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. Welcome, everybody. You know, it's Super
Bowl Sunday, and as we can even see in the room
here, this is typical for Super Bowl Sunday.
Super Bowl Sunday is the least attended service
of the year. for all churches. Can you believe
that? Yeah, tell me there's not some idol tree
in the world. So I, you know, those of you, you
know, who are here and those of you who are tuning
in, I truly appreciate you. Thank you. The Lord
sees you. We know what you're doing. So thank
you for that. On that note, let us pray. Lord,
we thank you for bringing us together as your
family. to seeing to our day -to -day lives and
guiding us and helping us with the many stresses
that we have in our lives. We know we have a
lot of stresses and a lot of ailments as well.
So, you know, we ask that you open the eyes of
our hearts and our minds to what you had to teach
to us today and teach us how to apply it to our
lives as we walk out the door and leave here
today in your name. Amen. All right. So this
week we are. I'm going to go just a little bit
longer than normal. That's your warning right
now. Because today is the last of our series
on the Beatitudes. Okay? That's why. Don't worry.
We won't go a whole lot longer. I promise. Just
a little. My wife's already over there getting
her timer going. She's going to flash me aside.
45 minutes. No, we're going to conclude it today.
It's actually really easy to go through these
last. few parts. So just a reminder, you know,
as we go through it, the Beatitudes, they show
us that we don't live in the right side up, right?
We're not in the heavenly kingdom. We're not
in God's kingdom yet. We're still in the upside
down kingdom. We're in the world, right? Things
aren't exactly as they should be. We don't view
things the way that we should. We don't react
to things the way we should. And the Beatitudes
was the opener for the Sermon on the Mount, of
course. You know, this is that moment of shock
and awe where Jesus was grabbing people's attention.
They're like, what? You know, kind of dating
myself a little bit. What you talking about,
Willis? Right? So that's what he was doing because
he was challenging not just his disciples, but
everybody who was there. And for all of his followers
and everyone since, you know, to open their eyes
to what the world actually is and how we should
be thinking about it and how we should be reacting
to it. And it really is a challenge because what
he proposed goes against those norms that we
feel come to us naturally, the things that we've
been taught. Right? So it's a big thing. It's
very, it's unconventional. It's unconventional.
Because everything in this world is designed
by Satan to go against the kingdom of God. And
that's what we're surrounded by day in and day
out. So we're going to go ahead and we're going
to pick up where we left off. So let's go ahead
and open up our Bibles, our Bible apps to Matthew
chapter 5. We're right there at the beginning.
And we're actually going to start, we're going
to skip over the verses that we've already done.
I think I've done enough of a recap. So we're
just going to pick right up at verse 7. We're
going to read through Matthew chapter 5, verse
7 through 12. So Matthew 5, verse 7 through 12,
the word says, 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 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 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? And really this last
section in itself, I could probably talk for
on a month. I won't. So if there's something
you feel like I'm skipping over, there's a reason
for that. mind that time and, you know, get you
out of here in time to actually go and eat and
not hold you hostage. Nobody likes a hostage
situation, right? Okay, except for Brian. I'll
hold him hostage. I'll find a, maybe we could
put him in the storage shed for the weekend.
I don't know. I'm just kidding. But it's a lot.
One of the hardest things that we've been asked
to do as followers of Christ is to get along
with people who have wronged us. To get along
with people who we feel have offended us in some
way, right? It's very easy for us to go on the
attack. Matter of fact, we see how easy that
is because it's in the news day in and day out.
It's easy to talk trash. It's easy to slander
people and put people down, right? It's easy
to yell and scream and destroy things. It is
hard. It is really hard to follow Jesus. It is
really hard to do the things that God has asked
us to do. It's hard to be merciful. It's hard
to show love. It doesn't say you have to like
people. The word says you have to love people.
There's a distinct difference. That's what we
are called to do. Matter of fact, if we look
here at verse 7, Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. When we hear this, we
should be thinking of Luke 6, verse 31. This
is the basis for the golden rule, right? So Luke
6, verse 31, the word says, and just as you want
men to do to you, you also do to them likewise,
right? Treat others as you want to be treated,
in other words, right? That's the way we present
it usually. Do unto others before they do unto
you. Not an eye for an eye, a tooth for the truth.
Right? That's the way people want to react. That's
the way the world wants us to react, but it's
not what we're called to do. It's not be kind
unless. Be kind except. Don't worry about it
in this instant because. No. Treat people the
way you want to be treated. Period. It does not
matter if they reciprocate that. It does not
matter if they like you, if they love you. They
can downright hate you. Show love, show mercy,
show compassion. Right? There's no ifs, ands,
or buts about it. It says, just as you want men
to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Period.
