David Stockton 4/11/21 David Stockton 4/11/21

The Beatitudes

This is part of our year-long commitment and lifelong commitment to really try and get a vision for the righteousness of God. Last year, and all of our lives, but last year became very, very prominent that…

Series: The Sermon on the Mount

April 11, 2021 - David Stockton

This is part of our year-long commitment and lifelong commitment to really try and get a vision for the righteousness of God. Last year, and all of our lives, but last year became very, very prominent that there were a lot of different visions about what is righteousness that will produce justice. They were coming from left sides, right sides, top sides, down sides. There are all these different basic gospels — in a lot of ways — these ideologies that were being presented and claiming to have Christ on their side.

So we heard all of that. So we committed the first of this year. We fasted for twenty-one days to say, “God, we want to have a vision for righteousness that comes straight from you. And we want to have a hunger for it.” Because we know that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. So we want to have a hunger for it. So we’ve stayed hungry. We’re still hungry. And we’re really trying to figure out what God’s view of righteousness in our day and age is. So that’s why we’re going to the Sermon on the Mount.

As we’re unpacking this, and as you’re dealing with this in your own relationships — I mean, I know of a marriage that, basically one of the spouses said, “If you don’t come to my point of view on this ideology, our marriage is over.” We have people in the church that have left us because they cannot track with us and stay in the same direction that we’re headed as far as what we’re teaching coming from the scriptures.

You guys are dealing with this in your own families, your own communities. This is everywhere and there’s lots of division, there’s lots of challenge, there’s lots of confusion. So one of the things we’re going to do is just say, “Hey, Jesus, we just want to hear from you. Nothing else will do. Nothing else will do.”

It’s so sweet to trust in Jesus and take him at his word. And it’s very hard to do these days. But that song will always be true. It is so sweet to just say, “Okay, Jesus, what’s going on inside me is killing me. What’s going on around me is killing me. But I’m just going to sit here and take you at your word.”

So that’s what we’re going to try and do. We’re going to try to put ourself in that space going into the Sermon on the Mount. I need to give us as a church a couple of tools that have been very helpful for me. I’m hoping they’ll be helpful for you as you process your own concept of the righteousness of God, but also as you interact with others who are doing that as well.

The first one is Weslyan quadrilateral. You’ve heard me mention it before. If you’ve been through our Explore class I bring out there too. But I think this is very, very important. This is not super ancient. This is John Wesley, so it’s not that long ago. But I love what he did. Most of the theologians that came before him said, “Scripture, tradition and reason,” but he actually added “experience” and I think that’s important for us today.

The way that this goes down is super important. As you’re trying to figure out what truth is, what is important, what is valuable, what is good, what is right, all of those things. This is the way that Wesley said you come to it. You start with the scripture. The scripture is at the bottom, but it’s at the bottom because that’s the foundation. That is the starting point. Anything you think or feel or anything that comes to you, you first apply the scripture to it and see if it jives or not. Scripture is the foundation. That has got to be the beginning. Because there are lots of ideas. I mean, basically, we’ve had six thousand years of recorded human thought. Right? For six thousand years people have been writing down, “I think this.” And it’s led to a lot of different religions, a lot of different philosophies, a lot of different ideas.

So how can we say that we stand in the truth? First of all, we have the Spirit of God. God didn’t leave it up to us to figure out, but he sent his Spirit to guide us into all truth. But second he’s given us all these type of things to help us process this stuff out.

So you’ve got scripture, first and foremost. And in this church, you’ve heard it over and over again, we’re going to be about scripture. The Old Testament. The New Testament. The life of Jesus. The words of Jesus. The best thing you can do if you’re really trying to figure out what you should fight for or not fight for, maybe more importantly, is start with the words of Jesus, see how it’s unpacked by the epistles and the rest of the New Testament, and then look for concrete pictures that basically teach it in the Old Testament as well. It’s a good way to use the scriptures.

So first of all scriptures. But then we have tradition. So if it passes the scripture test, then you go to the tradition test. The tradition test is basically, we don’t like that word tradition because we’re Americans and we got rid of the British. Sorry if you’re British. But we don’t like tradition. But tradition, think of it more in the sense of the community. Basically we have a community of faith right here, Living Streams Church. But we’re just one tiny, little dot in the grand community of Christ.

So, first of all, we have to start with the community. We have to be able to test all of these ideas with the community that God has placed us in. Not only that, but we have to add to it the community that has come before us. Historic Christianity is so important. We are not the first people to ever face these things. The questions that you have in your heart, there have been so many Christians that have had those questions way before you. Some of them have done some really good work in helping us know what we should do when we face these things.

So that’s the next phase. So scripture first and foremost. It passes that test, then it’s got to go through the historic Christianity perspective and your own community perspective. After that, then you go to reason. God gave you a brain. He gave us sociology. He gave us science. He gave us psychology. These studies that help us understand what is good and right and what isn’t at all.

Like I said in my weekly email, I’m praying that right now, just like the sexual revolution of the sixties, where everyone thought it’s really important to get sex outside of that tiny, narrow space of marriage and let sex be enjoyed by everybody, even if they’re not married — that right there. Sociology, psychology. If you apply those reasonable sciences to that decision and what happened in America, you can see the results of those things. STD’s. Abortion. Adoption. Foster care. You can look at the sciences and you can see the result of some of these things.

