A Message of Hope

“When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.”  Luke 21:30
            School is out and we now look forward to a wonderful Texas summer.  Summer is an opportunity to enjoy family time.  While most workers continue to toil in the summer, we typically find time to plan a vacation, go to a family reunion or just enjoy a long weekend with our loved ones.
            As a church family, we should yearn to spend time with each other during this summer also.  We are planning a Vacation Bible School on Wednesday nights during June and July.  We are participating in the community VBS in July (16-20).  We will be focusing on unity within our family group this summer and hope everyone will try to become active in this opportunity to grow spiritually together.  We have mission and fun activities planned for every Friday this summer for our youth.  The summer is here.
            Jesus talks about summer coming in Luke 21.  In this context, Jesus is preparing us for His return.  He spends the whole chapter discussing signs of the end of the world.  In the parable from verse 29 to 31, Jesus identifies summer with His return.  His comment is essentially when you see the obvious signs of summer, then it is here.  The same is true about His return.
            Jesus indicates that His return is immanent.  Twenty-one centuries later, we can read this in several ways.  First, since He hasn’t come back yet, then he was not serious about returning.  Peter discusses this idea in 2 Peter 3.  Here Peter tells us that God is not slow in keeping His promises, but wants everyone to come to Him.  Another way to view Christ’s statement about His return is to understand that He doesn’t count time as we do.  Just as Peter tells us, a day is like a thousand years to God so using this calculus, He’s only been gone a couple of days.  I like to see the return of Christ as His church.  Using this analogy, Jesus returned on the Day of Pentecost as He built His church in the first century.  Summer is obviously come because of the power of the church throughout history.
            Christ’s church here in Albany is planning many activities for the body here this summer.  We know that summer is upon us as we see and experience the wonderful signs of summer.  Let us prepare for not only the worldly summer season, but also the spiritual season of summer.  Summer indeed is near.

Scripture:  Luke 21: 29-31
 

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6: 6
            Praying and mothers always go together.  In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching us how to pray.  It is apropos that this section should arrive on Mother’s Day as mothers are the contemporary spiritual experts in prayer.
            Jesus teaches us to pray without fanfare.  When was the last time you saw a mother on a street corner praying for her children?  Mothers pray continually for their sons and daughters.  Mothers pray for their kids because they love them, not because they hope someone will see them praying. Jesus also tells us not to worry about our needs and wants here on earth because “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” This is our ultimate reassurance that when we trust God, he provides what we need.  God loves and cares for us just like mothers do. 
            Jesus teaches us how to pray with the “Lord’s Prayer.”  In this brief prayer he helps us communicate with God using the concepts of context and orientation.  First, the context is God is who we go to with our wants, needs, and concerns.  God is in charge.  Often, prayer helps us keep our lives in context with God’s plan.  This is a motherly idea as well.  Christian mothers seek the best for their children in the context of God’s kingdom which does not look like worldly success.  Mothers know that their children’s spiritual success is not measured in earthly terms.
            Second, Jesus teaches us an orientation and focus for our lives.  He tells us to seek God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven.  Mothers understand that God’s will in this world is mysterious.  Things happen in our lives and the lives of our children that we do not understand.  Mother’s pray that God’s will provide the most abundant life for their children. 
            Finally, let’s thank God for providing us angels on earth called mothers.  They will certainly cling to us all of our lives.
“All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” - Abraham Lincoln

Scripture:  Matthew 6: 5-15

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
Matthew 6: 1
            Praying and mothers always go together.  In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching us how to pray.  It is apropos that this section should arrive on Mother’s Day as mothers are the contemporary spiritual experts in prayer.
            Jesus teaches us to pray without fanfare.  When was the last time you saw a mother on a street corner praying for her children?  Mothers pray continually for their sons and daughters.  Mothers pray for their kids because they love them, not because they hope someone will see them praying. Jesus also tells us not to worry about our needs and wants here on earth because “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” This is our ultimate reassurance that when we trust God, he provides what we need.  God loves and cares for us just like mothers do. 
            Jesus teaches us how to pray with the “Lord’s Prayer.”  In this brief prayer he helps us communicate with God using the concepts of context and orientation.  First, the context is God is who we go to with our wants, needs, and concerns.  God is in charge.  Often, prayer helps us keep our lives in context with God’s plan.  This is a motherly idea as well.  Christian mothers seek the best for their children in the context of God’s kingdom which does not look like worldly success.  Mothers know that their children’s spiritual success is not measured in earthly terms.
            Second, Jesus teaches us an orientation and focus for our lives.  He tells us to seek God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven.  Mothers understand that God’s will in this world is mysterious.  Things happen in our lives and the lives of our children that we do not understand.  Mother’s pray that God’s will provide the most abundant life for their children. 
            Finally, let’s thank God for providing us angels on earth called mothers.  They will certainly cling to us all of our lives.
“All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” - Abraham Lincoln

