3-1-26 Riverside Sunday Service | Matthew 5:1-12

But the interesting thing about purity and purity of heart is that when you look at the grand narrative of the Bible, it's not so much something that we achieve. It's something that we receive as a gift from the God of all goodness. I'm gonna say that again. When you look at the grand narrative of scripture, purity is not so much something that you achieve, it is something that you receive from the God of all goodness. You look at the beginning of scripture when Adam and Eve mess up in sin. What does God do? God clothes them with an animal that he sacrifices for them. The very beginning of scripture, they are literally clothed in the sacrifice of God. He has clothed them with dignity even though they messed up. [00:38:21] (50 seconds)  #PurityIsAGift

To be a peacemaker makes the means that you make spaces where even if we don't agree and there's tension, we can be at harmony with one another. Even if we have maybe had a disruption in our relationship, I can treat you like a human and we treat each other with dignity. And ultimately, being a peace maker means that you disrupt peace that is not real peace. There is a difference between being a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. When you're a peacekeeper, you sweep things under the rug. Well, that's just how grandma is. We're just gonna deal with it. Okay. She yelled at us during Christmas dinner, but that's just how grandma is. We'll sweep it under the rug and not talk about it. That is not peacemaking. That is peacekeeping. That is false peace. [00:49:34] (52 seconds)  #TruePeacemaking

In God's upside down way of doing life, with the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us who raised Jesus from the dead, suffering and persecution is actually something that he can turn into perseverance, which gets turned into character, which becomes hope. I don't necessarily love that recipe. Right? That's not my favorite recipe to get my hope pie. But you know what I'm so grateful for is that even in the kingdom of God, suffering and persecution, though they are hard, though they are difficult, though they are not good, do not get the final say. In a world where Jesus has risen from the dead, suffering and persecution have a time limit, and the clock is ticking down. [00:58:56] (53 seconds)  #SufferingToHope

There's something different about how purity in your heart is when it comes to the narrative of scripture because it's not some it's not some ladder that you have to climb in order to get to God. It is a gift you receive from God. And the closer you get to God, the more he produces that purity in you Because God is not in the just like moral make them good moral people business. He is in a heart transformation business. If he wanted us just to be a bunch of good rule followers, he would be super strict about do this, this, this, this, this to climb the ladder to get to me. But he is a God of goodness and love and grace. Does he demand high things for our life? Absolutely. But does he expect us to meet those demands to get to him? No. He comes down to us that our hearts would be transformed in his presence. [00:39:37] (59 seconds)  #HeartTransformation

But there's something about even if there is tension, there is harmony. The notes all go together even if there is tension. There is tension, and then there is release. The idea of peace or shalom is really this place where there can be tension, but there is harmony. You can vote different than I do. You can believe a little different than I do. You can like blue cars. I can like red cars. You can like bicycles rather than cars. We can have the tension of being different and not agreeing, but we can be in harmony together because we treat each other with dignity. Peace is a place where we remember that we are humans, and we treat each other like humans with dignity and with respect. [00:48:44] (50 seconds)  #HarmonyInTension

And I think that's one of the beautiful things about Jesus. He not only redeems our souls and our lives and will one day redeem our body, he also is redeeming our imagination. He is giving us strength for the present because he is giving us imagination for the future that he has paved the way for. And there will be a day, though there is persecution now, there will be a day where God's goodness reigns supreme, where you are rewarded for your service, where you are in a place of no more sorrow and no more pain, and you are with God himself. [00:58:04] (34 seconds)  #RedeemedImagination

As we sit with these three beatitudes, really, I think the thing that it's trying to tell us is that the posture of the kingdom of God is one of purity, one of peacemaking, and one of perseverance. We see that in all three of these beatitudes, pursuing purity, pursuing peacemaking, and persevering through persecution. That is the posture. That that is how a follower of the way of Jesus stands. That is the heart posture of a follower of Jesus. That is the mindset of a follower of Jesus. [01:02:20] (35 seconds)  #KingdomPosture

Jesus here is saying, I see you where you are in this place where the pressure is being applied. I see you in this place where you're being crushed because of your devotion to me. I see you and it will not last forever. When he says your reward is great in heaven, he is reminding us that there will be a day where that pressure is gone. There will be a day when that is not the reality. There will be a day where violence and persecution is no more and peace is what reigns. Jesus is giving us a gospel imagination for a very dark moment. [00:57:25] (40 seconds)  #SeenAndPromised