The Life That Flourishes – Week Two – Blessed Are The Mourners

I wanna take out to, your bible turned

to the gospel of Matthew,

in chapter 5, we're gonna be there in

just a few moments. Matthew.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Chapter 5, And this is our,

second week in this particular series that we're

calling the life that flourish

You know, for years,

Google maps has offered what they call street

view? How many of you use street view

on Google Maps kind of a cool thing.

You can look at the house you grew

up in or, you know, it's just it's

kinda cool. We'll look at stuff like that

in street view, stitches together, kinda, panoramic camera

images to

recreate a a digital fax

effect family of the real world,

that you can explore, right? Right from your

your computer or your phone.

Maybe you've even seen the Google car in

your neighborhoods

scoot around taking pictures are around town.

Now, some people are discovering that if they

scroll through the the platform long enough, and

they use what what's called the time travel

feature that they might just find the image,

of a late loved 1

captured

by 1 of Google's cameras,

seemingly saved in Google maps forever. I read

an article about this people have seen, like

somebody saw their deceased grandfather out. Power washing

his driveway.

Years before, and it's still there on on

the Google Maps. 1 post from a a

woman in the in the United Kingdom, a

a woman by the name of Sherry Turner,

has really struck a cord on social media.

After she shared her experience of vividly

reliving a day has with her deceased mother.

Thanks to Google Maps photo archive.

And her post has racked up tens of

thousands actually an out by now hundreds of

thousands of of likes and comments. And she

wrote this. She said, I looked at my

mom's old house on Google Maps Street view,

the house where I grew up.

It says image captured May, 2009.

There's a light on in her bedroom.

When I look at it, it is still

her house.

She's still alive.

And I envision that I'm still visiting her

every few months

on the train.

I take a screen print of the house

with the lights on because

I know it won't last forever. And 1

day, the Google car will go back down

that street and replace her house

with someone else's.

And though there may be a light on

in the window,

it won't be her.

And

thousands of people commented on that comment.

It just really moved people, you know, and

Google says that the the digital

recreation of the physical world is powered by

millions of cameras that capture all these multiple

angles. And while helping people

remember

deceased family members isn't really the intended purpose

of Google maps, a spoke spend for the

company said it was heartwarming

that people were using the platform

in this way.

Well,

the growing trend of finding signs of lost

what loved ones inevitably

serves as a reminder, of course, First of

all, that Google plays a major role in

our culture, doesn't it from day to day.

And well some people,

might find it comforting

that they can see the image of loved

ones preserve forever digitally,

In reality,

as they mourn,

they are merely grasping at a digital memory.

But as followers of Jesus,

it is vital that we know

that we find comfort in the truth,

that God has preserved not a picture,

but the souls

of our departed loved ones,

who have known him.

And that 1 day,

a great reunion is coming. The apostle Paul

puts it this way and first Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. He says, brothers and sisters.

We do not want you to be uninformed

about those

who sleep in death so that you do

not grieve

like the rest of mankind

who have no hope.

Well, today, we are continuing this series in

Matthew chapter 5. We're in calling it the

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

life that flourish.

And it is a review of the opening

to Jesus famous sermon on the mount.

And although Jesus first disciples

had left everything

to follow him. They still had very little

idea of what he wanted them to do.

And so this

introductory list in the first 12 verses of

Matthew chapter 5, We call it the beat

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

attitudes. And Jesus used this list to begin

their

initiation.

And his

description of the person whom God bless,

it cut across

the disciples

natural. It's experience,

and it cuts across our experience as well.

We don't expect happiness

to come from being poor

or from grieving

or getting caught in the in the crossfire

of trying to make peace

And yet, those

who follow and obey Christ

are more

than happy.

They are

blessed.

They are blessed

because they have a hope,

and they have a joy that is not

based on feelings

or on current circumstances.

Following Jesus

means living by standards

entirely

different

than public opinion.

Rather than making us popular or famous following

Jesus, sometimes

means facing

opposition

or

misunderstanding

and yet all of this

makes us

blessed.

And so once again, I'm gonna invite you

to read this passage together with me. We

read it last week. Today, we're gonna read

from a a different English translation. This is

called the contemporary

English

version, and each week as we read this

passage together. We're gonna read it from a

different...

