Game Changer, Part 3: Blessed Are The Meek

By Pastor Greg Byman
St Joe Community Church
​October 8, 2018

Transcript

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​We are continuing a series called Game Changers game changers for a blessed life we're going to use in the sports motif I knew you guys were coming so I thought we're trying to do a little something and and try to just at least give the flavor of the idea that that life is not a game but we need to think of it in terms of strategy a lot of time and energy is poured into preparing for a season preparing for single games preparing for seasons of play beyond red shirting means that you wait a little while to get to play and yet you are strategically sitting on the sidelines recovering from an injury or maybe just waiting for different reasons that you are waiting to play your strategizing for the benefit of the team for the benefit of your own career you're making efforts to plan to do well in the game that you're about to play and whether it be basketball or football or tennis or any other area of play a lot of effort is put into that a lot of dollars are spent bringing students to a school to play for a particular school and the coaching staff when I went to a Class A few weeks ago I think I share this already the. Got to share as the chaplain at Indiana tech the spiritual side of life it's the university experience class that all students take and it's just think it's one hour a week it's really a simple class I think back when I went to school we called those blow off classes is that still kind of what we call that you know it's a kind of you have to take it but you know you've got to be really numbskull to to fail it I mean it's pretty simple you just show up and kind of do the stuff and it's real simple but it was an idea a university experience to learn different things about the campus and there were he broke it down this particular professor Craig Dyer broke it down into the four or five segments and too emotional. Intellectual social and spiritual and then they had to sign up for the class project in order to do a presentation on that particular part of their university experience and the least and the least signed up portion was the spiritual side so I came into the classroom knowing that information and I said How in the world are you going to be successful in life how do you know what's questions to ask how do you know what wall to lean your ladder against and climb the ladder of success because it would be horrible if you meant to all this effort to get a degree to start a career and start climbing the ladder of success only to realize at the top of the ladder that your leaned against the wrong wall and the success that you thought you were looking for at the top of the ladder doesn't exist you know when Jack went up the Beanstalk he had no idea what he was going to find and I think that of if it truth be told after he found what he found he may not have gone up the ladder you may not a climbed up there it's all of the story. But we always think we have an answer to what success is I said Where you going to find the answer to what really matters and how to find real purpose in life it's your spiritual side and I would say that it's not just a POV where where spirituality is one way I would say spirituality is the foundation upon which you build all the other parts of your life. Who you going to marry what's that person like who do you need to be like when you get married you want to be successful nobody goes and says I'm going to get married in about five years we're going to have a flat tire and we're going to divorce and we're just going to like call it quits and we're going to divide everything in half and the other person going to get more than half because both sides think that's happened and it's all going to be it's going to be a financial mess and that's that's our plan and I stand up here at the altar and say I do until we hate each other nobody says that but sometimes things get squirrely they happen even when they set a good foundation but often times a good foundation is never laid before the relationship even begins Who are you going to date that could be your mate so he has told us right. So don't date people that you don't ever think out to be your mate because you may actually fall in love with them and when you fall you get hurt so don't do that. I was a joke. You know follow just any way. I ferreted that out I went too far with that OK how do you know what success is spirituality is what informs us about the ethics of whatever career we go into how we play the game the kind of moral character that I am the Indiana Tech basketball with all our athletic program is part of the in a way and N.A.I.A. has something called chances of care champions of character we now call it the warrior way or something like that we've kind of made it ours it made it or engine whatever we've done with it turned it into kind of a code of ethics so to speak but. That that code of ethics of the champions of character. Which I've actually taught different over the fourteen years I've been on campus of actually laid that out and showed. Teams what that was is actually based on biblical principles. And I met the guy by phone who actually helped start it at the in a office and he said actually I just stripped I just went in and found biblical principles took all the Bible verses out and that's our that's our champions of character program you've got to have a construct for how and why you do what you do and I want to say that Jesus in his sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five and if you have your phone you can go to it on a little Bible app or go to it on your regular Bible if you have it in your hand Matthew chapter five is the beginning of a sermon the Sermon on the Mount been to Sunday school we've heard that as actually a teaching on the Mount really won the sermon as much as they were kind of sitting at his feet and he was teaching the people that came and gathered around him on this mountain top so that his voice probably projected out the sound system in that day and there was a great multitude of people who heard this he repeated it a few other times we know that because it is repeated recorded in a different way but I was safe a sermon isn't good enough to preach twice it was never good enough to preach once so so it's OK You know he's allowed to do that and he shared this message and this might be what you might call the preamble or the beginning of some hard sayings of what it means to live for God. And he was shaking it up a little bit he was shaking it up in a wrong way he was actually telling it like it really was and from the world's perspective religiosity had really gotten off kilter in a bad way and really gone off the rails and wasn't anything like God intended worship to be and following him to look like it was so off the rails that when the Messiah Jesus came they didn't recognize him they didn't like him and they killed him. That's how off the rails religion was the prophesied Messiah in the Old Testament was right in front of them and they rejected him. Matthew chapter five we see him coming forward and the last two weeks we've been talking about and by the way these also correlate with the Celebrate Recovery eight principles and so last two weeks ago was a blessing to the poor in spirit and that goes along with Principal number one let's say that together out loud I don't think see that too well let's try it if you can realize I'm not God I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is on manageable that's principal number one. And in Matthew five three I'm bankrupt on the on the poor in spirit I have nothing to bring to God I have nothing to bring to this life I am poor in spirit spiritually I'm bankrupt I need God in my life and then last week we talked about Blessed are those who mourn that's left of those who are very sad who actually are grieved and broken hearted over their sinful nature that when I send it cost me something it cost people around me something and it cost Jesus his life on the cross and that goes along with principle to let's read that out loud earnestly believe that God exists that I matter to him and that he has the power to help me recover when someone is going through an addiction whether it be drugs or alcohol or pornography addiction or just whatever kind of hurt habit or hang up that you've got that you're struggling with in your life God is there to help us but we have to realize that we are powerless to do it and that we know that God exists and that he has the power to help me to get over this and when you start slipping into a pattern that you know is unhealthy and unholy you say I'm poor in spirit I can't do this by myself and I'm grieved over the fact that if I do this again I'm going to hurt myself and a lot of people and the smaller thing I want to talk about blessid are those are the are the gentle for they will inherit the earth and that's today's lesson blessid of the gentle because they will inherit the earth. One verse powerful truth in fact let's just say that out loud together and let us hear that in our ears as we say it bless it are the gentle because they will inherit the earth. Do you really believe that you believe this is God's Word you believe Jesus do you think Jesus a liar Jesus said this. It was recorded that Jesus said this and is a very historically accurate document that we have that says that Jesus said this Jesus. Is either a the Lord. Or he's a liar or a lunatic This is either true or it isn't true we either believe that the gentle people in this world inherit the earth or we don't you see the world says actually it's the pushy Chevy get your own way prideful arrogant boastful All About Me Show Boat people that get their way they inherit the Earth not the ones that are gentle. No it's the arrogant It's the one's the that push the pushovers they push the gentle out of the way I mean how can you win a game and be gentle. What's that all about I hope I give you an answer before you leave here today. Because I believe you can be incredibly successful if you men are gentle gentle giants right OK you've heard that before. To be men of valor men a victory but men who are gentle men who are meek what is meatless I was and the meanest that means wimpy pushover milquetoast know and all those pictures you see of Jesus and some of the movies I wish they'd just like burn all the tapes of these movies they Jesus walks around. He's just walking around so wimpy looking I'm sorry but Jesus was not wimpy he was a man that he endured the beatings that he endured before he went to the cross and that he lasted as long as he did after no sleep through an illegal trial through incredible whippings that would have normally killed a man just being beaten to death the way he was beaten. Starved. No water deprived of any kind of nourishment and then crucified on a cross and then had a conversation and lead someone to it to faith in himself. And the wits about him to say forgive these guys for they know not what they're doing what's about himself to say John take care my mom