Sermons

Author: Pastor Charles Schultz 

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

O Holy Spirit, open our ears, our eyes, our hearts so that we may, through the Word proclaimed this day, receive grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and His Son, Christ Jesus, Amen.

Blessed are those who mourn. The Bible shares many examples of God’s people in mourning. And in doing so it shares two different kinds of mourning. One is mourning over the death of a loved one. The earliest example is Abraham mourning over Sarah, his wife. (Genesis 23) Jacob’s mourning over Joseph when he believed he was devoured by a fierce animal was extreme. (Genesis 37) And in a similar way, Joseph mourned over Jacob years later. (Genesis 50) The people of Israel mourned for thirty days over Moses. (Deuteronomy 34) Israel mourned over Samuel. (1st Samuel 25) These are just a small sample of God’s people who mourned over the death of a loved one.

The second kind of mourning is over calamity or spiritual unfaithfulness. When God commanded Moses to depart from Mt. Sinai He promised to not go with the people because they are a stiff-necked people. And when the people heard these words, they mourned. (Exodus 32) After the spies returned from the Promised Land with the report of strong nations of people and fortified cities and after the people rebelled against Moses and after God gave the words of judgment that those who left Egypt would not enter the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua, the people mourned greatly.

Maybe you’re wondering why I shared these examples of the two kinds of mourning in the Bible? Our Gospel lesson for today is well known. Many know this section of Scripture by its title the Beatitudes. And this lesson contains the words “Blessed are those who mourn”. (V.4) I shared those examples to highlight one of the numerous ways that this Gospel text is often misunderstood.

Rev. Dr. Jeff Gibbs has done extensive study not only on this text but all of the book of Matthew. In his recording of “Lectionary at Lunch”, which covers this text, he states that this text might be the most misunderstood section in all of Scripture. I can remember watching at TV preacher proclaiming the “Be-Attitudes”. He stressed that in order to be blessed we must be poor in spirit, mourn, be meek, be merciful, etc. He made these blessed statements into virtues or even commands. But when we look closely at the text, we’ll find that these statements are not virtues or commands.

This morning we’ll take a close look at two of these blessed statements which will help us to understand their true meaning. And then apply their meanings to our lives today. Before we do that, I must first share that these blessed statements are a literary form that can be found throughout Scripture. The book of Psalms opens with these verses: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. (1:1-2) And Jesus said in Luke 11: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (V.28) Our text is unusual in the fact that so many of these “Blessed” statements are grouped together.

Maybe the best place to start as we look closely at two of these statements is the word “Blessed”. In the Greek the word is a plural adjective. One Greek dictionary defined the word as blessed, happy, fortunate. [1] Dr. Gibbs in his commentary on this section suggests that this adjective has strong connotations of present and future salvation. It does not mean “happy”, but something much stronger, tantamount to “saved” or “redeemed”. (P.234)

With that understanding in mind, let’s look at verse 3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Many translations place the adjective first because it is that way in the Greek. Often this is done for emphasis. Dr. Gibbs gives us a more standard English translation – The poor in spirit are blessed, because the reign of heaven is theirs! (P.234) The first half of the verse speaks of the poor in spirit. This phrase isn’t connected to financial wealth or the lack there of. The phrase is somewhat equal to “spiritually poor”. The poor in spirit or spiritually poor are those who realize a need to be saved, they realize that they are in a spiritually low condition.

The second half of the verse speaks of the kingdom of heaven. Even though kingdom is a noun, it doesn’t refer to an area ruled by a king. Dr. Gibbs uses the word reign in place of kingdom which gives it a reference to kingly action. Think of it in this way – the kingdom or reign of heaven is God performing as our king, doing all the proper things that a king should do. It is the very thing we pray for when we say in the Lord’s prayer – “Thy kingdom come”. Lastly, we note that the verb in this phrase is a present verb, “is”.

A paraphrase of this verse is those who know their need to be saved are indeed saved because of the kingly actions of our God and King are theirs today. You and I are here today in this sanctuary because we need a Savior. We know that we have been sinful this past week, this past hour, maybe even in the past minute. And our God/King is among us doing his kingly duties. In the absolution pronounced earlier God, through His humble servant, announced His gracious activity of the forgiveness of your sins. The same can be said of our baptism, as we remember its effect of washing away our sins. And later in this service most of you will receive the Lord’s Supper, where the King will once again bring you forgiveness, salvation, and life. You and I, the poor in spirit, are saved because our God/King is active among us.

