Matthew 5: Jesus Heals Us When We Stop Pretending

The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t let us stay comfortable. Jesus looks straight at our self-protection, our need to be right, and our habit of performing, then he calls us into a life that’s honestly better and honestly harder.

We open Matthew 5 with three lines from the Beatitudes that sound simple until you try to live them: “Blessed are the merciful,” “Blessed are the pure in heart,” and “Blessed are the peacemakers.” We tell a story about a runner who hits the end of himself and discovers that the pain he hates might be the very sign that healing has started. That becomes the frame for everything else: conviction can feel like pain, but “good pain” is often the cure, because it means we’re alive and God is changing us.

From there, we dig into mercy as costly compassion that gets close, not polite distance. We talk about purity of heart as continual cleansing in a world that constantly tries to mix junk into our desires, and why none of us ever “arrive” spiritually. And we get practical about peacemaking: not peacekeeping, not avoidance, but shalom-building work that steps into conflict with truth, humility, and love, whether that’s in church relationships or in a tense moment on the street.

If you’ve been trying to fix yourself through sheer effort, we want you to hear this clearly: Jesus is the cure. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

Transcript

Why Jesus’ Words Still Sting

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Jesus gathered his disciples and walked to a high spot as a crowd swelled with students. Curious onlookers and possible enemies wanting to hear this religious leader who seemed different. Could it be the Messiah they have been waiting for to save them from their enemies? Could the old kingdoms of this world be passing away? Was this Jesus finally ushering in the kingdom of God? And then he spoke a verbal attack on unrighteousness and self-righteousness. An assault on I'ma get me and mine. And it was a message for the broken. Blessed are the poor spirit, the spiritually bankrupt, those who recognize desperate need for God. And starting with this deep truth, he dispensed world-changing, life-rearranging understanding. Love your enemies, be generous to everyone. Come on, for real.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

You will never be good enough by working harder. Pray this way. You are the light of the world. Do not worry about your life.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Be realistic, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Ask, seek, knock. Stop performing. Enter through the narrow gate, feel like your foundation on something that lasts.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Today, many likers of Jesus listen to these words and they say, He probably didn't mean that, but if we truly assume Jesus meant what he said, a better kingdom would shine brighter in a darker world. Together we can look to the Savior on the mountaintop and soak in the teachings of life. Join us for uncommon sense, joyfully living out the challenges of Jesus' sermon on the mount.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

It's a good problem. It's a good problem. We're going to be in Matt five, Matthew 5 this morning. Matthew 5, 7 is where we're going to be. We're in the Sermon on the Mount, as you saw from our video. And this is a short text. Normally, you know, we're trying to like fit a big long text into the sermon, but this is a short text. Different problems. So let me get to this. We have nice study Bibles available on both sides. If you need a study Bible, we would love to give one to you. Put your name on it. It's our gift to you. They're nice. We have them in multiple languages. Tenemos biblias milingues disponibles al costada de salon. Bonjour, mwensatsim, canta nuevavec muen isit la.

Reading The Beatitudes And Prayer

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Alright, so we're going to be in Matthew 5, 7. I hope you're there with me. This will go fast. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. This is God's word. Would you pray with me, friends? Father, you are kind and you are loving. But at times this world does not feel that way. Even this morning, we grieve with the Santos family who lost their beloved brother. We grieve over the loss of our friend Dennis, who died on Thursday. And we appreciate the way that you grieve with us and you don't leave us alone in our sorrow. We also recognize that you desire us to be merciful. You want us to seek purity. You want us to be peacemakers. You want us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, but we rarely do any of these things. We are a corrupted people living in a broken world. We live among a people of unclean, clean lips. We've seen death and oppression and decay. And so we grieve, but we rarely grieve our own sin, Lord. Father, please help us to understand the devastation of our making. Remind us how you pursued us through our pain and your pain. The way your son carried a cross after being beaten and tortured, the way his redeeming sacrifice would bring a greater joy than we could have ever asked or imagined. What a mighty God we serve. With a heart of sacrifice for his enemies. We ask that you would teach us today. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this all in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen.

