Beattitudes – garyalbritton

STAY WITHIN THE LINES

December 20, 2012December 20, 2012 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

As I have been working through the Sermon on the Mount, I have been trying to step back and look at the bigger picture. It is easy to dissect and magnify words and phrases to the point we fail to step back and look at the whole and connections between different sections. Before reading the remained of this post, it would be helpful to first read ERASING THE LINES OF RELIGIOUS(osity) – SERMON ON THE MOUNT to get a little more perspective on where this post is coming from. It is kind of a part two, sort of…

So there was Ryan touching the hot plate he was told not to touch; which I am quite sure each of you has done the same at one time or another. The very next week there I was, Ryan’s dad, listening to the waitress at Barrera’s say, “the plate is extremely hot, don’t touch it,” as she sat my fish tacos right in front of me. And of course I touched it. Not real sure why we do this? Do we not believe them? Wanting to see their definition of hot? Why?

I think the bottom line is, there is a line which has been drawn. A don’t do this line! Lines create tension. Lines ALWAYS (I think) create tension. Don’t believe me. Go on YouTube and search Black Friday line jumpers (careful with the language). Want to see serious tension, cut in line on Black Friday. Or for a kindergartner trying to learn to color, there is a tension to try to stay inside the lines.

Some lines are visible. Others invisible.

Don’t touch me or I will _____________! A line? Of course.

If you’re a Cowboys fan, you know there is a constant tension for the offensive lineman to control the line of scrimmage and maybe more difficult to stay on the correct side of the line prior to the snap. Lines create tension because lines create rigidity, boundaries and structure.

Lines create an internal tension. I can’t do this. I can do this. I can touch this. I cannot look at that. I can say this but not that. However, lines can also create external tension. You can’t do this. You can’t go there. This is ok, but not that.

When it comes to religion, there is a tendency for the lines to become even more entrenched because it is something so important to people. There is the internal struggle to stay within the lines, as well as the external struggle as to how others have defined the lines and their desire to impose the lines on everyone else.

Matthew 5:21-48 ^NIV is spoken within the context of a religious system, controlled by the Pharisees and Sadducees ,who were masters at imposing lines and boundaries on others. Jesus is not drawing new and more difficult lines. He is introducing a new righteousness, not one built on a system of lines but one dependent on grace.

It is the good news, it is the gospel.

It is hope for those who get angry, for those who lust, those who are divorced, those who break their word, those who seek revenge, and those who struggle to love their enemies. But why is it hope, when we know we will fail at most of these from time to time?

Because the message is no one will ever measure up to the lines which have been created, so stop trying to. The new righteousness Jesus is announcing comes from a heart expecting to be transformed by Jesus. A heart seeking his heart, rather than trying to measure up to the lines. It is not the lines that are important; it is the condition of our heart.

Maybe we ask the wrong questions? Where is the line? How close can I get to the line without going over? Where there is a line there is tension.

What constitutes anger?

What is meant by “except for marital unfaithfulness.”

As you know people can get very passionate about these lines.

Is it possible Jesus is saying to these first followers, the religious leaders look great. They follow the laws, sort of, but they are not really righteous; their hearts are messed up. There worth and value is found in how well they measure up to, or at least look like they measure up to the lines. Yes they haven’t killed anyone, but they have still allowed their anger to get out of control. Instead, maybe our focus needs to be, how is this affecting my heart?

Jesus finishes this section with this statement…

Matthew 5:48 ^NIV

Yes we strive to be like Jesus, but we realize we are perfected by Him, because we will never perfectly measure up to the lines. So who this is righteous, because unless your righteousness surpassing the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

Matthew 5:3-12 ^NIV

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 sons 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.

YOU ARE BLESSED – IMPLICATIONS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

December 3, 2012December 4, 2012 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Last week a shared Blessed are you – Reflections from the Sermon on the Mount, and this week I wanted to follow up with a few of the possible implications. Like I said last week, much of this is still me thinking out loud and would love to hear thoughts and feedback. Understand we are on a journey, we are learning and growing. So here are a few thoughts from my journey.

After Jesus describes this new righteousness he tells his disciples that following him will not be easy…

Matthew 7:13-14^NIV
¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Growing up in a Church of Christ, I was basically taught what Jesus meant, those who are a part of the Church of Christ are on the narrow road and those outside the Church of Christ are on the wide road. Which if you take it to its logical conclusion the road then becomes the Church of Christ rather than way of Jesus. Maybe you experienced the same type of exclusivity within your faith tradition. Jesus is confronting within the Beatitudes, a religious system, which was elevated above God. Now of course they would never claim the system was above God, but truth be told, their system was their god. The synagogue, their savior. The reverence awarded them their hope. Their power, their salvation.

It is this system that beats people into the ground, convincing them they are not adequate of being with God. The system conveys to people, until you to become “righteous” like the rest of us, God will not notice you. The system portrays an impossible mountain to be scaled to sit at the feet of God. It is into this religious system which Jesus bring this “good news.” Jesus is challenging the assumption that those who look righteous and those who look like they have it all together, are the ones who are right with God.

It is into this system which Jesus offers hope and speaks with grace. Blessed are those who are beat down by the religious system, who don’t measure up, who aren’t “good enough,” for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn because of their own sinfulness, for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who don’t use positional power to assert their will, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who are truly desire loving God and loving others, for they will be filled. Blessed are those who show mercy to others, who don’t hold peoples pasts over their heads for they will receive mercy. Blessed those who seek peace and unity among other believers rather than creating more divisions, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are trying desperately to live righteous lives, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It seems for the entirety of Jesus ministry, he stood in opposition to the religious organizations of his day. Why? Because their organization valued power over people. It valued prestige over humility. It valued outward appearance over the heart. So, why do the beatitudes still matter to us in 2012, just as they did the day Jesus spoke them on the mountainside to the crowd?

