“A Christian’s Character” – Matthew 5

What do you want out of life? That’s a big question, isn’t it? If you could sum it up in one word, what do you want? Money? Fame? Power? Prosperity? What about happiness? Is it wrong to want to be happy? I know some of you are thinking this is a trick question because we are in church and Christians aren’t supposed to be happy. Right?

Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” That sounds more like what we are supposed to say, doesn’t it? I know Paul meant that and that should be a goal we strive for, but I don’t think it’s wrong at all to want to be happy.

The problem is when people think that money, fame, power and prosperity are going to bring happiness because they are disappointed every time. And yet, that makes sense to us. It just has to be true that stuff will bring happiness. It just seems right. Doesn’t it?

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end leads to death.” Death? That’s not what we wanted. We wanted happiness but scripture says when we search for happiness - doing what seems right to us - that we end up in death.

Have you ever noticed that oftentimes scripture doesn’t match what we think…or feel…or have been taught? For instance, what is your natural reaction if somebody slaps you? And yet scripture says to turn the other cheek. What should you do to your enemy? Scripture says to love them and pray for them and do good things for them. Crazy, right?

What do you do when you face trials? Worry? Work harder? Complain? Overeat? Skip church? (That’s a good excuse.) In the book of James, it says to consider trials as pure joy. So, that’s how we know James was a crazy person, right? No, the Bible is full of advice and even commands that seem to make no sense. Surely, we know better than that, don’t we? Surely, we are smart enough to figure things out and do the right thing on our own. Let me ask you, how’s that working out for you so far?

Are you doing what seems right to you and feeling the joy? Are you happy in this life just doing what feels right? You might get the warm fuzzies for a while doing what feels right to you but if you want to have true, lasting joy, peace and even happiness, we simply must do what scripture says to do even when it is counter to what we feel or think we know.

Sitting here in church this morning on our soft, sometimes too comfortable pews, I think everybody would agree with that statement. We all believe that we should obey scripture. But what about tomorrow at work when somebody really does hurt you? What about at home when the spouse makes you mad or embarrasses you? What about when your kid does something stupid that they probably learned from you? Are you going to do what scripture says to do then as well?

Let’s all turn to the book of Matthew. It’s the first book in the New Testament, between Malachi and Mark. We have finished our focus on making disciples as Jesus made disciples and now, we are going to learn, as disciples, what Jesus taught His disciples. When He had gathered all twelve of the men He wanted, His ministry started to really take off. People all over the place were flocking to hear Jesus speak and people were being healed and lives were being changed and Jesus was saying a lot of things that were different from anything they had ever heard. It says at the end of chapter seven that the people were amazed because He taught as one who had authority, not like the teachers of the law that they were used to.

For the people of that day, Jesus was countercultural. He taught things that were just the opposite of what the people thought or felt or had been taught. You know…just like today. And nowhere is Jesus’ teaching any more countercultural than in His Sermon on the Mount. You can just almost hear the people’s minds being blown as Jesus spoke about how to live, how to work and how to pray.

What He said about religion, righteousness and relationships was not counter to the Law of Moses that all the people were familiar with but it was expounded on and fulfilled by Jesus in a way that they had never heard or seen. This is the first major teaching that Jesus did after calling His disciples. It was what He wanted them – and us – to know, understand, love and especially live.

It was as if Jesus was telling them, “Alright, you call yourselves followers of Me. This is how I live and this is how you will live.” And all of this is non-negotiable, undebatable and mandatory. You can justify yourself to yourself all you want. You can explain this teaching away as old-fashioned or even impossible but Jesus is saying to us today, if you call yourself a Christian, this is how you will live.

There are thousands of commentaries written on this sermon of Jesus and I know it is the job of the commentator to explore every aspect of the text but so many, as usual, get bogged down in things that are not important. Is the Sermon on the Mount all one sermon or is it a culmination of sermons over a period of time? What mountain was it? Is it the same as the Sermon on the Plain as found in Luke 6? If it is the same, what kind of plane was Jesus on? Was it commercial or, as Kenneth Copeland would have you believe, was it a private plane? 😊None of that matters.