James The Runner Hits Bottom

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Now, uh today I'm gonna ask at the beginning if you're willing, if you're willing to trust me with this, and I may not you may not be, um, that you'd be willing to close your eyes as I uh tell you a story. Um and I know if you got kids, you gotta watch the kids. I understand that. But if you're willing to close your eyes, here's two advantages. Number one, if you close your eyes, I think it'll be easier for you to see the picture that I'm painting. Number two, if you close your eyes uh and you really need sleep, you'll you'll get some rest. Either way, it's a win. So, can I tell you a story? Let's close our eyes if you're able. It's about a man named James. Now, James loved running. Ever since he was a child, he could outrun adults. He beat his mom in a foot race to the end of the block at age seven. He outran his dad at age nine. He was in elementary school when he won his first 5k. James didn't only love running, but he was a gifted runner. As he grew into his teens, he started entering half marathons and then whole marathons. James became a marathon runner. He saw it as his identity. He was a good one, who often finished in the top five in major races. But then at the Boston Marathon, his legs became super heavy for the last couple miles. He drank a ton of water afterwards, got a deep tissue massage, and he wrote it off as temporary. Three months later at the Chicago Marathon, his legs seized up halfway through, and he had to walk almost the rest of the race. At the LA Marathon it happened on the first mile and he walked off into the street. Pretty soon James was lost. He was losing feeling in his legs other times. He fell in the shower but caught the safety bar. Then he tripped getting out of his car. But he was only able to hide this from his wife and kids for so long. Especially after the incident at the nice restaurant on Mother's Day when he fell and brought down the whole table on him. It was embarrassing. It was getting worse. His gnomes his toes were constantly numb and it moved up through his ankles into his calves. Doctors couldn't figure it out until a specialist in Philly told him about a rare condition called Rothenberg's dissipation syndrome. It was slow, but it meant he would likely live a shorter life, a much shorter life. He would eventually lose all feeling in his legs and the rest of his body would very slowly follow suit. There was an experimental drug being tested in Brazil that needed to be tried early in the progression of the disease, but it was probably too late already. Plus it had been rumored to make the tendons in the legs too tight to run anyway, so what's the point? James was unwilling to even consider that. But James still refused defeat. And he went to physical therapy twice a week. And he even felt stronger on some days. And still eventually he was forced to move into crutches. James had figured if he just grinded enough, he could fix it with enough physical therapy, plenty of supplements. He started going to physical therapy every day, and then sometimes even twice a day until his insurance began to deny most office visits and his medical debt started to pile up. And then one day, with a broken spirit after falling a second time in one week, as James' wife and children watched, an in-home therapist helped him transfer from the couch to the wheelchair for the first time. James had always been positive. He had always been the family rock. He had always been strong enough for everyone, but in this moment he just melted into the chair. Felt like a grave to him. His arms and shoulders slumped over. James buried his head in his hands and he wept loudly. He wailed. He wasn't gonna be strong for anyone anymore. He was destroyed, he was depressed. Over time, James' legs began to lose muscle tone. They became emaciated. He couldn't even get into the chair without help. He needed someone to bathe him, to wipe him, and even his own teenage son had started carrying his now 100-pound frame to the car. It was the bottom. It was the end of a great man. He was alive, but he was dead. His wife Teresa had never seen him so lost. And so independently she reached out to the researchers in Brazil with the experimental medication, and they agreed to welcome him into the trial that was now actually starting up in Los Angeles. James didn't like being talked about behind his back by his wife, but at this point he had just given up fighting. His stubborn self-confidence was gone, and now only hopeless bitterness remained. When he met Dr. Belski at the clinic, he was told of the low chance of success since his disease had progressed further than anyone else who had been in the trial. What did it matter? He was dead anyway. After signing what felt like dozens of pages, relinquishing his right to sue, absolving the experimental pharmaceutical company if they killed him, he found himself in a gown, hunched over in his chair, exposed backbone showing through his emaciated figure, waiting for his first pointless injection. Now Dr. Belski was not a people person. As the nurse prepared the first large needle with the experimental drug, Dr. Belski, he was frank. James, you are likely too far gone at for this shot to work. I want you to know we have very little hope for you recovering. You probably know this by now, but you have about five years left to live. Well this shot likely won't do anything. The good news is it probably won't hurt at all. James, who was now used to feeling hopeless, could just squeak out. Yeah, whatever.

