic. It is hard for "good"Êpeople to learn the first lesson -- that they are ill without God, that they are incomplete without God, that they are helpless, and that they need someone beyond themselves.
You have "bliss" or you are "blessed" when you embrace helplessness. You and I are powerless without God. Blessed is the person who learns that he or she is destitute without God. When you and I declare our dependence upon God, we become independent of everything else. With God, the impossible becomes possible. Regardless of what happens to us, in spite of everything, we can maintain integrity. With God, we re-evaluate our lives. We are blessed when we do that. Without God, we are poor regardless of how rich we are. With God, we are rich regardless of how poor we are. This is a description and a declaration of character.
The disciples were blessed because they had the qualities which made them receptive to God's gifts. They admitted they were helpless without Christ. "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life," answered Peter when Jesus asked the disciples if they, too, like the crowd, wanted to go away because of the difficulty of accepting his words (John 6:68). So, they re-evaluated the meaning of true wealth and were willing to leave all and follow him. They discovered independence through their dependence upon God. They became independent of the changes and chances in life when they walked out of the Upper Room following the resurrection, no more afraid of what would happen to them, intent upon telling others of their dependence upon God.
The world cannot give a faith like that. It cannot take away a faith like that. That is why Jesus said to them, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Kingdom is where God rules. When God rules the human heart, heaven begins and continues to eternity. A person becomes a kingdom person.
Oh, the bliss of the person who realizes that. Oh, the bliss of a person who accepts the will of God for life. Oh, the bliss in the doing of God's will. No more pleading for the people of God to become involved. No more worrying if there is enough money to do God's will. Oh, the bliss in knowing God. There's nothing like it in the whole wide world.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit" -- those who feel their spiritual need of God, those who sense their spiritual poverty, those who are humble and rate themselves as insignificant.
Oh, the bliss of those who know they are poor without God and need the King. They are kingdom people. Here ends the first lesson on the Beatitudes, the declarations of Jesus which build character.
That's the way the beatitudes of Our Lord strike me. They are the first lesson in Christian living. It would have been better if they had nailed such words atop the cross of Christ instead of labeling him "King of the Jews." Jesus is king in the art of spelling out in short sentences the summary of Christian character. They are the introduction to the greatest sermon ever preached, recorded in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew.
These words were spoken from a sitting position. While in seminary one of our students was severely injured in an automobile accident, thereafter confined to a wheelchair. We took turns carrying him around, as necessity demanded. There were no ramps for wheelchairs in those days! He preached from a wheelchair. From that sitting position he commanded attention and respect. His "senior sermon," as we were required to do, preached before fellow students and faculty, was a highlight of my seminary days.
Jesus preached or taught --Êboth have the same impact -- from a sitting position. It wasn't because he could not stand. He was following a rabbinical custom. When a rabbi spoke from a sitting position, he was speaking as an authentic spokesperson for God. The professor's "chair" is derived from this background.
Matthew wrote about this event in Jesus' ministry in descriptive detail. When he says Jesus "... began to speak," his point is this: Jesus spoke with courage. He did not shrink from what needed to be said. In the Psalms we read of the "poor," the characterization of the true people of God, "... those who know their lives are not in their own control and that they are dependent on God. 'Poor in spirit' makes this explicit" (The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume VIII, p. 178, by M. Eugene Boring).
For many years I gave Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from memory as the sermon of the day. It usually takes 22 minutes to preach. I can testify to the fact that hearers squirm when they hear Jesus' words articulated. For example, when Jesus said, "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, while the log is in your own eye?' You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye" (Matthew 7:3-5).
Any preacher using the language Jesus used might not be crucified but could be criticized, if not chastised! I remember a lady in my first parish saying to me, "I didn't like it when you looked right at me and raised your right eyebrow." (I probably did raise an eyebrow!)
The first lesson in the declarative beatitudes is, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Consider Jesus' use of the word "poor."ÊWhat's so blessed about being poor? When I learned a friend inherited three million dollars I was envious, especially since he was already a millionaire. I could hear myself talking to myself about how I would like to have a little slice of his inheritance. I wouldn't have to worry about making ends meet every month. And, many of you could ask the same question: What's so "blessed" about being poor?
A service station attendant told me, after he asked me what I did for a living (I didn't have my clerical collar on and told him I wrote a few books), that he had written a book about his experiences as a vagrant for two years. He deliberately became a homeless person in order to experience what it means to be destitute. One of his comments stuck in my memory. He said, "I had the feeling of having no power, no prestige, and no influence." He said he was insulted as well as assaulted. He now knows what it means to be poor.
In this society of the new millennium, most do not know what it means to be poor. I do. I was around when the stock market crashed in 1929 and as a teenager experienced the difficulties of a nationwide depression. The "bread lines" still stick in my memory.