English translation so that we can get the

full depth and meaning of this passage. So

let's read this passage

together.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up

on the side of a mountain and sat

down

Jesus disciples gathered around him and he taught

them.

God bless those people who depend only on

him.

They belong to the kingdom of heaven.

God bless those people who grieve.

They will find comfort.

God bless those people who are humble,

the earth will belong to them.

God bless those people who want to obey

him more than to eat or drink.

They will be given what they want.

God bless those people who are mer.

They will be treated with mercy.

God bless those people whose heart are pure.

They will see him.

God bless those people who make peace.

They will be called his children.

God bless those people who are treated badly

for doing right.

They belong to the kingdom of heaven.

God will bless you when people insult you,

mist you and tell all kinds of evil

lies about you because of me.

Be happy and excited.

You will have a great reward in heaven.

People did these same things to the prophets

who lived. Long ago.

Amen, the word of God.

Well,

today, our focus is on that second beat

attitude.

Or beautiful saying as we've called it. Blessed

are those who mourn?

For they shall be comforted.

Now we were reminded last week that that

word blessed in scripture means more than happy

because happiness is an emotion that's often dependent

on outward circumstances,

blessed as it's used here in Matthew 5,

refers to the ultimate well being,

the distinctive

spiritual joy,

of those people who share in the salvation

of the kingdom of god.

And much like the first beat attitude,

when we read it, it seems perhaps that

Jesus has something backward here.

Who wants to mourn? When Right? I mean,

I don't wanna mourn. I wanna be happy.

And strangely,

Jesus says that these 2 terms are

inter related,

Blessed, of course, really means joyful.

So joyful are those who mourn, how does

that make sense?

Well, in order to respond to what Jesus

means here, we need to understand 3 truths

about morning.

I wanna look at those this morning with

you. If you have your outline, you can

pull that out of your program if you're

a note taking person and follow along

The first thing that we want to notice

is that all morning

is inevitable. Morning is inevitable.

Now nobody likes the experience of mourning or

of grief,

but sooner or later,

everyone

must pass through it.

And if you've been fooled into thinking that

I shouldn't have to mourn,

I want you to know that that fool

that fooling, that lie, comes from Satan himself.

By declaring a blessing on those who mourn,

Jesus

indicates that grief is a normal part of

the Christian experience. It is

universal.

It makes no distinction between race or creed

or color, grief touches young and old, rich

and poor, male and female,

no 1 is exempt

from morning and grief.

Everybody grieve

because

everybody at some point experiences

loss.

Now, there is a popularized

version of Christianity

that gives the impression that faith in Christ

exempt us from this kind of suffering that

we should instead only experience prosperity and health

and happiness all the time.

And I wanna give you an example of

that kind of thinking and how it's perpetuated,

And I want you to understand that it's

not just perpetuated

by modern day preacher and authors as we

might think. This... Kind of thinking has been

around a long time.

Some of you are familiar with the old

Him, trust and obey,

and in that him is this particular stan

not a shadow can rise,

not a cloud in the skies, but his

smile quickly

drives it away, not a doubt nor a

fear. Not a sigh nor a tear can

abide

while we trust

and obey.

Now that is a great sentiment.

And there is some truth weave into that

and yet

even the strongest of believers will face difficult

times.

And dark shadows.

In fact, our journey to eternity and complete

joy is at times a trail,

of tears.

Some of you could attest to that, winding

through the valley of shadows

but

only

for a time.

We can find a more balanced view in

another old him.

That I wanna share a stan with, which

begins like this day by day and with

each passing moment strength I find

to meet my trials here.

Trusting in my father's wise stoma.

I no cause for worry

or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure

gives unto each day what he deem best.

Lovingly,

it's part of pain

or pleasure,

ming toil,

with peace

and rest.

I hope that you see a perhaps more

balanced

viewpoint in that

verse of that him. And yet,

I think I like these second words less.

You know, the motion of seasons of mourning

or of

inevitable

hardship.

That's not very appealing. Is it?

But Jesus own words in are even more

disturbing, blessed are those who mourn?

What is he possibly thinking?

However, if we discover Jesus words carefully,

it becomes clear that the blessing

is not in the morning,

but in something else.

Are those who mourn blessed

because they enjoy grief?

No.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall

be comforted.

