Matthew 5:1-3
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. First impressions matter, for good and bad. They determine the direction a first conversation could head in - “is it pleasant or frustrating to talk to Susie?” They can lead you to form an opinion of someone - “do I enjoy Joseph a lot, or a little?” They can even dictate whether a person wants to continue a relationship - “you know I wouldn’t be too upset if I didn’t rub shoulders with this Sally again.” We’ve all done this in some form or fashion (so don’t judge me!) - We often go to great lengths to set ourselves up for a great first impression when we have the opportunity, because we know they are important. First impressions set the tone for things that will come next. I see the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus’s first impression in the Gospels and we can learn a lot about him from it. What is he about? What is he not about? Do I want to exchange pleasantries with him? Do I want to continue rubbing shoulders with him? All of this just from this introduction he gives. To set the scene Jesus has just begun his ministry. In the previous chapter he has called his disciples, began teaching in synagogues, and started healing diseases. We see these actions have gained him a bit of notoriety, and news about him is starting to spread. Large and diverse crowds, we see in chapter 4, are coming to get a glimpse of who Jesus is: from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan- many of these groups would never interact in any other circumstance. Jesus then calls his disciples forward to teach them something - “hey, here are the basic tenets of my theology.” ...and in an opening message he proclaims: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’s ministry was fairly short, only 3 years. He had to be intentional and impactful with his words. This initial statement was an interesting way to start off, and sets quite the first impression. We will eventually see as we continue the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus often subverts the expectations of his listeners. Anyone who may have been part of this audience of disciples in Matthew 5, and even us here today probably have or have had preconceived notions of what God is looking for us to do, or how God is looking for us to live. But Jesus seems to flip things upside down a bit. Who here today aspires to be “poor in spirit?” Or who here today thinks that being poor in spirit sounds like a desirable state to fall into? If you think about it from a worldly perspective, being poor in anything is probably not what you want. Yet Jesus presents a radically different agenda than what’s expected, setting forth that both the nature and aspirations of citizens of His kingdom will be different. Over the next few weeks as we continue through Matthew be prepared to have Jesus flip the script on what you expect. Even if this is your 50th time going through the Beatitudes or your first time ever hearing that word, there is a lot for you to discover - and I hope you are encouraged and strengthened by these incredible words of Christ. But remember it all starts with this first impression: If you wish to find yourself in God’s favor, you must come from a position of need, and that’s the only way this relationship will work… Once your foundation has been laid there, the kingdom begins, and the blessings follow.
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Ephesians 6:10-20
The full armor of God contains six pieces that we are called to put on. Why do we even need armor and protection? Well, life is a war and we are soldiers who need to put on our battle gear. As pastor Mark Driscoll reminded me, we need to sleep in our boots cause the enemy never sleeps...and we all have an enemy who seeks to destroy us. What did Paul do when he was faced with the enemy? He turned to God and prayed! God reminds us that we aren’t alone. Prayer is our way of radioing in to headquarters to ask the Commander In Chief for help and to let Him take over. God doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed, anxious, or fearful, which is why He put in the Bible 365 times, one per day, ‘do not be afraid.’ Instead of being fearful, anxious, or overwhelmed, we can be alert and pray in the Spirit. The Gospel is a mystery, but God’s given us the key to unlock this mystery through His Holy Spirit. So let’s unlock it and dive deeper into those six pieces of battle armor we’re to put on. 1. Belt of Truth (v. 14) • Belt • A strip of leather or other material to support clothes or carry weapons (think of soldiers) • A sign of rank or achievement (think of sports like karate) • A strip or encircling band of something having a specified nature or composition different from its surroundings • How often is the truth different in a world full of lies? • The truth helps us carry weapons (God’s Word), allows others to trust us so God can raise us in ranks and achievements, and lets us stand out from all the lies this fallen world is filled with 2. Breastplate of Righteousness (v. 14) • Breastplate • Defensive armor (think of soldiers) • A vestment worn by a Jewish high priest with 12 gems for the 12 tribes of Israel • What do you do with a breastplate? You keep it close to the heart to protect the heart just like Solomon reminds us to guard our hearts in Proverbs 4:23 • The more we pursue righteousness (acting in accord with moral law or being free from guilt and sin), the more we protect our hearts from the pain of guilt and sin as God washes us clean and makes us new 3. Gospel of Peace on the feet (v. 15) • Feet • Infantry (foot soldiers) • The base or bottom • To cover a distance • The Gospel is what holds everything together, it’s the foundation of our faith just like through Jesus, the Gospel bridges the gap between God and man so it covers the distance between two former enemies peacefully 4. Shield of Faith (v. 16) • Shield • A piece of metal used a protection against blows and missiles • Displays a coat of arms • Protests from danger, risk, or unpleasant experiences • Faith • Taking the next step without seeing the whole staircase • COMPLETE confidence and trust • The thesaurus even says good relationships are built on trust so just a side note that a good relationship with God is built on trusting Him :) • What does the enemy hate and constantly attack? OUR FAITH • Why? Because with God, our mustard-seed sized faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20) So the shield of faith is beautiful and shows who we are as a child of God with that coat of arms. It also shows us what will be hit the hardest (our faith) as we grow in our faith and learn to trust God and lean on Him every day 5. Helmet of Salvation (v. 17) • Helmet • A hard or protective padded hat • A predatory mollusk in tropical and temperate seas that eats sea urchins (I didn’t know that beforehand) • Salvation • Deliverance from harm (think of sin and all its consequences) • The logical part of ourselves won’t always understand Jesus as He is unfathomable because He’s God and we’re human. That’s when and where the enemy will try and distort truth, which is why we must wear protection on our heads to protect our minds from the lies from the enemy, our flesh, and the world 6. Sword of the Spirit (v. 17) • Sword • A weapon with a long metal blade used for thrusting and striking • Military power, violence, or destruction • God’s words spoke creation into existence. That means God’s words are sharper than a double-edged sword, they divide the soul and spirit, joint and marrow, they judge the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12) • This reminds us that God’s Word, the Bible, is OUR MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN BATTLE. It’s why we must be in His Word consistently! At the end of the day, whether you realize it or not, we have three enemies - Satan, our flesh, and the world. So you can go through the day acting as if these enemies aren’t real or you can put on your armor and fight back. Will it be easy? No, it won’t. Will it be worth it? Absolutely. Why? Because Jesus has already won the war. No matter what happens on that battlefield, we’re already victorious through Jesus’ death and resurrection. That doesn’t give us an excuse to not fight, it means we can fight with God’s power and strength knowing we’re bringing home the W. I don’t know about you, but that certainly gives me that extra power up that I need to keep fighting and fighting well. :) How will you suit up and fight today? With the armor of God or with the armor of man? David chose a slingshot and five stones yet, with God’s armor, He brought down the giant. Man’s armor has chinks and holes, God’s armor stands all the flaming arrows and the test of time. We’re fighting against evil in this world and in the heavenly realms, but even in chains just like Paul was when he wrote this letter to the Ephesians, we can fight with the full armor of God on. So let’s pick up our belt, breastplate, feet, shield, helmet, and sword, and be victorious through God and His mighty power because God is love (1 John 4:8) and love conquers all and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Submission and obedience are woven throughout scripture, yet freedom and choice are seemingly opposite things we desire; how can these things coincide? Ephesians 6:1-9 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. Last night I watched a clip from Braveheart on youtube. I’ve actually never seen the movie, but here I was watching what I believe is one of the more iconic scenes not just from that movie, but from movies in general. In the scene, Mel Gibson is riding on a horse, wearing blue face paint and yelling in a Scotish accent. There is a relatively large crowd of men in what appears to be a last stand of sorts. Again, I literally have no idea what’s taken place until this point, but I’m assuming there has been some level of oppression, and Mel Gibson and team are fighting for autonomy or independence. At the end of the scene Mel Gibson says something to the effect of, “they