Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Why We Desperately Need the Beatitudes

7:08 AM | Posted by | | Edit Post


Every year in the US, 1.4 million people are given the news that they have cancer. Of that number, over five hundred thousand of them are told that it is terminal. Think about the impact of this diagnosis: one day you are living your life under the illusion that you are invincible; the next day you find out that you have cancer and that you are likely going to die. I have never been diagnosed with cancer. I’ve never had to sit in a doctor’s office and have the doctor tell me that my tumor is malignant. But from talking with people who have, I know a process takes place in the human heart and mind that forces us to begin dealing with our own mortality. 
Although not always exactly in this order, the process looks something like this:
1)    denial: cancer is something that happens to other people;
2)    what are my options: how can I take care of this problem and make it better?
3)    re-evaluating priorities: if my time is limited, I want to start focusing on what’s important;
4)    acceptance and treatment: okay, I admit I can’t handle this on my own, so I’m going to accept the treatments that are being offered.

Most of the time this means a complete life change: a new diet, a new set of habits, and ruthlessly getting rid of anything that might have contributed to the disease. A transformation takes place in how your priorities shape the way you live your life. When you boil it all down, you realize an important truth: you don’t want to die, you want to live! At this point you are now ready and willing to do whatever takes to find the cure! 

As a matter of fact, billions of dollars are raised every year by all sorts of organizations attempting to find the cure for cancer and other terminal diseases. The sad reality is that what we can see so clearly when it comes to our physical health, we reject when it comes to our spiritual health! We’ll do almost anything to find a cure when we are sick. We’ll get rid of food. We’ll get rid of products that contain dangerous chemicals. We’ll stay out of the sun. We’ll submit our bodies to chemotherapy (actually shooting poison into your body to kill the cancer so that the rest of the body can live). We’ll do whatever it takes to avoid the things that lead to cancer and physical death, and yet never give a second thought to the things all around us that lead to spiritual cancer and spiritual death. 

What is very interesting to note is that while Jesus did much to help people who suffered physically, when it came right down to it, His main focus was spiritual life. Every time He healed a person, every time He cast out a demon, every time He provided food, it was always to open the person’s eyes to their deeper need for God. Let’s look at a couple of examples from the Bible:
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  – John 4:13–14

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”   John 4:31–36

In these verses, Jesus makes it clear that God knows we have physical needs, and that He is more than willing to meet those needs on our behalf. But His concern is that we spend so much of our time and energy trying to meet our physical needs, assuming that once we have met them, we’ll then be happy and satisfied. We somehow convince ourselves that if we meet our physical appetites, we will also satisfy our spiritual hunger. But this just doesn’t match up with reality. We live in one of the most wealthy and affluent cultures to ever exist on earth. A small minority of people in America are without access to everything they need to meet their basic physical needs. But satisfying physical needs can never take the place of satisfying our deeper spiritual hunger. If you don’t believe me, watch one episode of True Hollywood Story. Do a little research on the average life expectancy of a childhood star. Even scarier, simply take a look at the deterioration of the families in your own community. Everywhere we look we see brokenness and despair. The rate of suicide among teenagers is skyrocketing. Drug and alcohol abuse are rampant. Traditional families are disintegrating. And large numbers of people are simply checking out of life! As one person described to me recently, concerning her attempts to minister to some of the broken people who frequent the bank where she works, “Sometimes it feels like being in a movie, surrounded by zombies.”



 When our God-given spiritual needs go unmet, the result is a spiritual cancer—a disease of the soul that is just as fatal and just as deadly as any form of physical cancer. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” We may not want to admit it, but we are all spiritually sick. There is a cancer spreading rapidly through our culture and we’re all being directly affected!
 
People were no different two thousand years ago in the Middle East. Jesus walked into a culture full of people who suffered from the same problems we face in our culture; the people of Israel were just as broken and empty as we are today. Just like us, they had seen the failure of education, economics, government, and science to bring peace to broken human hearts. They had witnessed some of the greatest advances in human history (made by the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the Romans), yet their everyday lives still seemed meaningless and empty. They were trapped under the iron fist of Rome, a ruthless enemy who didn’t believe in their God. And so the first century Jews became convinced that if they could just get a new king, a king who believed in the God of Israel, everything would get better. All they needed was a king who would punish Rome and restore Israel to her rightful place as God’s Kingdom here on earth. In human terms it makes sense, doesn’t it? We usually look for physical answers to our spiritual problems. But Jesus came with a very different message—a message that included the cure. But in order to embrace this cure we have to first understand the nature of our disease.