Like that first be attitude. The blessing does

not reside in the experience of mourning or

grief,

but instead in the result that comes from

it.

And that's an important distinction for us to

understand. The blessing that comes, with mourning is

the blessing

of being comforted.

I I read a a story about a

European

seminary professor.

A man who was responsible for raising up

generations of pastors and teachers. His name was

Hans,

and his wife of many years, en

passed away suddenly,

unexpectedly.

And doctor Hans was so overcome with sorrow

that he lost his appetite.

He wouldn't even leave his house,

concern for him, the seminary president paid Horns

of visit.

Along with 3 other colleagues.

And the grieving professor confessed to his colleagues

that he was struggling with doubt. He said,

I am no longer able to pray to

god.

He admitted, In fact, I am not even

certain that I believe in God anymore.

Well, after a few moments of silence,

the seminary professor

president spoke. Could he said,

then Hans,

we will believe for you?

And we will pray

for you.

And so the president and those 3 colleagues

met every day for prayer.

They prayed for Hans,

day in day out, asking God to restore

the gift of faith

to their friend and colleague.

Some months later,

the 4 friends,

visited Hans again.

They gathered for prayer with hans,

but he held up his hand and he

smiled, and he said,

It is no longer

necessary for you to pray for me.

Today,

I would like you

to pray

with me.

You see the difference there? Do you see

the distinction? You see comfort

is something

that we give to others,

or it is something that we receive

from someone else it is not something that

we do for ourselves

with the blinds pulled.

Hiding

from the world around us.

And this is especially true of the kind

of mourning. I think that Jesus has in

mind here. This is a

special kind of mourning. And so this leads

to our second truth. If morning is inevitable,

It is also

spiritual.

Mourning

is spiritual. Jesus promises a blessing to those

who mourn because This kind of morning is

deeply

spiritual. It's part of our

spiritual existence.

Now, while someone's death is certainly the most

obvious case for mourning for grief,

it certainly isn't the only cause isn't it.

We can think of lots of examples of

reasons why we won't

why we might mourn.

We,

by the way often grieve, not just over

those that have passed, but over the living,

The apostle Paul writes about this kind of

grief in second Corinthians chapter 12. When he

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

says, to the Corinthians church writes, I fear

that when I come again, my god may

humble me before you, and I might have

to mourn

over many of those who send earlier

and have not repent.

You know, sometimes

We grieve over the sinful

actions of others.

Perhaps there are sinful actions that have been

per

against us. And so we mourn and we

grieve.

Perhaps, we we observe others making sinful choices

and decisions. And

we mourn. If you're a parent, you probably

know how Paul felt

toward the corinthians.

His sentiment is certainly a parental in nature.

Paul had written the church, promising to visit,

but he had been he'd been delayed for

for a number of reasons. And in the

meantime, word had reached him that serious problems

had arise in the Corinthians church. 1 of

the church's members was heavily involved in sin

and was completely un

about it. And even worse, the rest of

the church seemed proud

of this person's particular attitude.

And so in first corinthians,

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, in Paul's first letter to them.

He writes this. He says it is actually

reported that there's sexual immoral morality among you.

And a kind that does not even occur

among the pagans.

A man has his father's wife

and you are proud.

Shouldn't you rather have been filled with the

grief

and have put out of your fellowship, the

man who did this.

And so what Paul has to say to

the Corinthians

church seems a bit harsh

to our modern ear, put him out of

the church, really?

Where's the grace in that?

Isn't Paul supposed to be the apostle of

grace? He talks about, he writes about grace,

more than anyone else in the scriptures?

And so we might ask is isn't this

a little inconsistent.

It's worth comparing paul's

command to put this man out of the

church, with something he said in his letter

to the Galatians church,

letter that is just drenched with the theology

of grace, and then chapter 6 of galatians,

Paul commands this. He says, brothers, if someone

is caught in a sin,

you who are spiritual, should restore him gently,

but watch yourselves

or you also may be tempted.

And so what do you do when someone

is caught in sand.

You

restore them

in the original language this term means to

returned something to its former

condition.

Originally, the word was used to speak of

setting a broken bone.

That gives you a picture. That background helps

us understand Paul's thinking about this kind of

discipline that he commanded the cor church to

practice.

The action that he wants them to take

is rest

rather than punitive.