Mom this is now your son taking care of family business while he's dying the most horrific death a man could die he's no wimp he was a man's man. And then it kind of look that you see a picture of him. First of all we have no photograph. He wasn't white Anglo-Saxon by the way case you're wondering and I don't know if he had that nice long way to hair or not we had a guy that used to play Jesus in the plays at our seminary and so there's some with a long way to here whatever. I don't anyway. He wasn't something to behold the Bible says there was a thing about him attraction wise that people said wow look at that guy in the a stud that's not what I mean he was a man's man but had nothing to do with his looks. At everything to do with who he was he was a gentle man he was a gentle giant as he lived out his life on this earth bless it are the gentle before we get to the what it means to be gentle let's back up and go to the first verse and it says bless and what does it mean to be blessed by God does it mean to have a blessing. Really short short handed God's applauding you. God is applauding you. When you're blessed by God he's saying Good for you go for it. I'm going to put a crass. Plug. For you guys to go and watch these guys play some of these guys their families may never get to come maybe come once or twice but if you were to show up and just hang out and you can it's as close as you can get in your right behind the bench and sit right there and just go. Get another names encourage him I used to that a lot before my kids started to have an evening events when they got older and I just couldn't do it as much but some of you guys you have time and usually on to what nights are Wednesday nights Wednesday nights are normal nights so if you're not doing on a Wednesday night and you've got to want to go and have some good and it's good ball it's good physical ball and it's fun to watch but I tell you what it just it go a long way to just pay Good job guys or you'll get it next time which that will happen very few times in their career this season go to St Francis yet a good job to go to it means a lot and we're not talking about ego stroking people need to be affirmed people need to know that what they're doing is a good thing and that matters. And that they're what they're doing is is isn't joy to watch you love it when your boss says Good job it's best when they give you a raise right. But it's but it's important that people in authority or people who have the ability to speak into someone's life say proud of you. Go for it. Yea and imagine that the God of the universe is saying you were blessed. Good job. You actually you step forward a couple steps this week yea. You had one less angry day than you had last week day how exciting is that you know you used to tear people's head off when that happened but you just went home and you walked away yeah a. Blessid are the people that do these things these eight principles these eight game changers. And it's a blessing that you receive now and it's a blessing that you're going to get later it's now and later now you know that God is rooting for you from heaven he is right beside you and if you're a believer in Christ he is inside of you infusing in you a desire to do things that you would normally not have ever wanted to do if you were in a follower of Christ but later some of these things are immediate and other times they are going to be a future time and in a moment we're going to talk about how do I mean we inherit the earth was that's kind of weird What do you mean by that you get an inheritance I mean you get him by get an inheritance something from their grandma grandpa all of a father or mother anybody get an inheritance in this room you have attacked but you had to wait for it right it finally came to you and so sometimes you know you're going to get something my grandpa started writing names on things around his house that people got and I think they totally threw that out the window when they went in there but anyway but but it's sort of that's how family does OK Every family does this weird stuff called dividing up the spoils but anyway but but this is it's an inheritance that yours but not yet you're going to get it but it's not fully yours it is yours but not really yet experience only so this blessing is now and it's also later but what does it mean to be gentle bless it are the gentle some of your version say Blessed are the meek same word really it's a meek humble considerate but here's the one I want you to think about it's strength under control when you have children and you're teaching them to obey you as a parent part of it is they need to learn respect every person needs to learn respect for authority if you don't get that chunk in your life it's going to really haunt you the rest of your life because life is full of authority and how you handle working under with already you will always be under authority Jesus was under authority he was under the authority of his father and he said I can only do what my father tells me to do and if Jesus is our leader and he followed then we ought to follow in leadership the leadership in our life as well spiritually. But we tell a child I want you to follow me and we don't we're not trying to crush a child we're not trying to. In a healthy relationship with your kids you're not there to bend them to your total will you're there to empower them to do great things but under the control of personal discipline. Strength under control the Latin word of Meek is kind of like under the hand. Just like a horse we had a guy in