A sermon based on Matthew 5:1-12, Rev. J. Orlando Flahn
Our human nature craves for happiness; we yearn to be happy, and we think we should be happy. That’s how we’re designed: we want to try to find fun, fulfillment, contentment, and happiness in something, and often in the wrong places and things due to our human brokenness. Our consumer culture seeks for anything we believe will make us happy. Yet, in our brokenness, we realize none of these things truly satisfies. I was telling my wife, what happened to iPhone 13, 17, 15, and now we are hearing about iPhone 17 or 18?
In today’s Gospel reading, Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus reminds us where true happiness lies. That the happiest people on the planet are those who live according to God’s kingdom. God considers them blessed… they live and do things that are countercultural..…. They live like their Master, Jesus; they love people nobody wants to accept; and they do not compromise the values of God’s kingdom. They do not live and do things to be considered TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year! They live and do things not to be in People’s Magazine. But heaven calls them the “blessed” and “happy”.
On the other hand, our world is shouting out to people, “You got it all together, Sir/Ma’am! You are so blessed, you are living your dream, you are living the good life, you are so happy!” Yet often, these people are not the happiest in the world. They put on a smile on camera, but they have no inner peace; they are not happy.
APP: How about you this morning? In what does your happiness lie? When you say, “I am blessed and happy, what do you mean?”
Our society has misunderstood what it means to be blessed. They think being blessed and happy means fame, status, stardom, wealth, material possessions, self-indulgence, or sinful pleasure. But we can see that those we consider “blessed” are not the “happiest.”
The Greek word “makarios” is also translated as ‘fortunate,’ ‘happy,’ or ‘privileged.’ So, the two words, “happiness” and “blessedness,” overlap, but they are not identical. Happiness, for the most part, is temporary….I could have a substance abuse problem, or be addicted to drugs….and think I am happy. But I will soon find that it is not true happiness; it is short-lived, destructive.
But to be blessed is a gift from God that brings true and lasting happiness.
This sermon is said to be the most famous in human history. It is called “The Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew chapters 5-7).
This portion, Matthew 5:1-12, is referred to as “The Beatitudes.” The term beatitude comes from the Latin translation of the word “blessing.”
In this passage, Jesus offers a picture of what it means to live a kingdom lifestyle that brings true blessings and happiness. He essentially says that true blessing or happiness comes from at least three sources.
I. Blessings come from lowliness (vv. 3-5)
In verses three to five, we see three traits mentioned: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, and the humble. Poor in spirit means recognizing that everything within us pales in comparison to God’s greatness and goodness. We are poor compared to God’s richness.
Humility is not about thinking less of ourselves but about thinking of ourselves less. It is an attitude of the heart that is reflected in how we treat others and how we approach God.
ILL: D.L. Moody was the most famous evangelist in the world in the late 1800s. People from around the world came to attend his Bible Conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts. One year, a large group of European pastors was among the attendees. They were given rooms in the Bible school dormitory. As was customary in Europe, the men left their shoes outside their room, expecting them to be cleaned and polished by servants during the night.
Of course, there were no servants in the American dorm, but as Moody walked through the halls and prayed for his guests, he saw the shoes and realized what had happened. He mentioned the problem to a few of his students, but none of them offered to help. Without another word, the great evangelist gathered the shoes and took them back to his own room, where he began cleaning and polishing each pair. Moody told no one what he had done, but a friend who interrupted him while he was shining the shoes later told the story of what had happened. Despite the praise and fame Moody received because of God’s blessing on his life and ministry, he remained a humble man.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of Heaven, had the right to honor, praise, and worship. Yet to be our Savior, He laid aside all His privileges and became a lowly servant……Pride is the greatest obstacle to a lifestyle of humility. It makes us think more highly of ourselves than we ought and hinders our relationship with God and others.
We will never be like Jesus unless we are humble and lowly. The Bible says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Pet 5:5).
Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who realize they are nothing and that God is everything. They mourn for God’s righteous will to be done, they are meek and simply live to put the needs of others ahead of their own.
