I. Our Compass in the Storm 00:02
Sorry, I put a cough drop in, because I have these allergies and I really don’t want you to think I’m sick. But no, I’m feeling great. God is good.
I want to talk today about some wisdom I want to pull out of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for our current times. If you’ve been paying attention at all to what’s going on in the world, you know there’s obviously been the pandemic, there’s been an economic shutdown, there have been tens of millions of unemployed people, and there have been some recent tragedies, abuses of power by certain police officers, and riots and looting as a response to that. It’s been difficult in this time to stay in the place where Jesus wants us to be in our soul and in our heart, because we’ve had so many things coming at us that are easily causing us emotions. If you’ve seen some of the videos that go around on social media, if you pay attention and you jump into that stuff, it can really tear you up. It’s sad. It’s tragic, some of the things that are going on right now. And some of the things might make you tempted, depending on what your views are. They might make you angry on one side, sad on the other.
I think we need to remember that our grounding is in the wisdom of Jesus Christ. That wisdom is eternal, that truth is eternal, and he’s given us the tools to navigate these waters. That’s why people say “your moral compass.” When you’re on a boat in the middle of a storm and you can’t see anything, and you’re being tossed to and fro and you don’t know where you’re going, that’s a good image, I think, for what’s going on on social media and in the communications that are coming at us. It’s like a storm. It’s cloudy, it’s confusing. You’ll get hit from one side, then you’ll get hit from the other, and everybody knows the way. Everybody’s going to tell you exactly the way to go. But our compass has to be grounded in Jesus, because you can get pulled one way or another by these winds and these waves when you can’t see.
So I’m hoping we can dive into what is often considered Jesus’ greatest moral teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. It’s considered one of the best moral teachings in the history of the world by universally everyone. Even philosophy people who don’t believe in God love to read this and talk about what Jesus is saying, because there’s something powerful here. But we know more than that. We know that these words are living and active, that the Holy Spirit can use these words to change our hearts and to bring revelation about where we need to go in these troubling times. How do we individually need to respond to what’s going on around us?
And maybe I’ll say this before I begin. Maybe you’re the person who wants to put your head in the sand and ignore everything that’s going on and just focus on what’s in front of you. I don’t think that’s fair to your walk with God, because God allows you to go through the experiences of suffering, he allows you to engage in the world, because he wants to use those things to shape you into somebody who can live the kingdom of God on earth. If all we do is get our own personal salvation figured out, then Jesus’ cross is not active in our life for others. We’re not really being the body of Christ as believers, because his program didn’t stop with getting in the door to heaven. His program was to activate you to go out and love the world well, to bring peace, righteousness, and joy into a world that needs it. Every single one of you is needed in this world, and God called you to him for a reason. If you’re sitting in this room, it’s for a reason and for a purpose. If you’re watching online, it’s for a reason, because he wants to use you to bring about his purposes. Jesus may have left, but he didn’t stop redeeming the world. He wants to use each of you, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to do that.
The last thing I’ll say before I dive in (and I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible, even though there’s a lot here): we’ve been hearing this word recently that Mom shared a few weeks ago from Second Chronicles, where “if my people will turn to me, repent from their wickedness, and seek my face, then I will heal their land” (2 Chron 7.14). And then Eric came up and gave a word of encouragement, that every time he’s sought the Lord, God has been so present in this time. It reminds me of the verse that says, “Draw near to me and I will run after you.” In the midst of these turbulent times, God is present. And the verse I want to bring, that goes right through all of these, is from Isaiah chapter 55, verses 6 and 7:
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isa 55.6–7
Put all those things together and hear what’s going on: there is a call to action. Maybe you’ve lived months or years without personally going after what God has for you in your life. Don’t put it off another day. God wants to transform you into the person you don’t even yet believe you can be. He’s got visions for you.
II. Blessed Doesn't Mean #Blessed 05:18
So let’s talk about the Beatitudes. Let’s see today if we can recalibrate our compass and bring some of the wisdom of Jesus into our life.