I’ve been praying that, just like that sexual revolution created this great Jesus Movement in the 70’s — I’m praying that whatever we’re going through in this sexual confusion of today will give rise to a beautiful Jesus Movement, as well, and that the Church will do really, really well in this time. She’ll be beautiful. She’ll be redemptive. She’ll be kind. And she’ll be faithful. We’ll get to see some really cool things happen. I think we already seeing some of the stuff, by the way. There’s a hunger for the righteousness in God, which is awesome.

Then the last one is experience. It’s at the top, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most important. It’s the smallest one. And yet, Wesley was willing to add experience. The theologians before him were like, “Forget about experience. People are crazy. You can’t add experience because then they’ll get all crazy and get Joseph Smith and things like that.”

But at the same time, he was saying, “But, I don’t think we can just pretend like we don’t have experiences.” So he added experience. And I think it’s a very important thing. But again, we have to remember that it’s the smallest and it’s the last.

Now experience can lead us to the scriptures and to tradition and all those things. But we have to put experience in its place. What our culture is trying to tell us today is that experience is the foundation. Our thoughts and our feelings are the way to truth. Cold Play said it best, “Science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart.” That is the cry of the post-modern, post-Christian, progressive-Christianity. I’m not saying progressive in the sense of politics. I’m saying in the sense of theology. I really feel like they’re making experience way too important to the understanding of truth. I don’t think we should get rid of experience. I think it’s valid and important, but it has to be submitted to those other things.

So that’s a little bit of what we’re applying as we go through this. The second thing is something I learned in theology by Irv Bredlinger, who was my theology professor in Bible school. This was interesting. I’m actually supposed to draw two of these circles, I realized after first service. So you’re going to have to do a little extra work.

Basically, he drew one circle where the thought quadrant, the opinions quadrant, the beliefs quadrant and the dogma quadrant were all giant circles. There was very thin space between all of them. He said this is an immature Christian. This is someone whose dogma is so big, everything they’ve ever believed is so important they’ve got to fight everybody about it. We’ve all probably been through phases like this, where we’re willing to fight about anything and everything instead of understanding that some of what we’re calling dogma — core beliefs —should actually be a little bit more in the thought and feeling realm; or maybe the opinion realm, or maybe the belief realm, but not necessarily things we should be telling our spouse, “It’s over between us.”

There’s a challenge, there’s a maturing that needs to happen where we begin to understand what we should fight about and what we shouldn’t fight about. That’s an important maturing process, as Christians, that we’re going through. It feels a lot like deconstruction. It feels a lot like you’re losing your faith; but you might actually just be losing some stuff that you think was belief, but it was really just more opinion.

So I think it’s important we go through that process. And you don’t have the choice, those of you who are going through this in your family dynamic. You are going through this process, and trying to figure out where are the lines that I need to fight and avoid, and where are the lines that I can continue to live with? And I think it’s important for us to do this as Christians. Jesus never said it would be easy for us to walk this out. That’s a little heady stuff for you.

Last year, more than ever, many of our thoughts, feelings and political opinions became religious beliefs and dogmas. We’re continuing to see friends, families, marriages and church communities going through painful divisions because of humanistic and demonic ideas claiming to have the high moral ground. I’m not saying there’s no right and wrong. I’m not saying there are not things we should divide over. But I do think we need to make very sure we are diligently working to have Jesus’ vision for righteousness, not a man-made or devil-made ideology.

Anybody with me? Paul the Apostle, who wrote long ago, not in America, but somehow knows exactly what we’re thinking, said this to his young mentoree in 2 Timothy 4:2-5:

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come…

He could have said “in 2021,” but he said:

…when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

So is the Bible outdated and irrelevant, or does that seem to really resonate and hit home? I need some encouragement this morning. You think this is easy? I am so alone up here! Where is everybody at? Nobody. You’re all there. Come on. Let’s do this together. Or, if you’re like, “No! That doesn’t sound right,” say that! I’m totally fine with that. I mean, maybe. We’ll see. But no. I want to hear from you guys, for sure. This is important stuff.

With that being said, with all the swirling winds of ideologies around us, we as a church fasted and prayed, committed ourselves to seek first Jesus’ kingdom and his righteousness. We believe Jesus’ way is the way to produce true justice and the greatest freedom and flourishing in this life. So we turn our attention for the next few months to the Sermon on the Mount.

In this sermon Jesus is creating distinction between his way and the religious ideologies of his day. Did you hear that? As you read this, Jesus is intentionally saying, “You have heard it said…but I say.” He’s creating distinction between the way of Jesus and all the other political and religious ideologies of his day. And that’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what we want to do. That’s what we have the Spirit of God helping us to do as we go through this.

This is Jesus’ manifesto — his public declaration of the motives, values and intentions of his kingdom. These are awesome, awesome words. Super awesome. As we go into this, there are a few things that have been helpful to keep in mind. I know I’m unpacking a lot of things right here, but I’m kind of front-loading this because I’m going to borrow a lot of this stuff as we go further into this sermon. I think it’s really important, before we jump in, to get some framework for this.

