Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. With that said, let us pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you for this day. We thank you for bringing
us together, this time in fellowship, this time
in your word, this opportunity to continue to
grow in our understanding and our relationship
with you. We ask that you open the eyes of our
hearts and our minds to everything that you have
to speak to us and let us hear it clearly and
see how it applies to our lives. In Jesus' name.
Amen. All right. Let's switch this over. Maybe.
There we go. All right. That's an interesting
slide, right? So what? I like pop culture. What
can I say? Guilty as charged. For the next couple
of weeks, so surprisingly, when you look at this,
what we're going to be looking at is not going
to be what you expect. Today is just kind of
an introduction, but we're going to be looking,
we're going to spend a little bit of time over
the next couple of weeks looking at the Beatitudes.
And specifically, we're looking at how Jesus
encouraged believers to represent the kingdom
of God and to operate differently. than in the
world that we know, all right? So a little bit
different. Jesus, you know, he introduced the
disciples to a way of thinking that challenged
them. It changed the way that they viewed things,
the way that they worked when they went out into
the world. You know, for some people, you know,
they'd say it actually changed their understanding
of what success really is, what victory really
is, right? So, you know, that's... We get started
though, I'm going to say lately, I'm sure everybody
in here kind of follows the news some, right?
It's getting a little bit harder lately for me
anyway. And I'm not sure if it's because I used
to work in law enforcement and law enforcement
is prominently what's being attacked out there.
And I will say, it's like any other job. You
have a whole bunch of good people, you do have
some bad actors. I think the part that stings
the most, though, is nobody's even giving benefit
of the doubt. They're hearing the audio clips
and the augmented video clips, and they're just
going on the attack right away without having
all the information. And what's worse is we have
people that we've put in positions to be leaders,
and they're leading the charge. It hits a little
close to home for me, right? And it's not the
only thing that's going on. It's just specifically
what's hitting me. When we listen to the news
and we hear it, more and more so, we're really
soaking in the violence, aren't we? And that's
the best way I could come up with it, just soaking
it in. Painfully so. And it got me to thinking.
I still do it some. A fair bit on my phone. I've
got a couple books that have been gifted to me.
As a matter of fact, my sister -in -law gifted
me a wonderful book not that long ago that I
just started. But it's reading. When I was young,
I loved... I would go through books like a bag
of chips. And typically, I had a couple bags
with me when I was doing it. But I did, and I
loved it. Now, when it comes to reading, for
me at least, it's a lot like watching TV. Everybody
has their favorite genre, right? Whether it's
westerns, mysteries, true crime, nonfiction,
fiction, as much as I hate to say it, romance.
Right? There's a number out there. Comic books.
You know, there's some people, like, they'll
get the whole binded thing that's got, like,
a hundred issues of a comic book in there. Right?
Say, hey. If that's what interests you, okay,
cool. Go for it. For me, it's, you know, fantasy
was always kind of a cool thing, but it's because
it's closely related to science fiction. I loved
science fiction. Fantasy was good. Science fiction
was great. Matter of fact, if you looked at my
library, that was most of it. There'd be a few
other things here and there, mysteries and whatnot.
I mean, especially when I was younger, like a
lot of boys, I loved the Hardy Boys, you know,
Tarzan. You know, I dated myself there a little
bit. There's a few people who are kind of like,
huh? God, you're old. I don't even know if those
books are still out anymore. They're hard to
find. But here's the thing. When it comes to
those types of stories, much like what we see
on TV, because like right now people love superheroes,
right? What's the story though? What's the underlying
context? Good versus evil. People love a good
versus evil story. They do, right? You know,
things like the Chronicles are gnawing at the
Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, you know, to an
extent, you know, for those who are just kind
of falling into it now, Doom. That's been around,
that series has been around longer than I've
been alive, I want to say. It's been around for
a long time. You know, a lot of these books,
but what are they? They're good versus evil.
They rank pretty high up there for me. You know,
now we're not going to look into this a whole
lot. We're really not. You can tell by the slide
behind me. There is a show I'm going to mention
as we go through this series. There's a lot of
mixed feelings. I understand that. We're not
getting into that. Believe me, we're not. The
current show that's out there, a lot of people
have been in tune with it. The finale just hit.