our neighborhood that he would break horses when I was growing up Mr Dorsey rode a horsey OK he hear the same and he would always clean the corners of the fields and he would get corn that had dropped from the corn cobs and he would help to feed his animals and they would do this and he would actually take and I remember going to his circle place is a. Farm and he had a horse that had just come in and he he was like the horse whisperer of that day he knew how to get that horse broken and they'd be the most wild thing in the world and it's you know and if they stayed that way they were destined for the glue factory I guess on the where they put dead horses but that's what they it was not going to be any use to anybody and they would lose their life and he would eventually get those horses so much so that he would stop by our house with a little buggy and say hey you want to take a ride and these horses would be in front of us and he give us a little buggy ride all around the neighborhood. And our little country Miles that we had missed a horse he rode a horse and he knew how to put under his hand the horse for the strength of that horse to be accentuated and to be used in a MA in a positive way. You want to be a wild stallion that just as your own thing. I would dare say that coach Ted has another place for you called the bench if you decide to do your own thing as a team as an individual but if you're willing to be under the hand under the hand of not coach Ted and his staff but under the hand of what the team itself needs to be because the boss of the team is the goal of the team and that's to win to do well to do well in all aspects of your life and coaches are there simply to apply the pressure and the strategy and to help you accomplish what the team wants to do you all want to go to nationals I want you. To go to nash I want you to win the whole thing I want you to just do it all but the only way you do that is when you begin to realize that you have to follow and be under the authority of what the team needs not just what you need you're no good by yourself. But you will be accentuated in your talents and your gifts and your abilities some of your perimeter shooters some of your inside guys and everything in between that's as far as I know so I'm not going to further with analogy for basketball so you guys really want. And I'm telling you you know how to do the right thing and put yourselves in the right positions for each of you to do well. And if you choose not to do that. Then you're no good to the team. We all submit to one another the Bible says the church submits to one another under the authority of Christ were strength under control if this is not a wimp or mild person just giving in. It's someone who is willing to let someone else shape them and put them in a position to be winners it's a game changer that's what it is being gentle. Is a game changer see we all put ourselves under some authority. Everybody here is under authority somehow someway My question is who you're following some of you are following celebrities in Hollywood and you're letting them call the shots and Hollywood might even represent even big shots when it comes to politics it might be big shots that are in movies that might be big shots that are that are in the public pop scene and you've decided that you're going to just hitch your wagon to whatever your most famous person you watch or see or listen to says. This is fueled by social media social media we start looking and watching everybody you know why fake news is so important to people and is so effective because people put themselves under the authority of whatever they see on social media it's affective. And it completely makes us crazy angry happy sad within ten seconds right because that's how many times we see all these feeds all at once you get excited angry sided angry sad. Oh I like that OK we just keep doing all these things. And we're watching it's all coming at us at one hundred thousand miles an hour. You know it would would lower the blood pressure in America as if Internet just disappeared I know we go out for a little bit because we well know it's gone so happens at our house where I'm at and I can watch my movie I can do my homework guess what I meant to say that. But it would go down because we would get so many feeds of negativity for all the different sides and even misrepresentation of all the different sides. And then of course I would say that the gods of this day are athletes are professional athletes which represents an Indiana a of all the varsity sports in Indiana of all the players who play varsity sports in Indiana in high school the percentage the number of students who will make it to any professional sport at any type of any kind who played varsity sports in high school is it's in every state it's about the same five ten. In my about right ten it's pretty it's low and we're talking thousands and thousands of students that play sports every season. In my high school if you are a good athlete you played all four or five as many sports as you could every season you're in a sport where there's a school like that my kids go to your siloed into one or two two at the most usually. And you excel and then you have all these different leagues in these different clubs and people are trying to get so good and yet there's still this sliver of people and that sliver of the population that actually makes it into. Little God status in our world become the influencers of our lives and we're following what they say and do. And we pay them big money. To have the