Of course, everybody knows about the Beatitudes. Jesus starts with these “blessed” statements: “Blessed are these people.” And I just want you to know, when he’s saying that, he’s not saying it like when you take a picture of your acai bowl in just the right light with the right filter, and you post it on Instagram and say, “Oh my gosh, this is so good. #Blessed.” That’s not what Jesus is talking about. When he’s talking about “blessed,” he’s talking about being in right relationship with God and the world. It’s more similar to the word shalom: this peace, this fullness, this fulfillment.
Which means “blessed” isn’t about being happy. If you read this as “happy,” you’re going to get really confused, because then he says, “Happy are they who mourn.” Jesus, what are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense. Because that’s not what he’s saying. “Blessed” is fullness, richness, alignment with God. And do you know what? Being blessed is better than being happy. If you’re looking to be happy, you’re aiming in the wrong direction. Happiness is an added bonus that God loves to shower on you any chance he gets, but being blessed is way more important, way more valuable. So let’s seek to be blessed in the way we live our life, not just happy.
III. Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit 06:27
So first he says, in verse 3:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5.3
Now, this one is the hardest for me, because we have all this language in the Bible about how you want to take up the armor of God, and it’s easy to get into this mindset (I’ve heard this analogy used many times) that the spiritual disciplines, the things we do, reading our Bible, meeting with God, are like going to the gym. You want to get strong spiritually, right? But Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” What is he saying here? Of course he wants you to be strong in your spirit. Of course he wants you to be built up in your spirit. But there’s something here. It’s like, be humble in your spirit. Because if you get to the point where you start thinking about how strong you are in your spirit, you’re missing the point, because it’s really his strength, not yours.
This is the anti-pride verse. True humility is what he’s looking for here, because when you’re poor in spirit and you know you’re poor in spirit, then you stay hungry. As soon as you think you’ve got it figured out, and you’re rolling, you’re meeting with God every day, you’re having a good, abundant time, you feel like everything’s lining up in your favor, it’s so easy not to be desperate for him. It’s so easy to be satisfied with the blessings of God and not seek the presence of God. If you remain poor in spirit, then you’ll know you need him every day.
It’s like when we had an African bishop here, and it’s always stuck with me. He said, “I feel so bad for you guys in America. I’m worried for you guys in America, because when you pray the Lord’s Prayer and you say, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ you don’t really mean it. In Africa we mean it. My people need bread every day to live.” That’s the hunger God wants us to remain in. So when he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he means: don’t get so puffed up in your own abilities. Even if you’re doing all the right things, you can miss me. You need to be desperate for me.
It reminds me of when the people who were following Jesus were getting mad at him, because he’s hanging out with the prostitutes and the tax collectors, those bad people. And they’re like, “Jesus, why are you doing that? All the other rabbis hang out with us, the Pharisees and the elites.” And he goes, “Well, I didn’t come for the healthy. I came to heal the sick” (Matt 9.12). That’s what this verse is about. He’s not telling the Pharisees, “You guys are healthy and you don’t need me.” It’s tongue-in-cheek. He’s grinding their gears a little bit. He’s like, “Hey, I came for the people who know they need me.” Do you think he was telling the Pharisees and the Sadducees, “You guys are healthy; you don’t need my presence”? No. He was saying, “You don’t even realize you’re sick.” And that’s what this verse is about. You need to know that you need Jesus.
What I’m going to do as I talk about these: this is all part of the Sermon on the Mount, so I want to bring in some of the verses Jesus says later, because this is just his introduction. In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount he’s explaining what he means by these blessed statements, these Beatitudes. And so later on, in chapter 6, verse 1, he says:
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Matt 6.1
That’s connected to this verse. I don’t think you can be poor in spirit and bragging about how good you are on social media. I just don’t think you can. There’s one term going around recently called virtue signaling. Basically, you put a hashtag up there to show people you’re in solidarity with this movement, but you don’t back that up with actions. You don’t live that out in your life. It’s just a signal to tell people, “I’m virtuous.”