unknown 10:53

Dr.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Belski pointed at James' legs, and the nurse began the first of two injections. As the large needle plunged into his skinny legs, lightning surged through his body, his eyes opened wide. It was the worst pain imaginable. James's eyes closed again, tears squeezed out. The room felt a hundred and fifty degrees, and his body instantly dripped with sweat. He instinctively tried to jerk his weak legs away from the needle, but they didn't respond. Only pain. Sobs again. The room grew quiet. Why did life have to be like this? Why was it so easy for everyone else? Why would God make him a runner and then take away his legs from him? Then as the silence grew, the room turned a deep shade of blue and purple. The Russian doctor began to chuckle. He began to laugh. It seemed kind of inappropriate, man. The new nurse had removed the first needle and she stood up and she hugged the doctor, which seemed kind of just super weird to James. Doctors don't hug nurses, and especially in the middle of the worst pain and suffering of their patient's life. But soon she was laughing too. James, what's wrong with you guys? Don't you have any decency? This is the most pain I've ever had in my life, and you are here laughing. Doctor Belski, I'm sorry, James. We are happy. The pain, terror feeling you have means you have been healed. You can be healed. It means you may not just stay alive, but you may walk again. This is good pain. This is victory. Okay, so you can open your eyes.

When Pain Becomes The Cure

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Friends, there are two things I want you to understand about James' story, okay? Number one, until you are willing to die to yourself and let Jesus be the cure, you will never receive true healing. Never. You must be broken in spirit to move forward in the Sermon on the Mount. I also want you to understand this. There is a lot of pain in listening to the Sermon on the Mount. A lot of pain in listening to the Beatitudes. Sometimes the pain you feel, it's the cure, though. Jesus makes a lot of demands, and if you are trying to do this in your strength, in your own PT, physical therapy kind of thing, without giving your whole life to Jesus, you will always be doing physical therapy in your own strength. But if we listen to Jesus challenging words and you feel pain, we will feel conviction over our selfishness today from his words, over our unwillingness to forgive or show mercy. If those things hurt, guys, it means you're alive. It means there is hope. God is changing you, sanctifying you for his glory. And when we understand Jesus' challenges are for our good and his glory, we can embrace them and we can accept his help because he is the only cure, friends. It's not about what you do, it's about what he did. It's not about who you are, it's about who you know. And to everyone in this room, it's not about knowing about Jesus, it's about knowing Jesus. And when you know Jesus, he gives you his eyes. But he gives you his eyes for your sin and compassion for the people around you. So today I'm going to give you three realities when God gives us his