It's a big problem today, though, isn't it? It
didn't seem to be this big years ago. It really
didn't, but it probably was, right? Hindsight,
it probably was. These days, everybody feels
entitled to be offended. Everybody's quick to
be offended, right? They don't want to consider.
whether or not they may even be wrong. It's just
the fact that somebody says something that they
don't like or they just don't like the person
in general, so they're not going to listen to
them. It's just automatically offensive. It's
like, what, political party do you belong to?
Oh, no, right? Everything has to be political
these days. It shouldn't be, right? It's like,
oh, you belong to what group? Oh, no. Oh, you
ride a motorcycle? Oh, you're just a bunch of
thugs, right? Might as well be a gangbanger.
It's not the case, though, is it? You laugh.
I've been accused. You know, I mean, yeah. Right?
Yep. You know, it happens. It happens a lot.
People automatically want to paint you as the
bad guy. They want you to apologize. Whether
you're wrong or right doesn't matter because
as far as they're concerned, you're wrong. So
you need to apologize. You need to tell them
that they're right. You need to bend the knee
to them, right? That's what people want because
that's the way the world has told them. Hey,
it's yours. Go get what's yours. Don't put up
with nothing. Don't listen to them. You know
you're right, right? It's the mentality that's
out there. And not only that, people want you
to be the bad guy. Why do people want you to
be the bad guy? Two words, victim mentality.
People love to be the victim now. People want
everybody to think that they've been victimized
because they want the sympathy. They want the
empathy. They want that attention. They crave
the attention, right? It doesn't matter if it's
good attention or bad attention. It's attention.
Now the limelight's on them. They're the star
of the story, right? Pride. Ego. There's a lot
of sin there. And that's what drives people towards
it. They're listening to that little whisper
in the back of their ear. Tickling them. You
know, selective outrage goes with it. Oh boy,
do we see a lot of that. A lot of selective outrage.
And I'm not going to say it's on one side because
it's all sides. Everybody's doing it. The left's
doing it. The right's doing it. Everybody. It's
a lot of selective outrage. Oh, you woke the
beast. Just you wait and see. Really? Still waiting
every time you say it. Every time you say it.
We're still waiting. It's been years. People
have been saying that since before I was born.
People have been saying that since before any
of us were born. Right? It's one way, shape,
or fashion. But guess what? Going back to verse
7 there. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy. Jesus is telling us all. He's telling
you, he's telling me. If you want people to be
merciful to you when you've made a mistake, when
you're in error, You had better be showing mercy
as well. You had better err on the side of caution
because we all make mistakes. And when you know
for a fact that that person has made a mistake,
guess what? Be loving. Be gentle. Don't just
start barking at them. Hey, aren't you afraid
you're going to go to hell? As Christians, we
do that, don't we? We hear that in this room
sometimes. Some people get so heated, so passionate
about something, right? They're just evil people.
Are they or are they just uneducated? I don't
know Jesus. Where's the love? I was having a
conversation just the other day with Marvin.
I used to have this mindset, especially when
I was in the military. When I came home from
the military, I still had it for a really long
time. A lot of us have all heard this, right?
Especially talking about the Middle East. You
know what? Nuke them. Let them glow in the dark.
Turn the place into a glass parking lot. Let
God sort them out. Right? They're all evil. Is
that true? It's not. When that was mindset, I
was wrong. Now, granted, nobody was going to
tell me I was wrong. I wasn't going to listen.
I wasn't ready to listen. God had to soften my
heart. And most people think that way about whatever
it is that they think about. And they're not
ready to listen either. Are they wrong? Yes.
Should we be merciful? Yes. The truth is, when
I had that mindset, I wasn't thinking of the
fact that, yes, while these people are bad people,
they're also surrounded by a whole lot of innocent
people. They're surrounded by a whole lot of
people who are waiting to hear about Jesus. But
I never took that into account. And I know I'm
not the only one. We're all guilty of that, aren't
we? Like, you know what? Take that group. We
think of people that are in jail. Let them rot.
How about those people who have truly come to
Jesus while they're there? Do they deserve to
continue to rot? Do they deserve mercy and love?
How about those people who are wrongly convicted
and are still there? Maybe they will get out.
Maybe the only way out for them is being called
home. But we don't consider those people either,
do we? We think of the homeless. Some people
are there by their own devices. Some people are
there by other things. How many people in this
world have been displaced because their home
caught fire? Homes are not easy to find, let
alone to afford. And unfortunately, insurance
only covers so much, and when you're left putting
a bill, nobody wants to help you. The banks won't
touch you. The mortgage companies won't touch
you. Where do these people have to go at that
point? Places in the city fill up fast. Not everybody
has a car. You go into work, some places will
say, get out of here because you smell bad. Really?
Where are they going to shower? They end up losing
their jobs on top of it. Where's our mercy? Where's
our grace? Where's our love? It goes out the
window. We need to be treating people with kindness,
the same kindness that we would want to be treated
with. We were in their shoes. Regardless of what
their circumstances, regardless of whether they
know Jesus or not. It's not on us to condemn
them for their belief. It is on us to introduce
them to Jesus Christ and facilitate the handshake.