Now, I’m not saying you are doing this. Maybe you did share the hashtag. I’m not saying that’s absolutely wrong. But I am saying: check your heart. Is this about showing people how good you are and how you fit in? And that might be on either side of the spectrum. I’ve seen people who love to share from, let’s say, the right-leaning side, and there are people who love to share from the left-leaning side, and they want people to know, “I’m on this side of right.” That’s what they want people to know from their social media posts. So just ask yourself before you dive into those: are you doing it because you’re trying to share the knowledge of the love of Jesus with your fellow man, or are you doing it because you want them to know how good you are? Remain poor in spirit. Remain hungry for Jesus. Acknowledge your need.
IV. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 11:19
We’re going to move on to verse 4:
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matt 5.4
Jesus knew exactly how to say the one thing that was completely anti-cultural. We have difficulty accepting this verse: “Blessed are those who mourn.” But God, it hurts. Suffering sucks. Suffering’s not good, right? But God is saying, “No, actually, I can bless you in the midst of that.”
God is not the architect of your suffering. God did not cause you to go through the experience you’re going through. But God will redeem your suffering. In fact, what we learn in Scripture is that the balance of existence, all of creation, is good beyond our imagining. The suffering in the world does not outweigh God’s love and redemptive power. There’s a common argument that goes throughout our culture that God can’t exist because there’s so much pain and evil in the world. And the crazy stance we take, the absolutely ridiculed stance we take, is: actually, no. God can redeem even the depth of suffering we engage with in the world. Even those situations where you read a story and your heart breaks, or those times when you feel like you’re at the bottom of the pit and you’re mourning over what is going on in your life, God can redeem even that. You may not see it today or tomorrow or next month or next year, but the promise we have and the promise we hold on to is that God redeems it all, and in the end it shall be good. If it’s not good, it’s not the end. God’s not done yet.
Don’t be cynical. Don’t lose focus on what God’s doing. Don’t get so bombarded with the difficulties and the burdens of the world that you cut off your hope at the roots and give up on people, or your culture, your society, your community. God is bigger than the boogeyman. I mean that seriously, though: God is bigger than the things we’re encountering in our daily life.
V. Blessed Are the Meek 13:34
Verse 5:
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt 5.5
Moses was called the meekest man who ever lived (Num 12.3), and I don’t think we really understand the word meek, because we think it means weak. Meek, weak: you just flip the M upside down and you’ve got the same word. That’s not what meekness means. Moses was the meekest man on earth, and yet he stood before the most powerful man on the planet, Pharaoh in Egypt, and said, “Let my people go.” And then Pharaoh said no, and he said, “God told you to let my people go,” again. He kept going back to Pharaoh and telling him over and over again. Does that sound like weakness? This is the man who could have had him torn limb from limb in a snap, right there. He could kill him. And yet Moses was not afraid to go to him.
Do you know what meekness is about? Where is your confidence? Is it in yourself and your own ability, or is it in God’s strength in you? Moses knew it was God who was in control and not him. He even told God, “Don’t send me. I can’t do this.” But God said, “I will go with you,” and then he went. We always focus on Moses at the burning bush arguing with God: “I’m not good enough. Don’t call me.” And sometimes we can be like, “Oh yeah, we get that.” But you know what? He then took up the staff and walked out the call that God had on his life. That’s meekness: knowing your weakness and trusting in God’s strength.
And you know what? Over and over again, this is the truth: we have been called as the people of God to confront injustice. That’s what Moses was doing. He saw injustice and his heart broke for it, and then he did something about it. But do you know the two times he got it wrong in his life, that we know of? First, when he saw injustice and reacted in outrage and murdered a man. He saw an Egyptian beating up on a Hebrew, a Hebrew slave, and he murdered him out of rage (Exod 2.11–12). I think there’s a warning in there. The next time was the injustice of the people of God. They weren’t honoring God, who was providing for them, and he struck the rock in anger, and God said, “That is the reason you’re not going to go into the promised land” (Num 20.11–12).