Outward appearance is easy to fix, in fact we are quite good at it in our culture today. In fact our churches are filled with people who look amazing from a distance, but when you take the time to get close, you really start to see the cracks and imperfections. This good news is sent to those who embrace the brokenness.
For church leaders, pastors and shepherd’s it is easy to fix the outside of people. It is an entirely different matter to help them fix the inside. For one it is messy, none of us are as shinny as we hope we appear. When, as a church we try to be, it creates a seemingly impossible mountain to climb to be right with God. As people come into our churches they see something or someone “they” could never be.
Everyone, especially leaders, want to be great at what they do. We want to win; we want the biggest and the best. Ultimately, we want to appear to, at the very least, be adequate before God. We are so conditioned, by the world to live on a point system basis. We are constantly measuring our self. When we measure our self against other people, we are comparing what we know about our self, with what we don’t know about the other person.
No one wants to be broken, and if we are broken we, at the very least, don’t want others to know we are broken. But the good news of blessing was to broken people. It was to the ones who were being persecuted for not playing the religious game. It was to the ones trying to live Godly and righteous lives in the midst of a system built on power and oppression.

The Kingdom of God is built on two simple commands, love God and love people. This is true righteousness. This is to be sought after. To follow Jesus is truly humbling because it means forsaking your kingdom to be a part of building his.

Matthew 5:20 ^NIV

20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED ARE YOU – REFLECTIONS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

November 20, 2012December 3, 2012 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Over the last couple of months I have lived in chapter 5 of Matthew. Never have I spent so much time in one place in scripture, working through and memorizing. I have been amazed at the new insights that have surfaced. So see my understanding deepen. To this point I have completely committed Matthew chapter 5 to memory.

What has really amazed me are the insights I am gaining weeks and months later on certain sections. Things I worked through 2 months ago begin to take on new shapes as I continue to add new pieces to the puzzle. Even more importantly I am beginning to see the world around me afresh, as I look through new lenses.

^NIVMatthew 5:1-11
¹Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them, saying:
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 sons 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.

I have heard lesson after lesson on the Beatitudes, they typically have all leaned this direction… If you want to be a part of the Kingdom of God you need to learn to behave this way… and fill in the blank. In other words it becomes about you shifting your attitudes to and nature to conform with God’s way of life.

The more I have dug into this passage, especially in light of Matthew 5:12-16 & 17-20 the more I am convinced, we may have in some ways missed the point of what Jesus is communicating. What if we were to read the first 20 verses through the lens of a religious system which Jesus is confronting rather than rather than everyday life. Jesus is announcing a new kingdom here on earth; a new kingdom which most of the world will reject. Before Jesus gets into our understanding of the law and the prophets, before he starts talking about being salt and light, he wants these disciples to understand they will be rejected if they live the way he is fixing to challenge them to live through the rest of this sermon. It is an announcement of hope and an announcement of heart ache. It is the pronouncement of blessing in the midst of hardship. It is a new kingdom that will infringe on peoples understanding of who God is and probably more so, infringe on who they are and what they posses.

Verses 1 through 10 focus is very indirect. Jesus is calling those who will follow him to understand there will be a price you will pay. Why, because this kingdom will stand in direct opposition of all who are trying to further their own kingdom. However, by paying the price, living in differently you will find unspeakable blessing. Jesus then ties a nice little bow on the package for the disciple in verse 11 and the focus of the passage now becomes very direct. Now, blessed are YOU! Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. In other words if you are willing to follow my teachings, you should expect insults, persecution and lies to be pointed at you. Persecution for what? Persecution which comes because of your relationship with Jesus.

But why would your relationship with him bring difficulty, because the poor in spirit, the meek, the pure in heart, all seem pretty non-threatening to me. Honestly, is there any characteristic in verse 1 through 10 which seem even remotely threatening? So why persecution? I think the answer really lies in verse 17-20.

Matthew 5:17-20 NIV
¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees and Teachers of the law would see Jesus as a false teacher, one who was abandoning God’s law and had to be stopped. Not only was Jesus, in their eyes, a threat to God’s divine plan, probably even more so, Jesus threatened the Pharisees and Teachers of the law because within their system they were set up as god’s. They had the power, they were able to add to the law, they had control, and they had the money. People looked at them and felt being people of God was impossible in light of how these men looked from a distance. Jesus kingdom however, would directly oppose their kingdom. This new kingdom Jesus was inviting people to be a part of would threaten the system of control the Pharisees and teachers were building because it was a system that exalted the powerful. In this new kingdom the avenue to God the Father was not the religious elite, but an avenue which was open to all.

In this system, righteousness was all about appearance. So maybe we could better describe verse 1 through 10 as the new righteous. Jesus concludes verse 20, saying the ones who appear to be righteous, the Pharisees and Teachers of the law, really aren’t and if you buy into their system, striving for self preservation, power and control, then you will not enter the kingdom. Now, this has numerous implications for us today as followers of Jesus, which I will tackle in part 2.

I am still working through so much of this in my own head and it seems like things are shifting daily. This is simply an avenue to work through and try to sort out these thoughts. I would love to hear your insights and thoughts from the Beattitudes.