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Blueprint, Part 1

Blueprint
Matthew 5:3

Today, we come to the second Beatitude in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain found in Matthew chapter 5. As we discussed last week, Jesus and his team drew a great crowd of people seeking to be healed of every kind of illness. Following this time of healing, the people gathered to hear what Jesus would teach. As Jesus drew up a ways on the mountain, more of the great crowd could see and hear him better. We comes to the second Beatitude or the second thing that Jesus links to happiness in Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Happy are they that mourn, indeed they are the only ones who discover lasting happiness. If we turn to the parallel passage in Luke 6, we find it is put even more strikingly because the negative is employed. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh…Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:21, 25) At first glance it appears that Jesus is condemning laughter and joy during this life and advocating a spirit of mourning and weeping. Is that what you have been taught throughout your years in church? But for the rare exceptions of persons, this mourning is what I see in many of my fellow believing brothers and sisters. Does Jesus really want us to cry and not laugh throughout this life?

Billy Bray: Permit me to introduce you to a man named Billy Bray. Before his salvation, Billy was a drunken, reckless miner; but after giving his life to Christ, Billy became such a burning, shining light for Christ that his name is now known all over the world. Billy Bray was born in 1794 in Cornwall, England. His grandfather had joined a church under the teaching of John Wesley. Billy lived with his grandfather until he was 17 and then moved where he lived a very wicked and sinful life. After Bill had sought salvation for a long time, the Devil strongly tempted him to believe that he would never find mercy and comfort. You are a liar, Devil, said Billy and as soon as he said that, he felt the weight gone from his mind and he could praise the Lord. In 1823 at the age of 29 years old, Billy said, “In an instant the Lord made me so happy that I cannot express what I felt. I shouted for joy.” Billy came to be known for his happy, joy-filled dancing and shouting to and from everywhere he went. Billy said, “as I go along the street, I lift up one foot, and it seems to say, ‘Glory!’ and I lift up the other, and it seems to say, ‘Amen’” Even when there was a death in his family, Billy jumped around the room with joy exclaiming, ‘Bless the Lord! My dear Joey has gone up with the bright ones! My dear Joey has gone up with the shining angels! Glory! Glory!” Many tried to criticize Billy for his dancing and shouting, Billy said, “they said I was a madman, but they meant I was a glad man.”

Happiness: Happiness is the great question confronting humankind. The whole world is longing for happiness and it is tragic to observe the ways in which people are seeking it. The vast majority is seeking it from the outside in; that is, they do things, go places, purchase things in the hope that it will provide a circumstance of happiness at least for a while…then they do or buy the next thing for a dose of more happiness. In the Sermon on the Mountain, Jesus is telling us that happiness is available to all but only from the inside out. Jesus is telling us that the kingdom reigns inside of us, so how do we experience that kingdom to also realize this joy the king is offering? Despite the fact that both Christians and non-Christians want happiness, Jesus only offers blessedness, happiness to the Christian. How is it that the spiritual zeroes, the spiritually bankrupt and the weepers, mourners discover incredible, genuine, true happiness? As you recall, the word blessed literally means happiness. The Latin term for happiness is beatitudo. The word blessed in the original Greek refers to the highest type of well-being possible for humans. Last week we discovered that happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This week we discover the 2nd group of happy people. Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Beatitudes: Is Jesus saying the kingdom of happiness is available if you become poorer in spirit, more mournful, meeker, or more spiritually hungry? Last week we concluded that Jesus was not telling us to become a spiritual zero or a weeper and mourner. Instead, Jesus looked out into the crowd and identified a person who would be considered a spiritual zero and said the kingdom is open to you; then he pointed out a person who was continuously mourning and told them they would be comforted in the kingdom. This was not a call to become like them, but it was Jesus’ open invitation to any and all that the kingdom was available and that no one was beyond hope. Today, I would like for you to see this great truth: Jesus is not calling us to become poorer in spirit or mourn more, instead Jesus is calling us to wake up and realize that we already are spiritually bankrupt, we are already mournful, wake up and realize we are meek and spiritually desperate for more. These qualifications of the kingdom are not attainable but realizable. Jesus is calling us to realize that we are this way already. Here is the great news - for all of us who realize these truths about ourselves and we stop trying to hide them and minimize our great need then you are invited into the kingdom.