It's Stranger Things. Stranger Things is one
of those sci -fi shows, and if you've followed
any of it, even just the stuff that pops up online,
it's very quick to understand that it's another
good versus evil story. And when you look at
the visuals and everything that's in there, you
know, the alternate world here, basically. So
it follows these kids. One of them, he gets pulled
into another dimension, right? It's a world they
call the Upside Down. Everything there, it's
different from the world. It's a dark... gloomy,
evil place. Demons are after you on every corner.
And there are demons, right? And when you follow
it, it's quick to describe this, but without
getting too deep into any kind of theology, right?
But it's the example that it uses to make the
illustration. And I said that it's a dark, scary
place. And this kid who basically gets abducted
and pulled into it, as a result, he goes through
a lot of chaos, a lot of torment. It's a scary
place, and his friends have to find a way to
rescue him, right? They have to find their hero.
I bring it up because when we look at this illustration,
it's much the world that we live in today. You
know, we talk about how the word says that there's
going to be a day when people in the world call
evil good and good evil, right? And we see that
happening more and more so. Years ago, Donald
Craybill, he wrote a book about God's kingdom,
and it's called The Upside -Down Kingdom. And
Craybill, in this book, he suggests that people
assume that the way things are now, are the way
things are supposed to be. Yes and no. It's the
way they're supposed to be in the world so that
we can learn of God, right? So we can discover
how to lean into him, discover what he wants
for us, what he expects of us as believers, right?
It's a place where we're given all the opportunity
and all the information. Where we can make the
decision for ourselves if we want a relationship
with him or if we want a relationship with the
world. The reality of it is, is we are in the
upside down. We are in that dark, scary, demon
infested place where evil is lurking after the
good people every chance it gets. That's the
truth of the matter. God's kingdom is what the
show calls the right side up. Where things are
right. Where things truly are the way they are
supposed to be. The way God intended for them
to be. With that said, let's open up our Bibles.
Oh my goodness, it came up smaller than it did
on my computer. I apologize, guys. Let's definitely
open up our Bibles or Bible apps to Mark 5. Mark
5 right there at the beginning. I apologize.
My goodness, that is tiny. That looked a lot
bigger on my laptop last night. Maybe it's because
I was tired. I don't know. I promise the rest
of the slides look a lot better than this. But
Matthew 5. I'm sorry. Mark 5. Mark 5, Matthew
5. Should be Matthew. Yeah. Mark's up there.
It should be Matthew. Yeah, I was tired, guys.
It should be Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12.
I love you too, man. Okay, we're looking for
the Beatitudes. If it's not starting with the
Beatitudes, you're in the wrong place. All right,
the word says, And seeing the multitudes, he
went up on a mountain, and when he was seated,
his disciples came to him. Then he opened his
mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the
poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall attain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and
persecute you and say all kinds of evil against
you and falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for
so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you. It's a lot. Right? I said this week is kind
of an introduction. Here in Matthew 5, though,
Jesus is giving a list of how our understanding
should be to guide us in how we operate in the
upside down. When we're in the upside down world,
this is what we should be focusing on. And like
I said, this is a list of what we call the Beatitudes.
And each one starts specifically with the word
blessed. This word, it comes from the Greek word
makarios, which in English, it most closely means
happy or fortunate. And I say most closely means
because it's not something that directly translates
very well into English. It actually translates
kind of poorly. I hate to say it, but that is
the truth. It's just the closest that we come.
to this. I want to say in the word, especially
in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is like
esra, something like that. What's that? Esros?
Yeah. I knew it was something like that. I was
trying to go off my memory there because it just
came to me. It's very much the same kind of thing.
