The Second Beatitude Mourning For Comfort
I have some funny bloopers that have found there way into church bulletins over the years.
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric GIRDLES for the pancake breakfast next Sunday Morning.
Low self esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8;30 PM Please use the back door.
The Pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing Break Forth Into Joy.
Next Sunday Mres. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The Pastor will then speak on It’s a Terrible Experience.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow.
The choir invites any members of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.
Sometimes we say the wrong things or say things that we don’t mean. But we can always be sure that God says what he means.
"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted".
God asks us to do some things that completely opposite of what our flesh tells us is right.It goes against our instincts. Jesus said if you want to be great you have to be humble. If you want to be a leader you have to become a servant. He tells us that we will find joy through mourning, freedom through surrender, liberty through confession. Didn’t Jesus talk about an abundant life? Dosen’t He want us to have joy in our lives? This would seem to opposite of what we have learned.
Blessed are those who mourn is a foreign concept to us:
Real men don’t cry, they are always tough, John Wayne, Rocky, Van Sandt
The marlboro man you know the type where the defendant showed no emotion when they read the jurer’s answer. On the other hand Jesus said show emotion. We are to laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who weep but there is more to this, it’s also about sin. In the Bible we see many times where someone mourned over someone else. 1Sam. 15:35 Samuel mourns over Sauls sin, Nehemiah 1:4 Nehemiah mourns over the condition of Jerusalem, Psa. 51 where David is mourning his sin with Bathsheba, or Luke 22:62 where Peter weeps bitterly after denying he knows Jesus.
Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he was also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in La. , a hospital that specialized in rehabing polio victims and people who had broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Rogers had everyone laughing, even patients in really bad condition, but suddenly left the platform and went to the mens room. Milto Berry followed him to give him a towel and when he opened the door he saw Will Rogers leaning up against the wall sobbing like a child. He closed the door and in a few minutes , Rogers appeared back on the platform as jovial as before.
But what are some of the enemies of mourning? What are some things that keep us from mourning??
One of them is pride.
If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep?
What we need today are people who will anguish not people who anger over things that happen . The kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people or the kind of anguish Jesus showed when he cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It’s easy to get mad at someone else’s sin but it’s not easy to look at sin, ours or somebody else, and weep over it.
In Psa. 34:18 it says " The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saves such as has a contrite spirit." In Psa. 51: 17 " The sacrifices of God ar a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Or in II Cor. 7: 10 " For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."
We should mourn over the sin of pride. Pride says Oswald Sanders is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious. There are three tests by which it can be soon be discovered:
The test of precedence. How do we react when another is selected for the assignment we expected, or for the office we coveted? When another is promoted and we overlooked? When another outshines us in gifts and accomplishments.
The test of sincerity. In our moments of honest self- criticism we will say many things about ourselves and really mean it. But how do we feel when others, especially our rivals, say exactly the same things about us?
The test of criticism. Does criticism arouse hostility and resentment in our hearts, cause us to fly into immediate self-justification?
Basketball coach Pat Riley in his book The Winner Within tells about the 1980 World Championship Los Angles Lakers. They won the NBA championship that year and they were recognized as the best basketball team in the world. They began their 1980-1981 season considered likely to win back to back championships. But three weeks after the season opener, Magic Johnson tore a cartilage in his knee and would need three months to recover. The team and the fans rallied and the rest of the team played their hearts out. They determined to make it through that period without losing there ranking. They were winning 70 % of their games when the time began to draw near for Magic Johnson to return to action.
As his return drew closer, the publicity surrounding him increased. During the time outs the public announcer would always say " And don’t forget to mark your calenders for Feb. 27th. Magic Johnson returns to the lineup of your World Championship L.A. lakers." During the announcment the other players would look up and curse. They’d say " We’re winning now, whats so great about Feb. 27th?" As the day approached fewer and fewer things were written about the players who were putting out so much effort. All the media attention was focused on the one player who had not done a thing. Finally, the night of the 27th came, and as the crowd came through the turn stiles they were handed a button that said "The Magic is Back!" At least fifty photographers crowed the floor as the players were introduced. Normally only the starters were introduced, but this night, even though he would be on the bench at the start of the game, Magic Johnson was introduced with them. At the mention of his name the arena was rocked with a standing ovation. Flashbulbs popped like popcorn. Magic Johnson was like a returning god to the crowd that night.
Meanwhile, the other players who had carried the team for those three months and who were totaly ignored, were seething with jealousy, resentment, anger, and envy. They barly won that night against a bottom of the bucket team and eventually the moral of the entire team collapsed. The players turned on each other. The coach was fired. They lost out in the first round of the play-offs and had what was to become the worst record for that team.
Riley said" Because of greed, pettiness, and resentment, we executed one of the fastest falls grace in NBA history. It was the disease of me".
Pride is the alcoholic who wont admit the drinking problem, the woman who refuses to talk about the abusive situation she is in.
And God tells us if we will confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive.
Another enemy of spiritual mourning is apathy. It’s the attitude of it’s not that bad I’m not like Hitler or Sadam Husien. You see we justify it by looking at other’s. We think that that if we feel good about ourselves God will feel good about us too. But God does not care about that, He wants us to be broken before him and weep over sin. Max Lucado writes:
" Many know they are wrong. Many deny their weakness. Many know they are wrong yet pretend they are right. As a result they never taste the exquisite sorrow repentance.
Or maybe it’s our country? Have you ever mourned the sins of our nation? Have you ever sat down and thought about the wrongs we have done , as a country, against others? Even if it was against you? Many of us will moan about things in this country but will not mourn. The difference between mourning and moaning is about contrition not complaints.
We have to sorrow over our sins, sorrow over the lose of a loved one, endure all of life’s hardships. Those of us who can not feel our brothers and sisters pain and grief will not feel the comfort that only God will provide. We gain strength through the hard experiences we have in life.
There’s a poem that goes like this:
Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowel,
The one was a wise and cheery soul,
The other one took a gloomy view,
And bid his friend a sad adieu.
Said the other frog with a merry grin,
I can’t get out, but I won’t give in.
I’ll swim around till my strength is spent
Then I will die the more content.
And as he swam though ever it seemed,
His struggle began to churn the cream.
Until on top of pure butter he stopped,
And out of the bowel he quickly hopped.
The moral you ask, oh, it’s easily found
If you can’t get out, keep swimming around!