Let’s first consider who is not extended an invitation into the kingdom. Jesus never said everyone was in the kingdom; in fact, Jesus set aside many and said they were not part of the kingdom. Even it they put on an air of happiness outwardly, they still were spiritually bankrupt, they were mourners and they hungered for more but because they would not realize these truths about themselves and they would hide and minimize these truths so others would not see it, Jesus’ kingdom was not available. Matthew 9:10-13 “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Only those who realize that they are sick go to the doctor and do what the doctor says. But, those who don’t think they are sick will not go to the doctor and even if the doctor told them to do something for their benefit they will not do it because they do not believe they need the doctor’s help. The spiritually bankrupt, the meek, the spiritually hungry are looking and wanting and willing to make some decisions and life change; they are looking for a leader, a shepherd, a king who will help them. But for people who won’t realize the truth about themselves, Jesus and his kingdom is not available.

Although all the conditions of people are the same – that we are all spiritually bankrupt, we all have reason to mourn, we are all meek in the face of God’s awesomeness – only the people who awaken and realize their desperate condition will heed the spiritual doctor’s advice. The people who downplay or ignore their sickness will not go to the doctor. The Pharisees, the religious elite, the rich and well off, and many others never saw themselves as spiritually sick, or spiritually poor, or spiritual weak and pitiful, so they had no interest in Jesus – the spiritual doctor for all their spiritual health illnesses. Instead, they said why would Jesus spend time with such terrible and pitiful people. They saw the maimed, the lepers, the prostitutes, the poor, and the needy as the weaklings and dregs of society; but, Jesus saw them as kingdom citizens because the kingdom is open and available to everyone who sees that they are spiritually sick and in need of Jesus’ spiritual health advice.

So, what is Jesus telling us to do – nothing! Jesus is telling us to simply wake up and realize that our spiritual sickness is much worse than our world will let us believe. Our world’s prescription is to cover up the symptoms of our sickness and to hide our spiritual sickness from others. If we cannot hide it, then we are told at least minimize it. Although God calls for people to be real, genuine, reveal who we are in our greatest need, we do our best to cover up our weaknesses, our frailties, all those things that the world makes fun of or looks down upon. We fight it, we deny it but God says embrace these realities – you are poor in spirit, you are mourning, you are meek, you do hunger and thirst for something better, and you are persecuted. Jesus embraces those who see the truth about themselves.

See the needier we come before God, the more glory God receives. But, the more we cover up our need, or downplay it, minimize it before others the less glory God receives. That is why God often will make a situation so incredibly desperate before He reveals himself so that everyone will see he is the rescuer, not us. We don’t need God just a little, but we need God a lot. We should be aware of our limitations and embrace them, for God loves to help us not just a little but a lot. We don’t need to try to be the beatitudes, we simply need to awaken, open our eyes and realize in greater and greater ways that we are that person. Once we are given the grace to do that and run to God who is the only one to run to, the Kingdom is available. God is glorified. We need to stop pretending that we are not poor, meek, and mourning. God does not want sin to ruin your life and your relationship with him, instead he wants us to see that the power of sin is overcome not by our strength but in our weakness because only in our weakness do we run to our God. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Non-Christians do not think they share the qualities of the beatitudes – poor, hungry, meek, mourning – why…because they compare themselves to other people. We can always find someone who is worse off than us; this helps us feel better about ourselves. We say, see we are that bad because that guy is really bad. We can continue pretending that we are not the dregs of society even though every one of us qualifies to be in the dregs. Every person who takes the time to see themselves in light of God’s holiness will soon realize that they are exactly the characteristics discussed – hungry, thirsty, spiritually bankrupt, mourning and meek.