Mercy That Costs Something

SPEAKER_01 14:07

eyes. And my first point is this we see others as he saw us. We see others as he saw us. Verse 7 blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. We've seen, blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit recognize their need for mercy and they give it out liberally. The entire Sermon on the Mount goes back to this, friends. Jesus says, Blessed are the merciful. Now the Greek word here for merciful is elemon. It's not niceness, it's not being passive, it's described as costly compassion. But the Hebrew word here is so much better. The English word doesn't cut it. The Greek word doesn't cut it, it's the Hebrew word. It's Hesed. Now it's not something that can be fully translated very easily. William Barclay, he would define it this way. He would say, Chesed is the ability to get right inside the other person's skin until we can see things with his eyes, think with his mind, and feel things with his feelings. Hesed has also been called unconditional love, loyal commitment, covenantal faithfulness. This is not pity, this is only greater. Pastor Matt Chandler, he says this. He says, Mercy isn't conjured up by willpower. It's the fruit of being undone and remade by Jesus. And that's the scandal of it. Mercy always offends the self-righteous. The Pharisees hated how freely Jesus gave it away. But the brokenhearted loved him for it. And when that mercy grabs hold of us, we begin to look like the one who gave it. Guys, the church is going to practice mercy again and again and again and again. And then again, yes, we will have established boundaries with folks. But if you feel fear in the food for less down the street, if you feel fear on the streets, if you feel fear at a raider game and you never feel fear in church, we're not doing it right. It means we're not reaching those folks out there with the mercy of God. We are not doing our job of extending mercy. I lament the way that our church is constantly getting into fights with each other. Constant. But it's also a good sign. It means we're reaching people who have trauma and don't always know how to work things out. This can be a good sign. Now, here's the thing: some churches are more like plastic surgery clinics, okay? It's where you show up, you feel pretty healthy, healthy enough to get surgery, and what they do is they want to make you look healthy. I don't want our church to be that. I don't want our church to be a place that makes you look healthier than be healthy, okay? That's not what we're here to do, friends, is it? We are a hospital, right? City Life Church. We are closer to a hospital. We have the Anti-Sinning Sinners Club. We show up here in dire need of the mercy of Christ. All of us have that need. And when we experience it firsthand, we give it out freely, don't we? Because we once, and still are a lot of the times, the people who made others uncomfortable just with our presence. That was us. By our language, by our look, by our smell, by our music, we are the people who wouldn't know how to dress if we got invited to a fancy restaurant, some of us at least. We were the people who solved our problems with anger, with childish name-calling, with violence, with uh with passive, aggressive, and sometimes very aggressive behavior. We didn't know how to act healthy. We didn't know. And we are the people Jesus came for, Jesus chased after. But he didn't just want us, did he? Freely we receive, now freely we can give. This means church won't always feel uncomfortable. Matter of fact, when we do it right, it will be uncomfortable. And it won't be predictable. Never. But we're gonna do our best to make it merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Because when we admit our need for Jesus, his grace awakens new mercy for fellow beggars and thieves. Now, mercy means often leaving God's house to find the brothers and sisters, going to the hospitals, going to the prison. Jesus would say going to the highways and the byways, as he called them. Mercy means putting them on our back if we have to, trying to get them home. Mercy means uh getting them to the family, to the feet of Jesus. One pastor he says, Mercy demands proximity. We have to go to people. And when we see them, we, we, we have to be ready to apologize. We have to be quick to forgive. We have to be quick to hear and see their side of the story. James 2 says, speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. See, when we admit our need for Jesus, his grace awakens new mercy for fellow beggars and thieves. But it's rough. It's rough when you want to be about fairness, right? Like, man, you never got away with anything. Like, the cop always pulled you over first, right? Like, you always got in trouble for hitting the guy who hit you first, right? Like someone kept hitting you, you finally smacked him back, and you got caught, right? That doesn't seem fair. You went to jail, you lost the job, you lost the friendship. Why does that person deserve mercy? You know what? They don't. They don't. And neither did us. Neither did we deserve mercy. They don't deserve mercy, but neither did I, neither do you. And some of you have been trying so hard and you feel like you've gotten nowhere. You're like our friend James, taking supplements, doing physical therapy every day, uh, seeing a few gains and then losses. And I just want to say to you, if that's been you, it's okay. It's okay. This is not a brain thing. This is not a muscle thing, it's a spirit thing and a trust thing. And for all of us, it's a very slow process. But it starts when we recognize that we are not good enough. And only then can we care for others.

Purity That Never Stops Filtering

SPEAKER_01 20:13

This takes us to our second uh reality that appears when God gives us his eyes, and that is we see our constant need for his cleansing. Are you noticing patterns in the Sermon on the Mount? There's some patterns going on, and oftentimes it's Jesus challenging us in our own self-righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Now, this purity is more like when you are melting down a metal and you're removing the impurities in the metal. This is more like when you're seeing food and there is something in there that could cause sickness or illness, some kind of parasite or germ. This is the kind of purity that we're talking about. Jesus wants our hearts to be the same way, undivided and pure, not mixed. But things are always trying to mix into our hearts, aren't they? We're always letting them in too. We are always letting things in. You cannot like drive down the street without seeing ads for things. You can't you can't turn on a radio without getting an advertisement for something. You can't listen to a song, you can't do anything. You can't turn on your phone without have someone tell you think differently than Jesus. It's constant. That's that's the problem. And so things are constantly needing to be purified. Now, Jesus didn't say blessed are the pure in actions, did he? Blessed are the pure in reputations. Blessed are those that did pure things back in the day. Lots of those people exist, don't they? But Jesus wants our hearts. Something much deeper than what people see. And when he gets a hold of our hearts, he cleans it, but he doesn't stop. That's the thing, it never ends. Like, guys, I've been in a room with pastors, politicians, people who are known for loving uh poor people, broken people, suffering people. And those people in the room have been some of the Worst people I've ever been around in my life. The ones that you might look online or watch a movie about them or whatever and say, that is an amazing person. And I've been in the room with them and just like, I'm uncomfortable. Like the joking at other people's expenses, like the hatred that I feel in their hearts, like at some point these guys arrived and then they stopped being purified. And I'm like, how much can I become like that? How easily can that become me? I went to a pastor's conference in Dallas once, and I was amazed, all these pastors, you know, all these guys that had arrived spiritually, the amount of drinking, teasing, meanness, and like cigar smoking that was going on. I was just like, man, like, what's going on here? And it was like they were already holy. So like whatever they touched became holy. Like it was so weird. And I just wanted to leave. I was like, this is not who we are called to be. And I'm not saying that like somebody can't have a drink or whatever, but what I'm saying is that these people were embracing their sin because they felt like they were above it. And I'm just saying, it when that's me, I'm done. I'm out. I'm not your pastor anymore. Hopefully, God will continue to refine me before it gets to that point. Psalm 24 says, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. Guys, when we understand our need for God, we understand that's not us without Jesus. We have to understand we are spiritually bankrupt. We also have to understand we never fully arrive. We have to keep seeking God. God desires to take your desires and change them completely to His. Ezekiel says that God will give you a new heart in Ezekiel 36. And I will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit in you, I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. But here's the thing: He has to continue to work on that heart. God doesn't do this once, he keeps doing it because humans don't stop being human, do they? Some of you may never rid yourself of certain desires in your life for drugs, for sex outside of marriage, for being selfish, for being arrogant, for being mean, but that doesn't mean that you have to embrace those things. We understand our sin and we understand our good God wants to help us through it, and we're gonna be okay if we look to Him and we seek to have His heart for us. Now, C.S. Lewis he says this, and if you're writing notes, I'll say it twice because I should say it.