The long term goal is not to put

the man out,

but to restore him to his former

condition of blessed ness,

but that can't happen.

If the people around him his brothers and

sisters

are not mourning,

grieving

over his sin.

Now for the most part, we don't go

as far as the Corinthians did

boasting about sinner in the church, proud of

it.

What do we do instead?

Well, most often we're...

Silent about it.

We consider such things a matter of personal

conscience.

Have you ever wondered why it's so hard

for us to hold 1 another accountable for

our sins?

Well, 1 reason is we are afraid of

disrupting

relationships.

The tragedy, though of this is that, the

presence of sin has already

introduced a serious

disruption

into our midst,

and ignoring its presence

only makes things worse.

But there's a a more subtle, more personal

reason, why we don't want to deal

with sin within the body of Christ.

And I think it's related to what Jesus

says in this second be added. To.

We ignore

or minimize the sin of others

because we've never really learned to mourn

for our own sin.

I should also point out that the opposite

can be true.

Failure

to honestly deal with our own sin can

make us judgmental

and mean,

when dealing with the sin of others.

And so as with everything that Jesus teaches,

there is a perfect balance point,

And Jesus has more to say about this

later in the sermon on the mount. I'm

just gonna read a brief portion of that.

This comes from Matthew 7 Matthews

recording of the sermon on the mount, And

Jesus says this. Why do you look at

the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye

and pay no admission

attention to the plank in your own eye.

How can you say to your brother? Let

me take the speck out of your eye

when all the time, there's a plank in

your own eye. You

hip.

First take the plank out of your own

eye, and then you will see clearly to

remove the speck from your brother's eye.

So either way,

the solution is the same. To properly

grieve

over the sin of others

I need to grieve over my own sins

first.

If you've ever traveled on an airplane,

you know that the same thing happens at

the beginning of every flight.

The flight attendants go through the instructions. Right?

You know what I mean? They give their

speech about, buck your seat belt, finding the

exits using your seat cushion for a flotation

device... If ever wondered... It's not really float.

I... I have no idea.

But at some point,

in the discourse, they say something that really

is full of wisdom and common sense. They

say, if, the cabin loses air pressure,

and oxygen mask will drop from the compartment

over your head and if someone is seated

next to you, and they need help. What

do they say? First put on your own

mask

before

assisting the person,

next to you. And when you think about

it, that makes a lot of sense.

And what I want you to see is

that Jesus uses the same reasoning here. You

can't help someone else deal with their sin

until you face your own first.

And so what's the remedy?

Holy morning.

Holy grief.

Now, does Jesus make

does does he imply that we should just

make a public spectacle of our sins should

we come up to the front of the

church and weep and whale in front of

the congregation,

weeping can be good,

but it's really not a guarantee of repentance.

Writing about this Berry be attitude, the old

P and Preacher, Thomas Watson said this.

It is not so much the weeping eye,

God respects

as the broken heart.

The broken heart.

You see the broken heart, is the problem

that keeps us from embracing this idea of

mourning.

Who really wants a broken heart

Nobody wants to sign up for that?

Have you ever broken your arm or your

foot or your nose? When has a broken

anything felt good.

And so what makes Jesus think that we

would aspire

to a broken heart?

Well,

as we mourn in loss,

as we mourn in sin,

it is important for us to hear the

promise

connected with the grief.

And so our third truth

contained in the beat attitude is this.

Mourning

is temporary.

Morning is certainly inevitable. It's gonna happen to

all of us It is a spiritual process

in which we must go through,

but it is also

temporary.

Jesus makes a promise to those who mourn

over their sin. Blessed are those who mourn

and he says, for they will be comforted.

They will be

console.

And so how does god grant this blessing

of comfort? How does that work? Lord?

Well, 1 way, he does it is through

his word?

Through his word in in first John 1

9, there's this outstanding promise. If we confess

our sins

He is faithful in just and will forgive

us our sins and purify us from all

un unconscious. That is a precious promise given

to every

believer.

But God also uses other people to comfort

us,

And second Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul tells

the church of Cor, how to respond to

that member who was be had been disciplined

by the church and is repent. And he

says this. Now instead, you ought to forgive

and comfort him

so that he will not be overwhelmed by

excessive

sorrow.

Excessive sorrow.