platform to tell us what to do. Now I'm not saying that everybody who isn't represented in anything these three corners or any other picture you can think of authority My question is are they worth following Do they really represent what it means to be a person of purpose a person who glorifies God A person who is truly doing what Jesus said because if Jesus said blessed are the gentle for they will inherit the earth how many people that you're watching in sports how many people in Hollywood and how many people on blogs and all kinds of Facebook face slap or whatever those things are that we're watching they're doing snap snap photo or whatever those things are. Are you are are they worth following. Well the question is are they gentle is that person gentle. Is that person poor in spirit or does that person really grieve over their sinful nature. Would you even know they knew they had a sinful nature based on how they represent themselves in the public eye or are they arrogant pushy tell you what they think my way or the highway kind of people that tell you like it is and they don't care what happens around them some are fighting noble causes. And some are in the mix of a lot of bad people and they get a bad rap because they're in the mix of bad people I've met some yes I'm going to say this I've met some good politicians. And I've prayed that the evil that's all around them doesn't infiltrate their lives and I've watched a few of them fall in my day. The last five or ten years some people that I knew in politics have have not ended well. Because of what happened around them and what they decided to hitch their wagon to morally and they paid a price. It's an ugly dirty world we live in. And anybody who thinks that they do not have feet of clay they can easily be broken. And swayed by the world. Hasn't been watching world history for very long. Blessitt of the gentle. For they one here at the earth. Who are you following today. And is that person the kind of person that Jesus describes as a person who is blessed by God. You see we're all under authority and I would suggest to you this morning that we put ourselves under the authority of the one who spoke this Jesus Christ Himself and flip eons to verse five The apostle Paul says make your own attitude that Jesus Christ you want to see a man's man you want to see a man that stood up and inherited the earth because it did listen to this man. Listen to who this is make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus who existed in the form of God. Did not consider equality with God as something to be used for his own advantage I mean Jesus saw it say I'm GOD GET OVER IT follow Maine and yet he said he didn't use it for his own advantage No instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a slave taking on the likeness of men and when he had come as a man in his external form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even to death on a cross for this reason God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee should bow all of those are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father How did Jesus end up he IGS ended up exalted. As the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords he is the only king on Sunday he will have his rightful reign over all that is. He will not come as a suffering servant when he comes again he's going to come as the righteous ruling king. And he didn't get. There by saying look at me follow me he said I'm going to humble myself and my strength will be under the control of The Father's Will to be the sacrifice for the sins of the entire world so that it's not just me and the father up here but someday the redeemed those who put their faith in Jesus will be with me forever in heaven and when the new heaven and the your new earth is formed there will be people on that earth called the followers of God and they will take care of the earth that they inherited because they are followers of Jesus Christ that's the person but I suggest that we follow today that's the person that God is telling us is the man's man that we need to follow. It says the gentle will inherit the earth. We wait with confidence knowing that some day those people who are pushy and struggling and pushing you know Abraham Old Testament he and a lot Abraham Jesus God said The land is yours go for it he has his nephew with him lot and he gets up there and he says hey lot which side do you want so that our two people were not getting along you got a big crowd of people I got a big crowd of people pretty much two cities living in the same city we got to get out of here now which way do you want to go now Abraham had the right to say where he wanted to go because he was God's chosen man but what do you do he said he deferred he was the gentle man a gentleman. And he said Lot What do you want Lott said I want that city over there why there prosperous you can have the stubble and the and the untamed land over here maybe that OK Go for it. Or guess what who won out. That big wonderful city that lot went into not only destroyed his family morally but that city itself was destroyed physically Sodom and Gomorrah. And he came running back to Abraham for protection and support. Moses. Big Thing raise up against him and it says he was the most meek man that ever lived and he let the guy he let God. Fight his battles for him David when he was running from a city that his son had taken over Absalom had taken over and David is running for life his life King David in the Old Testament and there's this guy shimmy I says You wicked stupid KING You should