I don’t have time to unpack these stories as fully as they need to be unpacked, but I’m just saying: be careful. Your responses matter. How you respond to what’s going on in the world matters, and if your response is rage and violence, that’s not from God. We’ll get to that more later; I don’t want to keep you here all day. But meekness is not weakness. It’s about knowing where your strength is. When you trust in the Lord, you don’t feel the need to murder the guy, because you know God’s got your back. You don’t feel the need to strike the rock with all your strength. You trust God’s strength. Rage is just saying, “God isn’t good enough. God’s not powerful enough. I have to solve this on my own.” That’s where it can lead us.
VI. Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness 16:40
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matt 5.6
Notice it doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice.” Interesting. Do you know why Jesus didn’t feel the need to say that? Because we all want justice. We just want it for the other guy. If he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,” we would think that meant that guy who cut me off on the freeway is going to get pulled over by a cop, because I hunger and thirst for justice for that guy. And then the moment you miss your exit and fly across the freeway, you know what you’re hungering and thirsting for? Mercy. We love it when we can hunger and thirst for justice for the other guy, but Jesus is not after that inclination.
We know that as we’re properly formed by the words of Jesus, our hearts that cry out for justice will be pointed in the right direction and will be driven to action. That’s a given. God’s placed that in the heart of all of us, to long for justice. But when he says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” he’s putting the responsibility at your door. Because justice for you is death. We all fall short. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all turned away from God’s grace. But he paid the price for our justice so that we could hunger and thirst for his righteousness, and we shall be satisfied.
Jesus said it this way:
3 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matt 7.3–5
That’s a whole sermon right there, so I’m just going to leave it. You know what I’m saying there. And I’ve got a couple more statements on this. First of all, there’s this guy named Goethe, something or other; I don’t know how to pronounce his name. But he said, “If everyone swept in front of their own door, the whole world would be clean.” Before you try to clean up the rest of the world, look at your own household. I’m not saying you don’t have a responsibility to go out there and fight for justice for those who need it. Absolutely. But what’s going on in your own bedroom? What’s going on in your own house? What’s going on with your own family? Fight for justice for them first. Get your righteousness established in your own household. Jesus did promise that you would be satisfied if you would hunger and thirst for it, so there is a possibility to grow into that.
VII. Blessed Are the Merciful 19:48
We’ll move on:
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Matt 5.7
I’m going to go right into the verses he says later, in verse 43:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt 5.43–45
There’s a really tempting narrative out there, a tempting philosophy, that says… I’m going to come back to that point. Sorry. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” The problem here is that we’re really, really good at arguing for why our judgment is justified. You see it on people’s social media posts all the time: “I’m going to call this person out, because they are the enemy, because they did this, that, or the other. They’re racist, or they’re classist, or they’re elitist, or they’re prideful, or they’re insensitive.” How many accusations do you see a day on social media? Is that loving mercy? Is that being merciful? Is that loving your neighbor? Is that praying for them? I just don’t think so.
And the next time I’m tempted to do it myself, the next time you find yourself wanting to call somebody out, realize what you’re doing, especially on social media. You think that’s going to accomplish anything? Now, I know in some ways I’m preaching to the choir. Maybe you all know this. But I’m just saying there’s a spirit in the world of accusation, and if you agree with the spirit of accusation in the world, do you know who you’re agreeing with? Satan. You know what that name means? The accuser. You know who the Holy Spirit is? He’s the Advocate. He fights for us. He fights for people. And when you agree with the spirit of accusation, you’re just furthering Satan’s work in the world. We’re supposed to pray for those who are our enemies. Now, maybe you need to pray that the wicked get exposed and punished. I don’t think that’s unbiblical. But I definitely don’t think that needs to be your Facebook status. It needs to be a part of your prayer life.