unknown 24:30

C.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

S. Lewis, he says this it is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to. Let me say it again. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to. See, guys, when we admit our need for Jesus, his spirit refines and cleanses our hearts, but only after that. Now uh we purchased our house here in Mount Hope like over ten years ago now. It's not a flex, but um, when we purchased it, the backyard uh was like some like messed up uh chain link fence with like sharp stuff all over it, and like the view was gorgeous. It was the the the trolley tracks, the mausoleum, and graves. Um, and when I say graves, I actually mean coffins. Like that was our view of our backyard. So yeah, you're like, yeah, not a flex. Um motivated buyer, motivated seller, sorry. Um but here's the thing, guys. Uh slowly what we did is we put in a fence that was like a white fence you couldn't see uh all the graves and stuff, and then we put put up trees, and then I feel like as I've worked over 10 years to make my garden a place of peace, um that one of the things I always wanted was a water fountain, a solar-powered water fountain. And this uh year my mom got me one, and Amazon sent me one that had a broken part, and instead of sending uh you know the broken part to me, they just sent another whole water fountain, and so that's why the church has one now. You're welcome. Um but here's the thing the thing about a good water fountain is it has to have a really good pump, and this one had a highly regarded pump and a good battery, but the pump has to be constantly filtering, especially in the summer, because as you get sun, then algae starts to build up. But also, one of the things I've noticed about our fountains is that we have really good relationships with crows in our neighborhood, and the crows are really blessed by us, which is great. Um, but what they do is they like to find their McDonald's food and stuff in the trash and then bring it to the fountain and wash it out in the fountain so it's more easily digestible, and then the the the crows eat it. And so there's a crow who like watches me all the time here, and he I'll be preaching and he'll come and like be eating his food while I'm preaching, actually, right here behind you guys. Um and uh like what happens is it gets really nasty. The water gets really nasty, and then bugs and leaves fall in. Today I actually went in between services and cleaned it out. I was like, I'm not gonna use this without it working. Um but there there were like pieces of like bugs in it and stuff. Algae grows, mosquitoes. If the water is not moving, will lay their eggs in it. So you want that water moving, filtering, and the only way to keep it going clean is to have the pump um and the solar panel working in in concert. Because when it stops, the water stagnates, turns a gross color. But what if what if we cleaned it out perfectly and we put like the purest water in there? Like what was that called? Like Fuji. Fuji Fiji water. Fuji? It's my favorite apples. No. What if we put Fiji water in there, right? What would happen if the pump wasn't working for a day or two? It would be nasty, right? Like purity, though, it comes from a lifetime of repentance, it's not a one-time thing. So when the pump is connected to the sun, even tap water will be safer than stagnant Fiji water. And I've had some of you guys, you know, some of the people in our church will just be like, hey, Pastor, can somebody help me out with some you know bottled water? You know, and I'm like, I drink out of the tap. Nobody's helping you. Um, I believe in tap water. So tap water in the fountain versus Fiji water in a fountain that's not moving. What's safer, what's better? It's always, always gonna be that tap water, not that, not that bougie, stagnant Fiji water. To put it another way, nobody, but nobody, except for maybe a couple Europeans, believe that one shower a month is enough. Nobody believes that. We have to keep going back to be clean, right? You're not, you don't take a shower, get fully clean, and say, I'm clean forever. Nobody does that. But sometimes we do that with Jesus. There'll be people who come in our church and say, I've dedicated my life to Jesus. I want to be all about that. They get baptized and then we're like, Where are you at? Well, that's none of your business. I'm like, what? What are you talking about? You were baptized into the family of God. It's not a one-time shower, it's a daily thing. Now, friends, some of us in the room today, we think we're Fiji water. We know better than other people, we obey God better than other people. We don't need church community like other people, we don't need accountability like other people, we don't need to pray and read my Bible. We are bougie, expensive Fiji water, and we're stagnant and gross. Friends, when you are disconnected from the Son, S-O-N Son, and his body that we call the church for any length of time, you will become stagnant. You will become dangerous. And it doesn't matter if you are sharing the gospel with everyone, you are discipling them to do the same thing that you did in the same way. Seeking God has to be a constant thing, and it's not something you arrive at, it's something that's always happening. Now, let me say this pastor uh from the 17th century, John Bunyan. I'm sure you all know John Bunyan, right? Like, oh, he's so great. Yeah. Um, from the 1600s. One time he finished preaching a sermon, and someone from the church told him, Pastor, you gave a beautiful message. And his response was this the devil already told me that as I was coming down the pulpit steps. See, Bunyan understood the moment that you think you arrive, that you think you're pure, you become stagnant Fiji water. Now there are others in the room, and you see yourself as tap water, which by the way, I love tap water. You may see yourself as less than the bougie people in the room, not as good as them. You don't know the right words to say ever. You can't pray beautifully like other people, but you are seeking the Son. And he is filtering you, he is changing you, he is cleaning you out, and you will never arrive. You just keep growing and learning and finding forgiveness. That is the pure in heart, the purifying in heart. It's someone who knows that they need to continually seek God and they will find cleansing and growth. And then once they've arrived there, they have to do it again. It's not about where you've been, friends, it's about where you are going in Jesus. And when you allow God to continually sift and purify you, his spirit starts to come out of you in ways that you would never have expected. When you recognize you are poor in spirit, you will do this. And that's our third reality that appears.

