Mark ‘s Sermon notes, Matt 5:10, Blessed are the persecuted.

Mark ‘s Sermon, Matt 5:10, Blessed are the persecuted.

Why are we persecuted?

I did not plan this sermon to land on this day, but it is exceedingly appropriate in light of the "fear factor" connected to Halloween.

Today we begin our look at the last of the Beatitudes (it gets a few more verses than the others, and thus a few more week)

These are the words of Jesus, and he says to us:

10Blessed 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. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

And in order to get the whole passage, I would like for us to back up to the beginning of this section and read through to today's passage.

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And as we read this, I want us to remember two things. 1) This is the upside down Kingdom that Jesus is bringing to the world. He declares that this Kingdom is here, and that it is coming. And both are true. This list is the "new normal" for his followers. As we follow Jesus we begin to look more and more like this list. As we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are filled (satistfied). As our heart are renewed, and made pure, we see the face of God more clearly. These are great promises, blessings, that we receive as we live out our "new lives."

2) I believe this is a discipleship process compressed into eight verses. And as such, while it is real, and it is possible to live this way, we can not make this list a mandate to change the world. It will be come clear as we look at this last beatitude, that Jesus does not expect that our world, our nation, our neighbors will embrace this new set of values. This caught me a bit off guard this week as I studied.

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Let me quickly connect the dots.

1) This is a discipleship process, which means we know that we are nearing the end of the process when we begin to experience persecution.

2) It is NOT persecution for...

a) being stupid

b) being political

c) being in favor of a cause

d) but it is for being righteous (for becoming a Jesus follower, and walking by faith)

3) This caught me off guard, because even though I have been a Christian most my life, I continue to believe that it is possible to be a Christian, and to be popular, to be well liked, to be admired and to be "cool." If fact, much of my adult life has been spent as a youth pastor convincing teens that it is "cool to be Christian." Rarely would I ever tell a teen, if you choose to follow Jesus, you will be ridiculed, laughed at, slandered, and disregarded.

4) I do not know if you have been offended by the Bible lately? I remember being greatly perplexed by God's word. I was in Intro to Bible. We were studying Acts. Acts 24, starting in verse 24.

24Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." 26At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

27When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

This left me completely perplexed. I would even say mad. Why would God leave Paul in prison for two years, with nothing to show for it.

5) This leads me to the conclusion. God is working a process in us. He is making us into people who love him, who trust him, who find their identity in him, and when we do that...the world will hate us. And they will act on that hate, and we will get hurt. And God makes no bones about it. This is the road of the disciple.

6) Which leaves us in a very very very interesting place. We are left asking, where has my discipleship process led me? Have I allowed the pain of persecution to drive me deeper into Jesus, or has the constant attack of the world shaken me off of my firm foundation in Jesus.

Posted via email from Mark Kraakevik