Tim Keller gives good framework when he says, when you think of the way of Jesus as opposed to all the other ways or gospels or whatever views of righteousness, he said you’ve got to think of it as the inside out kingdom and the upside down kingdom. As Americans we have a very consumeristic, individualistic, success-oriented economy. We really look at the external. How do they dress? How do they look? What car do they drive? What house do they live in? Are they beautiful or not beautiful? And we esteem and give credit to so many external things. And we really value those things.

What Jesus is trying to put forth, according to Tim Keller, is that Jesus’ kingdom is much more inside out than outside in. So Jesus really is more interested in what’s happening inside your soul than what’s coming out, if that makes sense.

Then the upside down kingdom. We look at people at the top of their game, so to speak, the top of their industry, so to speak, the top of all of these things. We look at them and think, “Wow, they are blessed! God has been good to them. Wow. They should be able to speak into our lives and speak into our culture. We should learn from them.”

But Jesus has an upside down kingdom. Whereas you read, you just continually hear that. No, those people, that’s fine. He doesn’t have a problem with them. But the real goal, the real beauty are those who are down and out, those who society just kind of passes right over and you might not even notice at all. Those are the ones that God is paying attention to. Those are the ones that will have the best perspective on the kingdom of heaven. That’s wild stuff right there.

That’s why a lot of you, when you go on a missions trip to a foreign place and you see people who are extremely poor and yet they have so much joy, you go, “Whoa! I’ve got some thinking to do.” Yeah. Right. It’s proof of what Jesus is trying to teach in the Sermon on the Mount. So I love that.

Anytime you’re like, “This is is so…I don’t get it.” Inside out. Upside down. Everybody say it. It’s because you’re going to get hit with stuff and you’re going to be like, “Ugh! What?” Inside out. Upside down. Thank you, Tim Keller.

There’s a guy named Jonathan Pennington who has spent like five years just trying to unpack and understand how to interpret the Beatitudes. And he had the audacity, as I’m trying to do this, he had the audacity to say to me (through a podcast), “After all my efforts, I don’t feel like I’ve ever found anything that really does it.” I was like, “You jerk. How am I supposed to feel good about what I’m doing?” Five years. And these guys are brilliant. Anyway, it always gives me a little hope, because if he can’t get it right, maybe I’ll get it right just by chance, you know?

But anyway, he says that the way of Jesus, as you go through the Sermon on the Mount, the way of Jesus looks a lot like a cross. That’s basically what he said. He said the way of Jesus is very low and very cross-shaped. So when you’re facing a decision or facing like, “I don’t know what is right or what is true. Jesus, what’s your way in all of this?” Whatever looks the lowest and the most like a cross, that’s probably the way of Jesus.

It is true. That’s basically what Jesus was teaching. So inside out. Upside down. Low. And like a cross. Those are going to be helpful things for us. And lastly, Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount with three analogies that I think are important as we go back to try and unpack. The three analogies are the small gate and narrow road versus the broad way to destruction. So the way of Jesus is small and narrow and few that find it, as opposed to the not way of Jesus is broad. It’s basically like anything you want to do. There are lots of options. There isn’t even a gate. It’s just like, zoom, go for it. But the way of Jesus is small and narrow and few find it. So you have that analogy.

You also have the prophet and the false prophet. The prophets both look like fruitful trees. They both bear fruit. But the false prophet’s fruit is bad. And the good prophet’s fruit is good. Again, we talked about how it takes time. There’s nothing instantaneous in this. There are counterfeits. It’s tricky. The way of Jesus — how do you know? It actually produces freedom and human flourishing — in time. It produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness. So that’s how we can judge between which way is true. Whatever the fruit that is produced from those things.

The last thing is, one is the rock and one is the sand. Right?

The wise man builds his house on the rock — that which has withstood the test of time. It doesn’t matter what the wind does. It doesn’t matter what the waves do. It doesn’t matter what the tide brings in. It’s solid. That’s where you build your house.

Whereas, you have the sand — which is this picture of here today, gone tomorrow. It’s whatever the tide brings in. It’s whatever’s new. It’s whatever’s temporary. It’s whatever fad there might be. If you build your house on those type of things, you’re going to get washed away.

So these are the analogies. These are the pictures we have from Jesus and from some others, to help us now as we get into this to understand and not get lost as we go to the Sermon on the Mounts. Matthew 5:1:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

He’s teaching. It’s a sermon.

He said:
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 be shown 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 because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

And if you’ll do me a favor, I’m going to read you the very last verse after the Sermon on the Mount is concluded. Matthew 7:28:

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

So here we have very famous text, very famous passage. It’s very sermon-like. It has a rhythm to it. It’s almost poetic the way it rolls out. Jesus is on the mountainside, so you got to think maybe, like, hippies out there. Kind of out in the country. Small town. You’ve got to think not a lot of education in these people that he’s teaching. There’s nothing about it that is that special except that Jesus has been going around Galilee, this little sea in Israel. And he’s been going around from village to village, small village to small village. He would show up there and he would do some ministry. He would talk to some people and find out what they were struggling with. He would minister truth. He would minister the power of the Spirit. He would bring some healings to them. Then he would proclaim to them that the kingdom of God has come. It is here. That God is for them. These people were so amazed by all he was doing, that every once in a while when Jesus would go out, whole crowds would gather around to see what he would do and hear what he would say.