Peacemaking As Hard Bridge-Building

SPEAKER_01 30:58

We see his heart to repair and restore the broken things around us. We see his heart to repair and restore the broken things around us. Verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Now, Dr. Tony Evans, he says this, as Dr. Tony Evans says this, not me, so don't be mad at me. Dr. Tony Evans is who you gotta be mad at. He says this. He says to be a peacemaker is to be a mediator and to resolve conflicts between estranged parties, whether individuals or groups. You make peace by identifying the truth, addressing the sin, and constructing a bridge between those who are at odds with each other. Peacekeeping can be difficult work. Oh my gosh, yes. See, Jesus challenges his listeners to peace. That's not silence, but true peace. That peace is shalom. You've heard that word, right? Shalom is not absence of war, it's presence of harmony. Church, I will error on the side of annoying you rather than letting there be an uneasy peace with you and your friends. Rather than letting you have a separate peace with people. Until you tell me to stop bothering you, which many of you do, then I will bother you until you say stop. Now I've had more people in the last year who tell me to stop bothering them about peacekeeping than I've ever had. We've had more people who want to leave our church because of someone else here. I have received probably at least a message a week over the last six weeks of someone who says, I'm not coming back because of someone else. What's going on? What is that about? We've had more people leave because of someone else. Guys, it's not until we're willing to do the internal work that you will stop fleeing community. And even when you are still a mess, God will use you to help others come to peace. This is a hospital, it's not a liposuction clinic, not a plastic surgery clinic just trying to look better. Matter of fact, when you go to one of those plastic surgery clinics, you end up looking worse. You look like an alien by the time they're done with you. You are poor in spirit. I am poor in spirit. But it's not until we can objectively say I am the problem that we can help others and have true, loving, honest relationships. See, as Jesus' spirit refines and cleanses our hearts, he interrupts our apathy and he sends us into conflict to bring harmony where discord reigns. But it's not fun. Not fun. Actually, I can promise you it's rarely fun, at least. Like I'm I can't. Peacemaking means you are often challenging both sides and you're getting shot at from both parties. If you want to be a bridge, people walk at you from both sides. I don't want people walking on me. Some of y'all got heels and combat boots. I'm extreme, it's I got a lot of pain in my back right now. And I'm so glad Jesus ministers to my broken, nasty heart during that. Because peacemaking is pain, and if you're unwilling to do the pain work, then it means you're probably trying to do it in your own strength. Now, Zambian pastor Joe Coppolo he says peacemaking is more than just bringing about spiritual reconciliation between God and human beings, it involves actively working for reconciliation between hostile factions. Now, when I was at Irvine Presbyterian Church, it was my first full-time job at a church. I gotta tell you, I was a thought I was pretty awesome. I was not. But I also had a pastor there who just didn't like me. And he let me know often. He let me know I was not smart enough. He let me know that I didn't have a doctorate like he did, and he let me know a lot of things that really hurt me. Basically, you can't do ministry, young man, because you don't know what you're talking about. I got a doctorate. He literally said one time, Dale needs to look at the stripes on my shoulder and find a line. Now I will tell you, I had a boss named Dan Kornychuk, and uh Dan pestered that dude until we would meet together, and Dan tried to be a peacemaker. And um I'm grateful for Dan trying to work out that peace. And I know for me, I was just like, I'm broken, I got nothing. Like, dude, you think I suck? I suck. I'm just trying my best, and I'm sorry. Um, but Dan stood up for me. He spoke truth, and Dan challenged me where I needed to be challenged too. It was peacemaking. And I've got the joy of being involved in peacemaking, joy being not happiness, but joy. Um there was a time when maybe about five years ago, we had shootings going between Mike's Market, Mount Hope. Mike's Market, Mount Hope, and the shootings just kept coming back every other day. And we had friends that we knew literally shot in the face here at at our like little park right here over this gang war. And I remember there was a time when I got a call from the city council rep. He's like, Pastor, what can we do about this? And I was like, There's no we. You're not involved in this. The pastors are working with the heads of the gangs, and we're trying to do this in the work of the spirit, and there's nothing you can do right now besides, you know, uh do the job fair you're supposed to do two years ago, or rebuild the park, or give us a rec center three years ago. That's the only thing that could have fixed this. Man, what a jerk. Sorry. Uh God's working on me. Um, but I remember being