All right? That's something to keep in mind as
we go through here. By starting the Sermon on
the Mount, because this is where Jesus is truly
starting the Sermon on the Mount. He's starting
with the Beatitudes. And the reason he's doing
this is because he's establishing how fortunate
the disciples are to live his way while they're
in the upside down. On the surface, it certainly
doesn't seem that way, though, does it? Because
you look at what this is, blessed are the poor,
blessed are those who mourn, right? Talking about
weakness and pain and suffering. You know, these
are, when we read this face front, especially
from what we know of the world, it seems quite
the opposite, doesn't it? It really does. And
it's definitely the opposite of the response
that we expect to hear when we're like, you know,
Lord, help me with this. These are the most common
issues right there, laid out. You know, these
are those hurtful, low times in life that nobody
wants to go through. Nobody wants to have to
deal with. Nobody wants to encounter. You know,
let alone even have to admit that they have to
deal with, right? Sometimes these things can
be kind of embarrassing. But Jesus is calling
each and every one of these things blessed. What
he's saying is almost like precious. Ever thought
of that? Precious. Kind of like Smeagol, right?
Gets to ring my precious. Like I said, I'm a
nerd who likes my books and my movies that match.
You know, I sit there and hours to talk about
the difference between the book and the movies,
I'm game. We might wear each other out. But why
would he call these blessings? It's really, it's
a weird way. To address these types of things.
And for that, we'll find the answer, actually,
when we look at 2 Corinthians 12 .9. I promise
this one's right. 2 Corinthians 12 .9. And he
said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for
my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore,
most gladly, I will rather boast in my affirmities
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Blessings
because it's when we are at our weakest that
we start letting down those barriers to God.
It's at our weakest that we truly let go and
let Jesus. So when we are suffering and hurting,
that we give in and realize, I can't do this
on my own. I need help. I need a savior. I need
Jesus. And we let him in. When you hit rock bottom,
And you don't know how to get back up. The only
place you can truly look is up. You just roll
over and you look up. And you need that hand
to help pick you back up. We turn things over
to Jesus. And think of it this way. When we get
to these points in our lives and we go to Jesus,
we're like a small child. We're that upset small
child. Who has that broken toy. And they're coming
and going, you fix it? They've got the tears
running down their cheeks. That's how we go to
Jesus. When we're in these moments of our lives,
when we're in these seasons. The only difference,
though, is when we go to Jesus, it's not a toy
that we're going to him with. It's our life.
It is our life. And it's a big thing. We're strong
when we're weak. And likewise, we have another
weakness we don't even think of very often. As
believers, we have this thing, and there are
those who will look at it and see it as a curse,
called dual citizenship. When we look at the
world, like, ooh, dual citizenship, that could
be kind of cool, and it can be. But it can also
be a curse. Because as believers, as followers
of Christ, we're residents of this world, but
we're also residents of God's kingdom. If we
turn to Philippians 3, verse 20. Philippians
3, verse 20 says, Meaning we're in the world,
we're not of it. If we go to John 17. Verses
14 through 16. So John 17, verses 14 through
16. This is actually from a prayer of Christ.
Jesus is praying and he said, I have given them
your word and the world has hated them because
they are not of the world just as I am not of
the world. I do not pray that you should take
them out of the world, but that you should keep
them from the evil one. They are not of the world
just as I am not of the world. I'm going to break
it down for you another way. In the military,
we call the children of service members military
brats. My wife is a military brat. Yes, very
much proudly, yes. This is something that impacts
a lot of them, though. And it can be a big issue.
Basically, you have your military families. They're
stationed overseas. They have a child. Now, typically,
even if it's in a country that traditionally
would not have dual citizenship with the U .S.,
the fact that they are born there, they are still
granted dual citizenship, meaning that they are
citizens of that country and the United States.
They get both. And as a kid, it's cool because
you get to go back and forth. No problem. Right?
Because you're a citizen. For those of you who
have never been outside the country, especially
overseas where you have to fly in, I will tell
you, if you are a citizen of the United States,
it is a whole lot easier to get through customs
and a whole lot faster than if you are a foreigner.
A whole lot easier. Now, in many cases, These
children, they have this dual citizenship. They
get to keep it for life. That's cool. But there
are those countries where that changes. There
are some countries that when you get to a certain
age, you have to make a choice. Am I going to
be the citizen of this country? Am I going to
be the citizen of that country? What do you want
for your life? What's going to make best for
you? Now, if you're that kid who grew up in that
other country and that's all you really know,
it might be an easier decision. If you've traveled
a bit, it's going to be a bit harder. But it's
a tough choice. Because there are some issues
that come up. Even if you maintain the dual citizenship.