Let’s move on to look at verse 4: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And once again, Dr. Gibb’s translation – The people who are mourning are blessed, because they will be comforted. Who are these people who mourn in the first half of the verse? The Lutheran Study Bible suggests that it is those who mourn over sin and thus similar to the spiritually poor. One commentary suggested this: Those who mourn are not necessarily the bereaved, or even the penitent. They are the suffering, those whose life is, from a worldly point of view, an unhappy one, and particularly those who suffer for their loyalty to God. [2]Dr. Gibbs takes a different path, he describes the cause of the mourning. This is, in fact, what causes the mourning: present sin and evil, both in the lives of the mourners themselves, who acknowledge that they are in themselves “poor in spirit”, and in the church and world around them. (P.242)

Usually, we understand these mourners to be those who grieve over the death of a loved one, but the text means more than that. It includes grief over sin and any manifestation of evil. And again, we take notice of the form of the verb in the second half of the verse. This time it is a future tense verb. They will be comforted. This comfort will come on the last day. It will be fully revealed and felt in the kingdom yet to come.

We might paraphrase this verse in this way: the people who are mourning, not just over death but sin and every kind of evil, are saved with the result that God will comfort them completely on the Last Day. Today, many of us are bearing the burden of grief in our hearts as we remember Jon and Nancy, two very active members at times who are now resting eternally from their labors. And yet we are comforted by our God/King, comforted in His promise of eternal life, comforted in the fact that we will be with all those who die with faith in their hearts in God’s eternal kingdom, comforted in the knowledge that death is only a door to eternal life. And yet that comfort isn’t complete. Memories of these two servants or just the mundane activities in life will reignite the flame of grief for months and years to come. But on that glorious day yet to come, when the trumpet blasts, when Christ visibly returns, when the earth and heavens will be recreated, we will be truly comforted for death will be destroyed, grief will be no more, mourning will only be part of our past lives.

I wish that I could have the time to walk thoroughly through all of the verses of this text. But I leave you with this thought about these “Blessed” verses – All but two speak of our future yet to come in the new creation which is indicated by the future tense verbs and the other two speak of our current reality, namely that the kingdom of God is ours. Our God/King is active among us, showering upon us forgiveness, life, and salvation. Our God/King is comforting us as we mourn, not only the death of two special people in the life of this congregation but also all the sin and evil in our lives and will shower on us ultimate comfort on the Last Day. Amen.

[1] Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament)(electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 115). InterVarsity Press.

Author: Pastor Charles Schultz 

Text: Jeremiah 31:7-9

O Holy Spirit, open our ears, our eyes, our hearts so that we may, through the Word proclaimed this day, receive grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and His Son, Christ Jesus, Amen.

What’s leading you to despair today? Or, using the words of the Psalmist, Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (43:5) Is it the darkness of the season which will intensify next weekend as we move our clocks forward? The darkness of the season tends to deepen depression and anxiety. Is it the last days leading up to the presidential election? An election that one side says will lead to the destruction of our democracy and the other side says will lead to socialism or even communism. Is it the threat of war expanding from the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Palestine possibly leading to another world war? The complexities of those conflicts, especially as they pertain to the allies of each of those countries, indicate a possible nuclear war. Is it your financial standing as another recession grips our country? Retirement funds have diminished, and the cost of daily necessities continue to rise. Is it personal illness or the illness of a loved one? Certainly, illnesses are a source of concern in our families including our church family. There are seemingly endless things that can lead us to despair in our day.

The text for this message comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Allow me to share just a short paragraph about Jeremiah from the Lutheran Bible Companion: The Lord appointed Jeremiah “a prophet to the nations” (1:5) to declare their overthrow (1:10). Like his contemporary, Ezekiel, Jeremiah warned those still in Jerusalem that there was no future for them as an independent kingdom. But unlike Ezekiel, Jeremiah suffered significant persecution since the people of Jerusalem rejected his message and King Jehoiakim even burned a scroll of his prophesies. Jeremiah preached God’s judgement to deaf ears, and his oracles express to the Lord his frustration. (P.756)

His day was a day of despair not only for the people of Judah but also for the prophet himself. In chapter twenty we read how one of the priests, who was the chief officer in the house of the Lord heard Jeremiah prophesy and because he didn’t like Jeremiah’s message, beat him and put him in the stockades. In chapter 26 we read of Jeremiah speaking the words of the Lord in the house of the Lord. And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking and when Jeremiah had finished speaking, the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die!"