Now, Jesus starts off with what is called the Beatitudes. The word “beatitude” comes from a Latin word that means “blessed” and each of these statements by Jesus start with that word. He is saying if you want to be blessed, live this way. The cool thing is that the word “blessed” literally means “happy.”

Now, we have talked before that usually happiness comes from having good circumstances, but as you will soon see, Jesus is talking about having happiness in circumstances that are the opposite of good. You’ll see what I mean in just a second. Let’s go ahead and read the Beatitudes which are found in Matthew chapter 5, verses 1-12.

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.

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.

I’m going to tell you right off the bat that this is the greatest sermon ever preached. No, not the one I am preaching, contrary to what my mother thinks. I’m talking about this sermon that Jesus is preaching. But I could preach on this a hundred times and not do it justice and I’m not going to attempt it today. But if you will come back tonight, we are going to dive into these a little deeper.

If you, as a disciple, will come back here tonight, where the other disciples are, then you can tell what you have learned from Jesus to somebody else. That’s what disciples do. Remember? And you thought I was through harping on Jesus’ command to be a disciple.

Anyway, when Jesus lists these beatitudes, you probably have some questions. I have a good idea that the original listeners had some questions when it was over. I have some questions. (Imagine that.) My first question is, which one of these beatitudes is the most important? Which do you think we should strive for the most? Because I’m sure, as we went through this list, you probably found one or two that kinda sorta describes you and you hope it is the most important. So, which one is best?

The answer is, Todd, that’s not a good question because this is not a buffet list where you can pick and choose and try one and see if you like it and if not, go on to another. No, this list – the whole list – is the character of a Christian. Maybe you have studied the Fruit of the Spirit that Paul lays out in the book of Galatians (5:22-23). He says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Just like it says “fruit” and not “fruits”, meaning this whole list of qualities should describe every Christian, the beatitudes should also describe every Christian.

But there are at least two problems with these descriptions. First, every one of them can be faked. They are all internal, spiritual qualities that, so often, church people like to pretend that they have. We have all met people – not in this church, of course – who walk around with the sad, puppy dog eyes, looking like they just lost their best friend who think if they act sad, people will think they are poor in spirit, meek and mourning. And with just one look they knocked out three beatitudes! That’s pretty good. But it doesn’t work that way.

1 Samuel 16:7 says, “People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Also, Luke 6:45 says, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” God knows what is in your heart. You can’t fake it with Him but you can with man. How a man can tell if it is real or not is by what comes out of the mouth, especially when the person is not at church.

And that brings up the second problem with this list as far as the world is concerned. The world thinks this list of beatitudes is not something to be admired or desired. In fact, the world thinks just the opposite. In the world’s eyes, these characteristics are the marks of losers. The world says, “Assert yourself. Stand up for yourself. Be proud of yourself. Elevate yourself. Defend yourself. Avenge yourself and serve yourself.” (MacArthur, p.134) Look out for number one because if you don’t, who will? Right? But, these are not a list of descriptions for churchgoers. These describe true Christians in and out of church.

This leads me to my next question, question number two. Just how important is it to be identified by God as having these characteristics? I know it says we are blessed if we are merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers, etc. but…that’s hard to do. Do we really have to have these characteristics?

Let me answer my own question by first saying what I hope is already obvious and that is that these are characteristics of Christians. These do not make you a Christian. You don’t get to heaven by being persecuted. If you are persecuted but not a Christian, it’s because you did something wrong or maybe you’re just a jerk. You can’t have these qualities if you are not a true believer. The good news is that you can’t have them if you aren’t and you can’t do them without Christ’s help.

Just knowing that ought to drive you closer to God. Just like the Old Testament gave the Law of Moses, which was impossible to follow, these qualities are impossible to have without God doing it through you. But reading these should reveal to you, just like the Old Testament Law did, just how much we need God and how far from God we really are without the sacrifice of Jesus. But when we allow God to work in us and through us to have these qualities, we start to live out who God wants us to be and that is where we find our true happiness.

I was talking to a wonderful Christian lady the other day who said she just wasn’t having much fun in this life anymore. She’s a wife and mom and she’s starting a new business and her health is not great and she has a lot to do that she doesn’t really want to do and she doesn’t feel like she is really using the gifts that God gave her.