Scripture:  Matthew 6: 5-15

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
Matthew 6: 1
            This next section of the Sermon on the Mount is devoted to our motivation for doing good.  This is a critical element that we need to work through in our lives because it is easy for our ego’s to take control of why we do things for God.
            First, motivation is simply defined as the reason we do things.  Jesus in this section of his teaching is trying to help us do things for the right reason.  We are warned that worldly glory and praise should not be our goal.  It is interesting that Jesus tells us that God knows why we are doing good and rewards those who do it for His glory;  those who do it to be seen already have their gratification.
            This idea that we shine for the glory of God is taught in earlier in the Sermon in 5:16.  Jesus here says do good things and let our lights shine before people.  The goal however is not to glorify ourselves but God in the process.  We are taught to give God the glory for everything we are able to do in this life.
            Paul reinforces the idea of being motivated for the glory of God in his letters.  For example, in his second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 4, he encourages us to focus on serving others for the glory of God (4:15).  His final thoughts are relevant as we think about why we do good in the world today.  In verse 18, Paul tells us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  Here fixing our eyes means focusing on the spiritual kingdom and not worldly fulfillment. 
We have many conflicting demands in our world.  We are pulled in many different directions as we seek to serve God.  This week as we hear Jesus’ guidance about motivation, let us consider what good things we do and why we do them.  In other words, how do our lives exemplify the glory of God in the world?
Scripture:  Matthew 6: 1-4

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5: 48
            How do we define maturity today?  Is someone mature when they reach the age of 18?  21? 35?  80?  As we consider Jesus’ guidance to become “perfect” as God is “perfect,” we must wrestle with this idea of what is perfection?  Isn’t it impossible for us to be perfect?
            Perfect in this text applies to one who develops into maturity.  God is a perfect or mature entity that is complete in everything.  James discusses this idea of us becoming perfect in his letter.  “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” James tells us (1:4).  The word used here for mature is the same Greek word Jesus uses to describe what God is and what we are to become.  So how do we become perfect?
            Jesus is finishing a thought in this section of the Sermon on the Mount dealing with how Kingdom living is different than worldly living.  Here he is telling us to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us.  Why?  His point here is that we must be different than the world around us.  We are to be like our Father who loves all humanity.
            Becoming perfect is not easy.  As we have talked before, people who seek God are different than people of the world.  We must become a complete Christian.  Going back to James, this takes perseverance.  We must ask God to help us in our task.  James tells us to ask God for wisdom in discerning His will in our lives.  James says the God we serve “gives generously to all without finding fault.” (1:5)  All we need to do is ask and have faith in our Creator. 
We should be able to use this same methodology to help us with our Christian maturity.  God will grant us wisdom to “go on to maturity” as the Hebrew writer says.  The only way we can become perfect as God is perfect is by seeking God in our lives and asking for His help as we make our daily journey into the world.  Let’s remember what Jesus says in Luke18:27, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”  Let’s do the impossible with God.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 43-48

