St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church + Benton Harbor, Michigan
The 4th Sunday after the Epiphany, January 31, 1999
Matthew 5:1-12
"Membership Has It’s Privileges"
By Pastor Timothy H. Buelow
Now 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.
Dear Friends in Christ: "Membership has it’s privileges." That’s what they say in the American Express advertisements. But what they don’t tell you until you pick up the application and read the fine print, is that membership is expensive. Membership also has it’s responsibilities and costs. What they don’t tell you in the American Express advertisements, Jesus tells us up front. He lists both the privileges and blessings, and the costs of membership in His kingdom. One of the many places he does so is in the beatitudes—the words of our text. Yes there are costs involved, but of course they’re far outweighed by the blessings and privileges. Today we want to look at some of the costs of being a disciple of Jesus, but we want especially to be comforted as we are reminded of the out-of-this-world privileges of membership in God’s Kingdom. "Membership Has It’s Privileges." Blessed and Privileged Is the Person... 1. Who looks to Christ for Salvation, 2. Whose life imitates Jesus, 3. Who suffers for the Savior’s sake.
1. "Privileged Is the Person..." Who looks to Christ for Salvation
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"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.There is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus. These verses make that quite clear. A follower of Jesus is someone who is poor in spirit, someone who mourns, someone who is meek and someone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. All four of those expressions are talking about the same thing. A follower of Jesus is someone who has an attitude of humility inspired by an honest look within and a genuine sorrow over what he finds there. When we examine ourselves in the light of God’s holy law, God’s demand for perfection, we find that we are dirty and unholy. We see that we have fallen far short of God’s demands. We recognize that we have sinned against God not only with our deeds, but also with our words and even our thoughts. God’s law shows us that it’s not enough to avoid hurting other people. God expects us to be helping people—constantly! There’s a massive chasm between what God has rightfully expected of us and what we’ve given him. An honest Christian knows that, and truly does feel bad about it. In fact, we ought to feel even worse about it when we see how little it really troubles us. The minute we hear we’re sinful our Old Adam kicks into high gear telling us "It’s really not so bad" or "I’m glad pastor’s talking about Fred over there." We’re so short of God’s standard that we can’t even repent well.
Do you remember the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector? That Tax Collector didn’t compare himself to others. He didn’t try to justify his actions. He didn’t complain he was being judged unfairly. No, he beat his breast and cried out "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." That’s what it means to be poor in spirit, and meek. That’s what it means to mourn over our sins and to hunger and thirst after forgiveness.
It’s precisely that person which Jesus calls blessed. God rejected the self-righteous Pharisee. But he couldn’t resist rescuing that pitiful man who felt so bad about his sins. Through the prophet Isaiah God says "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." (66:2b)
Are you humble and contrite in spirit? Do you tremble at God’s Word? Then God accepts you and blesses you. He forgives all your sins. He holds you in his arms with pity and with delight and says "you are my child." "I sent my Son for you to redeem you from all those pangs of guilt and worthlessness. You’re mine—forever!" When we recognize that we’re not even worthy to call him father, that’s when he runs out to meet us, put his signet ring on our finger, slaughters the fattened calf for us and says "my son, my daughter who was dead is alive again!"
Those who repent and trust in him he vows to protect forever. For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off (Ps 37:28). Membership has its responsibilities and costs—a humble and contrite heart, but "Membership Has its Privileges"—grace, forgiveness, acceptance by God and even eternal life.
But there’s more to our text. Jesus turns his attention to how we, as forgiven members of his kingdom treat others—more costs, and more privileges and blessings.
2. "Privileged Is the Person..." Whose life imitates Jesus
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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. "Privileged Is the Person..." Whose life imitates Jesus. Those who’ve been shown mercy by Jesus, show mercy to others. Recall for a moment another parable Jesus told, the parable of the unmerciful servant. He’d been forgiven his huge mountain of debt by his master, and then he went out and tried to strangle a fellow servant of his who owed him a pittance. He was bound up and cast into outer darkness until he could pay back the last penny he had owed—in other words, forever. So will it be, Jesus said, for anyone who does not forgive from the heart. Of course, that’s just what Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."Why is it that people refuse to be merciful and forgive? It’s because they don’t realize how merciful God has been to them. Do you remember the ex-prostitute who mixed her tears with expensive perfume and wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair? Jesus said she loved much because she realized how much she’d been forgiven. But all the Pharisees around the table were horrified. "Doesn’t he know what kind of a woman this is?" they thought. "She’s not like us. We’re so much better. We’re such wonderful people." They couldn’t think of being merciful and forgiving. I’m reminded of the old story of evangelist Dwight L. Moody in Chicago many years ago, that he was walking with an assistant and saw a drunk in the sidewalk. Moody’s friend started talking about how terrible it was, what they saw, and Moody responded "There, but by the grace of God, go I." He recognized that it was only God’s mercy that separated him from the man in the gutter, and so he was merciful. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
And "Blessed are the pure in heart…and the peacemakers." "Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace," the Psalmist wrote. (Ps 37:37) God is a God of truth, honesty and integrity. He doesn’t harbor evil plans in his heart, and neither do his followers. Do you see how purity of heart and peacemaking go together? Lives of loving service to our neighbor in keeping with the ten commandments lead to peace. The book of Hebrews makes the same connection. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (He 12:14) It’s true, we can’t always prevent hard feelings. We can’t always make peace, because we can’t control what others will do. But we can control ourselves. Paul said If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Ro 12:18).
Of course, God doesn’t want us to make artificial peace. He doesn’t want us to hide the truth just because it might make someone upset. Out of love for endangered souls we need to lovingly and patiently continue to warn people about their sins. God condemns the happy talker who is more concerned about peace between sinners, than about true peace between the sinner and God. He says woe to those who say "‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace." They are leading my people astray, "‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’" (Isaiah 57:21)
I think you’ll agree, telling the sinner to repent is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. But the one who does so is the real peace-maker, because he’s trying to help someone be at eternal peace with God. It’s hard—and that’s one of the costs of discipleship. But remember "Membership Has its Privileges" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Membership has its responsibilities and costs, and "Membership Has its Privileges..." Finally, the Beatitudes remind us…
3. "Privileged Is the Person..." Who suffers for the Savior’s sake
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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.Those who are faithful to our Lord, trusting in Him for salvation and imitating him in life, will be persecuted, some times overtly, as history clearly shows, but more often in much more subtle ways, such as loss of friendship or a cold stare. St. Peter, who himself lost his life because of his faith wrote reminds us we should expect that: 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. …Do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Pe 4:12-13,16)
Membership in God’s kingdom has its costs. Jesus was more than honest about that, but "Membership Has its Privileges." "Whoever acknowledges me before men," Jesus promised, "I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven." (Mt 10:32) He will protect and bless us here on earth—he truly will! But best of all, his eternal blessings will rest upon us.
Membership has it’s responsibilities and costs. But "Membership also Has its Privileges." Our membership is in Christ’s holy Church-God’s Kingdom, and—did I mention—We need to renew our membership in this kingdom every day, putting out sin, repenting of it, asking for forgiveness, trusting in Christ, and striving to beat the devil each day anew. Jesus for His part renews our privileges every day bringing us one step closer to our final reward, while carrying us through every trouble. May each of us keep this membership highest on our list, from now until death. And God will bless us—now and forever! AMEN.