In this one instance, he sits on the side of a hill. He’s already gathered disciples. He’s got disciples. At this point it is tricky. It could be twelve, but it’s probably more than that; because it was later on in another teaching that Jesus did, where his whole congregation got whittled down to twelve because it was very hard what he was teaching. But here in this moment, there’s probably a lot more than just twelve disciples — people were saying, “We want to be with Jesus.” And then there’s the crowds that are gathering, looking for a miracle or something. And he sits down and he starts to teach these people.

Now these people are not American. Right? Track with me here. I’m not trying to be racist or anything like this. I’m trying to give us context. These people are not American. They didn’t grow up with the internet. They’re not white. They’re not black. Could be a little sprinkling in there. Who knows? But they are jewish. And they are small-town. They are uneducated. They don’t have a lot going for them. They’re barely scraping to get by. They are deep, deep under Roman domination, even in their home town. They can’t do anything without Rome really telling them what to do. The taxes are brutal — to where they can never really gain any ground.

Not only that, but they are deep, deep under religious, kind of hierarchical oppression. The religious leaders of that day have convinced everybody of what is good and right and true. And it looks a lot like a Pharisee. And anyone who doesn’t look a lot like a Pharisee is worthless and wrong and God doesn’t really love them. So they’re wrestling with that. And these guys are also at the bottom of whatever kind of caste system was there, these men and women out there on the side of a hill listening to a rabbi that was kind of a wanna-be at this point. Yet, as he speaks to them, he speaks in such a peculiar way, such a simple way, but such a different way, that, when they heard his words, they were amazed.

As we read through this sermon, it’s going to be interesting. Because we’re going to read through this sermon and there are times when it’s just like, What? That’s too heavy. That’s too narrow. There’s no way. What? Jesus? Come on! It’s going to be rough. But we’ve got to remember to hear it the way they heard it. When they heard it, their response was, “This is awesome! This is awesome!” Not only that, but they’re like, “This sounds so different from what I’ve heard all my life from the religious leaders. This feels like it has authority to it. This feels like it has substance to it. This sounds like something I can trust in.”

So, as we read through this, no matter what, we’re going to hit some passages and you’re going to be like, “Oh, no! What? Brutal.” Even when you just hear the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” the truth is, as Americans, we think of times maybe that we were poor in spirit, but I think it’s not natural for us to think Jesus is talking to us. Whereas, the people he’s talking to in that day, when he said, “poor in spirit,” they were like, “Oh, he’s talking about me? He’s calling me blessed?” That’s what they did. That’s how it hit them. And they were so encouraged by it. So we’ve got to keep that frame of reference as we go through this, to let the Sermon on the Mount create that in us.

The second thing we’ve got to remember is you go through here just like Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for this is coming your way. Blessed are those who mourn, because this is coming your way.” He keeps reminding them that, if they will diligently do the way of Jesus, it will produce really great things. There will be rewards. Jesus is not afraid to use the word reward. He actually says it. He says, “When they do all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”

So as you go through the sermon, you’re going to see the juxtaposition of the now life and the next life. Jesus is not afraid to say that a lot of the things that you do today are going to affect your reality in heaven. There’s lots of verses here to back this up. He says, “Rejoice and be glad. Great is your reward in heaven.” He talks about, “If you do this, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” “Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full.” They’ve received their reward in this life, which means they’re going to get anything in the next life. “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” “Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full in this life.” They’re not getting what’s next. “He sees what is done in secret will reward you.” “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” There’s a whole big, long part of the sermon where Jesus is talking about storing up treasures in heaven where moth and rust can’t get to it.

The next life vs. now life is a consistent theme in here. I think it’s important for us to understand that, for Jesus, the priority was the next life. It says about Jesus that it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross. So everything you endure, everything you go through now that is challenging or hard, actually is an opportunity to invest in the next life.

There’s this guy, Francis Chan, he’s a great preacher and he actually has a long rope. I don’t have a long rope so you’ve just got to think about the long rope in my hand here. It’s a huge rope that goes from that wall all the way to that wall. You know, and I can fling it. You see it? He had a rope. I can’t figure out how to get a long rope. But basically like a long tug-of-war rope. He was trying to express to everybody like eternity is this rope but forever. So God is eternal. Right? God has no beginning so you can go back as far as you want with this rope this way and you’ll never get to the beginning of God. And God has no end, so you can go as far you want that way and you’ll never get to the end of God.

But he said, for us, even though sometimes in songs we use the word eternity about us — we’re not eternal. We’re not eternal because you can go back to our beginning. Right? We had a beginning. Now, we are everlasting. We have no end. And that is true. But what Francis Chan was trying to illustrate — he took a Sharpie and drew a black line on the rope. He was like, “See this? This is your now life. See this? That’s your next life.” And this is why Jesus says, “Why would you sell your soul to gain something in the now life and lose it for the next life?”

Or in the sermon he says, “Why would you keep your eyes if they’re causing you to stumble? Instead, cut out your eye in this life so that in the next life you’ll make it and you’ll have all you need.”