I'll ask a question. Nobody has to raise their
hand. I just want you to kind of think about
this. Who here would want to pay taxes in two
countries, whether you live in the other one
or not? No, I didn't think so. There are countries
out there like, hey, you have citizenship with
us. Even though you're living in another country,
you're still earning a paycheck. You still have
to pay taxes here. So you're paying your U .S.
taxes and the taxes for whatever that other country
is. I'll tell you what, some of those countries,
those taxes are steep. Steep. How about this?
There are those other countries that demand Military
service. Now that, on the face side, might not
seem like a bad deal. Think about this, though.
What happens if the countries that you have citizenship
in break away from each other and they go to
war and now you're having to fight against the
other country of your citizenship? You have to
choose which one you belong to. and swear that
allegiance and then fight the other. That's hard,
isn't it? That's hard just to think about. But
there are people out there that that is the very
thing that they've had to deal with in their
lifetimes. People called away saying, hey, you
need to come back to our country because we're
going to war with that country over there even.
Maybe you don't agree with it, but too bad. You're
a citizen. Come on over. Raise your right hand.
We're going to give you some fatigues and a rifle.
That's a hard one. The dilemma of dual citizenship
is very similar to being a child of God, though.
Because even though we're born into the world,
we have to make a choice. We have to make a choice.
And when we look at the Beatitudes, it's like,
oh, is this really the choice I want to make?
Is it really a blessing? And the way we make
that determination is based upon where we're
at with our relationship with Jesus Christ. The
stronger our relationship is, the more understanding
and the more likely it is that we are truly going
to see them for the blessings that they are and
understand why they're there and how they work
on us. But the day is still going to come where
we have to make that choice whether or not we
are going to live according to the world. If
we want to live worldly, in which case we fall
under the provision, probably not the best choice
of word there, of the prince of this world, right?
We fall under Satan and his ministers and all
the nonsense that they spew in the garbage and
the evilness, right? Or we choose Jesus Christ.
We live under his rules and his love and his
grace and his mercy, and we know where we're
going. We don't get to keep both. We have to
make choice. Eventually, you have to let go of
one or the other. Indecision is not a choice.
You don't get to sit there and hold on to it
forever and say, oh, let me think about it a
little bit more. We go to Revelation 3, 16. This
time I hear 3, 16, it takes me back to when I
was younger. Anybody who watched wrestling knows
exactly what I'm talking about. Revelation 3
.16 says, So then, because you are lukewarm and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of
my mouth. You have to make a choice. You're either
on fire for Jesus or you're not. You love the
world or you don't. You don't get to sit in the
middle. You don't get to sit on the fence. Let
me put it another way. When it comes to sales
or anybody who's worked in the service industry,
if it's not an automatic yes, it's a no. If it's
not an automatic yes, it's a no. Are you on Team
Jesus or aren't you? That's what it comes down
to. It's like, I don't know. I think I need more
information. Well, that's a no. Your time is
up. Sorry. That's the thing. Tomorrow's not promised.
This afternoon is not promised. Any one of us
can walk out the door and that's it. Time's up.
So when it comes to your citizenship, you need
to think on it and you need to choose. If you
know people who are on the fence, you need to
talk to them before the time is up because they
need to choose. It's one or the other. Think
about what it means. to be a citizen in the world.
Think of facing the temptations and the issues
of everyday life, the struggle that we constantly
have to deal with. Think of what it really means
to have this opportunity right now to live in
the upside -down kingdom. That is truly what
it is, is an upside -down kingdom. Now think
of the struggle and what you need to do to live
a holy life in it. The issues that we have with
our bodies. Heck, we did a 5K yesterday. We're
both sore. Everybody that's out there, I guarantee
is sore. Guarantee it. Especially the people
who are pushing even further for the 10K and
the half marathon. We got people waiting for
surgeries. We got people that are home sick.