VIII. Blessed Are the Pure in Heart 22:10
I’m going to move through some of this, and we’ll go on to:
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matt 5.8
This one really strikes me, because you don’t understand how good it is to see God. None of us do. We get glimpses. But man, if there’s one promise in here that resonates with me, it’s “for they shall see God.” That should get you fired up.
Purity is not about perfection but about clarity. It’s about getting rid of distractions. If you have a glass of water and it’s pure, it should be see-through, right? It should be clear. If you put stuff in it, it gets diluted, it gets unclear. The stuff I was talking about, rage, or jealousy, or sin, or anger: the problem with it is that it clouds your vision, so you can’t see God. In fact, I think the chief problem with sin in our life is that it keeps us from seeing what God wants us to see. It completely distorts our vision.
I keep referring to the toddler because it’s so easy, but my son Rowan, man, when he’s in a moment where he’s angry at me because I took away something he wanted, it doesn’t matter what I hold in front of him, ice cream, something better than what he has. If he’s angry and he’s screaming and crying, he can’t see it. His vision gets clouded by this anger that comes over him, the sin, this thing that comes into him, rebellion. And so when I correct that, it’s not because I’m mad at him and I want him to be better. It’s because I want him to see more clearly.
So what’s going on in your life that’s making it hard for you to see your way through the storm? Maybe it’s just some little thing you allow, some little corner of your life where you say, “Well, God can’t be Lord of that. That’s just my little sin, and it doesn’t hurt anybody.” Remember that thing about the log in your eye while you’re trying to get the speck out of your brother’s eye? Maybe you have a log you need to remove. You know who’s really good at removing logs? Just ask your spouse or your best friend. Ask somebody who’s close to you. Other people can see it. Ask somebody, “What’s going on in my life that I need to remove so that I can see God?” The promise is worth it.
Let me just make one statement and I’ll move on. If all you’re reading and seeing is the media and social media, and you’re watching your movies and your TV shows, but you’re not reading your Bible, then you’re never going to have a pure heart. I’m telling you right now: boom, you’re done. You need to have your inputs clear. If you’re inputting trash, you’re going to output trash. I’m tempted to do it too, because man, Netflix, HBO, those things are so entertaining. I can find shows that will keep me occupied for hours. And when I open my Bible and read Leviticus and how the priests were established, I’m not entertained. It’s not fun. But you know what? I’m so committed to being able to see clearly that I go back again and again, because the word of God is sharp like a two-edged sword, and it’ll cut those things right out of you. It’ll help you discern that log in your eye. You’ve got to balance your inputs, and maybe you just need to get rid of some.
IX. The Peacemakers and the Persecuted 25:22
Okay, I’ve got to go real fast now. Let’s talk about:
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matt 5.9
This one preaches itself, in verse 22:
22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matt 5.22
Just meditate on that verse this week. We’ve already talked about it, but how many times have you seen people calling out other people’s foolishness? And do you think they’re liable to the hell of fire? That’s what Jesus is saying. Watch your heart. Don’t sit in the seat of the scornful. That’s another place that says it, right? “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (Ps 1.1). You know what the seat of the scornful is today? It’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. You can sit in your seat and scorn everyone. Get out of the seat of the scornful. Ask God what he’s calling you to do. It probably doesn’t look like what he’s calling Bob down the street to do. He has a particular plan for you. Get out of the seat of the scornful. No matter what you believe, get in line with what Jesus wants to say.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5.10
This is really dangerous. I’ll give you one little key about this. It’s really dangerous because we think we’re the righteous being persecuted for our righteousness. We’re really convinced that’s us, when, guess what, you might be the one persecuting the righteous person. Ask yourself that. Is there somebody in your life who just bugs the crap out of you because they’re doing so well, and you get jealous, and you just want to tell your wife, “Well, you know what he said the other day”? You want to find that one weakness and drive it home. Is there jealousy in your heart that’s causing you to try to tear down the righteous one? Be careful. Don’t be the one persecuting the righteous.
