All
Saints' Observed – November 5th and 6th, 2022
– Matthew 5
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit +
So much. There's so much dreck and dross in this world. There's the times when we are just crushed by life, when we mourn loved ones who die, when self control doesn't seem worth it anymore. We look out and we see wickedness all around, where people don't even seem to make a pretense of being a decent person. We forgive people and get stomped on. We try to behave and get insulted for it. We try to calm things down, stop the fighting, bring people together, and that just means everyone gets mad at us. And if we bring up Jesus, Katie bar the door, they'll be after us with their verbal guns blazing. So much. There's so much of it going on around us.
And as much as we might lament our days, that's the same way things have always worked, really. They were the same way that things were working on that day when Jesus sat down on the side of a mountain and began to teach. His disciples came to Him, and Jesus looked at them, saw them in this world that's just so filled with sin and wickedness and death, and He says something that sounds so utterly bizarre. Blessed. You who are stuck in all this muck and mire – you are blessed. And actually, it's a stronger word than just “blessed” - this isn't some nice southern gal saying, “Well, bless your heart, sugar” - no, this is Makarioi! Blessed – fortunate, happy, you've got it in the bag. It's great to be you. That's what Jesus says. That's what Jesus says to all these people. And we're used to the Beatitudes – some of you might even have them hanging on your wall at home – and we can hear them as nice, safe platitudes. They aren't. They sound astonishingly crazy and insensitive. Oh, you're poor in spirit – fantastic! Oh, just come from a funeral – well, what a great day. They're going to persecute you and kill you – sweet! Do you get how just off the wall this would have sounded?
Why? Why would Jesus start off His preaching, His sermon on the mount with something this brash, this seemingly insane? Because He's Jesus. He's God become man to be with you – to be Immanuel, God with us. He's God become Man to take on sin and death and Satan for you, for your good. And because of Jesus, because Jesus has come down and He's on that mountain right there preaching to those disciples – yeah, it is fantastic, it is wonderful, you are fortunate and blessed, and there's not a thing Satan can do about it.
Consider what is going on with everything that we see around us. Go back to the beginning, where this junk started. You know, the Garden, Satan slithering on up and tempting Eve. What is Satan trying to do? What is He trying to accomplish in tempting Eve? To get her and Adam to sin – yes, but why? Why does Satan want Adam and Even to sin, to fall? So they'll die – yes, but why? Why would Satan want a bunch of dead people? Satan's goal is this – he desires to separate Adam and Eve from God – he desires to take that relationship between God and man and just tear it to shreds. It's the 10th commandment – that desire to see a relationship that God has established and trash it, tear it down. Sin separates. Sin divides. That's what all sin does – it takes what God has joined together and tears it asunder. The first three commandments all deal with your relationship with God, and how sin breaks that. The rest deal with the neighbors that God gives you, the gifts He gives, and how we break those apart. Satan's goal is to separate you from God, to pull you away from Jesus, to rip the Holy Spirit out of you and leave you an empty, lifeless husk.
And when we see the world and sin and see our own hearts and the sin there and all the things that make us poor in spirit or that make us mourn, that make us hesitant and long for things that are better – that's Satan using sin and suffering to try to separate us from God. And He seriously and deeply drive us into the pit, and it's wretched and horrible, and we feel isolated and alone... and Jesus sits on down right next to us and says, “Hi there – it's Me, God. Immanuel. God with you – and yeah, I'm here with you even now, it's all good. I've got this, I've got you. Satan thought he was going to separate you from Me – stupid Satan. Daft bloke never knew Me. I created you to be with Me, and that's how it's going to be, and it's going to be good for you, and no satanic detour is going to stop that, no matter how twisty it is – so you just hold on, relax, and I'm going to rescue you.” And Jesus, God Himself, just dives right on in to all of the worst of life to be with you, to change the way that you see this life. Because you don't just see the world, you don't just see sin and death – you see Christ Jesus, your Lord and Savior, with you. Through it all.
So, are you pour in Spirit – do you see the world around you stink on ice? That's why Jesus is with you and says, “I get it, that's why I give you the kingdom of heaven and will bring you to a new heavens and a new earth that Satan won't mess with. It's all good.”
So do you mourn – do you feel and know the impact of death? That's why Jesus with with you and says, “I get it – literally, I got My own death – went there Myself – and I blew apart death by My resurrection – and you are going to be with Me even through death unto the resurrection. It's all good.”
Are people trying to drag you into the fight, the muck when you know you should sit it out (because that's what meekness is – it's keeping your sword in its sheath, it's keeping your mouth shut instead of pouring gasoline on the fire when you really want to)? That's why Jesus is with you and says, “I get it, there's a ton of wickedness out there – let Me handle it. Vengeance is Mine, because I handle it far better than you. So don't you worry about making anyone get their comeuppance – you just sit back and enjoy My gifts to you. It's all good.”
Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness? This is why Jesus is with you and says, “You want righteousness – here, have Mine. Yours would never be enough anyway – take your fill of Mine. I forgive you. I wash you in My righteousness. I'll even give you Myself – take and eat, take and drink – righteousness over abounding. It's all good.”
Are you seeking to show mercy? This why Jesus is with you and says “You know, that mercy you show is My mercy that I've given to you, that I've filled you with – and you know what? I'm right here with you, so keep on being merciful – because I'll keep filling you up with mercy faster than you can dish it out. Because that's why I've got you here in this world – to hand out My mercy. It's all good.”
Are you there trying to make peace? This is why Jesus is with you and says, “I've made peace, peace between you and God, and so when you are giving out peace, you're declaring what I've done for you and for those folks trapped in sin. I'm with you, I've baptized you – hey, you're a child of God too now – declare My peace – seriously, it's the first thing I tell the disciples after I rise – I love giving out peace, and I'll gladly be with you and give peace out through you. It's all good.”
Do you get persecuted? This is why Jesus is with you and says, “Oh yeah, I know. That's really lousy. I'm still with you. See My cross, see what they did to Me? And I could have bailed, I could have run away, but I didn't, because I am with you even now, and no matter how deep and dark it goes, no matter how evil and revile-y it gets, I'm with you and you're with Me. Nothing can separate you from Me and My love. It's all good.”
Do you see, my dear friends? Everything that Satan uses to try to separate you from God, everything that he throws at you – Jesus simply says, “Nope – won't work Satan. You don't get them; I'm with them. You might distract them, you might confuse them – but that doesn't work on Me. I'm with them, they are Mine, and they are truly blessed no matter what you do, so scurry on back to hell you old goat.
And Jesus means all of what He says here in the Beatitudes. His victory over Satan is complete and full – we're the ones who get distracted, we're the ones who pull away, we're the ones who forget. Jesus doesn't. He never gets distracted from redeeming you, He never pulls away from you; He who has you engraved on the palms of His hands will never forget you. And part of the reason we hear this text on All Saints' Day is we're rejoicing today for and with all those saints who have gone before us. Because you know where they are? They're with Jesus – and there's not a distraction or trouble pestering them. They don't see the junk we do – they see only Jesus. And when He returns, they'll be with Him, and we all will see Jesus as Jesus is, and He will make us to be as He is – you are going to be like Jesus, holy, righteous, pure, loving – for all eternity. Because when Jesus says that He is Immanuel, God with us, He means it. Jesus is with you, and because He is, it really is all good. Amen.
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