We got people who just got over a cold. They
just got the lingering cough. You know? We go
through a lot. We go through a ton. Every time
the weather changes, all the hardware I have
on my body, I feel it. I tell my wife, yeah,
there's a storm on the other side of the mountain
right now. But there's not supposed to be. Oh,
there is. I guarantee it. And later on the news,
what happens? There's a storm, right? Like a
human barometer. It's not fun. But you think
about it. Think of the problems that might arise
as you go forward in the future. Think about
this. What do you have? What have you had for
a long time? What is it that you absolutely will
not give up? What don't you want to give up?
There's some hard ones here. I'm just going to
give you a quick example. Most of us work, right?
We don't have a whole lot of people here who
are retired. A couple people who are close, right?
How would you feel about giving up your car and
walking? Giving up means a transportation altogether
minus your feet. Your feet become your Cadillacs
and you got to walk to and fro and while you're
there. Who wants to give up their car? I didn't
see any hands go up. I saw a few heads shaking.
No, I don't want to give mine up either. But
you know what? If the Lord asks us to, we have
to be obedient. That is a hard choice to make
though, isn't it? How am I going to get there?
How am I going to get back? Especially people
who commute. What am I going to do about groceries?
Hmm. There's a tough one. There's a lot of us.
We go to the store and we load up, don't we?
More than we could just carry in a bag and carry
back and forth every day. Take it home. We load
up our fridge. We load up our counters. Load
up our cabinets. Hmm. That's a big one. Or how
about when a loved one gets sick? Maybe a kid
falls and breaks a bone and you got to get into
a doctor quick. I don't think any of us want
to have to deal with a stressful enough, let
alone having to pick someone up and carry them
that distance. Some of us don't live that close
to medical facilities to get that kind of help.
Tough choices. These are the things we have to
think of though, which is why when it comes to
following Jesus Christ, it's not just a quick
yes or no answer for most people. That's why
they stay lukewarm. And unfortunately, they don't
make it to the finish line and finish well. It
is a hard life. So are you willing to give something
up for Jesus? You don't get the choice on what
that something is. Hoping for all of us in here,
that answer is yes. Willing to give it up. Willing
to bear just a little bit more. For his sake.
Because of what he's done for me, I know he's
doing for me. Because I love him. Not as close
to as much as he loves me, but because I love
him. Let's face it, he loves us a whole lot more.
That's your homework for the week. I want you
to reflect on these things. You get a chance.
I want you to come back. I want you to open your
Bibles back up to the Beatitudes. I want you
to read through them. Read through them kind
of carefully and think to yourself, ah, what's
strange here? What's strange? What's hard to
understand? I want you to meditate on that. Maybe
even take a note. Right? You don't have to bring
it back to church. Don't worry. You don't have
to turn in your homework. I'm not asking you
to submit anything. Right? But go back. Everybody
should go back, spend a couple minutes with themselves
and the word, and take a look at exactly what
this is. It'll also prepare you a little bit
more for the next couple weeks. Right? And then
as you go through it, the big thing I want you
to remember is the kingdom of God does not operate
the same as things do here. It's not meant to.
The world's kingdom is a different place. This
is a place filled with sin. God's kingdom is
not. God's kingdom is a place of absolute joy
and happiness and purpose, love, grace, and mercy.
When we get there, we're going to find a much
different place than even what we can imagine,
a much brighter place. On that note, let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you again for bringing
us together. We know that we live in an upside
-down world and we see it getting worse all the
time. You've opened our eyes to a better way
and a better life and a new way of looking at
it, a new way of working in it, a new way of
moving through it. We ask that you please just
continue to keep our eyes open, our ears open,
our minds open, and help us. Not just to understand
what's going on around us, but what you'd have
us do in the time that we have and the places
that you send us to. We pray for your healing
and your guidance over our land and the turmoil
it's going through. And we know that you'll work
all things to your glory. That's what your word
has told us and that's what your word has promised
us. That you guide and protect us all the days
of our lives here. Help us to continue to grow
people that you would have us be. Continue to
grow our relationship with you. All of his people
said, amen and amen. And remember, as you leave
here today, you are loved and you are blessed.
So go and be the church. Until next time, take
care and God bless.