Thousands of people staged daily demonstrations in The Poor People's Campaign of 1968, in Washington, D.C. Affluent America did not think highly of the idea of building a "shantytown" within the shadow of the Capitol. And, when the rains came with its mud, and the accompanying problems of sanitation and health, and all the other problems connected with keeping thousands of poor people in the heart of one of our great cities, many rejoiced when Shantytown, U.S.A., had to be abandoned. Some applauded when the bulldozers came into view, clearing away the debris, once more making our nation's capital beautiful and safe for democracy.
The feelings were so intense about The Poor People's Campaign that one of my fellow pastors who housed some of the poor in the church building, without the approval of a congregational meeting, had to leave that parish and eventually left the ministry.
The mistake that those in charge of The Poor People's Campaign made was not stating over and over again that the unfortunate circumstances which occurred in Washington due to the elements were some of the very conditions which make poor people poor. Without opportunity, without funds, the poor cannot fight the elements, cannot fight circumstances, and cannot experience being a full member of society. The countless homeless in this country is a present-day case in point -- people with "no power, no prestige, and no influence." Even good people in a parish I served had difficulty reconciling the use of their exterior sign as a shield and sleeping place for a homeless person. Most of us have no concept of what it means to be poor.
Jesus would not have been oblivious to The Poor People's Campaign, if he had made a personal appearance at that time. He was not oblivious to the tyranny of Rome and the bigotry of Jerusalem. I don't think Jesus would be oblivious to the problems of the homeless, the hopeless, and the hungry. That's why he labeled so-called "religious people"Êin his day hypocrites. He said, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Today he might say, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of American culture, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus used the word "poor"Êdeliberately. He knew what it means to be poor. Born in a stable, crucified on a city dump, with a seamless robe the only legacy left for his persecutors, he was poor. This is what makes the beatitude "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." believable. Jesus took what the world considers paramount, earthly savings, and proved it to be folly "... where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal...." He beckons us to share with the least of humankind, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me"Ê(Matthew 25:40). Kingdom people share.
We cannot understand this beatitude unless we know something of what it means to be poor "with no power, no prestige, and no influence."
The beatitude tells us there is a difference between happiness and bliss. The word "happiness"Êhas its root meaning "hap" which means "chance." Happiness, therefore, depends upon chance and/or the circumstances of life. That is why so many people looking for happiness never find it. They are looking for happiness in things or circumstances. If you seek happiness, you are no better than the nonbeliever. The "Don't worry; be happy" craze was a shallow philosophy.
The word "blessed" means something else. It means "bliss."ÊWhereas happiness is more subjective, bliss is more objective. It is a look at God. The reason why the disciples were called blessed was because they possessed the qualities which made them receptive to God's gifts.
For example, it is impossible to help an alcoholic if an alcoholic insists he or she is not one. The first lesson an alcoholic has to learn is to accept the fact of being an alcoholic. This is hard to do. It involves confession. It involves swallowing one's pride. It involves the acknowledgment that a person needs help.
Good people are much like the alcoholic. It is hard for "good"Êpeople to learn the first lesson -- that they are ill without God, that they are incomplete without God, that they are helpless, and that they need someone beyond themselves.
You have "bliss" or you are "blessed" when you embrace helplessness. You and I are powerless without God. Blessed is the person who learns that he or she is destitute without God. When you and I declare our dependence upon God, we become independent of everything else. With God, the impossible becomes possible. Regardless of what happens to us, in spite of everything, we can maintain integrity. With God, we re-evaluate our lives. We are blessed when we do that. Without God, we are poor regardless of how rich we are. With God, we are rich regardless of how poor we are. This is a description and a declaration of character.
The disciples were blessed because they had the qualities which made them receptive to God's gifts. They admitted they were helpless without Christ. "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life," answered Peter when Jesus asked the disciples if they, too, like the crowd, wanted to go away because of the difficulty of accepting his words (John 6:68). So, they re-evaluated the meaning of true wealth and were willing to leave all and follow him. They discovered independence through their dependence upon God. They became independent of the changes and chances in life when they walked out of the Upper Room following the resurrection, no more afraid of what would happen to them, intent upon telling others of their dependence upon God.
The world cannot give a faith like that. It cannot take away a faith like that. That is why Jesus said to them, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Kingdom is where God rules. When God rules the human heart, heaven begins and continues to eternity. A person becomes a kingdom person.
Oh, the bliss of the person who realizes that. Oh, the bliss of a person who accepts the will of God for life. Oh, the bliss in the doing of God's will. No more pleading for the people of God to become involved. No more worrying if there is enough money to do God's will. Oh, the bliss in knowing God. There's nothing like it in the whole wide world.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit" -- those who feel their spiritual need of God, those who sense their spiritual poverty, those who are humble and rate themselves as insignificant.
Oh, the bliss of those who know they are poor without God and need the King. They are kingdom people. Here ends the first lesson on the Beatitudes, the declarations of Jesus which build character.