on the phone with one of the leaders of uh of uh Lincoln Park game and talking to them and saying, hey man, we have to figure this out. Like you have, and it was someone like with a ton of respect, and like I was just talking, I'm like, hey, I don't care who you are. And I remember them saying, But I've done so many wrong things. How could we make this work? And I'm like, I don't care. What I care about is there's gonna be a child who gets shot that's not involved in this, and it's and it needs to end now. And I remember like that was a really difficult conversation to have. Like, I'm talking to someone who is well known, somebody who could actually like hurt me, and I'm challenging them with peacemaking. It's not because I'm confident in me, but I'm confident in our God. I'm grateful to him. Because Ephesians 2 says, For he is our peace who made both groups and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. Guys, when I was turning onto my street yesterday, I was hungry. I was hangry. I needed to eat, and there were three cop cars, and it was they were behind a car I knew already. A car of someone who's been in this church many times in this building. So, what did I do? Drove my son to the house, dropped him off with my wife after, you know, going to play with him, and I said, Hey, I gotta go. I remember I was hungry, I was hot, I got a little sunburned, but I knew that I had to be there. There were six peace officers there, and five of them were very peaceful. And there was one guy who wanted to be known that he was in charge, and he spoke to my friend like he was a child. He spoke to me like I was a child. And it was my friend's fault for breaking the law. Hear me. But it was but this was the kind of thing that many times they will let it go. Um, but it was clear this one cop was picking on him and he wasn't gonna take it. This is a bad combination, friends. This is a bad thing. So as uh the cop was leveling up, so was my friend. And I found myself literally grabbing my friend and saying, Hey, hey, stop, get away. Come on, come over here. And I'm telling him the things that are true about him. I'm telling him the ways that God loves him, I'm telling him that God has made him to be a peacemaker, I'm telling him that God has made him to be merciful. I'm telling him that um when when his enemy treats him a certain way, he needs to respond with kindness because he has the Holy Spirit in him. And I wish I could tell you I did it once. Like it must have been so funny. I'm like rubbing a grown man's back like in his 60s, just trying to calm him down the whole time. I'm trying to talk to the police officer, sir. I really appreciate this, but I would love to just talk to you for a minute. I'm not talking to you. He's a grown man, and I'm like, oh, well, okay, okay. But would it be possible? You know, just constantly trying to fight. And I could feel that this officer, unlike the other ones who were trying to create peace, just wanted to go. He wanted to get my guy up and ready to fight. Someone in this church ready to fight him. And it took so much work, physical energy. My wife brought me waffles, praise God. And then he and I each have had a waffle um with some Ube, uh, it was so good. Um, you know, when you're hot and you're hungry, dude, like something tastes so good. That was that moment. But friends, we we we had to be peacemakers with him. And you know what's crazy? Because you'd have someone else that come up and be like, oh, it's those MF and cops again. You should, and I could see my friends start to rise up. Don't surround yourself with people who are gonna get you riled up. Surround yourself with people who are gonna speak peace and truth to you. Guys, both sides, I actually think, had a legitimate reason to be angry. I could feel the tension rising. We had waters and we had waffles and we had prayer, and that's all we had. But I believe that those things brought peace to the situation. He he did not leave in the cop car, although they were ready. He uh he his car left and he had a $200 fine, and that's it. Praise God. Now, friends, you are in a multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic church. You have to be okay with discomfort. You will receive discomfort. Also, poverty can be difficult. Many people in our community have been raised in homes with no stability. The education, the food, the the public safety in Mount Hope and other areas of poverty, they've made life difficult here for everyone. There's trauma in the hood. And what it means is there will be more need for peacekeeping in our community, and it will be more difficult here sometimes. And we have to be okay with that because it's good, and God has called us to it. I don't know if you remember James from our story earlier, but if you are like James and you've been trying to work all this peacekeeping out in your own strength, you will never have enough. James had to admit he was already dead, and then he could actually receive good news. See, Jesus has good news for you too, friends. That if you are willing to see yourself as someone in need, if you are willing to see yourself as someone who was already dead, well then God can do a lot of work in your life. This is the beauty of the gospel.

