#1-REAFFIRM YOUR POVERTY

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Matthew 5:1-6

Now we come to the most amazing seminar/workshop Jesus ever taught. Jesus has already begun to do wonderful things in healing and touching the lives of so many in His new ministry among them as the new Rabbi in town. He has already chosen a few men to follow in His dust-to be taught in His way. So now the question automatically arises: "Jesus, how does your teaching differ from all of the other Rabbis' teaching that we have grown up with? How does your teaching compare with what we've been taught?"

This is the question for everyone of us, no matter from which culture or religious background you were brought up. HOW DO THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS DIFFER FROM WHAT I'VE BEEN TAUGHT SO FAR? Jesus sets out to answer this underlying question among the people and it is recorded in Matthew 5-7. These are the most dynamic chapters in the New Testament and possibly the most revolutionary!

Jesus has been teaching the good news message of the Kingdom and is enjoying a wonderful response from the people. Now, when He sets out to answer how His teaching differs from all other teachings, Jesus paints a portrait of what a person of the Kingdom might look like. Jesus doesn't paint a broad brush swipe, but first offers 8 snapshots of a happy Kingdom dweller. In attempting to take each of the snapshots and flesh them out in our lives, I see each one of these snapshots as a discipline. There is no way for us to instantly be like Jesus or live out a Kingdom lifestyle. This requires a set of certain life disciplines that Jesus spells out here.

They have been called the Beatitudes. They are so outside the box that many theologians and ministers have relegated them to a later time in the future Kingdom, refusing to apply them to life today. But this is precisely the point of what Jesus is saying. These are Kingdom teachings and principles. And, we just saw where Jesus said that the Kingdom is near, later He will say the Kingdom is here and then He will say that the Kingdom is among you.

Jesus carefully describes each of these 8 dimensions with very few words. Each one begins with "happy" or "blessed" are you when you are this way or that. "You'll do well to be this way" is his point in every one or "The Kingdom citizen will be like this." However, He will turn your world and thinking inside out and upside down as you contemplate each one. The first 4 are all about our personal relationship with God on the inside. The second 4 extend the first 4 out into our relationships with others. It is truly a great pattern for first walking with Jesus and then walking with others. Over the next few days I want to take the 8 "beatitudes"-1 each day-and see if we can "catch" the essence of what Jesus is saying and own it for ourselves by embracing the discipline that is embedded there. Let's get started:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

It all begins right here-"Blessed are the poor in spirit". You are blessed if you have this quality of being poor in spirit. The term "poor in spirit" is a word that means that you must beg in order to live. You are that desperate! It's having a right evaluation of yourself before God. He's God and self-sufficient and I am not! In order to embrace each of these beatitudes it seems best to me to rearticulate each into a discipline or an action step. With "poor in spirit" I see the discipline as:

#1 REAFFIRM YOUR POVERTY-Jesus is speaking to a massive group of people who have been taught by some of the most haughty men who have spent their lives outlining what it means to be right or righteous before God and that system is really a performance system of attempting some level of perfection. Jesus begins at the very opposite end of the spectrum. Righteousness begins when you understand your total need for God-your spiritual poverty!

To reaffirm your poverty means to have a right evaluation of yourself before self, God, and others. All of life begins right at this point. Possessing a right evaluation of yourself before self, God, and others is true humility-the exact opposite of the blindness of pride. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins; it's universal among humans and it's devastating! Pride always seeks to be exalted, to be first and to be praised. (Don't misunderstand! There is a good sense that some people identify as pride as in self-confidence or self-satisfaction, but I believe it's helpful to call it just that-self-confidence or self-satisfaction.) Pride blinds you to the point that you don't see your self for who you are becoming, you position others in a crippled, weakened condition, and you begin to think that you may be God-the center of the universe!

Pride is not always blatant. It's an insidious cancer that skews your thinking, distances you from enjoying your relationships, and sets you up for a fall in whatever you do. [Some people get credit for being cheerful, when they are really just proud of their teeth!]

Reaffirming your poverty is the recognition of your spiritual bankruptcy. It's coming to grips with your humanity! I have brought upon myself the most devastation when I have violated this attitude. I used to believe I could jump over buildings (or anything in my way) in a single bound. I knew I could break through brick walls, no matter how thick. There was nothing much that I could not do or overcome!