The Beatitudes
In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus begins what is known as the Sermon on the Mount (which is, without a doubt, the greatest sermon ever given) with a group of sayings that have become known as the Beatitudes, a phrase that means “the Blessings.” Throughout the remainder of this series of blogs on the Beatitudes we will carefully study our Lord’s words, that include His cure for what ails the human heart. Jesus is going to teach us some unexpected and life-changing truths. For example, He will reveal to us that:
1) Often, the way up can only be found when we’re willing to bow down.
2) We have to deal with our sorrow before we can find true joy.
3) We will probably have to endure persecution, if we want to experience God’s power.
4) Dying to self is actually the way to feel the most alive.

When we finish this amazing section of Scripture, we’ll see that Jesus wants us to understand an essential truth—because our problem isn’t physical, the cure won’t be physical either. Until we understand the depth and nature of our disease, we will never understand the nature of the cure. It wasn’t a new king the people of Israel needed in order to get right with God. It was a new understanding of their brokenness and sin, that separated them from their Heavenly Father. They felt empty and alone because they were not in proper relationship to the One who had created them. 

What they needed most of all was the humility to recognize their sin and to accept God’s grace (instead of their own efforts) as the solution to overcoming their problems. As much as I might want to see a change in the leadership of this my country, true spiritual revival won’t come from our political leaders. As much as I would love to see science solve all of our medical problems, true health won’t come from research. As much as I would love to see every child receive a great education, true knowledge and wisdom won’t come from our schools.

As we will learn from the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, transformation must start in the hearts of God’s people—a people who humbly bow down and receive God’s grace; a people who surrender control and stop trying to be God; a people who are willing to accept what God has to offer. Only then will we find healing for our broken hearts, forgiveness to bind up our wounds, and unrelenting love to give our lives meaning and purpose.

Jesus describes the people who are transformed by God in this manner as salt and light. “You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13a, 14–16).


For a more in-depth treatment of this topic, see my book entitled "The Cure-prescription for life",  available on my website: www.stevebyrens.com  - Also available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles websites



















 
Thursday, January 9, 2014

Finding the Gospel of Grace in the Beatitudes

1:11 PM | Posted by | | Edit Post
For many Christians, the decision to follow Jesus Christ begins with the Gospel promise of new life and abundant living. We become aware of our sin, understand that Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for that sin, and learn about His resurrection from the dead, which provides great hope through the promise of eternal life. Verses like John 3:16, John 1:12, and John 10:10 describe some of the incredible blessings that God pours out through His grace for those who believe in Jesus Christ. These blessings include: the forgiveness of sins, being made into children of God, and an abundant life in Christ. When we start to contemplate these things, the gift of grace seems overwhelming. 

However, at some point in our Christian walks we must start reading the rest of the Bible in order to grow and mature in our faith. And if you're like many of the Christians I've studied the Scriptures with over the years, it is sections of the Bible like Mathew 5:1-16 that cause you great confusion, What in the world is Jesus talking about when He says "blessed are the poor in spirit?" How could he be serious when He says, "blessed are those who mourn?" Why would He try to convince us that being "meek" or facing "persecution" could lead to a life of blessings? In fact, this section of Scripture known as the Beatitudes (which means the blessings) is the beginning of powerful oration, know as the "Sermon on the Mount", in which Jesus seems to completely redefine what it means to live a righteous life in God's eyes. At first glance, Jesus' message almost seems designed to lower our expectations of ever being able to successfully live out the Christian life. If we just quickly skim through the text, not taking time to carefully study what Jesus is truly teaching, we could easily miss the beauty of His message, coming instead to the tragic conclusion that the life he is promising to His followers is not the kind of life we would want for ourselves. After all, where is the Gospel promise of new life and abundant living to be found in Jesus' words here in Matthew 5?

If you have struggled with biblical texts like the Beatitudes, trying to square the message with what you understand about the Gospel, the next several blogs are designed for you. It is my prayer that as we uncover the beauty of Jesus' message in the Beatitudes, it will deepen you love for your Savior and empower you to walk in the light of His truth!

 Matthew 5:1-16 (NIV), "Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

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 children 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.

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

For a more in-depth treatment of this topic, see my book entitled "The Cure-prescription for life",  available on my website: www.stevebyrens.com  - Also available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles websites


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