Let the Holy Spirit take over from there. Think
of it this way. Think all of us in here are probably
old enough to remember video rentals? Be kind,
please rewind. I know all of us at least one
time in our lives open up that cassette and we're
a little upset to find out, oh man, I gotta rewind
this thing before I can even watch it? Come on.
Right? Treat people the same way. I know it's
silly, but it's easy to remember. And here's
the thing. We're not called to like everybody,
like I said before, but we're called to love
them regardless. If you can't show others mercy,
do not expect them to show you mercy. Period.
If there's one person out there that you cannot
forgive, there's one person out there that you
cannot show mercy to, do not expect anyone to
show you love or mercy. You think God hates the
devil? It's a hard one to think of, huh? Well,
let's put it this way. Did Jesus hate Judas?
No. Even though he knew what would happen, he
knew what the plan was, he loved Judas just the
same. God created Satan. He knew what the outcome
was going to be. You ever made something and
just absolutely hated it? No. And I might have
been a little upset with the flaw. But it's just
a flaw, right? Show love. Show mercy. It's not
a give and take. It's a give, regardless of whether
you get something back or not. And just because
you're out in the world and people are being
mean, you have trouble finding someone nice.
You know what? You be the nice person. When you
can't find it, you give it. When you can find
it, you give it. Because the more that's out
there, the better, right? Be the one. Moving
along into verse 8. Let's flip back here so you
can all see it. Verse 8, blessed are the pure
in heart for they shall see God. Ooh, that's
a good one. Speaking of purity of heart, don't
get me wrong, nobody's perfect. The only perfect
person that ever walked this world got nailed
to a cross for us as Jesus. Nobody before him
and nobody since him is perfect. Not going to
be. We can't be while we live in this world,
plain and simple. But you know what you can be?
Better today than you were yesterday. You can
be better tomorrow than you were today. Now that,
that is something to aspire to. That is a worthy
goal, is it not? Because all of us, no matter
how good of a day we have, We can all find something
to improve on. In the Marine Corps, we have these
things that are called leadership principles.
You've probably heard me say this before. You'll
probably hear me say it again because it's one
of the greatest principles, in my opinion, is
know yourself and seek self -improvement because
there's always something that can be improved.
Why? Because we're not perfect. We're not going
to be perfect. That means there's a whole lot
of error. We just have to seek it out. Best way
to do that is with the Holy Spirit. Pray and
ask for that guidance. Right? As the psalm says,
you're a light to my pathway, right? We can always
improve. There's always something in all of us.
Now, if you have a really bad day, it's real
easy to improve from there, right? If you go
out and you treat someone like dirt, you're just
in a foul mood and you're just a grumposaurus
rex, it's real easy to improve the next day,
isn't it? Heck. Let's be honest. It's real easy
to improve that day. Especially if you could
take a moment to realize, hey, I done wrong.
I offended somebody. And you could go and talk
to them and be like, you know what? I was wrong.
I shouldn't have talked to you that way. I shouldn't
have said what I did. I should not have done
what I did. I'm wrong. I apologize. Pray with
me, right? There's a big one. Very, very rarely
will anybody ever say no to prayer. So that's
a good goal, to live a pure life every day. Now,
it's not always easy. This is one of those things
in life that's honestly quite easier said than
done. Close my notes. I had to open them back
up here. Right? It's a lot easier said than done.
If I could find where I was at here now. I've
got to scroll back down. Sorry. There we go.
Sorry about that. It took me a second. Each of
us should strive to live better, though. We're
going to have tough days. Tough days are ahead.
We're going to have speed bumps. In the words
of the great Chester Cheetah, it's not always
easy being cheesy. I like my cheesy jokes, yes.
Ain't easy being cheesy. Let's go to Psalm 119,
verse 9, though. For time's sake, I'll just go
ahead and read it for you. Psalm 119, verse 9.
How can a young man cleanse his way by taking
heed according to your word? So there's a question
and there's an answer, right? How can you live
a better life, is what it's saying, by being
in God's word? Every single day, we should be
in God's word. We should be reading our Bibles.
You know, if reading is hard, listening to our
Bibles. We have all sorts of tools out there
that allow us to listen to it. In the Bible app,
there's a little thing in there. Typically, you
go in there, you click on it, you can listen
to the Bible. There's websites galore, Bible
on tape, Bible on stick, Bible on USB stick.
There's all sorts of ways, but we should be engaged
in the word every single day. Reading it, listening
to it, praying. There's a big one. Praying. We
should be praying every single day. And a nice
thing is we should be starting the day just like
that. In fact, now that I said that, I can't
think of the verse. It's okay, we can all look
it up, right? Be still and know that I am God.