He’s talking about the now life or the next life. This is a little weird for us especially because there’s like crypto-currency out there right now! Right? It’s like investment time is good right now. And Jesus is not saying, “You shouldn’t invest and be wise in this life.” But he was saying, “You’ve got to make sure that you are investing in the next life, more so. More time, attention, resource, energy be given to the investment in the next life than in this life. Otherwise, you are a fool building your house on the sand. Otherwise, you are a false prophet that are going to wish you had some good fruit in the next life, but you’re not going to have any. Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself on a broad way leading to destruction, instead of the narrow way.

We’ve got to figure out the now life vs. the next life concept. This is going to come up a bunch in the Sermon on the Mount. This is a motivation and Jesus isn’t afraid to say it. Now I’m not saying the kingdom of heaven hasn’t come and isn’t in this life. We do get appetizers in this life. But the real meal is coming. And Jesus said that that’s really important that you think about investing and preparing for that.

That also was makes the Beatitudes so true and right and good, if we can see them from that perspective. Because Jesus is not lying or just trying to make people who are poor in spirit feel better. He’s really trying to understand that, when you’re poor in spirit, when you’re broken down, when you feel alone and you feel isolated, and you feel like God is so far from you, in those moments you have such an opportunity to gain something that’s everlasting. That’s why you’re blessed.

It’s not because Christianity is some sort of masichistic, weird thing, like, “Oh yeah, look, I’m bleeding. Isn’t that awesome?” No. Jesus is trying to say that, really, you’ve got to see these things differently. You are blessed with an opportunity to invest in what’s next, to receive the kingdom. To see God. To receive the comfort of God. To receive the reward he has for you. You are so blessed when you’re in those moments, because God’s attention is on you. God’s focus is on you. God’s presence is so near to the broken-hearted.

That’s why you’re blessed. That’s why you’re flourishing in these moments. That’s why you’re standing in the right place when you’re standing with the poor in spirit, or when you’re poor in spirit yourself. Because, right there in that moment, the kingdom of heaven has never been closer.

Ultimately, when you read these Beatitudes, Jesus is just describing himself. Right? Jesus is declaring something that he knows and he believes and he walked out. Blessed am I when I am poor in spirit because he who knew no sin, he who is seated at the throne of God became sin and entered our world. He became poor in spirit because he knew that there was a blessing there. There was an opportunity to gain you and I forevermore. He became the person who mourned and wept. I mean Jesus is describing himself. Jesus is describing the way that he walked so that we could follow him in this way, in this upside down, inside out blessing that he offers to us.

Now, to finish, I rewrote the Beatitudes, even though Pennington told me that I shouldn’t. He didn’t say that. But I just felt like this was the way this was speaking to me. And I felt that this is the way the Beatitudes kind of speak to our moment in time. So I’m going to read through this. You can follow along and maybe one of these things will stand out to you. Maybe more than one. That’s fine. But here’s what I kind of feel like Jesus is trying to say to us today at Living Streams with the Beatitudes.

When you’re poor in spirit, rejoice with a quiet confidence because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people who know what it means to be poor in spirit.
When you’re in mourning (because of broken relationships, because of battles within, whatever you might be going through) rejoice with a quiet confidence because God is very near to the broken hearted, and he himself will make sure that you are comforted.
When you’re humble, rejoice with a quiet confidence, because it’s only a matter of time until you get to experience God lifting you up in this life.
When the injustice in the world causes you to feel desperate for righteousness, rejoice with a quiet confidence because God is going to make sure you have a front row seat when he rids the world of all wickedness and restores everything as if evil never existed.
When you see heartbreaking situations and are compelled to give mercy, rejoice with a quiet confidence, because God will be happy to show you mercy when you need it.
When you deny yourself and miss out on the things in this life, rejoice with a quiet confidence, because God’s way will be more clear to you because of your sacrifice.
When anger and hatred are escalating, but you choose to speak peacefully to defuse the situation, rejoice with a quiet confidence because God will claim you as his own forevermore.
When you do the right thing and it costs you friendships, comfort, finances, and even your health or safety, rejoice with a quiet confidence, because God is going to repay you tenfold with heavenly treasures which cannot spoil or depreciate.
When your love for Jesus causes you to lose out or be lied about, rejoice with a quiet confidence, because God is keeping track and will reward you just like he rewarded the prophets of old.

Let’s pray:

Jesus, we want to see things the way you do. We want to live into the kingdom. We want to invest in the kingdom. We want to establish your kingdom here. I thank you, Jesus, that you came and suffered so much and lost so much and denied yourself so much, so that you could show us the way.
And Lord, I pray that we would fall in love with you all over again, that we’d fall in love with your way, and that you really would use our lives, and even our pain and struggle to pave the way for others to know your love. Help us to be able to stand in this narrow way, to walk this narrow road and love those who are not.
I thank you for your Spirit that you promised to fill us with to empower us to walk in this way. I thank you for your blood which cleanses us each and every time we fall or fail. I really pray that we would be people that can find your way. And I pray that this would be a church that has so many rewards in heaven because of each and every sacrifice they make here. We really believe that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you, so help us keep seeking you.
I pray for those who are battling, Lord, those who are really mourning, poor in spirit, because of internal struggles or external struggles, Lord. I pray that you would really help them get to a place where they can just trust you and take you at your word, and you would hold them, Lord, and you would go with them and you’d lead them to life, Lord.
For those who have been away for a long time but know they need to come back right now, Lord, I pray that they would know that you are a Father who receives them with a robe and a ring, and they can come back any time. We love you, Jesus. We thank you for your word. Amen.