But I want to confess to you that with this prideful attitude, I have enjoyed many successes, but I have endured many failures. A better way to say it is that on many occasions in my life I have failed miserably! Just to be able to recognize those failures is a freeing experience. The tendency is to reframe every one of those horrible experiences, blame someone or something else for what went wrong, and rid myself from those marks against me.

What I've learned is that it is through the pain of the miserable failures that I've grown the most. In the midst of that pain I have learned vital truths about me, God, and the others in my life.

We are all broken and spiritually bankrupt! One of our main addictions is that we are stuck on ourselves-our self-centeredness-the big "I" for everything to revolve around.

Start today to reaffirm your poverty. You are pretty bad off on the inside in need of supernatural empowerment, yet you are not as bad as you could be, since you were created by the God of gods and He doesn't make junk. So, there is a wickedness (the downside) and a wonder (the upside) about you. This is a right evaluation of yourself before God. Those who reaffirm their poverty before God are operating within the very presence of God and therefore they are practicing God's kingdom on earth and have the assurance that they are in possession of the kingdom of heaven.

NOTE ONE MORE THING: Those who are poor in spirit are the ones who will receive the kingdom of heaven. Only two of the 8 snapshots reference the Kingdom-the first and the last. The Kingdom belongs to those who know and admit their need for God. It all starts here. You see, it's only when you come to the end of yourself (poor in spirit) that you finally realize that God is enough. So, reaffirm your poverty without God and you will become richer than you ever imagined.

REPENT-THE KINGDOM IS NEAR

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Matthew 4:12-25

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake.... From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

NOTE what Jesus began to preach to the people: "Repent or change your mind about what you're doing-wake up-for the Kingdom of heaven has come near." He begins His teaching ministry with the Kingdom. Later, at the end of His earthly ministry, we will visit Jesus again during the 40 days He spent with His disciples before ascending into heaven and there, too, it was all about the Kingdom.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus approached two sets of brothers-fishermen-and summoned them to follow Him. What is most important here is to understand what is really going on. This isn't one person walking up to another person and calling them to drop their nets and follow. The Jewish culture was a religious one and revolved around the teaching and leadership of the Rabbi's. Young boys were initially educated by the local Rabbi. As each student grew up he was always being evaluated by the Rabbi to determine how far along the student would go. Is this a good enough student to follow in the dust of the Rabbi or would this student be rejected from advancing into a higher education? When a Rabbi accepted a student, his parents were so proud. If rejected, then the student would be sent home to take on the profession of his father. This student's parents still accepted their young student, but this rejection meant a little lower level of society for their child.

These two sets of brothers had obviously been rejected by their Rabbi's and were therefore working in the trade of their fathers. Instead of playing on the first team-the varsity, those who were rejected by the Rabbi were in a kind of junior varsity position in life. When the new Rabbi, Jesus, came along and picked out these brothers to follow in His dust, this was an amazingly attractive opportunity. Note that James and John's father, Zebedee, doesn't seem to resist their decision to leave the family business. He was thrilled that a Rabbi had picked his kids!

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

NOTE that Jesus went all over, teaching in the local synagogues, proclaiming the "good news" of the Kingdom. His primary activity to demonstrate this "good news" of the Kingdom was to meet the various needs of the people-healing every disease and sickness among them.

ONE MORE THING HERE: The message of Jesus was the good news of the Kingdom. Those who were attracted to this message were attracted to the Kingdom. They weren't looking for a new Rabbi to come along and plant new synagogues in their villages. And, these new disciples of Jesus were following Jesus as the King and were thrilled with the message of the Kingdom.

I ask this question again: Why is it that our "gospel" (good news) message doesn't include the Kingdom at all? If we want to walk, talk, think and love like Jesus, then we must pay attention to Jesus-His message and His methodology. How could we ever think that our ways might be better and more effective than His? So, let's carefully and meaningfully respond to the two most revolutionary words in all of history-FOLLOW ME!

THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM

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Over the past few years I have been experiencing a pronounced learning curve regarding Jesus. And, in the past 4-6 months my learning curve is no longer a curve, but it is perpendicular. I cannot believe the things I've overlooked in the teachings of Jesus throughout the years. The blinders that I have been wearing comes from being over-educated beyond my intelligence in Biblical studies. What I've come to realize is that what I've been educated to do is to make everything a little more complicated than it really is and then to tie it up in a nice little theological box.

Now, in the process of seeing Jesus more clearly, something very thrilling is emerging before my eyes and ears. Seeing Jesus clearly is one thing; understanding His teachings more clearly about the Kingdom is not only transformational, but truly revolutionary.

Now, I am becoming more and more fascinated with JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM. This combination is life-changing to those who dare to see and hear.

With this in mind I have decided to move through several of Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom within the gospel of Matthew. So, instead of moving through Matthew from start to finish, I want to dip into some of these teaching sections over the next month or so. The nature of the kingdom is simple. Your personal kingdom is all you have say over. Therefore, the Kingdom of God is all God has say over. When you encounter Jesus, you must sign off as king and submit to Jesus as the King of your kingdom, because He is the King of kings.

Before actually getting into Matthew, it's important to consider a couple of basic things about the Kingdom. FIRST-A cursory look at the theme of Jesus' teachings is about the Kingdom. Jesus mentions the "church" only twice, yet the gospels record 127 times where Jesus teaches the Kingdom.

SECOND-What is the two-dimensional message of Jesus, Phillip and Paul in the book of Acts? The message is the combination of Jesus and the Kingdom. In Acts 1 Jesus appears to His disciples for 40 days to give them certain proof of His resurrection and personness and He spent the time teaching them about the Kingdom. Phillip taught the combination of Jesus and the Kingdom to the Samaritans.

And, finally, Paul, when under house-arrest in Rome, spent his time and energy teaching those who came to visit him about one primary theme-Jesus and the Kingdom.

Once these things are observed, questions pop into my mind. Why is it that we are all about "church", when Jesus wasn't? Why do we preach the "church", when Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom? Why do we emphasize the "church" and minimize the Kingdom in our fellowships?

One of the primary answers to these questions is that playing "church" is what we've seen as an example of how to walk with Jesus. Even more concerning to me is that playing the "church" card gives a person a sense of being able to control a piece of spiritual life and lifestyle. You may control the "church", but you can never control the Kingdom of God.

Jesus and His Kingdom. Jesus leads you to His Kingdom and the Kingdom principles lead you to Jesus, the King. In fact, Jesus actually calls it the "gospel of the Kingdom."

If you're up to it, come along on this journey with me and allow the message of the gospel of the kingdom be planted as a seed deep down in your soul. If you have ears to hear and eyes to see, your life will be transformed-inside out and upside down. So come along. You'll never regret the journey!

REVOLUTIONARY HABIT #3

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The third revolutionary habit is WAITING ON JESUS to lead out with orders and opportunities. Waiting on Jesus is not inactivity. Waiting on Jesus is being active and attentive in the following ways:

FIRST-As you wait there is the action of readying yourself. Your responsibility is not to be in charge, but to be ready for the King's orders.

SECOND-As you wait there is the action of relating to Jesus and to others-the first two habits. Your responsibility is to continue these relationships within your support team-the "one anothers" in your life. It's the doing of life together, not sitting around and explaining it.

THIRD-As you wait there is the action of resting. Your responsibility is to be anxious for nothing, but to rest in your relationship with Jesus and with others. Now, keep in mind that Jesus may not have direct orders for you today. Don't be in a hurry to the point of being stressed. Following Jesus is all about rest. Jesus calls His disciples into His rest-confident, peaceful, everything-is-going-to-be-OK rest.

FOURTH-As you wait there is the action of resisting. Your responsibility is to resist all distractions, temptations, and detours that you have stirred up for yourself or that come from the enemy of the King. This resisting is a vital discipline of the for the disciple of Jesus and the Kingdom.

We are not to wait on Jesus for us to do His will. It's just understood that we are to do that. Neither are we waiting to be responsive to Him or to do what He would do.