That pertains. Why? Yes, we should be reading,
we should be hearing the word of God, we should
be praying, but just as importantly is we should
be quiet and listening for God. listening to
what he has to tell us, listening to him to answer
our prayers. Like Haggai in the ramparts, he
prayed, and he took his post, he sat, watched
out, and closed his mouth. It's kind of hard
for some of us though, right? We like to talk.
We love to talk. But the more time that you spend
Let me back up here. And I say this, it's a great
way to start the day because then we can listen,
right? We start the day in prayer. We start the
day in the word, right? And then as we go through
the day and we be still, right? It makes it that
much easier for us to listen to God, to give
him a chance to actually guide us and to guide
our steps. And if we're not hearing him or we're
not sure what we're hearing, then guess what?
We can pray some more or we can go back to his
word. Pray without ceasing, right? Psalms 46
.10. Thank you. There you go. Psalms 46 .10.
There you go, folks. Thank you, Albert. Great
way to start the day, though. Not only that,
but the more that we live in his word, the more
God, through the Holy Spirit, cleanses our heart.
The more he pushes out the world and puts the
stuff of the heavenly kingdom inside us. the
more we understand the upside -down kingdom that
we're living in, and the more we understand and
look forward to being in the right side up. So
every day, study your Bible. Every day, pray.
Pray without ceasing, every day, all the time.
And listen. Because the more you learn, the more
you can apply to your life. And the more you
apply to your life, the better it will become
because of He who is in you. And it happens because
we're more in tune with Him. We're more in tune
with what He has to say. We're more in tune with
His will and what He wants for us and our lives
and what He can do with it to further the kingdom.
It's a big one. So if you want any of your life
to improve, and don't get me wrong, there are
some things that are just out of control because
sometimes it's just that spiritual war. It really
is. But we have God at our back. He has our back.
So if you want things to improve, get in the
Word, pray, become active in Scripture. Things
are not going to just come to you. You are also
called to be good stewards of what you have.
We are all called to be good stewards of what
we have. And part of that is learning about it.
Let me put it this way. The same thing applies
to the word that I just talked about. If you
want to learn about something, if you want to
become proficient in something, what do you do?
You learn, right? You get a book. You get an
app. You go to a teacher of some sort. And you
read and you listen and you practice and you
put it into work, right? It doesn't matter. It
could be working on a car, right? Nobody becomes
a mechanic overnight, a musician. Nobody becomes
a musician instantly as soon as they pick up
an instrument, right? Doctors, nurses, accountants,
teachers, right? Truck drivers, absolutely. You
know, whatever it is that's out there, none of
us with our professions just became that overnight.
And none of us mastered it overnight. We went
and we learned and we grew and we learned some
more. And the word is no different. Just like
a sport. If you want to become good at something,
you practice it over and over and over again.
You know what? We don't always like the situations
that we're in. But God, since we know that God
has our back, You know, we could be just like
Daniel and we just go into it, right? And Daniel
went to a fire, did he not? He knew God had his
back. How about Joseph? Here he is, he has a
dream. He tells his brothers, hey, I'm going
to rule over you. And then what happened? He
got rock bottom, didn't he? He got beaten and
thrown in a ditch by his brothers, sold into
slavery, went down to the top. As soon as he
started to raise in position, what happened?
He got smacked down again and put in jail. But
eventually what happened? Because he stood with
Jesus. He did what he was told to do, right?
He stood with God, I should say. And he did what
he was supposed to do. And he was faithful. And
he spent his time in the scripture. And he spent
his time in prayer. And what happened? He rose
up in the land to be second only to Pharaoh,
and that's because Pharaoh couldn't name him
to be higher than himself even. So the situation
that we find ourselves in, sometimes it just
plain sucks, right? We've all had a job that
we're just like, ah. But you know what? We need
to be like Joseph. Like, you know what? I'm here.
We need to change our mindset. We need to get
out of the stinking thinking. Be like, you know
what? I'm here. I don't like it. Something's
got to give. But since I am here, I'm going to
do it to the best of my ability because I'm doing
it for the Lord, not for them. Period. That is
the way it should be. That's the bottom line.
You know, if you want something bad enough, you're
going to do something for it. Right? I got to
a point with my weight. I wanted to drop that
weight. I wanted to get back in shape. I'm down
over 40 pounds now. You know what? I had to make
some drastic changes. I had to stop eating the
way I was eating. I had to start exercising more.
I'll tell you what. It's really, really hard
sometimes. It is really hard. We had pizza last
night. I limited myself to a couple slices. I
wanted to eat the whole stinking pizza. I really,
really did. I wanted to bust into a little Ninja
Turtle thing and just go to it. Cowabunga, baby.
Right? But I didn't. Discipline. Why? Discipline's
important. I have a goal for myself. I pray on
it. You know what? My strength didn't come from
me. My strength came from the Holy Spirit. He
guided me through that. He's like, you know what?