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Guest User 11/15/20 Guest User 11/15/20

The Power and Potential of Unity

I’m going to ask you four questions that are going to be answered in this message. The first one: If you had one last prayer to pray, what would it be? If you had one strategy to reach the world, what would it be? If you could give any gift to everyone you love, what would it be? And if you could protect people you love from any two things, what would they be?

Series: John

John 17 - Mark Buckley

We’re going to look at how Jesus answered those questions. Let’s pray together.

Father, I pray that you’ll help me to speak your word clearly and boldly. And let your Holy Spirit make this word come alive, that we could be set free by the truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Okay. We’re going to go right into John 17:20 and 21, looking at the strategy that Jesus has for revealing himself to the world.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

There are all kinds of evangelistic initiatives that all kinds of believers do throughout the world. And most of them are the most well-intentioned you could imagine. Many of them have measures of success. But the strategy Jesus gives us is laid out here in verse 21. He’s praying that we would be one with the Father, that he would be in us, and we would be one with the Father, and that we would be one with each other.

I’m involved in five different groups that meet every month. I’m involved in a John 17 group with people literally from all over the world. There was one girl in it recently from Lebanon. They were rebuilding houses after the major explosion in Beirut. There are Catholic bishops in the group. There are regular old guys like me.

I’m involved in a group called Grace Association where we have been, for over twenty-five years, uniting churches here in the Valley to work together, to build and strengthen leaders. We’re involved in Pastor in Covenant groups where we meet every month, open our hearts, talk and pray, and share our lives. I’m in a Zoom group with United Pastors of Arizona, which are large church pastors from all over the Valley. I serve them as a consultant and an encourager. I also have a Zoom group with guys that I’ve worked with for the last forty-nine years from Washington, California and Arizona.

The purpose of all of those is to fulfill what Jesus said. His prayer for us has two aspects: that we would be one with the Father, and that we would be one with each other. If we’re close to the Father, then people can sense the reality that God is in us. They might not understand why, that there’s something different about us. They may not recognize it’s the Lord all the time, but they can sense the difference. They can sense the grace.

Then, if we’re together, if we can appreciate one another, if we can celebrate the diversity in the various parts of the Body of Christ—rather than judge each other because some people have preferences for communion one way, and others take it another way; some people have preferences for worship one way, others worship in a slightly different way—rather than judge each other for the preferences, we celebrate each other.

One of the things I’ve learned from all of these groups that I’ve participated in, I’ve learned that our God is a big, big God. I’ve learned that his grace is manifested in every single part of the Body of Christ, that every part of the Body of Christ has a treasure. If I can receive from that treasure, if I can learn from those people, then my walk with God is enriched.

Let’s go to the first verse. John 17:1:

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

May you shine a light on your Son, and may your Son shine a light on you.

2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

So Jesus is saying, “I’ve got authority over all people.” And how is he going to use this authority? To give us a gift. What’s the gift? The gift of eternal life. What is eternal life? Eternal life is the knowledge of God.

He could have given his disciples anything. He could have given them a treasure in gold. He could have given them castles on hillsides. He could have given them anything on earth, and he chose to give them eternal life. Because, when you know the only true God, you can be secure in his love for you. He has made you unique. He has made you special. He has given you everything you need in Christ. And what he has given you enables you to overcome fear, anxiety, and depression and enables you to understand the meaning and purpose of your life,

In spite of the fact that you fall, he lifts you up. In spite of the fact that you sin, his Son died on the cross to forgive us for our sins. In spite of the fact that we don’t know everything, he has linked us together with others who do have knowledge, understanding and wisdom; and we can share together and grow.

It says the fullness of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. So when we discover the treasure in Jesus, not just individually, but the treasure in Jesus in his Body, then we have the fullness of wisdom and knowledge.

Being in unity with people is a challenge. I’ve been married for forty-seven years. In a very real way, when a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves unto his wife—as it says in Genesis—the two become one. You become united in a sexual union, you become united as one. You’re flip sides of the same coin. And God doesn’t look at you like you’re more spiritual than your spouse. He looks at you as one.

Yet, my wife has got problems. I’m one of her problems. Another problem is she likes Country music and I don’t know why, but she does. When I get in her car and I happen to turn on the ignition and the radio goes on, I realize she has never left that plague. It’s still there. So I quickly change the dial. Another thing she has learned to do over the years, when we go to a Thai restaurant, she orders super, super hot, number five on the scale of one to five. Because she is married to a guy who will steal off her plate whatever she hasn’t quickly eaten. And when she brings something home and puts it in one of those little white containers, it disappears before she has time to eat it for lunch—unless it’s super, super hot.

But, in spite of the fact that we don’t always have the same taste in food or in music, we really do love each other. We really do enjoy life together. We do not major on the minor preferential distinctions in our marriage. Whether she votes for somebody else, or she has a different way of enjoying her Sabbath day than I do, we give each other freedom. We give each other honor. We try and encourage one another and bless one another and celebrate each other. We don’t try to control each other. I don’t try to form her into a little masculine mini-me, if you know what I mean. I want her to be all that God has created her to be in her feminine glory.