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.
Matthew 5: 39
            We are kidding ourselves if we do not believe in the idea of evil in the world today.  Evil is generally defined as the violation of a moral code that is embodied by the concept of God.  In other words, evil is doing the opposite of what God guides us to do.  Genesis 2 and 3 begins our struggle with the idea of good and evil.  By eating of the forbidden tree, people now understand the difference between good and evil (3:22).  We have no excuse in choosing one over the other.  Evil is disobedience to God. 
            Evil as a theoretical concept is palatable.  Evil on our doorstep is hard to deal with if we are to follow Jesus’ guidance.  First, the idea that we should not resist an evil person is not what our worldly selves want to do.  We want to fight against evil.  We want to strike back at evil.  We want to keep what God has given us and not give it up to an evil person. 
            Jesus, in this section of the Sermon on the Mount, tells us that is not the right way to deal with evil as His disciples.  We must begin to view everyone as a child of God and learn to help them by treating them that way (even if it hurts).  Evil is rampant in the world around us.  From theft and murder to lying and control issues, we see the embodiment of evil all around us in this lost world.  Our response to it is critical as we mature as Christians and complete our mission.
            We do not strike back at evil.  We do not fight for our stuff.  We welcome the opportunity to walk the extra mile with evil in order to show God’s love.  We gladly give the money God has blessed us with to those in need.  We do all these things because we are not evil, but good people.  1 Peter 2: 12 tells us that our example to the world is designed to help them “glorify God on the day he visits us.”  Jesus came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) and as his followers our mission is to do the same.  Today, let’s decide to become like our Savior who found us mired in evil and help the evil lost see His presence in the world through our lives.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 38-42
 

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5: 37
            Jesus in this section of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on the principle of honor.  He begins by talking about adultery.  It is not honorable to lust after a woman who is not your wife and leads to many problems in life.  He emphasizes the need to be honorable by indicating we must get the things out of our lives that cause us to stumble.  The comments about gouging out an eye or cutting off a hand emphasize the importance of controlling our fleshly urges.  Often we are as Paul describes in Romans:  “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (Romans 7: 21)  The only solution for our sin according to Paul is Jesus.  We cannot control ourselves, but He is able to solve our problem.
            Jesus next discusses divorce.  He transitions from controlling ourselves to how it affects others in the context of divorce.  Here adultery rears its ugly head again as he describes people who cannot control themselves and divorcing and remarrying.  Honorable people make a lifelong commitment to each other.  Jesus later tells the Pharisees their hard hearts caused them to file for divorce.  This is not a part of the new Kingdom.  The external trappings of the Old Law are replaced by the internal honor of God’s true people. 
            Finally, Jesus concludes this section by talking about oaths.  Here the theme of honor is once again reiterated.  The people in Jesus’ day took oaths to assure people they were telling the truth.  Oaths were presumed to indicate truthfulness which means that without an oath, you couldn’t trust anyone.  Think about that sad state of affairs.  Jesus tells us to say either yes or no and mean it.  We must become honorable in our dealing with not only each other, but also God.
            How do we become honorable people?  We can start by having our word mean something.  God’s word means salvation.  Peter tells us that God is not slow in keeping His promises, but wants everyone to come to Him. (2 Peter 3: 9)  We need to follow God’s example and keep our promises.  This idea transcends our life.  We begin to not accept adulterous relationships because they represent a broken promise.  We do not accept divorce because it breaks a promise.  We do not lie because we do what we say.  We keep our word because it means something.  We are people of honor.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 27-37

First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5: 24
            Have you ever had a bad relationship in life?  It could be with a friend or relative or even a spouse.  How did you deal with it?  For some of us the tendency is fight or flight.  We either continually fight with the other person or we run away from the relationship.
            Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount begins with the general tendency of our heart in Matthew 5: 21, 22.  We get angry with people and that leads to all kinds of trouble.  Here in verses 23-26, he is making the issue personal.  Jesus tells us to resolve our differences before we even begin to offer ourselves to God.
            The most significant thing Jesus mentions here is the fact that “your brother has something against you” (23).  Let’s face reality, we are always innocent.  It’s the other person’s fault.  The problem with our relationships cannot be us.  Or can it?  Jesus says if we remember that someone is upset with us, then it is up to us to go to that person.  Why?
            Jesus says leave our gift at the altar and go take care of the issue.  If we know something is amiss, then go try to resolve the issue with the other person.  The why is interesting as he amplifies the reasons for doing this in verses 25, 26.  Here Jesus is putting the teaching in human terms.  We settle with our “adversary” before we get to court because we are, in fact, guilty.  If we cannot resolve our differences before we get to judgment, then we will have to repay every debt we owe to get out of prison.
            What is Jesus saying?  Settle out of court?  Avoid controversy?  How about have loving relationships that are sustainable through thick and thin?  Could it be that Kingdom living is about acting like we love each other?  Prideful arguments are not part of Christianity. 
            If Christ is our perfect example, what does he do?  Humanity separates itself from God by sinning.  God comes to earth to reconcile with people.  The gift of grace is at the cross.  Jesus is asking all of us to return to him so that we will avoid a judgment that we cannot win. The cross solves our broken relationship with God.
Scripture:  Colossians 1: 15-23
 