You only want a couple slices. You're only going
to have a couple slices. We'll help you feel
a little fuller. I'll put some manna in your
belly. Right? Something. Because that craving
eventually subsided. I was able to go out there
and I just ignored the pizza. I didn't even look
at it. It wasn't even on my radar. It was gone.
That wasn't me. That was the Holy Spirit. And
that is how it is for anything in our lives.
If you want something and you want something
bad enough, what are you willing to do for it?
Period. Scripture is no different. Our relationship
with Jesus is no different. You want to know
God? You want to know that God has your back?
Spend time in the Word. Spend time in prayer.
Get to know Jesus. Have a relationship with Him,
and He will show you the way. And that, ladies
and gentlemen, in church and ease, is what we
call fruit or fruition. The end point, when things
come about, fruition. I say church knees because
that's one of those words that gets thrown out
in church a lot. Oh, it's good. Bring it into
fruition. Right? You get someone who's new in
their walk. They don't know what that word is.
Like, oh, yeah, sure, sure. What does that mean?
Right? Imagine their buddy next to them. Like,
I don't know. It's church knees. Just go with
it. Sounds important. Right? That's the way it
works, though. Going back to the Beatitudes,
though, we're going to focus on verses 9 through
12 now, those last few verses. Let me scroll
back here and pull them back up for you. I should
have just made different slides for each of these.
I apologize. Verses 9 through 12. Now, these
are all grouped together, and they're grouped
together for good reason, because if you notice,
the tone changes a little bit. Because blessed
are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart,
blessed are the peacemakers, right? And the first
six verses, when they went through, blessed are,
blessed are, blessed are. And it's because of
your actions, right? Those guiding steps and
how you should be thinking and how you should
be reacting. These last ones are grouped together
slightly. If you notice, the tone is slightly
different. 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 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. So it's changed
its tone a little bit. I group these together
because sometimes life is hard. And when we look
at this, it recommends to us to behave in a way
that's counterintuitive to the way that we want
to respond, to the way we want to behave. Last
week we were talking about being hangry, right?
You're not yourself when you're hungry, as the
candy bar ad says. Right? We lose our tempers.
Not just when we're angry. But this time about
those times when it's really easy to lose your
temper. We fly off the handle. We stop acting
like Christians. We stop acting the way we're
supposed to. We stop showing the light of Christ.
And we start acting the way the enemy wants us
to act. We start behaving in a worldly way. And
we lash out with hate. and discontent instead
of love and mercy. And sadly, we see people confuse
the issue here as well. See, the world's twisted
up the lines so much that they started to kind
of blur together. We see that blending of lines
and places where we shouldn't be. People see
the differences of opinions as a personal attack.
Sometimes it's real hard to have a conversation
with somebody who has a differing opinion. And
it's because as soon as they open their mouth,
we see it as a personal attack. We shouldn't.
You know, I miss those days when you could sit
down with somebody who has a completely different
opinion than yours and you could have a conversation
about it. And maybe nothing comes from it. You
both part ways or maybe one of you wins the other
one over. Who knows? But you know what? It's
one of those times in life where we used to be
able to say, you know what? We can agree to disagree
and we can still be friends. And all of us have
relationships, right? My wife and I, we don't
always agree on certain things. You know what?
We're not going to. My brother and I certainly
don't agree on certain things. You know, my mom
and I don't see eye to eye on everything. Albert
and I don't see eye to eye on everything. Brian
and I don't always see eye to eye on everything.
I'm certain that there's times that I've said
something in here that everybody in here has
not necessarily agreed with me on. You know what?
That's okay. That is okay. That is life. We should
still be able to say, hey, you know what? Let's
agree to disagree. Or hey, let's talk about that
some more. But more and more so these days, we
don't see that anymore. People see it as a personal
attack, and they respond ignorantly, arrogantly,
haughtily, because they see it as a personal
attack on them, so they want to go on the attack,
and somehow it has become justified to attack
somebody with violence. Boy, do we see that in
the news now, especially where law enforcement
is concerned, and I don't care what level of
law enforcement. Right? It's like here, we just
had this whole thing up in Minnesota. It wasn't
that long ago. I think it was right after the
George Floyd shooting, or not shooting, murder
when they had him in custody, right? And he died.
What happened? Exact same thing. Just this week,
I was reading a news article. Guess what? They're
putting up barriers in this neighborhood to keep
out ICE. They're doing background checks on people.
Based off of their vehicles and their license
plates to make sure that they actually belong
and their licenses and all that. Guess what?
They're doing the exact same stuff that law enforcement
is supposed to be doing. These guys become vigilantes
in and of themselves. And they're self -appointed
cops with no real authority. But it's just because
they don't agree with this one group right now.