The Lord’s message that Jeremiah proclaimed was not well received by the people in Jerusalem. The following is just a small section of this unpopular message:I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon… Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. (20:4-5)

The book of Jeremiah is arranged somewhat chronologically. Our text comes after the fall of Jerusalem. Many have been taken into exile to Babylon. The exiled people of God were in great despair. They longed for their homeland so deeply that they preferred to die instead of living in Babylon. They had lost all hope, their precious city and temple had been plundered and destroyed. But God doesn’t abandon them. He shares words of hope through Jeremiah. He sends them a letter which shares these words of hope: build houses, plant gardens, marry and have children in Babylon. Multiply there and don’t decrease for your time in exile will only be seventy years. And the letter includes these precious words from God: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (29:11) The word translated “welfare” is the Hebrew word “Shalom”. It’s a multifaceted word that means peace, prosperity, health, contentment, and blessing.

Our text comes after this letter to the exiles, and it too shares words of hope. In the text the Lord calls His people, the remnant in captivity, to sing aloud, to praise, to seek the Lord imploring Him to save His people. And then the Lord shares those words of hope. I will bring you back from the northern nations that keep you captive. I will gather my people from the ends of the earth. All the faithful will return, even the blind and the lame, the pregnant women and the those in the midst of childbirth. I will provide for them, they will walk along brooks of water, their paths will be straight. I will once again be a loving, merciful, caring Father for my people.

And many of those exiles from Assyria and Babylon did return to Judah. The walls of Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt. And through this remnant of God’s faithful people came the Promised One, the Anointed One. Mary and Joseph were descendants of this remnant and their first-born Son named Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ the one who fully restored the relationship between the Father and His children, between the Father and you and me. Jesus fulfilled those words of Jeremiah: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (29:11) 

God’s plan for our shalom, our peace, prosperity, health, contentment, and blessing defeats our despair. In Jesus, in His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension we have hope. When we fall into the despair of depression and anxiety, fall into that darkness, we are lifted up by the one who is the light of the world. His light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5) When we face this kind of despair we can and should look to our baptismal identity. We were marked as one redeemed by Christ, we are connected to His death and His life. Our minds may lead us to think all kinds of negative thoughts, those around us may put us down – may lead us down frightful paths, but our Lord always loves us, calls us His own, and is always walking along with us on this earthly journey.  

When we fall into despair from the presidential election, we can take solace in Paul’s words to the Romans: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (13:1) We tend to think that worldly powers are in control, but God is the one who controls all of His creation, even governing authorities. I encourage you to vote, I encourage you to select those who most closely align with God’s Word but know that whoever gets elected God will work in them and through them and maybe even despite of them. God is in control, and He will work all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)

When we fall into despair from the threat of war expanding possibly leading to another world war, Jesus’ words bring us comfort: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Those words were spoken in the upper room before Jesus’ betrayal. Jesus had just told His disciples that they would leave Him and be scattered. The life that the disciples had known was soon to be shattered, Jesus would leave them, and they would be isolated and alone. They would know tribulation the rest of their lives but in the midst of their despair they are to stand courageous because Jesus is victorious over the world. Our peace, our hope is not found in this world but is the certainty of the world yet to come in which we will find shalom because of Christ.

When we fall into despair from financial standing, again Jesus’ words bring us comfort: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33) Jesus calls us to first and foremost to seek the kingdom of God, to focus on our faith life and then He reminds us that our Father know our needs and will provide for them, maybe not in the ways that we desire but rather in the ways that our best for us. In the past God provided manna in the wilderness, fed thousands with a little bread and fish, He will continue to provide for our needs as well.

When we fall into despair from illnesses, we are reminded of the many ways that Jesus healed during His earthly ministry. And when healing and restoration of health don’t come in this life it doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. Our hope is not in this world but the world yet to come. Jesus words spoken to Martha after the death of her brother share that very hope. “Your brother will rise again.” “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:23,25-26) He then asked if she believed in this and her response is yes, my response is yes, and I pray that your response is yes.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (43:5) The experiences of this life will attempt to drive you to despair, but we are connected to one who destroys all despair. God cares for you and for me. He will drive away all despair in this world and He also leads us to the hope that is ours in Christ for a greater, perfect world yet to come. When despair knocks on your door, turn to Christ. Turn to the one who loves you and has redeemed you, turn to the one who brings you shalom, perfect peace in His loving arms. Amen.