I believe that one of the great challenges that we face in our friendships, we face in our businesses, we face in the church, we face in our nation, is how do we celebrate our differences. How can we honor one another even when we don’t always see things the same way. We’re not designed to always see things the same way. We’re not designed to be a one-party nation, to be a one-perspective people. We represent a multi-faceted God.

So Jesus prayed. He gave them the gift of eternal life. Verse 4:

4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

It’s interesting. All the things Jesus could have kept doing, but he knew his work was finished. Some of us think our work is never finished.

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

He gave them his words. The word of life. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to forgive so we don’t get stuck and hung up on the problems of the past. He taught us how to love. He commanded us to love so that we’d build relationships that will enrich our lives forever. He taught us how to give so that we, in our generosity, can use what God’s given us to build and bless others and he can pour more into our lives.

9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

This is really interesting. Jesus says to the Father, “Everything you’ve got.” The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. All the people and all the land belong to Him.

One of the first unity meetings I ever went to, I met a guy named Lee Balderelli. He gave me his business card and he said, “If you ever want to come up to Incline Village by Lake Tahoe and have a place for your family, feel free to give me a call.”

Well, I kept that little business card and I thought, Do I dare call him? And sure enough, as it got close to summertime, I called him and I said, “Mr. Balderelli, is it possible that your condo at Incline Village is available?”

He said, “Sure. Come on up. How long do you want it?”

So we went up there for two weeks. Even though I was a poor pastor with three little kids, we were able to have the most awesome vacation. And we went up there year after year until we finally moved to Phoenix. Because, at this unity meeting, God wanted to show me, “You know what? I’ve got everything. And when you meet with my people, when you meet with parts of the body of Christ that you’re not even familiar with, I’ve got a gift in them that I’m going to give to you.”

Since that time, I’ve not only gone to Incline Village, but to churches and places to preach all over the world. I’ve been to the Vatican to meet the Pope. I’ve been able to make acquaintances with people all over that have enriched my life.

When I came to Arizona and I was struggling because I felt like God had not answered my prayer, I was one of the Garth Brooks kind of thing, “Thank God for Unanswered Prayer.” I prayed that I would never have to move here. And I did. Our son had asthma. He wasn’t getting healed, so we had to come here to give him a new life. And I was down. I went to a pastors’ prayer summit and, at that pastors’ prayer summit, the guys all started praying. They started worshiping. And as they prayed and as they worshiped, something happened in my spirit. Grace began to come into me. My mind still said, Hey, you don’t know what you’re doing here. But my spirit began to say, Yes, these are my brothers and they love me and they’re lifting me and they don’t even know how much I need them. But I really, really need them.

What happens sometimes to us is that we go through times of discouragement. This is a time in our nation, right now, where people are stressed over COVID, they’re stressed over the election and, because they’re stressed and their friends are stressed and their families are stressed, people’s tempers are short and they are reacting against each other. As a consequence, our normal trials are magnified. If the Lord allows you to taste depression, discouragement or anxiety in this season, it’s not just about you. It’s because he is going to comfort you. He’s going to give you understanding. He’s going to give you grace. Because there are people out there who need Jesus.

There are people out there more discouraged than you’ve ever been. You’ve just tasted something, but they have had the whole meal. And you are called by God to lift them. If you will lift people when they’re down, they will never forget it. Invest in people when they are at their low point. If somebody is broke, that’s the time to give to them. If they’re hurting, that’s the time to take them out and do something with them. If they’re depressed, call them up. Show your love to them and they will remember for the rest of their life who showed up when they really needed them.

Verse 11:

11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Protect them. He’s praying for protection. If you were going to protect people from any two things, I asked, what would they be? Here’s the first one. Protect them in order that they may be one. Protect them from division. Protect them from disunity. Protect them from the human tendency to get so frustrated with each other that they just push each other out of their lives. Because the consequences of disunity are very serious. It weakens us. It hurts us. There’s time when the Church has to exercise judgment if people are participating in evil deeds and they refuse to repent. That’s a different story. But “Protect them, Father, by the power of your name.”

It’s the name of Jesus that protects us. The name of Jesus represents to us the priorities of God. It’s not worth us being divided if something is not a top priority to our God and Father. The consequences of division in Christian circles, Paul says this, “Forgive such a one because we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” Satan wants to divide in order to frustrate, condemn and drive people into a place fruitlessness.

12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Only Judas fell away, as long as Jesus was there. When he was there, when they began to squabble over who was the greatest, or who would sit at the right hand of at the Lord in his kingdom, he would just quiet them right down.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

Jesus is praying this whole prayer for us, so that we could have his joy. You know, our God is aware of all the sad things happening in the world. And there are a lot of sad things. And when we hear the news about what’s happening when there are horrible things, it makes us sad. But in spite of all the sadness that he was aware of, Jesus had joy. He was not discouraged. And he wants us to have his joy.