have never done what you did and he's thrown rocks and they said you were just go kill him because like. Kind of annoying so the guy next to him said that's pretty much what he said he was just doing me what to do what they give him for you know kind of the mob and David said you know I'll. Let him be because some of what he's saying is I probably deserve this. David the one who God said would never have a throne. Not have a king on it with his name and Jesus became that eternal King they came out of the line of David but even David was a meek and humble man and then we have of course Jesus Christ. Who is the ultimate of gentleness You see we wait with confidence knowing that God fights our battles and he's the one that's going to take care of us is seek God and trust the earth to those who trust Him You guys are going to have authority someday to do your own thing in your own circle you already have some authority and you're already going to make some differences in your circles of life and your own families some of you I prayed for and about your family and how to take care of them and do but you're going to have an opportunity and God is saying can I trust you with what I'm going to give you are you going to take care of your little piece of the earth that I'm going to give you in a way that's honoring to me and the question is What are you doing now with what you've got. To take care of what you already have. You know teams have uniforms and they have a uniform code of conduct. You say well that's just silly that's legalism No it's discipline the teaches a person how to take care of things how take care of themselves. Everything has a purpose it can get out of whack from the wrong leader leading the cause but there's a reason you do what you do because God is wanting is looking for people to and trust what he's doing. In this world. And he's looking for trustworthy people. You see the key is a right relationship with God. Through faith in Jesus so we come to the conclusion this morning that Celebrate Recovery Principle Number three. Is this. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ care and control. So let me read the other two you don't have to go to just leave that one up there right now David principle one realize I'm not God I meant that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is on an unmanageable I'm poor in spirit. And then I go but and God I honestly believe that God exists and that I matter to him and that he has the power to help me recover Blessed are those who mourn over their personal sin and when we get to this point of mourning over our personal sin we're at the right spot to hear what God has to say is sort of like when a player does the wrong thing and the coach says that was wrong we hear from the coach but then when a referee fouls us for it. Oh you him. I did not do that I mean it's hard to take from someone you don't know very well but strength under control means that even when the rolled her insults at you. Because you were doing what the Father's Will is you're doing what God wants you to do you know that ultimately he's taking care of you in the end and that's when a team can walk off a quarter on to a court and they can be gentle play the most vigorous game possible but when attacked. They look to the coach and the coach says it's OK we've got this will live to see another day settle down in fact you're not going to do well in third quarter if you don't settle down right now you've got to be gentle you've got to be under the control of what the team needs to do not be influenced by what outside forces are trying to get you to do and push your buttons. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ care and control the world is pushing your buttons and you're going to as soon as you walk out this door somebody in your car might even push your button don't point to that person right now they know how to get they know how to rile you up guess what God's got this. And when they push your buttons say God's got this I don't because my response. I'm a level you and him go get you know be pretty for either one of us shrapnel all over the place. God's got this I'm about to I want another fix I want to I want to solve this gnawing that's in my flesh that says I got to have this God's got this you don't. Commit your total will to him so this morning my final question my final phrase is you need to have strength. The strength of all that you are under the control of Christ that's the game changer so this morning how do you put your faith in Christ have you made a conscious decision to come to God and say I know that I'm a sinner I know that I've I've I've not gone the way that you've let me go I'm done living my life my way I'm willing to turn. And start following you I know that you died on the cross for my sins and I admit that I am the center that you died for me and I ask you now to save me come. Whatever it takes God I'm willing to follow you. And one of the easiest ways to do that this morning is to take that yellow card in your bulletin and Sam committing my life to Christ and that will start a whole series of simple things for us to just simply follow up be praying for you be encouraging you to give you some material and things in in your hand and to build a relationship with you so that you can start walking in the way that God would have you to go if you've never done that this morning this may be the closest you'll ever come I heard Will Graham say this last night this might be the closest you'll ever come to making that decision don't let this moment pass.