Right? Wasn't that long ago, like I said, it
was right after the George Floyd outcome. They
did this, I forget where it was, I want to say
it was in Portland or something. Yeah? They did
the same thing. They barricaded this neighborhood
to keep law enforcement out. They were okay if
an ambulance came in or a fire truck, but they
didn't want law enforcement of any kind. They
did the exact same stuff. How insane is this?
Like, you come in here, I'm going to shoot you.
Really? That's not okay. You know, even when
this stuff isn't happening, it's not like we
go that long in the news where somebody got killed
because they had a different opinion than somebody
else. Wow. Nothing right about that, is there?
Stabbing, shooting, whatever. You know what?
There's a lot of people out there that they want
to react to violence. They're so caught up in
the world. They've bought into this rhetoric,
hook, line, and sinker. And they're like, you
know what? They're out to get me. They're going
to kill me. So you know what? I'm going to shoot
them first. Right? The golden rule has changed.
It's not treat others as you want to be treated.
It's do unto others before they do unto you.
That's the mentality that's been taken on. It's
not right. It's not the one that people should
have. Unfortunately, these lines that have been
blurred together are the difference between harassment,
or perceived harassment, I should say, and persecution.
Harassment and persecution are two different
things, completely. Cambridge Dictionary defines
harassment as behavior that annoys or upsets
somebody. And they also define persecution as
unfair or cruel treatment over a long period
of time because of race, religion, or political
beliefs. So let's break it down real simple.
I'm not even going to look at my notes here on
this one. Harassment. Who in here has a sibling?
Right? Or a cousin. Okay. You get that sibling.
They come up. They grab your hands. Why do you
hate yourself? Why do you hate yourself? Why
do you hate yourself? There's harassment. You're
like, stop! Dad's up in the front seat. Don't
make me turn this car around. I'll tear on both
your hides. Right? There's harassment. Picking
on people. Harassment. Doing things that you
know are going to get under people's skin. Harassment.
Not the end of the world. Stop being a jerk.
Right? Persecution. KKK. Burning crosses in people's
yards, trashing people's property, destroying
people's property, stealing people's property,
beating somebody up because they're Jewish, right?
You don't agree with somebody, they're a Christian,
so you want to behead them, you know, or they're
female, so you want to rape them. You don't agree
with somebody's race. You can't get rid of the
race. So you have the mentality that's like,
well, if we can't kill them all, we'll just breed
them out. So you rape them and make sure they're
pregnant and think, okay, we'll just keep going
and going. These are things of persecution. In
a religious context, people are out to kill you
or do away with you because of your faith in
Jesus. That is the difference. But people see
them as being the same thing. There's a long,
long... long line. There's a mile between your
sibling slapping you with your hands while you're
beating yourself up and then putting a loaded
gun to your head. That is a difference. But the
world has confused these two. As the word likes
to say, people will call good evil and evil good.
Right? That's what we're seeing. Law enforcement's
out there and they're telling you to stop. Don't
stop. Just stop. They're not going to shoot you
if you stop. Don't be stupid. Right? You go into
an emergency room, doctor tells you, hey, stop
doing that. You're going to stop. Why? Do something
stupid, it's going to get worse. Right? That's
life. I know that's not a good word. People don't
like to hear that. Right? That's a mean word.
But we all do things. I've done my fair share
of stupid stuff. I've had stitches and broken
bones to prove it. None of this should be accepted,
though. Harassment, persecution, being bullied.
See, there it is. I told you my wife is going
to be watching time. I love you. We're getting
there, I promise. But harassment, persecution,
bullying, which is a form of harassment, none
of this stuff should be accepted. None of it
should be tolerated, right? None of it should.
However, unfortunately, there's not a way for
us to get rid of it because these are the ways
of... the world. Which is why Jesus brought this
up in the Beatitudes. He's given us tools that
have taught us how to react to it. Blessed are
the peacemakers, right? Not even here, but we're
going to skip a few chapters ahead. he's given
us an even better outline. Here, he just kind
of introduces it. Blessed are. If we go to Matthew
18, verses 15 through 17, Jesus gives us a whole
thing, a whole outline on how to deal with these
situations. And I'm going to give you the cliff
notes on this. All right? So it's up here. You
can read it. You can make a note of it. But step
one, go to the person directly. Tell them they
offended you. Step two, if that doesn't work,
Take a witness and try it again. If that doesn't
work, go on to step three. If they still don't
listen, go to a higher authority. Go to their
boss, right? Go to their parent, whatever. If
there's a higher authority to go to, go to that
higher authority. And then number four, if all
attempts to reconcile and deal with the issue
have failed, cut ties off with them in an effort
to set a boundary and hope. That they'll find
repentance. And that maybe this relationship
can be restored at a later time. That's mercy.