On our Zoom call the other day with these pastors that I’ve worked with for many, many years, we were laughing. We were laughing about what I used to do foolishly when we would argue. In the early days, in the seventies, I would tell the pastors, “You’ve got to wear a tie to church.” Some of these guys were ex-hippies and sort of still hippies, and they didn’t want to wear a tie. And I would force them to wear a tie. And the worship leader would break his guitar strings every week, and I would literally say, “I’ll give you a bonus in your check if you can go a month without breaking a guitar string.” And he never could. And they were all laughing at me on the Zoom call. We were enjoying the fact that God has helped us to grow up over the years and get over some of our little things that we thought were so important—especially guys like me. Sometimes leaders major on minors, and it causes grief to everybody that they’re working with. One of the great treasure of life is to have friendships that last years and years.

14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Jesus prayed that we would stay one, that we’d be delivered from disunity, and now he’s praying that we would be protected from the evil one. When believers are not protected from the evil one, they can get caught up in horrible things.

In the Civil War, there were born-again believers on both sides, trying to kill each other. In World War I, they literally stopped the battle one year on Christmas Eve. There were soldiers on one side of the trenches singing Silent Night in French, and on the other side, singing Silent Night in German. And when they realized that, they came together and sang together over No Man’s Land. And then the next day they went back to killing each other. What does that say? What that says is that somehow the evil one had so worked in those nations that they were warring because they thought one another were so wicked that they were willing to lay down their lives.

Jesus prayed that we would be protected from that. And that means that we have to have the kingdom of God as our highest value. It has to be more important than our political party. It has to be more important than nationalism. It has to be our highest value. Because we’re being tested right now. Sometimes we fail the test because we get so frustrated, right? “If only people would see things my way, we’d all be just fine.”

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus was sanctified. That means he was set apart. We get set apart by the word of God. The word of God makes us a little different. It does. We think a little different than the world. We have different values, different priorities. And we have to be so secure in Christ that we’re not going to conform ourselves to the world, but we’re going to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then we’ll know what the will of God is. You know what the will of God is when you’re renewed in your mind by the word.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

You know, in a marriage, you’re going to teach your kids a lot of things that are your values and your priorities. But the most powerful way that you’re going to teach them is how a husband loves his wife, and how a wife loves her husband. You’re not going to teach them with your words. You’re going to teach them with your lifestyle. You’re going to demonstrate to them what your real values are. If you are unity, if you can enjoy life together, then they’re going to want to have a marriage like yours.

The most powerful thing that can happen in a church is if we’re really in love with each other here, if we really are committed to each other long term. And that means that, just like in a marriage, there are times when we’re going to have to forgive each other. There are times when we’re going to have to put up with each other. There are times when we’re gong to have to yield to each other. There are times when it’s not going to be your way.

I had one of the neatest things happen to me a couple of weeks ago. If you go back sixteen years ago, my first grandchild was born. Our granddaughter came into the world, and my daughter wasn’t married when she had this baby. And the natural father went to war against my daughter and our family for control of the baby. For the first time in our marriage, we were divided.

We were divided because I had one strategy for dealing with this guy, and my wife and daughter had another strategy and it got really ugly. It got ugly because he was taking us to court and the police were showing up at our house. And we had to figure out how we were going to respond to his attacks. And it got ugly because we weren’t in unity at home. The only way we came into unity is when I decided I’d better just die to myself. I’d better just give up trying to make this response to him my way, and we’re going to trust God, because the unity of our marriage, the unity of our family was more important than whether I was right, or whether I could play the card of being the head of at the house.

What happened two weeks ago was that my granddaughter’s dad, the guy we were at war with, sent me a picture of his ballot. He did a write in. He wrote my name in, not for president, but for senator. It just blessed so much. I never knew how it would feel to get a vote. It was my first vote in my life. You’re not actually supposed to show pictures of your ballot to somebody, but he did it to bless me. He takes my granddaughter to church. Every Sunday she’s not here she’s at church with him somewhere. He’s over at our house for dinner all the time. He’s a wonderful dad. Still a single guy and we love him and we pray for him. He joins us at all kinds of occasions. It went from a hellish battle to the kind of unity that I’m just so pleased with, and so thankful for.

The reason we’ve got that blessing is because Jesus said that unity was his priority. Not me as the head of the house being right. Not me punishing my daughter because she didn’t obey my instructions as to how to live her life. Not me doing anything other than to say, “Jesus, okay. This is our life. This is the way it’s come out. This isn’t what I wanted. But I’ve got to keep trusting you. I’ve got to keep following you. You’re the one who has eternal life. You’re the one who gives the gift. You’re the one who can protect us from the evil on.” Amen? Amen.

Last two verses:

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

He said, “I’ve got one more gift for you. I’ve got one more thing that’s going to help you have unity with the Father, and unity with one another that’s going to enrich your life. I’m going to give them my glory. Father, I pray that you will give them my glory.” The glory that was upon him for being the perfect Son. The glory that came upon him when the Father said, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” The glory that was upon him that allowed him to heal the sick. The glory that allowed him to teach words of eternal life. The glory that allowed him to multiply the bread and the wine and the whatever was needed. The glory that was on him, we get to share.

Wow. We don’t deserve it. But we get it. And don’t ever deny it. Welcome it. You’ve got a gift from God. You’ve got a treasure. You have value. It’s because Jesus is alive in you. And that reality allows people to discover that he is actually the one that was sent from God to do it for them too.

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