Gospel Hope And A Direct Call

SPEAKER_01 41:09

Even while we were dead in our sins, Jesus died on the cross for us, conquering sin and death as our perfect sacrifice. He was our bridge. And when he rose again on the third day, he showed that he was bigger than sin and death. And that is the joy that we have, and that is what propels us forward in love, because not only did he do that, but he gave us his spirit in us, his counselor. Now, like James, most of us will walk with a limp the rest of our lives. We will sometimes need crutches in our lives. But even as we limp, Jesus will send us out for the sake of others. He trains us up and we will never fully arrive. We have to continue to stretch and grow and surrender ourselves. Some of you need to die to yourself. You have to admit you will never be good enough to save yourself. You can never be good enough to save yourself. Jesus cannot save you until you are ready to die for yourself, though, to date to yourself, until you're ready to make him master of everything in your life. If you are ready for that, if you believe the gospel, give your life to him today. Admit you are dead on your own, but be resurrected with Jesus. Find a new, better life in Jesus. And for the rest of you who have already given your life to Jesus, if the words of Jesus, doesn't have to be me, the words of Jesus in our text today convict you, if they cause you pain, it means your new heart is still alive and beating, and that's a good thing. But you have to respond to the pain. If you are an addiction, continue seeking his help with your journey towards sobriety. Perhaps some of you feel pain because you've not shown mercy to others. Guess what? That pain means you might need to apologize. And the clock says you still have time to show mercy by the power of God's Spirit. But for the rest of you, you're gonna feel pain and peacekeeping. It's just a part of life. You've seen issues of justice, and you said that was for someone else. You probably feel some pain about that, don't you? You you've chosen your peace over seeking peace for someone else. Maybe you've seen brokenness and you just decided I'm not helping. I have good news for you. It's not too late. It's not too late for you to be a peacemaker. That pain is conviction from God. And I tell you, sometimes we don't have to repent of our actions, we have to repent of our inactions and pursue God's purpose for the people and the world around us. Guys, there's still time to set things right, but only with God's help. So I say this to you, church, City Life Church, and guests, when we admit our need for Jesus, his grace awakens new mercy. But it's new mercy for fellow beggars and thieves like us. And as his spirit refines and cleanses our hearts, Jesus interrupts our apathy and he sends us into conflict to bring harmony where discord reigns. Not because we are good, but because he is good. Let's pray.