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As a good American, Tom believed in the pursuit of happiness. He believed in the American Dream. He worked hard in school and earned an academic scholarship to the University of Oregon. While he was there, he met a girl and they decided to get married. They both got jobs after college and started their family. With two kids, they bought their first home. It had three bedrooms and was in a nice neighborhood. During the week, they worked hard and on Saturdays they played harder. Sunday was the Lord’s day. They went to church in the morning and hosted home group in the evening.They were living the dream and yet it didn’t seem to be all it was cracked up to be. In his own pursuit of happiness, Tom was doing it by the book, but deep down inside he still wasn’t really that happy. He’d never admit to being anything less than totally blessed. But when Tom was honest with himself, he wondered what he was missing.Today, I want to think with you about this pursuit of happiness. But as we read the Bible, I want to call something else. Instead of the pursuit of happiness, I want to call it the blessed life. That’s what Jesus is going to be talking about today. The blessed. He’s going to help us answer the question, ‘Who are the blessed?’As we meet up with Jesus, we’ve got to travel back to the first century across the Atlantic Ocean, over the Mediterranean and join him in Israel. He is traveling on his way to Jerusalem and we approach him with a crowd of people. We’ve just seen him cast a demon out of a mute man. It was amazing, but it generated some controversy. We heard him silence his critics and teach on demons.Now off to our right, we hear a woman speak up. She says something about the Virgin Mary. As we listen closely, we can hear why she thinks Mary must have had a blessed life. We can hear why she thinks Mary must have been successful in the pursuit of happiness. 27 ?While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed."This woman in the crowd says that Mary is blessed. Why is she blessed? Because her womb bore Jesus and baby Jesus nursed at her blessed. Basically, it seems like this woman is saying that Mary was blessed because her son turned out great. She might even be saying that Jesus is the Messiah.The way to be blessed is to be the mother of someone great. What if your kid was the Messiah? That would be a blessing. You would be one blessed mom if your son was the promised Messiah. This was pretty common thinking back in the first century. They had an expectation that the Messiah would be born to a woman. Whoever that woman was, would be the most blessed woman. They considered this to be the highest honor imaginable. If your kid turned out to be someone great, that’s got to make you a proud parent. Every parent wants their kid to do well. But here’s where we run into a bit of a mistake: I would be happy if only I could be the mother of the Messiah. I would be happy if I had a little bit bigger home. I would be happy if I had a better job or a different spouse or nicer possessions or…Most people think that the key to a blessed life is favorable circumstances. There’s nothing wrong with favorable circumstances. Mary was indeed blessed with favorable circumstances. Her womb bore Jesus. Her breasts nursed Jesus. Her kid grew up to be the greatest person who has ever walked the earth. That’s cool.But favorable circumstances alone don’t ensure a blessed life. The reason is that we really do have that God shaped hole in our hearts. We can fill our lives with all kinds of things, but none of those things can truly make us happy. Good circumstances alone are insufficient for a blessed life.Lucifer was had great circumstances. He was the wisest and most beautiful creature God has created. It seems like he was the worship leader in heaven. There was only one position higher than his and that was the position of God himself. Lucifer wanted to be like God and he ended up falling. The circumstances don’t get much better than Lucifer had them, but he still wanted more.King Solomon had wonderful circumstances. His kingdom was renowned for its peace and prosperity. He was king for forty years during the golden age of Israel’s history. He had everything a man could want. But he still said his life was meaningless and empty. Vanity of vanities.The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, had pretty much everything this world could offer, but he always seemed troubled and died a tragic and early death. The National Football League is about to induct Tim Brown into the Hall of Fame. But Tim Brown says that during the first eight years of his NFL career he wasn’t happy. His life wasn’t blessed even though he had the fame, the fortune and the females.By contrast, Jesus Christ had some of the most difficult circumstances. Many of his circumstances were unfavorable and just plain miserable. He died the most horrific death ever. Nevertheless, his life was supremely blessed. Jesus has just heard what the woman said about Mary, his mother. It was a nice thing to say. She’s just complimented Mary by saying that she’s blessed and she’s also complimented Jesus by saying that he must have made his mother proud. Now, Jesus is going to engage her comment. Her thinking about what makes for a blessed life, good circumstances, doesn’t quite go far enough.The key to a blessed life is not good circumstances. In verse 28, Jesus reveals the key to a blessed life is hearing and obeying the Word of God.28 ?But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."Jesus isn’t saying that Mary wasn’t blessed because she was most blessed among women. But good circumstances were the fruit of her