2010 Mar 28 - Those Who Mourn (Mt 5:4)

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"The earth is the Lord's," so all of us belong to God. But citizenship in the kingdom depends on recognizing that Jesus is Lord. The passage we've begun studying, Matthew 5-7, describes how people in that kingdom live. We may not be completely there yet, but these verses are more than just a goal for some far-distant time.

"Blessed" is the key word for this section of the Bible, Matthew 5:3-12. Last week, we used "spiritually prosperous" as a good description of "blessed." This week, we added some more thoughts. Blessings are an extension of God's grace. We don't deserve them, but we are given them anyway. "Fortunate" and "well-off" are other possible synonyms.

For this verse, it is important to know what "mourn" indicates. We thought people who mourn are people are grieving a loss. The loss might be something we used to have and now miss, or it might be awareness of something we never had but now wish to have experienced.

When we mourn, we acknowledge our loss. If we don't admit that we are suffering, we hinder the healing (comforting) process.

By honestly mourning, when it is appropriate, we allow others to see our reactions.

Mourning is a sign of our involvement in the world around us. Our mourning may not be just for personal loss. We can also mourn over the condition fo the world around us.

You have to care about something in order to mourn its loss. If we are completely satisfied with our current status, we will not mourn. And if we are apathetic, not caring what happens, we will not mourn.

Some people have interpreted this verse to suggest that we should act sad all the time. This interpretation overlooks Jesus' comments about rejoicing, ignores the calls to enjoy the world about us, and denies the joy Christians are to experience.

Mourning is also involved when we recognize what we've lost by living in a fallen world. And when we realize that our own actions and attitudes have helped to separate us from God, we really should experience sorrow. And that mourning can also be relieved (we can be comforted) when we recognize that God has provided salvation even though we don't deserve it.

Mourning can be for what we've lost and want back, for what we've never had and wish we'd had, and even for what we could but don't yet have.

Even when we don't get restoration, we can have comfort.

We shold mourn when we geel God's convicting touch. Comfort, or satisfaction, comes when God changes us.

2010 Mar 21 - Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit (Mt 5:3)

Blessed means "spiritually prosperous." "The poor in spirit" probably means "Those whose spirits are humble." Luke 6 and Psalm 51 give different parallel meanings; we lean toward Psalm 51. The kingdom of heaven is the same as the kingdom of God, and it is a gift. The blessings are not earned.

Side Points
Other blessings in the passage are "socially good." That is, it is obvious that being merciful should bring a blessing. This one doesn't show so much. Perhaps we can say that it encourages us to move away from pride. This passage (Matthew 5:3-12) is the New Testament version of the Ten Commandments, a description of how God's people live rather than a set of laws. (Even the commandments are written "you will" rather than "you must.")

2010 Mar 14 - Intro to the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5 - 7)

We began by reviewing our class purpose: We are citizens of two kingdoms, this earthly world and the kingdom of heaven. Schools, parents, the media, and various cultural traditions all help us to live productive lives in this earthly world. The purpose of our class is to help us become better citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Essentially, being Kingdom Citizens means to imitate Jesus Christ and adhere to His teachings.

This past week, we were encouraged to read the gospel of Matthew and find the passages where Jesus’ teachings are concentrated.

Chapters 5-7 describe the lifestyle of Christ followers.
Chapter 10 commissioned the disciples of Jesus.
Chapter 13 contains parables, stories that illustrate Jesus’ kingdom.
Chapter 18 contains more parables, focusing on the character and values of Christ followers.
Chapters 23-25 describe the seriousness of God’s judgment.

Chapters 5-7 are known as the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon is not a new system of rules. Instead, they add an ethical dimension to the Old Testament law that the Jews of that time followed. The mistake the Jews of that time made, and the mistake too many people today make, is thinking that God cares about the laws themselves. God is interested in the heart. If we learned to love properly, the rules would be fulfilled. Not necessarily every interpretation of the law, but the intent of the laws.

Jesus described the proper mindset for His followers. With that new mindset, new actions will follow.

In class, we were warned that following the new mindset will be costly. The world around us won’t understand why we adopt such a radical lifestyle. This sermon gives us a model to follow. Jesus does not tell us to set up rules to be sure we adhere to everything in this sermon. Instead, he mentions some rules and then illustrates how to let love interpret them.

This new mindset, new attitude, new interpretation cannot be adopted on our own. God’s Spirit in our lives helps us. We must learn to listen to Him. We looked at the work of God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit brings order.
The Holy Spirit teaches us, reminding us of what Jesus said.
The Holy Spirit comforts us.
The Holy Spirit empowers us, enabling us in some things we can’t do on our own.

With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we go beyond following rules. Following rules is often called “living by the letter of the law.” Jesus began many teachings with “You have heard that it was said,” and then gave a rule. Immediately afterwards, He showed how people might obey the rule, but miss the point of why the rule existed. Living a life where we remember why the rules are in place is called “living by the spirit of the law.”

We should remember that the law was given by the Spirit of God. If we understand why the law was given, we’ll understand how to live lives fit for the kingdom.

For instance, Jesus mentioned adultery. He reminded His listeners that it is wrong to violate the marriage vows. But He pointed out that the law has become “I didn’t actually sleep with the other person” instead of “I have made a commitment to my marriage that includes my imagination as well as my body.” In just about every law, it is possible to live according to the letter of the law and yet violate the spirit of the law.