Let me show you this more specifically through the 2nd Beatitude: Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Who are the mourning? They are the ones who experience rejection from a boyfriend/girlfriend, are abandoned by a spouse, those in the midst of terrible depression over the death of a loved one…there are many things that can break our hearts. Yet, Jesus said that these people like you and me can find a spot in the kingdom of God. As the ones who weep enter and find their way in the kingdom, they find comfort and tears turn to laughter. Billy Bray’s drunkenness and debauchery turned into joy-filled dancing and shouting.

Non-Christians view Jesus’ statement as utterly ridiculous – happy are those who mourn. The world continuously tries to shun mourning. The world believes that mourning is something to avoid, to minimize, to ignore. The philosophy of the world is to forget your troubles, turn your back on them, and do everything you can not to fact them. The world is always running from one thing to another thing; we enjoy one relationship with a person until there are troubles then we run to a different person. But, God says embrace the troubles, and embrace the mourning for you will find true happiness when you fully embrace all that troubles you and run to God for help.

Now, here is a great application – if you would like to make a difference for Jesus, if you would like to invite people to the kingdom then you do it primarily through your life. Your life can attract non-Christians by deliberately having an appearance of brightness, joy, and happiness. The world would hear me and say we have to put on happiness or always find something to be happy about. Instead, the kingdom happiness comes from the inside out. Again, we are not talking about superficiality, or glibness. We are not telling you to appear to be something that you are not. Instead, to be an effective disciple of Jesus you must discover your joy and happiness within the kingdom – that is within yourself, your spiritual being, from the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. If God is living in you, you have infinite access to God’s happiness.

But how? It sounds mystical – happiness comes from God within us, this kingdom that reigns within us? Yet, it is understandable, we can wrap our minds around God’s process for turning our mourning into laughter and happiness and joy.

What would make us mourn? Our spiritual bankruptcy, being spiritually destitute, for it is this that separates us from God. But, what would make us happy? The good news – Jesus did everything necessary for us to take us from spiritual zeroes to spiritually rich. But, after salvation what is there to mourn? Our sinfulness continues, our weak flesh remains, our moral and ethical failures raise their ugly heads. We have to fully embrace the negative before we discover happiness. We have to embrace poorness in spirit before we can be filled with the Spirit. Negative before positive. Conviction must precede conversion. Mourning must precede happiness. Those who truly want joy apart from conviction of sin will never find joy. Those who are going to be converted and who wish to be truly happy are they who first mourn. You need not do anything but awaken and realize your current sinfulness. We mourn over how sin convicts us that we are spiritually bankrupt. I see myself as utterly helpless and hopeless. We mourn over our sins.

But, the mourners will find comfort and happiness: We find happiness in mourning 1st through a constant reality of our salvation. Remember the happiness and joy you first experienced at your salvation that God in heaven could forgive a sinner like you. We find happiness in mourning 2nd through the continual grace of God’s forgiveness for our sin. When we find ourselves guilty of sin, this should make us mourn for we have attacked the glory of God; some say it is action similar to a spike being driven into our Savior. It is our sin that caused Jesus to be crucified. This mourning drives us back to Christ seeking His forgiveness, we immediately find peace and the happiness returns and we are comforted. We who mourn will always find God’s comfort and His comfort produces from within us happiness. We find happiness in mourning 3rd through the anticipation of the blessed hope. The apostle Paul explains that we groan inwardly, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed. Yes we mourn often, but we also know there is a glory coming. We know a day will dawn that Christ will return, and sin will be banished from the earth. There will be new heavens and a new earth where the righteous will reign. O blessed hope! Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Sorrow and sighing shall be no more; all tears shall be wiped away and we will experience bliss, happiness and glory unmixed with sorrow and pain. The mere anticipation of this incredible promise is enough to turn many of us experiencing sorrows and mourning toward a renewed joy.

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