So, I mentioned to her that it seemed to me that the answer to her problem was in the problem itself. If she would use her gifts that God has given her, she would start to have fun again. That’s why these beatitudes are important. When Christians have these characteristics, it fulfills what God designed man to be and that’s when we are most happy.

Also, when a Christian is happy even in the difficult times, do you know what that does? It draws people to that person and, ultimately, to Jesus. There is no better tool for evangelism than a happy heart. And there is no worse way to evangelize than to try to tell somebody about Jesus while at the same time crying and whining and playing the victim and blaming everything on everybody else.

I went to a Bridgeport football game last year with some friends. I’m not much of a sports guy anymore but they assured me it would be fun. So, I got there and paid to get in. Paid way too much for a Dr Pepper, sat down on a frozen and hard bleacher surrounded by loud, obnoxious people, one of whom spilled their expensive drink on me and then watched as Bridgeport got creamed by the other team. I looked at my buddy and said as sarcastically as humanly possible, “Hey, thanks for inviting me. This really is fun.”

Isn’t that a perfect picture of what the world sees in us when we try to convince them to be a Christian as we live just like the world lives and we are just as worried as the world and just as miserable as the world and just as gripey as the world? “Oh, yea. That Christianity looks like fun. See ya!”

But when we have these beatitude characteristics and people see that we are happy and joyful even when things are difficult and we have peace in the storm, then people start to take notice. They say, “I’ll have what she’s having.” “Whatever he is into, I want in. I want some of that.” You don’t have to be perfect. The world knows you are not perfect and that you are going to make mistakes. That can be forgiven. But trying to make the case for Christianity while not living any different from the world is impossible to overcome. (Might want to repeat that.)

Okay, third and last question. We have seen that all these characteristics are important. We have seen why we need them. The last question is how? How do we go about getting and keeping these characteristics? Let me ask it this way. Let me ask it the way the world would ask and how I hope you are not asking. What is the least I have to do to get these characteristics? What is the minimum that I have to do while I flirt with the world and pursue stuff and chase worldly wisdom and do all the things that the world does? What’s the secret?

If that is how you are asking the question, then just forget it. Because this is impossible without a radical devotion to all things Christian, which includes prayer, scripture, the church and obedience to the equally radical things that Jesus taught. The whole Sermon on the Mount sets standards that go way beyond what even the Law of Moses laid out. The whole Sermon on the Mount demands, not just outward righteousness like the Law requires, but righteous attitudes and desires. It’s not just doing what is right but actually being right.

How do you obtain these characteristics? Be right with God. Lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). All your ways! Your job is one way. Your marriage is one way. Your hobbies, your mouth, what you watch on TV and listen to on the radio. In everything you do and everywhere you go, your focus should be on God and making Him look good. Acknowledge Him in prayer, with thanksgiving and praise, considering all the trials joy and being still and knowing He is God and everything else revealed to us in scripture. Whew! That’s a lot to remember! How can we do all that?

Only with His help. Only by abiding in Him, resting in Him and letting Him do it through us. And aren’t you glad? Aren’t you glad that without Him, you can’t do anything worth a flip spiritually, but you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength…and happiness…and peace…and joy? Not because we deserve it but because of His grace and mercy and because He loves us. Oh, thank you, Lord!

And Lord, give us these characteristics today, please. But we acknowledge that we can’t do it. Would you please help us? Please remind us when we are not living this way and what led us away from it. Please give us wisdom to know what you want and what it looks like in our lives, for our sakes but also for the sake of your Kingdom. We look forward to being blessed and happy and we are grateful to you for doing it through us. We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let me ask you one more question. We are not guaranteed another breath and if you died right now, are you absolutely positive you would go to Heaven? Why are you sure? Does it have anything to do with how good you are or what you have done or what other people have done? If it has to do with anything besides God’s grace and your faith in Jesus dying on the cross to save you, then I need to talk with you and pray with you right now.

Today is the day of salvation. Ask God for forgiveness of your sins and repent of those sins and allow God to change your life starting today. Do it right now as the music plays.