Morning Message Text: Matthew 5: 3-11
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.
Morning Message:
It is the season of Lent, and today is the first Lord’s Day in Lent. I wanted to do something new and fresh this Lenten season, so I am going away from the lectionary and drawing from other sources for my inspiration. If I said to you this morning that hope is a five-letter word, how many of you would know what that word is? Raise your hand if you know. Okay, we’ll come back to this.
First let me talk to you about something that diminishes our hope and keeps others from having hope. This has happened to me on many occasions. When I am talking to someone new, and I tell them that I am a Pastor, many times, they will say they want nothing to do with religion. Most of the time, this is because they have had a bad experience with religion. What do you do when you want to witness to someone who has had a bad experience and wants nothing to do with religion? Just try talking to them about Jesus; it is amazing how God will cut through all of the bad thoughts when Jesus is the focus. Religion in and of itself is filled with hypocrisy and people representing churches who have harmed so many souls, but Jesus is the answer to all of their troubles. Have you ever tried just talking to people about your Savior?
We should try to urge people to not let the sins of others keep them from
Jesus. People hate hypocrisy. There is nothing worse than someone preaching and saying one thing and then acting and living the opposite way. Well, if you come across someone who has been hurt in the church by hypocrisy, tell them that they would get along great with Jesus. No one stood up to hypocrisy more than Jesus and it ended up getting him killed. The word hypocrite is used 17 times in the New Testament. Every time it is used by Jesus. He is the enemy of dead religion, and his words to hypocritical religious leaders were stinging when He called them whitewashed tombs, blind guides, and snakes.
Here is an example for us to think about. Imagine someone stole a stack of your business cards or other personalized items that had your name on them and went on an all-night rampage breaking into cars and businesses, destroying property, and wreaking havoc. Imagine they left your personalized items at the scene of every crime. The next day the police show up at your door and accuse you of these criminal deeds.
What would you say? Do not accuse me of things that were done in my name that I had nothing to do with! I think that’s what Jesus would say, “Don’t reject me for things that some do in my name.”
Now let’s get back to our blessed hope. From your Lenten devotional for today: “I saw these words on a church sign: ‘Hope is a five-letter word: J-E-S-U-S.’”
Those words remind us that hope is not just some abstract concept; hope is concrete truth in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus comes to guide us to the cross where we see that “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness,” as the hymn proclaims. This caused me to start thinking of all of the ways that Jesus means hope to us. This is what my mind conjured up.
J is for Justified. Because of Jesus we can be justified before a Holy God. This may not hold a lot of meaning until you stop to consider the holiness of God and the total depravity of mankind. In order to get a full sense of the hope that we now have in
Jesus we must see how hopeless we are apart from his sacrifice for us that made us acceptable to God. Because of Jesus we are now sanctified, seen as sinless before God.
E is for eternity. Because of Jesus we can look forward to eternity. Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t make us eternal, but it gave us the hope of a bright future in eternity with God. We are eternal beings. Your soul will live on after you die and leave this planet. Without Jesus, that is a very dark, horrific existence, but now we can come to Jesus and have the wonderful hope of eternity in heaven with our Savior.
S. Well, that must stand for salvation. Yes, our eternity is secured through
Jesus, but salvation means so much more. Salvation is the deliverance from the penalty of our sin. This speaks directly to the change that takes place in our thinking because of Jesus. Knowing that you are forgiven is a wonderful, freeing thought. You no longer have to live in fear because of what the world brings your way. You have hope for each day, and the confidence to live your life knowing that the Holy Spirit walks with you through every difficulty. Coming to Jesus changes your attitude from pessimistic to optimistic, and isn’t optimism the essence of hope?
U. Now this one isn’t as obvious as the others, but I believe it is very important to our feelings of hope. For me, this stands for understanding. Do you ever fall short of what you feel God expects of you? All of us sin and are in need of confession every day. It can be so easy to carry the guilt of things that we have done or left undone long after we have asked for forgiveness. Where I find wonderful hope is in the fact that Jesus walked this earth, was tempted just like us, and, even though he never gave in to sin, He understands our humanness. We can continue to hope and move forward past our shortcomings because we know our Savior understands.
S is for sanctification. To sanctify is to make holy, to purify, to consecrate. Why should that give us hope? Some wonderful day we will no longer be capable of messing up. One day when Jesus takes us home we will no longer be bound to this sinful flesh; the temptation will be gone; we will be free from Satan’s attacks; we will be made pure, and we will remain pure for eternity. It is such a wonderful hope to know that we will be free from this terrible sin that has cursed mankind since Adam and Eve.
When Jesus drew people together that day on the mountain and began to speak what became to be called the Sermon on the Mount, he didn’t just move people with words; he moved them with a living, breathing spirit of hope.
“Blessed are poor in spirit … Blessed are those who morn … Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ….” Now wherever we find ourselves in life, at the top of the world or in the dumps, we are blessed because Jesus is there. Here is the prayer from your Lenten devotional: “Dear Lord, you know me all too well.
You know me even when my heart cries out for hope in hard times. Thank you for giving me all that I need in Jesus. Amen.” When you feel hopeless in life remember the Blessed Hope: J.E.S.U.S.; you are Justified; you have Eternal life; you have been Saved from your sins; Jesus Understands you and forgives you; and one day you will be Sanctified and free from the sin that makes life so difficult.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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