blessing, not the root. He corrects this woman’s comment by developing it further. She was onto something, but not going far enough.Contrary to the popular idea that the key to a blessed life is good circumstances, Jesus says blessed people do two things with the word of God. They hear it and observe it. The word of God is central to the blessed life.We believe the Bible is the Word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. The writings of the Old and New Testament are breathed out by God. He superintended the human authors so that the result of what they composed was God’s Word written. The Bible is the inspired word of God.Since the Bible is inspired it is also authoritative and inerrant. An authoritative word can tell you what to do. At work, the word of your boss is authoritative. When he says jump, you say how high. God is the supreme authority in heaven and on earth. The Bible is also inerrant. It doesn’t have mistakes. The Bible tells the truth. Charles Wesley put together this helpful syllogism: God is true and does not lie. The Bible is God’s Word. Therefore, the Bible is true and does not lie. The inspiration of Scripture ensures that the Bible is authoritative and inerrant.Jesus says to this woman, the crowd and us that if you want a blessed life, the key is the Word of God. The blessed hear it and observe it. If you hear and do God’s Word, then your life will be blessed. That’s the key.Then, I think it is fair for us to ask, ‘How will my life be blessed?’ Some people say your life will be blessed with health and wealth. That’s the prosperity Gospel. But I don’t think that’s what Jesus was talking about. Prosperity gospel preachers teach that if your life is unhealthy or unwealthy, it’s because there is sin in your life. It’s a sin to be sick and it’s a sin to be poor. That’s a false gospel.The blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it. If you hear and do the Word of God your life will be blessed in many ways. I’ve come up with nine ways your life will be blessed. You can probably think of some more.Your life will be blessed with meaning. When you hear God’s Word and do it, there is an eternal significance to everything that you do. Jesus says that you’ll be eternally rewarded when you give a cup of cold water to someone in his name. The practice of hospitality is eternally significant, receiving people into your home gets rewarded. When I was sick, you visited me. The simple act of visiting people when they’re sick is very meaningful. Visiting prisoners, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty and clothing the naked. Jesus says in as much as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me. Come you blessed of my father and enter into the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Simple acts are significant because your life has been blessed with meaning.Your life will be blessed with peace. For those who hear God’s word and observe it, there is peace with God. This is the greatest peace there is. There will be peace in your heart that’s like a river. There will very likely be more peace in more of your relationships with people. Your life will be blessed with joy. Jesus said to his disciples, These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. God intends for your joy bucket to be filled right up to the brim. Fullness of joy. Joy indescribable and full of glory. Joy is another way your life will be blessed when you hear the word of God and observe it.Your life will be blessed with forgiveness. One of the things we have in common as people is the feeling of guilt. Everyone of us has felt guilty for a very good reason. We have been guilty before God. This burden of guilt is an incredible burden. I personally sought to escape this reality of my guilt through drugs and alcohol. It didn’t seem to help. Might have numbed the pain for a bit, but really only made it worse. Forgiveness of sins is a vast blessing. It’s another way that our lives are blessed.Your life will be blessed with hope. Hope is an expectation of good. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ is the fountainhead of our hope. The return of Christ is our blessed hope. Indeed, our lives have been blessed with hope. Communion reminds us of our hope because as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.Your life will be blessed with love. God’s love is shed abroad in your heart. Communion reminds us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Your life will be blessed with a growing love for God and neighbor.Your life will be blessed with truth. Communion is a memorial of truth. Truly, Christ’s blood was shed for us. Truly, Christ’s body was given and broken for us. Baptism is an ordinance of truth. Truly, Christ was buried and rose again. Truly, we have been identified with Christ in his burial and resurrection. To know the truth is a blessing in the life of those who hear and do God’s Word.Your life will be blessed with community. All Christians everywhere practice baptism and communion. This community is called the church. It is ancient, worldwide and eternal.These are eight of the ways that your life will be blessed as you hear God’s Word and observe it. But you might be asking another question this morning, “What if my life is missing those blessings?” You’re saying, I do hear the Word of God and I do try my best to obey it, but preacher, I don’t have peace like a river. The joy, joy, joy, joy just is not down in my heart. Preacher, you talk a good game about hope, but I’m feeling pretty hopeless. Meaning, that sure sounds great, but the things I do just don’t seem to matter at all. And when it comes to forgiveness, I’ve heard a zillion sermons about