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
Matthew 5: 22
            After Jesus tells us that our righteousness must be greater than the Jewish religious leaders of his day (vs 5:20), He goes on to tell us how to do that.  Starting in verse 21, He begins to describe the life that we should aspire to live.  Dealing with anger is his first stop in preparing us to walk the Christian pathway.
            Anger is one of the basest human emotions.  Who hasn’t felt a surge of anger in their lifetime?  Cain killed Abel because of anger (Genesis 4:5).  In Exodus 32, we are told that both God and Moses were angry with the children of Israel.  God wanted to kill them all and start over; Moses identified those that were unwilling to serve God and had them killed.
            When Jesus teaches about anger, the context is past laws compared to Kingdom living.  In verse 21, he refers the people to the law they were taught; they were not to murder, but if you killed someone, you were subject to the Law.  Jesus continues this thought by adding that anyone who is angry at a brother or sister is subject to judgment.  Calling someone a fool places us in danger of the “fire of hell.”
            What is Jesus saying?  “Raca” as a term of contempt is okay but “fool” is not?  Being angry with someone is the same as killing them?  If anger is a natural human emotion that even God exhibits, then how can we ever avoid it?  Jesus is making a point here that is deeper than the words He uses.
            In our three Hebrew Bible examples, anger led directly to death.  Cain killed Abel, God wanted to kill all the people, and Moses had three thousand people killed.  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is trying to make that very point.  Anger leads to death.  If we cannot control our anger (lashing out at people; calling them names), then that anger will lead us to death, either physically or spiritually.  We cannot live Christ-like lives and continue to be angry at others. 
            What is the solution?  Love overcomes anger.  Paul addresses this issue of hate and anger in his letter to the Romans in chapter 12.  Here he describes how love overcomes evil.  We must put our love into practice as we strive to live a Christian life.  We cannot hate each other and claim to love God.  In fact, John tells us we cannot love God if we continue to hate our brethren (1 John 4: 20,21).  If we love God, then we must love each other…like it or not.
Scripture:  1 John 4: 7-21

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10: 15
We are glad to have Micah here this morning with his “beautiful feet.”  Kayla and I pray that you will be uplifted by his report on the work in the Africa mission field.  We are visiting our family in Arkansas this weekend.
Families are a wonderful gift from God.  What good news it is that we not only have physical families, but also spiritual ones.  We are truly blessed to know the love and closeness of families.
Unfortunately, there are many in this world who do not understand what it means to be accepted and loved by a family.  Even here in America, in Albany, Texas, the family is under attack by Satan.  He is at work undermining God’s will for this world by attacking the most vulnerable members of our society:  our children and their families.
Last month, the number of divorce filings for Shackleford County was the highest of any one month in history in our county.  That translates to more children being forced to live in circumstances that are not in accordance with the will of God.  In Matthew 19, Jesus addresses the issue of divorce.  After reminding us about how God created man and woman to be one, Jesus says a husband and wife are “…no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (vs 6)  Divorce represents that unauthorized separation.
The impact of divorce is most significant on our children.  Some whose lives that are split by divorce are often forced to ‘choose’ one parent over the other.  Others cannot understand how their parents are no longer willing to live with them.  Some children these days are even asked to keep the divorce a secret and live with that lie in their life. 
Fighting back against the devil’s onslaught against our families takes three things.  First, we must start with our sword, the Word of God.  We must teach what God teaches about love, marriage, and divorce.  We cannot ignore the evil impact of this situation on our families.  Second, we must protect the children caught in these ugly situations.  We need to provide the love and support to these innocent children that they would expect to receive from a Godly family.  Finally, we need to reach out to those in our society who do not know about the good news of the gospel.  We need to tell the lost about the peace of Christ that transcends all of our worldly cares and issues.  In other words, we all need to have beautiful feet.
Scripture:  John 3: 16