And yes, if you’re willing to take a stand for what you know is right and good, don’t be afraid, because you will be persecuted. Don’t be afraid, though, because he’s overcome the world. But it’s coming your way, and the next verse gets into it too:
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matt 5.11–12
You know what? I don’t think anybody is getting persecuted for jumping on there and just copying other people’s statuses. I don’t think that kind of persecution is a mark of your righteousness. But I do think that if you’re saying what God’s leading you to say (and it doesn’t have to be on Facebook; it could just be with your family. Maybe God doesn’t even want you on that platform, who knows? You’ve got to ask him), if you’re saying what God wants you to say, if you’re speaking the truth, you’re probably going to have people come against you, revile you, persecute you. And if you never hear somebody revile you or persecute you for your beliefs, if you never have anybody disagree with you, then you might be headed the same direction as all those on the wide way that leads to destruction (Matt 7.13).
I don’t know what that means in your life particularly, but I know it’s way easier to just go with the flow: repost the hashtag, repost the post, tell people how you know you’ve failed, get on there and self-abase and make everybody know, “Yeah, no, I’m with you guys.” It’s way easier to just do that. Where is God calling you to go against the flow of what people are saying? Because trust me when I say, Jesus knows what’s going on. Jesus can see right through the mess. Where is God calling you to push through the social pressures that are telling you to think and behave and act a certain way? Don’t just go with the flow.
X. Forgive, and Seek First the Kingdom 29:41
These last two are not the Beatitudes, but I think they wrap us up here. I think what our culture needs more than anything right now is God’s spirit of forgiveness. When Jesus taught us how to pray the Lord’s Prayer and said, “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” he followed it up and said:
14 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt 6.14–15
That’s a hard word. “Jesus, I don’t think you meant it that way. Jesus, I think you said it wrong, because what I’ve heard my whole life is that God will forgive me no matter what I do. What I’ve heard my whole life is that once I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I’m good, and I can just lay back and cruise on into the kingdom.” Well, guess what? The call to believe Jesus and make him your Lord and Savior requires transformation, and it requires forgiveness. If there’s anybody you feel doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, start praying for them, because that’s what God wants to go after in your heart. That might be the log in your eye. Forgive others so that Father God can forgive you.
And if you’re feeling anxious in these times and you’re feeling overwhelmed (I know I’ve had those moments, man; some of the stuff you see just burdens you), if you’re feeling anxious and overwhelmed: towards the end of this, continuing the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Therefore do not be anxious, but seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt 6.31–33). What he’s saying is: everything I’ve said so far, therefore. Because you’re going to be merciful, and you’re going to hunger and thirst for righteousness, because of all those things we talked about, those things will make it so that you aren’t anxious. Seek first the kingdom of God.
It’s not “you will never be anxious.” It’s “be anxious about the right things.” God doesn’t want you to fear, but he does want you to care about the right things. He’s like, “Don’t be anxious for clothing and food and all that stuff. Actually concern yourself with the Beatitudes. Concern yourself with the ways of living that I’ve taught you, and then you can be free from anxiety.” He’s shifting the paradigm. So if you’re feeling anxious and you don’t think this two-thousand-year-old book has anything to say about what we’re doing right now and what we’re going through, guess what? That’s where you need to go, because he wants to change you, so that no matter what happens in your life you can stand tall with peace and joy and righteousness. It doesn’t mean we don’t mourn. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t mean it’s not hard. But it is worth it. He is worth it.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, I just thank you that we get this opportunity to come before you, and we get to hear your word, worship your goodness, and be transformed by your presence. I just pray, as we go throughout our days, that we wouldn’t get lost in the many pulls and concerns and difficulties and tragedies of our life, Lord, but that we would keep you at the center of our being. Lord, that we would just lift up our burdens to you and lay them on your altar, and allow you to transform our hearts. You are still in the process of saving the world, and you want our participation. So, Lord, I pray that you would activate us as we get transformed by your love and mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.