forgiveness, but I still feel as guilty as ever. Where are these promised blessings?There’s a chance that you could be going about things all wrong. Some people go about things all wrong by focusing on doing. They over emphasize all the things they need to do and all the things that other Christians should be doing, but aren’t. They tend to think that you have to make the grade by earning it. Christians who are over focused on doing things for God can make the error of legalism. If that’s your tendency, it’s true. Peace and joy will probably not be a part of your experience. They need to be reminded that being goes before doing.Other people go about things in the wrong way by only focusing on being. Let go and let God is the song they sing. It’s all about what God has done. Sounds good. But there really is effort that is required on our part. These folks say, “I prayed for God to take away my anger. I’m still angry. It must be God’s fault. All I have to do is be and He’ll take care of the rest. If the rest is not taken care of, then there’s nothing I can do about it.” These folks won’t have a lot of peace or joy either. Theirs is the error of laziness. They need to be reminded that grace is not opposed to effort, but grace is opposed to earning.Instead of going about things all wrong, we want to go about things the right way. Being and doing are both important. Who we are to be is vital. What we are to do is also vitally important. But you don’t want to put the cart before the horse. When it comes to being and doing, the being always comes first.Before we can really live the Christian life, we need to know who we are in Christ. Our performance is based upon our identity. The sun does a really good job of shining because it is being the sun. Rocks aren’t very good at shining at all. It is not in the nature of a rock to shine.So it’s important to know who we are in Christ. Once we know who God has created us to be, then we will know what it is that God would have us to do. Being precedes doing. Practically, here are two exercises that I have found helpful for obeying God’s Word.The first is living into your identity. Based upon what Christ has first done for me, I understand who I am in Christ. On the basis of that identity, I believe this is how God would have me live. In Christ, I am not a thief, I am a generous person. I don’t believe God would have me steal. Since I believe God is making me into a generous person, I am going to give away some of my money to support the work of Christian ministry. That’s how I am hearing and observing the Word of God. I am living into my identity in Christ.I have also found a second exercise to be a helpful way to hear and observe God’s Word. I call it a grip on discipleship. It’s a helpful way to get rid of sin in your life. Stop. Think. Pray. Talk. Decide.The first thing I need to do is stop. Quick perspective check. If I don’t stop, I will keep on sinning.The second thing I need to do is think. Who am I in Christ? What’s going on here? What’s the temptation? How have I just sinned or am I about to sin?The third thing I need to do is pray. I need to connect with God. HELP! I know you’ve made me a saint, but I still feel like sinning. Help me quick!The fourth thing I need to do is talk. This is where I connect with community. It can be very helpful to talk with a wise Christian friend about my sin or temptation to sin. Their counsel, prayers and fellowship can be powerful helps in the sanctification process.The fifth thing I need to do is decide to do what would make me most deeply happy. This isn’t what would feel good, or what would get me through the night or would numb the pain. This is what would truly satisfy the deepest desire of my new heart. Now, the joy of the Lord is my strength and I choose to do what would make me most deeply happy. And I will almost always do the right thing.So now we know why Tom wasn’t really that happy. He was going about it all in the wrong way. Instead of looking for happiness in good circumstances, Tom started looking for happiness by hearing and doing the word of God. His problem was he was hooked on pornography. It felt good in the moment, but terrible afterwards. The first Christian counselor he went to told him to just pray and ask God to take the desire away. The emphasis was on being, not doing. That didn’t work. The second counselor he went to told him to just gut it out. The emphasis was on doing, not being. That didn’t work. This third approach seeks to balance the being and doing. Tom began to experience victory. When the temptation came, he stopped. He thought about who he was in Christ as a saint, blessed with every spiritual blessing and robed in the righteousness of Christ. He thought about the temptation and how it would bring forth death. He prayed and asked God for help. He talked with a trusted Christian friend. He chose to do what would make him most deeply happy and that was to delight himself in his wife and forsake the digital harlot. For the first time in a long time, Tom began to enjoy the blessed life. He was hearing the word of God and observing it.Since the blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it, we should do both, by living into our identity in Christ and getting a grip on discipleship. As we do so, our lives will be like trees planted by the rivers of water. The leaf will not fade. The fruit will come forth in its season. Whatever we do shall prosper. Our lives will be like houses built upon the rock. The storms will come. The winds will blow. The waves will pound. But the house will stand because we’re hearing and doing the words of Jesus. ................
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