That's mercy right there. And I will tell you,
it does not matter if this is a friend, if this
is a co -worker, or family. Family is hard. Nobody
wants to go to step four with family. It could
be a friend that you've had for decades. And
you have to cut them off. Always leave a landline
open for them to be able to reach back out. Because
if they repent and they come to Jesus, they're
going to need to reach back out to you, right?
Always leave a way for them to get back in touch
with you to mend that bridge and reconcile things.
But while they're still living the way that they
are, cut them off. Prime example, my little brother's
a drunk. He has learned. If he's been drinking,
don't call me. As soon as I pick that phone up
and I hear his voice and I know he's been drinking,
guess what happens? Click. All these days, it's
bloop. Right? I don't want to, but I have to.
Do I hope that he's able to repent of that and
come clean of it one day? Absolutely. But as
long as he's doing it, I won't be around him.
Jesus has given us another tool in the matter.
Just a few verses later, if we skip forward to
verses 21 through 22, Peter came to him and said,
Lord, how often shall my brother sin against
me and I forgive him up to seven times? And Jesus
said to him, I do not say to you up to seven
times, but 70 times seven. How are you going
to keep counting somebody doing you wrong like
that? You can't even get through that many days
with keep account, which is the whole point.
The world isn't fair. Life is not fair. It's
not going to be fair. Stop playing the victim.
Period. Get up. Keep pushing forward. The world
doesn't owe you a thing. Life does not owe you
a thing. Stop thinking that it does. This is
one of those things that I hate amongst veterans,
right? My demographic. You have all these people
going out and they're putting in false claims
trying to get their VA disability bumped up,
right? Oh, I deserve 100%. And the deal was when
I enlisted was I was going to go in and I was
going to take care of Uncle Sam. And when I came
back, Uncle Sam was going to take care of me.
No, he did not. That was not in anyone's contract
ever. Nobody signed that contract. Nobody raised
their right hand believing that that was what
was going to come back to them. They don't owe
you a thing. What they owed you was while you
were serving was a... A cot and a cot. They would
take care of your uniforms. They would take care
of your training. They would take care of your
transportation to get you where you needed to
be. They would take care of a shelter for you,
whether it was being in the barracks or a tent
while you were deployed. They would take care
of your health care, your dental, your vision
while you were there. Right? Not that different
from most employers. A little bit, but not a
lot. Right? I'd say in the military, we were
probably given more than the average employer
gives to anybody. That's not even so much that
you're given, that's what you earned. But nothing
was promised when you got out, hey, we're going
to give you this, and you're going to get that,
and I hate that mentality. Because all of a sudden,
you're the victim. And you're pointing the finger
saying, you did this, fix it. Take care of me
for the rest of my life. Nope. It's not the way
it works. That is the world, and that is the
mentality of the world. All of us, as followers,
are now soldiers in Christ's army, though. So
lace up your boots and keep pushing forward in
a dark world. God has your back. He is there
with you. It is time for you to act like a soldier
in Christ's army. It is time for you to act like
a Christian, like a follower of Christ. You know
what? Sometimes we hurt. It's going to happen.
You know what? That's why we have this family.
We have someone to go to. We have someone to
pray with. We have someone to lean on, to borrow
a shoulder, to hug. It's beautiful. And when
we go to the right side up and we go to God's
kingdom, we'll have even more. Becoming a Christian
is the only place where we have a promise of
what's going to happen afterwards. And it's not
so much after being a Christian. It's like, you
know what? You're going to have this. You had
this life right now. This is just scratching
the surface. Something greater for you is waiting.
The world is not going to read a Bible. They're
going to read you and they're going to judge
you. So show Christ. Show the light of Christ.
Be merciful. Show love. Keep forgiving them just
as Jesus forgave you. Keep repenting. Every time
you have a misstep, repent of it. Sorry, Lord,
forgive me. Lord, guide me. If you're able to
go to that person and apologize to them, some
people just won't listen. Sometimes trying to
go to them to apologize does more bad than it
does good. So you don't do it, right? So you
apologize to the Lord and you put it in his hands.
But you keep forgiving others. And then you put
it in the hands of Christ and you walk away.
Because now, Jesus has a hold of them. And they're
no longer your enemy, but a brother in Christ.
That's where we go wrong. We just think with
hate and discontent. When someone does you wrong,
you show mercy, you show grace, you forgive them,
you pray for them. The Bible tells us to pray
for our enemies. So you pray for them. Once they
repent, and they come to Jesus, they're no longer
an enemy. That's a hard one to remember. As we
start to come to, or I shouldn't say as we start,
as we come to a close, I'm going to share with
you a story here. Colonel Jack Tuller, World
War II. So Colonel Jack Tuller became an orphan
as a small child. I believe he was like five
or six years old. He was orphaned. But that didn't
stop him. He kept marching forward. He picked
up the trumpet. He learned how to play. He learned
how to play it well. He became first chair in
the BYU orchestra. Especially in those days,
that was a big deal. Anyone who's been in band
in any way, shape, or form knows making first
chair is not easy. It's a big accomplishment.