However, we ARE waiting for Jesus to show up in our lives. We ARE waiting for Jesus to give us answers to our heart's cry-an impression, a peace, a desire or a thought. We ARE to wait to bring restoration to those God brings us. We ARE to wait for God to bring people into our lives for us to walk with in fellowship and support.

WAITING ON JESUS TO LEAD OUT is demonstrating a ruthless trust in Him to come through on our behalf with opportunities and orders for us to follow.

Isaiah 40 is brought to mind regarding who God is and waiting on Him--12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor, has informed Him? 14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 25 To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?'' says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God'? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable,. 29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Then I am drawn to Acts 1 where Jesus gave orders to wait in Jerusalem for next steps! Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples, just hanging out with them and He spent that time teaching them about the Kingdom. "He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.'" In essence, the disciples were still hung up on the physical, political motif of the Kingdom and Jesus is expanding on His former words to them that He has already brought the Kingdom. Now, they must wait for the permanent, abiding presence of God through His Spirit to empower their Kingdom living.

The same is true for us today. We are to pray for Jesus to lead out and we are to follow Him. So we are praying and waiting for Jesus to lead the way.

Think of it this way: #1-Jesus is calling you today. All requires of you is to be interested, believe in Him and follow in His steps. #2-Jesus believes those He calls are good enough. In other words, He believes you can do it. #3-Jesus believes you can be like Him-to perpetuate His His lifestyle in you. #4-Jesus empowers you by His presence as 2-3 of us gather together in His name.

It's all about the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus and following Him. Three habits. Walking with Jesus. Walking with others. Waiting on Jesus to lead out with orders and opportunities.

REVOLUTIONARY HABIT #2

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There are three revolutionary habits in learning how to follow the teachings and principles of Jesus. Yesterday we referenced the first one-WALKING WITH JESUS. Today, we examine the second one-WALKING WITH OTHERS.

As always, Jesus is our example of this habit. When He began His ministry, He chose three to come alongside Him-to be with Him. He continued to spend most of His time with these three. This small group expanded to 12, then the 72 and then the 120. In fact, at one point there are up to 500 who were fairly close disciples of Jesus. I'm sure most everyone who followed Jesus felt close to Him, yet He walked most of His time with a few.

The disciples were sent most of the time in teams of two. Sometimes there were more, but you just don't see them traveling or living alone.

WALKING WITH OTHERS provides a level of personal support that we all need. There are, at least, four benefits: FIRST-Strength to do whatever may come in life. There's something about knowing you are not alone that empowers whatever you try to do. Without others in your life you are weakened and at your lowest.

SECOND-Encouragement is easily drained, yet within a few trusted friends you will find yourself fueled by the others who are doing life with you. Without others you can easily become discouraged and distracted.

THIRD-A learning dynamic presents itself within a smaller setting. When you are walking with others, it's so much easier to get it-your seeing and hearing seem to be better. Without others it seems difficult to have ears to hear and eyes to see, so you just don't "get it".

FOURTH-Finally and most importantly, walking with others is a sure place where Jesus will show up. Without others you tend to forget how real and present Jesus is.

The experience of the early followers of Jesus is recorded in Acts 2: So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The results of gathering together in the name of Jesus were many: 1. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; 2. and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 3. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 4. and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Radically valuing people over possessions! 5. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, 6. and breaking bread from house to house, 7. they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 8. praising God and 8. having favor with all the people. 9. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:41-47

WALKING WITH OTHERS is one of those disciplines of life that produces great results for you and those with whom you are walking. Jesus said, "I will build my church"; what He is looking for is for His followers to BE THE CHURCH. This is the Kingdom way of living your life fully.

Living fully requires that you walk with Jesus. When you walk with Jesus, you are the walking solution to people's needs everywhere. And, the only way to faithfully walk with Jesus is to WALK TOGETHER!

Here's the action plan: 1. DO walking with Jesus 2. DO walking with others a. Pray for Jesus to bring someone into your life/mind. b. Be open to whomever He brings to you. c. Hang out together and look for Jesus to show up.

You know, I can hear my voice echoing these three habits back to me when I say them. I have said them over and over before as many of you know. But this is an easy-say and hard-to-do situation. So I ask you, are you walking with Jesus and are you walking with others? That's the test whether or not you've heard these three habits enough yet.