APP: Are people meek? Are people poor in spirit? Is that the lifestyle of our church leaders today? Politicians? Celebrities? Athletes? Business moguls?
Jesus says that genuine blessing comes from lowliness, from being poor in spirit, from mourning over evil and injustice, and from being meek and humble.…
Second, . . .
II. Blessings come from holiness (vv. 6-9)
From verses 6-9, we see four virtues of a holy lifestyle: yearning for righteousness, being merciful, purity of heart, and peacemaking.
Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? If you do, Jesus says you will be filled! Filled by God and His grace.
To be merciful means to give back to others what you have freely been given…..Not to always seek to get even…but to overlook offenses and wrongs done to you. Are you merciful? If so, God will show you mercy.
We are pure in heart by surrendering our hearts to Jesus and having them made new. Then we will be able to see God.
Jesus says that any of us who are true peacemakers would be heirs of God. Are you seeking to make peace?
ILL: The Power of Contact
There’s a well-established principle in social psychology called the “Contact Hypothesis.” It says: the more positive, meaningful contact people have with someone from a different group — whether by race, religion, or politics — the more likely they are to reduce their prejudice.
In other words, people fear what they don’t know. But when strangers become neighbors, fear starts to fade. One study showed that when schoolchildren of different backgrounds worked together on shared goals — solving a problem or completing a project — their hostility dropped. Not because someone lectured them, but because they connected.
This explains why Jesus didn’t just preach love—He touched lepers, ate with tax collectors, talked with Samaritans….He walked through the neighborhood and the territory of marginalized people. He made contact…. As followers of Jesus, we’re called to do the same. Not just to tolerate people from “the other side,” but to get close enough that we can’t stereotype anymore. Peace often begins with proximity. (Source: Wikipedia)
The most significant way we can truly be called peacemakers is by pointing people to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace are characteristics of God and of those who seek to live for the kingdom of God and pursue a holy life in Jesus.
III. Blessings come from persecution (vv. 10-12)
Notice verses 10-12…….Jesus says, people in His kingdom are blessed when they are persecuted because of righteousness,……“Blessed when people insult them, persecute them, and falsely say all kinds of evil against them because of Jesus.
He says in verse12, Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven……for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
APP: I think this is where folks in the church got it all wrong… with no idea what we are being called to. We have no clue that we will be persecuted for following and obeying the Son of God. That we will suffer persecution for following and obeying the Jesus, for being loving, for accepting those whom nobody wants to accept, for being holy, truthful, good, humble, and righteous.
APP: I think we forgot in the church that “Jesus didn’t suffer on the Cross and shed His blood so that people could be entertained and have fun. Rather, Jesus died and suffered on the Cross to call you to do the same. … to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. That’s what He expects of us.
That doesn’t sound like fun, does it? There are more hard things about Christianity than the therapeutic mentality we have brought in the church today…. I understand there are blessings of joy, fellowship, and fun in the Lord….. But my friend, the call to follow Jesus is a call to die to self and surrender wholly to Jesus.
Conclusion:
The blessings of God that give true joy and lasting happiness are not found in the ways of the world. We certainly need Jesus to live a humble, holy life and to endure persecution.
ILL: On Christmas Eve in Tehran, house-church pastor Farshid Fatah and his family were awakened by the frightening sounds of the Iranian security police pounding on their door. After the police searched his apartment and seized his computer, Farshid was arrested and sent to Evin prison.
Farshid’s crime was following Jesus. Behind bars and often in solitary confinement, Farshid was deprived of his freedom, his material possessions, and his livelihood. For six years, Farshid had very limited contact with his family, yet in the crucible of material and relational deprivation, Farshid lived a God-honoring, flourishing life.
In a note from prison, Farshid described his difficult experience as a lovely wilderness where his Good Shepherd was with him. Like many other members of the persecuted church around the globe, Farshid’s story reminds us that even in the most difficult circumstances and times of relational and material deprivation, followers of Jesus can and do flourish….
True happiness comes from lowliness, holy living, and being persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
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