Character

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/8/18

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^NRS Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵ "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷ "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. ⁸ "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹ "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. ¹⁰ "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Today we begin a seven part series on Simple Faith. Simple faith is the ability to believe without needing to physically see God. It is the ability to believe without sensing God. Faith is simply sharing the love of God with God and others regardless of what the world says. I am going to spend some time with the greatest sermon or teaching moment in the history of the world. Jesus chose to teach us about what is important to God. This particular teaching moment occurred on the side of a mountain and we call it the Sermon on the Mount. Most disciples would say that the brunt of Jesus teaching comes from this one teaching moment. Much of what we understand about discipleship, I believe came from the foundation laid upon the earliest disciples at this setting. Charles Swindoll writes that faith is like a Deep-dish apple pie. As it is cooking, we sense it through smell and the smell tantalizes us. It makes our mouth water before we even have the first slice of it. As we eat it we savior it like some special intimate moment and we dig for the last crump or lick the plate to get all of it. When we show Christ-like behavior in the world, it makes others crave it. When we see others come to Christ, it leaves that wonderful apple pie after taste in us, satisfying and filling.

Today I want to talk about character. Character is that part of us that tells the world who we are. Some of us are naturally funny while others are naturally nurturing. Character is what determines how people remember us or more importantly, how people think of us when someone mentions our name. The dictionary defines character as one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual. Jesus shares what God desires of us in how we live and interact with one another. We all come to this place today having unique personalities and characteristics. These things make us who we are and make us easily recognizable to one another. We know when we can open up and when we need to be guarded. All because of the character of the people that we are around.

Jesus starts this special teaching called the beatitudes with a blessing to all of us. Jesus begins by climbing up the side of a mountain and then sitting. Teaching in that day was often standing up to give a semblance of superiority when sharing the message. Rather, this day, Jesus chose to sit indicating that He was one of us, sharing something more intimate and significant. Wanting us to lean in listening to His every word.

Jesus begins each particular point with the idea that we are blessed. The word used here is the Greek word, which literally means, “to be characterized as transcendent happiness, fortunate or privileged.  This word is often used to refer to those who live above the normal worries of the world because of wealth or privilege. It was often used as the word to describe the Greek Gods because they have everything. So God offers us the ability to be part of the privileged part of the world if we become the person God is describing for us here.

Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed. Now we often see this and say that it refers to those who have little and those who live in the midst of poverty. I would say to you that I find it interesting that those who have little seem to have greater faith in general than those who have abundance. Maybe because they get the meaning of this beatitude. Those who are humble in their relationship with God, who come with a contrite spirit trusting in God above all things, are those who God offers the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. In simpler words, those who allow God to lead them in their daily lives, being humble in spirit and open to the life that God wants them to lead suddenly discover that heaven is right here with them. I often say to you that the Kingdom is not a future event but an opportunity to experience God in every moment of our lives.

Jesus tells us that we are blessed in our mourning moments and we will be comforted. But this not the typical kind of grieving that we are most familiar with. Rather this mourning is about our grieving for sin and for the condition of the world around us. When we invite Jesus into our hearts, we begin a transformation that leads us into joy as Paul reminds us. A place where the Holy Spirit comforts us while we grieve for the world around us who does not know God. When we reach this consciousness, we find ourselves desiring to share the message of God with others because of the profound sadness we have for those who do not know God’s love. We are comforted by the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the world.

Jesus said that blessed are those who are meek. Again, meek to us here in the western world means something very different from what Jesus intended. Meek to us means a wimp, a doormat, someone who is weak and easily run over. Jesus wants us to be gentle of heart. The Greek word here means to soothe or to heal wounds. It is the word that would describe brining a wild stallion under control. Gentle here means that we bring calmness to chaos, coolness in the midst of intense argument and we learn to control things by gentleness rather than brute force. Many of us have lived lives where we controlled the world by making a command, telling others what to do and they jumped to do it. Maybe we can use a lesson about beginning to conform to God’s way, a gentle approach to controlling the world around us. We are promised that we will inherit the earth, meaning I think that we will live productive lives for the glory of God.

Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall find it. When we desire to be great disciples, we hunger for the knowledge of life. When we hunger for knowledge, we will lean in to listen intently to what the teacher is saying, hanging on every word. We strive to learn more and more about what we are supposed to know. Disciples are lifelong learners according to our own Bishop Lewis. That means we thirst for knowledge every waking moment of life. That is what Jesus meant with this beatitude. Great disciples want to know more, so they spend time in the Bible, in small groups and actively attend worship services.

Blessed are those who are merciful for they will find mercy. Our young people are preparing to go off to mission. There they will find opportunities to show mercy to people who have less, need assistance and want to share relationship. We feed 15-25 children every day who share a smile, a laugh as they share a meal. Mercy is not pity. It is not providing something because someone else does not have to make ourselves feel better. It is about sharing the love of God with one another. Maybe that love is being felt for the very first time. What we receive in return is the mercy of God opening up our hearts to see God.  

Blessed are those who are pure in heart. Jesus meant that those whose entire life is free of hypocrisy and is lived transparent before God and others with no hidden motives. Are there any among us who truly are this kind of person? We can be. When we are, we sense God around us and in us.

Blessed are those who are peacemakers. The world especially right now is full of conflict and chaos. It is full of polarized people who are learning quite well how to hate one another. Where are we in the midst of this? We are supposed to be the calming voice of reason, of love and kindness and sharing how to have conversation with love rather than anger or hate. We are called to bring peace in the midst of the war of our world. It doesn’t mean we agree on every issue, but we must find a way to bring people back together as friends, family and neighbors. When we do, we will truly live into being the people God is calling us to be.

Finally, we are blessed when we are persecuted because of our faith. That means it is ok to be different, to stand for love instead of the world and share God with the people we interact with daily. When two different value systems collide, there will always be conflict and persecution. Therefore, we should rejoice when people notice that we are not standing in the lines with those who shout angry words and display random acts of hate while we show random acts of kindness.

So who are we supposed to be? We are called to be the children of God. To show mercy and love to everyone in everything we do. We are to cry for those who do not know God’s love and then share it with them through action, word and deed. We are to be merciful and gentle, heal the wounds of the world and bring peace where we can. For all of that, we are truly set apart and blessed. Would you be a blessing to the world?