Kingdom Citizens are called to live their lives in harmony with God’s Spirit. This Sermon on the Mount will help to open our eyes to God’s principles. But if we stop with just what’s written here, we’ll miss the greater truth. God’s Spirit is ready to transform us completely. We are not left on our own to stumble through this life. God gives us everything we need to live this life more fully, and to be prepared for the life to come.

2010 Mar 7 - Philippians 4 & Intro to Sermon on the Mount

March 7
Philippians 4
Intro to Sermon on the Mount

Philippians wrap-up
We'd already discussed many points found in chapter 4. Still, we found new topics and went back to a couple others.

Book of life
Paul, Jesus, and John all mentioned that there are names written in heaven. In Revelation, two books are mentioned: One records all our deeds, and will apparently be made public eventually. The other is the book of life, and that is the one that determines our destiny. This brings us right back to the idea that the new life is a gift, not something we earn by being good.

Peace of God or God of peace
Paul promises his readers (and us) that God's peace will guard us as we depend on God. But later in the passage, he tells us that God Himself will be with us. This reminded some of us that God promises us a relationship. He's more interested in being with us than giving us good things. We need to remember to look beyond the gifts to the Giver Himself.

What you've seen in me, put into practice
We were reminded that there are people in our lives who make us stand a little taller. These people inspire us to be better than we might otherwise be. It is good to have people like that who are examples to us. We need to think about their lives, but we also need to live our own lives imitating them properly.

God will meet all your needs
Is it right to expect rewards for doing right? Jesus told about servants who get no special reward for doing what's expected of them. And yet throughout the Bible we get lavish promises of rewards for following God's way.

But if God isn't providing, does that mean that we don't need what we are hoping for? In many cases, that's certainly true. However, Jesus said that some things, both good and bad, happen to everyone. We do need to learn to be content in every situation. But we also need to know that we live in a fallen world, and even Christians die. God's perspective is bigger than just our own needs. And Paul certainly expected his share of suffering in this world.

Sermon on the Mount
Three chapters in Matthew (5-7) contain the Sermon on the Mount. This message from Jesus outlines the life of a Christ-follower. David is looking forward to our discussions during the coming weeks.

We do need to keep in mind, from our Philippians discussions, that God understands that none of us is following perfectly. But God does expect us to draw closer and closer to Him during our lives, and the Sermon on the Mount has some pretty great ideas on what that closer-and-closer life will look like.

David encouraged us to read all of Matthew's gospel this week. He suggested we each find someone to discuss it with as well. (If you don't blog here, you can join our Facebook discussion.)

He left us with three questions, posted on the class website.

2010 Feb 28 - Philippians Wrap-Up

February 28, 2010
Philippians Wrap-up

We made it through three chapters of Philippians this week. As we went through the letter, we stopped for questions and discussion. We'll finish up chapter 4 this Sunday, with time left to begin the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6 and 7).

Some of this week's discussion points:

"Saints." The term means "those set apart for God," and includes all of us who have made a commitment to join the Kingdom. For many of us, the word was applied to the old folks in church, the ones who led out in prayer and who seemed to have no problem following God. But all of us who have accepted God's gift of new life are already saints. We may not yet be "great saints," but the transformation has begun.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." Here is the promise that God intends to make us into those "great saints" we talked about. We also talked about when God began working in our lives. We mentioned the time we asked for forgiveness, because that's when we gave Him permission to change us. But we quickly realized that He'd begun the work even sooner. Long before we cooperated with Him, He was calling to us and encouraging us to respond.

"Pure and blameless." This is the aim of God's work in our lives: To make us like Him. Each of us is to be pure, and what we do is to be blameless. That's more than most of us expected when we first turned to Him, but that's what His intention is for everyone.

"Sufficient courage." Courage may be essential for any other virtue. It's pretty easy to be "good" when there's no opposition, but real goodness requires courage to stand for what's right even when it's not popular.

"Whatever happens." Paul uses this phrase right after some very confident statements about the future. "I know I'll see you again." "I know that I will be released." But then he acknowledges that no one knows the future for certain. More importantly, Paul's trust in God is not dependent on Paul knowing his own future.

"You will be saved." We talked about being saved. This includes being saved out of particular difficulties, although it isn't a guarantee that all of this life will work out just the way we'd like.

"To will and to act." This theme comes up a couple of times in Philippians. It is not enough to think about following God. We need to act on these decisions.

"Hope in the Lord Jesus." Paul also mentions being "confident in the Lord." Sometimes our hope and confidence isn't based on God's plans. We need to stay focused on the Kingdom so that more and more of our life relies on what God wants. As we become more "pure and blameless," we will discover that our hopes are more in line with God's intentions.

"Becoming like Him in His death." This is part of Paul's list of what it means to be like Jesus. He wants to know the power of the resurrection in his life. He can't have a resurrection without a death. We are called to be like Jesus, and that includes sharing in His sufferings. When a person lives according to God's principles in a world that doesn't live that way, the person is bound to face opposition to some degree. (This principle was recognized by the ancient Greeks as well as by Christians.)

"Let us live up to what we have already attained." Paul emphasizes that he is not yet perfect in this life. God has more for him, just as God has more for each of us. But Paul has made some progress already, and so have we. It is important that we live up to the level God has already brought us to.

With all this discussion, it's no wonder we didn't make it through the entire letter! We'll get into chapter 4 this Sunday, and we should have enough time for a good introduction to the Sermon on the Mount from David.

If you remember more points or have further discussion, or if some of this needs better clarification, feel free to respond to this post.