can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!” Then everyone cheers. I don’t know if I’m interested enough in that clip to be convinced of watching the full Braveheart movie, but there is something about that line that resonates with me, and I’m assuming resonates with people who live in 21st century America. The ability, and even the right to act, or speak, or think without hindrance is ingrained in this country’s DNA. It has been literally fought for, and died for because without a doubt freedom is a good thing. It is good to be able to choose… All that said, themes of submission and obedience are woven throughout scripture (I will use these two words interchangeably today). Here at the closing thoughts of the letter to the Ephesians we see what many might call the most controversial commands Paul gives: Wives submit to your husbands. Husbands love your wives. Children obey your parents. Slaves obey your masters. (Even the “husbands love your wives” command becomes a much harder pill to swallow once you realize he means unto death). My guess is that there are a lot of people in this room, or people who may be reading this in the future who are not really onboard with the idea of submission or obedience. Google has this cool feature where they calculate the frequency with which words have been used throughout the course of history. When I googled “obedience” there is almost a comical drop in the use of the word in the past two hundreds of years- it's like everyone watched Independence Day & Braveheart at the same time, and humanity never looked back! I think it’s safe to say at some level, we all struggle with practicing these. At some level, most people have a desire, and sometimes an obsession with control and choice. Full transparency: I’m a life-long VIP member of this club. I often feel so restricted and limited when I am asked to surrender my freedom to someone else, and to be obedient to someone else as is the call in Ephesians 6. As you can imagine, this is very problematic when it comes to all things faith. The solution lies in adjusting two things- 1. The posture of our hearts 2. Our perspective submission What do I mean by posture of the heart? I mean “Do you have an unsubmissive heart, or a submissive one? If you’re like me, the answer is often times, “unsubmissive.” But this isn’t just because I’m a child of rebellion- often times it’s because I just want to control things in such a way that I’m safe or comfortable. Relinquishing control would mean entrusting my own well-being, and my own my own desires to someone else. This feels like a dangerous choice, and not for my own good. But when we start to believe that the character of God is good- And when we start to believe He’s in the business of pouring out blessings, sometimes so much blessings that our own storehouse won’t have room enough to contain it, this will have a big impact on us. This transforms our relationships: wives, husbands, slave or free. Everything changes. It means we don’t have to withhold anything from each other in fear of not receiving what we need. Not our time, not our energy, not our resources. We don’t have to withhold our trust or our commitments. If God is dishing out blessings, we don’t have to hold onto anything too tightly. We can give, and love, and serve each other freely. This naturally adjusts our perspective submission. There can now be “freedom” in submission. What do I mean by this? Let me give you a half-baked example: if you ever get a chance to play poker with my (and there’s hypothetical units of money at stake) you get to witness what some of my friends call a reckless abandon in my tactics. This is because I understand when I’m playing, my perspective is “hey, I have nothing to lose,” (except what I’ve already put in - but I never think about that). This “frees” me not to worry about making mistakes or mulling heavily over my next move. It actually makes me a terrible poker player, but I play with freedom! If the reason we will not willingly submit is tied to a fear losing something, or we will not have enough of what we need, we won’t be able to submit well. However if we begin to trust in God we can submit out of a position of strength instead of a position of need. If we trust we will have everything we need because of the Lord’s provision, now we can be obedient and submit. I guess this brings us to probably the most important aspect of Ephesians 6 - Why should we submit? Paul provides several reasons of why we should submit: 1. “So that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” 2. As slaves of Christ in submitting we are literally “doing the will of God 3. “That the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do” All of these are great motivators in our journey of faith. Submission also ultimately brings unity and peace into our lives as we look to benefit others instead of holding out for ourselves. As we go out this week, learning to submit and having a submissive heart will bring us closer to others as well as closer to God. |
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