I mean, high school, and it's still a big accomplishment.
Remember the first time I did it, and then the
first time I lost it, I was heartbroken. I got
it again. It's like, ooh, rabbit trail. But anyhow,
World War II breaks out. Jack Tuller at this
time, of course, he wasn't a colonel yet. The
colonel is what he retired as. But Jack, he went
into the U .S. Army Air Corps. So we know it
today as the United States Air Force. He became
a pilot, a fighter pilot. And he deployed to
Europe. Every time he went up, he took his beloved
trumpet with him. When asked why, he said, because
if I ever get shot down and I end up in a POW
camp, I want to be able to play music for the
other POWs and everybody in the camp. It's a
pretty noble thought, right? One day he gets
done with his mission. He and his crew, they
come back down. They're grounded for the night.
Most of the area has been cleared of enemy snipers
except for one. They have one nuisance sniper
out there and he's just taking people out every
chance he gets. Pow! They cannot find him. They
know he's in this general area over here, but
they just can't find him. So Jack decides, hey,
it's nighttime. We're hunkering down. I'm stressed.
And he pulls out his trumpet. His commanding
officer says, don't do it. He says, why? I need
to decompress. This soothes me. He says, don't
do it because the sniper doesn't need to see
you. He has sound aim, meaning all he has to
do is hear where his enemy is and he can take
them out. That's how good he was. Jack tells
the CO, I have to do it. CO says, okay, fine,
do it. It's your funeral. So Jack starts thinking
about it for a second and says, hey, I've got
just the song. I'm here. That's a German sniper
out there. We're fighting the Germans. I'm going
to play a German love song. So he pulls that
trumpet up and he plays Lily Marlene beginning
to end all the way through perfectly. Not a single
shot was fired. Not one. They go through the
rest of the night. Not a single shot is fired.
Everybody knows the enemy is still out there.
The next morning, the sun's up. People are starting
to move through. Here come some MPs, and they're
escorting captured German Wehrmacht, German soldiers,
right? And they stop. At this time, there's Captain
Jack Tuller, and the MPs call him over like,
hey, we got one of these soldiers last night.
He came up to us, turned himself in, and he's
been asking, he's been pleading. who was playing
that trumpet last night. They knew it was Captain
Jack. That's why they went to him. So Jack says,
okay, what's up? So he goes and he talks to this
German soldier in broken English. 19 -year -old
German. Barely a man, right? Typically when we
say 19, we refer to him as a boy these days.
And really he was. 19 -year -old boy in broken
English is telling Captain Jack, the song was
lovely. Matter of fact, it wasn't just lovely.
It is a favorite song of mine and my fiance's.
We would sing it together all the time, and all
night it had me thinking of her and my family.
And because of that, I could not bring myself
to pull that trigger again. He turned himself
in. And on that note, The German stuck his hand
out to shake his hand. And Captain Jack put his
hand out and shook his hand in return. Looking
back years later, as Colonel Jack Tuller now
retired, Colonel said, he was no enemy. He was
a scared kid like me. We were both doing what
we were told to do. I had no hatred for him.
Forgiven in an instant. In a brutal, ugly war.
Snipers, even today, are still one of the most
feared of all military troops out there, regardless
of where they're from. Snipers are good. They
are something. They've earned that respect, that
fear. And just like that, shook hands and parted
ways. We shouldn't be seeing people as enemies.
We should be seeing them as a scared kid, doing
what the world has told them to do because they
don't know better. They don't know Jesus. Forgiving,
especially when you cannot forget something,
is hard. When you've been wronged, and the uglier
it is, and the worse, you know, the nastier it
is, the harder it is to forget. But we still
have to forgive. We still have to show mercy.
As a citizen of the kingdom of God, this is required.
However, we don't do it alone. We do it through
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in us. He empowers
us to be able to do just that, to let go and
to forgive, not just for their sake, not just
for your sake, but for God's. He forgave you
so you could forgive others. People can mock
you. People can joke about you. People can treat
you like dirt, disrespect you. But in the end,
Jesus has the last word. Leave it to Jesus. Let
us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this
day. We thank you for this lesson. Help us to
remember that we need to put Jesus first in all
that we do, that we need to go to him and we
need to ask how we need to react. when we feel
wrong, when we feel abused, when we feel offended,
when we are angry and hurt and confused. Help
us to respond to the world and everything that
comes in front of us in Christ -like fashion
and not as the world would have us do or even
encourage us to do. Guide us to learning more.
Guide us to mastering more and growing with you
and being molded by you. To do that which is
of the greatest good. Guide us to showing the
world who is in us. In our words and in deeds.
We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for
your love. And we thank you for your forgiveness.
And all of his people said, amen and amen. 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.