You get that word in there. And so

we understand there's a time for mourning

in the time of sin or in the

time of loss,

or the time of broken ness, but there

is also an excessive

sorrow

that needs to be put aside, and it

is best put put aside as God's people

surround the person who is mourning.

And so God uses his word. He uses

his people

And then there's a third means that God

uses to comfort those who mourn. And that

is his

own spirit.

In fact, in John 14,

as Jesus is talking to his disciples about

leaving

and sending someone else in his place.

The noun form of this very word comfort

is used as a title

for gods holy spirit. He is called v

with a capital t, the comfort

or the counselor,

1 important element of the spirit's

ministry in the life of each believer is

to provide us with the assurance

that god is with us,

that our sin has been forgiven

that he can help us in any

situation in which we are mourning or grieving.

But in the end,

even that is a temporary

measure.

Because ultimately,

there is only 1

complete

remedy

for grief

and friends, that is the comfort of being

in god's

presence.

Lieutenant jack Cam

spent more than a decade

talking people down off the ledge.

Until his retirement in 20 15, he was

the commanding officer of the

New York police department's hostage

negotiation team,

a position which he held for over 33

years.

And during his career, he became an expert

at saving

fellow cops from gun wielding man acts.

Or dis waiting people not to jump off

AAA

skyscraper

or a bridge

of which there's an abundance in New York

City.

And what's the success?

What's the secret

to being

a good

negotiator?

Well, the Lieutenant Cam says this. He says

the very good negotiators I think are the

ones with the life stories.

Particularly, he would add life stories of pain

that have produced

compassion for others.

Cam claims good negotiators must experience

the emotion of love at 1 point of

their life.

They must know what it means to have

been greatly hurt at 1 point in their

life, and they must know

success.

And perhaps most importantly

to know what it means

to know failures.

All of these things

go together

to make a person

a good

negotiator.

Or we could say a good comfort.

Lieutenant Cam writes that he learned this lesson

on his very first day as a police

officer.

Cam admitted that he had his own baggage

about the homeless. They were violent. They were

dirty. They were mentally ill. And then on

that first day,

He had to

confront and arrest a homeless man who had

jumped the subways, turns style.

And in the midst of this encounter,

Cam searched the man satchel. And inside

wasn't a weapon, but instead,

a manuscript of a play

entitled

crabs in a basket.

And the play was a metaphor

for the man

The homeless man and his struggle to crawl

out

of the whole,

which he found himself in.

And so lieutenant cam writes in that 2

minute space of time,

he had transposed

himself from a homeless guy, my baggage

to a

play right.

Mister Cam recall.

That compassion

which lasted him throughout his career

that he learned on that first day as

a rookie cup,

led his colleagues in the in the New

York police department to call him gentleman jack.

Gentleman jack, and his guiding principle

was always to extend comfort

and compassion

in order to get people talking.

So my friends,

the grief

in our life

because of loss

or heartache

or own sinful choices

That grief

can drive us in 2 opposing

directions.

It can drive us towards self destructive behavior

and thought patterns,

or it can drive us towards the comfort

offered,

by our lord.

The comfort made evident in his word through

his people

and by his holy spirit.

We might think

of the holy spirit as our personal

crisis

negotiator.

Whose very presence brings comfort

and compassion.

As we stand

on the ledge

of grief

or depression

or sorrow,

the remedy

of comfort and compassion is available.

It's available to anyone

and all

who will simply

listen

and receive

in revelation chapter 21

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

versus 4 and 5,

the remedy.

The remedy will come to those who know

Jesus Christ as savior,

the ultimate remedy, not the temporary remedy,

but the final remedy. And 1 day, it

says God will wipe every tear from their

eyes.

There will be, no more death.

Or

morning,

or crying,

or pain,

for the old order of things,

has passed away.

Friends,

our tears of sorrow,

over sin

or lost

or deaths

or crazy people trying to shoot political candidates,

all of that

will be wiped away.

It will no longer exist.

And though we may sometimes

doubt it.

Just like that seminary professor.

The promise

of that day

is certain,

But for now,

our journey

to that place of full and complete joy

maybe at times.

A trail of tears,

winding its way

through the valley

of shadows,

but only

for a time.

For weeping,

may last for the night.

But joy

comes

in the morning.

Will you pray with me?