MESSAGE BEARER MEMO

By Ryan Shaw 

These bi-weekly memos are to provide encouragement, exhortation, and spiritual nourishment in the lives of those who have signed the Message Bearer Creed as you prepare to serve the Lord globally, and are influencing your peers with this vision. 

Sermon on the Mount – The Beatitudes

A Beatitudes Overview

As we begin to look deeply into the scriptural realities in the Sermon on the Mount related to the life of discipleship, we first encounter what many call the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10. These eight portions give the audience (Jesus’ true followers) a clear cut picture of how a disciple in Jesus’ Kingdom lives. These take on the overall sense of depicting the “good life” in living for Jesus. Though many of them refer to seemingly dull or even difficult realities, the purpose behind each “beatitude” has Jesus’ fingerprints of what the good life is in His upside down Kingdom.

The qualities laid forth are to be envied and sought after by each disciple. Neither the term “blessed” nor “happy” really get at what Jesus inferred. A better word to be employed implies Jesus making a recommendation or giving a congratulation regarding this trait in an individual’s life. Each quality stated is then followed by a reason to live it out in society at large. Jesus clearly showed that buying into and living these qualities of His Kingdom would never leave anyone as a loser for following it. Though in the short haul there would be difficulties faced while living these out, the long term rewards and results would be well worth every opposition.

These rewards center around deeper spiritual experience and relationship with Jesus and not on the material rewards we so often seek after. The phrase “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” shows up to open the series of “Beatitudes” and to close them in verse 10. This is the key reference to life in the Kingdom for those who acknowledge Jesus as the rightful Lord and ruler of every aspect of their lives and who can freely and rightfully look with confidence toward the fulfillment of His purposes in their lives.

Living Counter-Culturally

Though these “Beatitudes” fly completely in the face of most cultures around the world, they can be expected to produce fruit and results if adhered to in a life. As message bearers, this is extremely important. Jesus has called us to live counter-culturally for a reason. Everything about His Kingdom is in direct contrast to everything related to the ways of this world. He knows that if His people will live this lifestyle of the Kingdom that they will stick out and be noticed. This may bring us harm in some circumstances, but ultimately will cause those looking on and watching (which you will be as a message bearer) to be astounded and awed at your commitment to this lifestyle and will seek to know why you do so.

Becoming Poor in Spirit

The first quality stated is to be “poor in spirit”. This is a call to absolute confidence and dependence upon the living God in your day to day circumstances. To have poverty of spirit is to not elevate your own abilities, strengths, gifts, or personality but instead to cast yourself fully upon the person of God. It is a quality of the utmost of importance to God and maybe why Jesus stated it first. Jesus loves and responds to humility and lowliness of heart. To live humbly at its core is to depend and trust the Lord. The opposite of humility is pride which causes us to think we can somehow trust in ourselves. To trust anyone or anything else in your life is idolatry and God requires humility, faith and trust to live in His Kingdom.

Those Who Mourn

We are then exhorted to be those who mourn. This seems rather dull and morbid and yet holds keys to walking in victory as followers of Jesus. It’s the call to “be crucified with Christ” and to enter into His sufferings willingly in life. Though this could have physical ramifications, it most often refers to other forms of entering into His sufferings (being rejected, maligned, spoken against, persecuted, etc). As we embrace His sufferings and live boldly before the world, we find our hearts mourning even as His did in the garden of Gethsemane. But our reward that Jesus highlights is receiving comfort from the Father. Comfort only is necessary for those who are distraught, which comes as we enter into His sufferings.

Growing In Meekness

To be meek is the third challenge. Jesus is inviting us to live in emulation of Himself as the lamb. A lamb is in no way mighty or strong. In the world we are to embrace a humility and surrender unto Jesus that lives out His meekness. He has modeled meekness through His own life. This entails being a servant of others, not promoting oneself, giving up on being first, and laying down of all your rights in life.

Hungering and Thirsting For Righteousness

Next, we are called upon to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This is the highest joy of a believers life. We have drives within us after righteousness that are equal to the very drive for physical food and water. Every human heart has the capacity for this, but it must be cultivated and often we ignore this very central part of our being. This relates to an unparalleled pursuit in our lives of laying hold of the fullness of Jesus righteousness in our situations. It also pertains to pursuing justice in your midst.

Mercy

We are then exhorted to be merciful. God, who is rich in mercy, commands us to be like Him and allow mercy to dictate every action we do. When someone maligns us…mercy! When someone sins against us…mercy! When someone does something despicable…mercy! Mercy is the very nature of God and so must be critical in our spiritual make-up as well.

Seeking Purity of Heart

Seeking after a purity of heart is a must for Kingdom living. This is not an overcritical searching of our own hearts, but a desire to pursue and lay hold of holiness, which Jesus has promised us is our inheritance. Holiness of heart is having an unswerving and wholehearted devotion to Jesus and allowing His power and ability to lead us into holiness (as we obviously have no power in ourselves to do). Again, Jesus is not calling His disciples to do something He has not modeled. He is our example in being a person who seeks constantly after purity of heart.

Living as a Peacemaker

Next, we are called to be peacemakers. What does this mean? In other places in the New Testament we know we have the responsibility of being ambassadors of Christ who help break down the walls of division between God and men. This is the highest form of being a peacemaker – helping people find peace with God through relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe there is also a call in this to be people who promote physical peace. Jesus never, ever promoted violence. Violence is a system of the world used to gain power and manipulate others towards your ends. Force never produces lasting change. We are to be advocates of peace.

The Reward – Persecution

Lastly, we see that to live these qualities out before a lost society which is more and more bent on their own self-centeredness and self destruction, will most likely bring with it persecution. Jesus says to expect this and that we are to be congratulated when this happens. For when it does it shows very deeply that we are indeed walking in the footsteps of our loving Savior.

Closing

In closing, let’s commit ourselves to seeking the face of God over the next few weeks, asking Him to grow us in each of these traits, that they would begin to mark us in new and profound ways. True discipleship is wrapped up in these traits and qualities. We can only grow in them by the power of the Holy Spirit enabling and empowering us to do so. Ask Him for this power and grace to cultivate these in your life and heart.

To check out previous Message Bearer Memos and other resources for your journey, click here: http://www.svm2.citymaker.com/messagebearermemoarchive.html

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Ryan Shaw