1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,440 Welcome today to Trinity Sermons. We are so happy that you've decided to join us for 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:14,960 our sermon here at Trinity Church, Streetsville. Our reading for today is from Matthew chapter 3 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:21,080 5 verses 1 to 12, and we are now on our final sermon of the series that we've been calling, 4 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:26,480 What Makes Us Happy? Today for our sermon, we are pleased to have Michael Messenger, 5 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,840 President of World Vision Canada, with us to explore poverty and how this relates to 6 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:45,880 happiness. We hope you enjoy the sermon today, and God bless. 7 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:53,320 Good morning. A reading from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 to 12. Now when 8 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:59,480 Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and 9 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:05,320 He began to teach them. He said, Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 10 00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:12,120 of heaven. Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Happy are the meek, 11 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:18,160 for they will inherit the earth. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 12 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:24,600 for they will be filled. Happy are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Happy are the 13 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:32,080 pure in heart, for they will see God. Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called 14 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:39,360 children of God. Happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the 15 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:46,120 kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say 16 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:52,840 all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your 17 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:59,820 reward in heaven, for in the same way they prosecuted the prophets who were before you. 18 00:01:59,820 --> 00:02:06,120 This is the word of the Lord. Good morning, Trinity. It's great to be with 19 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:11,620 you. Today is the last sermon of this amazing preaching series that Rob has been leading 20 00:02:11,620 --> 00:02:16,120 us through since September. I know it says October 29th, but actually today is the last 21 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:21,080 day. I need to tell you, there is a lot of pressure to see if a series all about being 22 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,820 happy actually has a happy ending. So the question is going to be, will you feel like 23 00:02:25,820 --> 00:02:31,120 it's a happily ever after moment at the end of today? Well, frankly, that may be a bit 24 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:38,480 tricky when we look at the unusual ingredients for the recipe of happiness that Jesus sets 25 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:44,560 out, Jesus shared, and what that means for each of us as citizens of this upside down 26 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:51,080 kingdom. But before we get started, I wonder if you remember the TV series from the mid-2000s 27 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:56,240 called Mythbusters. It was definitely a favourite of my kids. In fact, at the height of its 28 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:02,120 popularity, the hosts, Jamie and Adam, you see on the screen there, actually did a live 29 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,280 show in Toronto at the Sony Centre. We took the kids down and we had a chance to experience 30 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:13,080 that. The idea of the show was simple. The host and their team would look at various 31 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:18,960 urban legends or common myths to figure out if they are true or not. You know, critically 32 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:24,960 important topics like is it actually easy to shoot fish in a barrel? It's not, by the 33 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:32,340 way. Are yawns contagious? They are. You get the idea. I want to share a statement that 34 00:03:32,340 --> 00:03:37,240 I hear all the time and we can decide maybe if it's confirmed or busted as they would 35 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:44,000 do in the show. You may know that I lead World Vision Canada and I travel around the world 36 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,300 to some pretty tough places. And one of the statements that I hear all the time is something 37 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:57,360 like this, despite their lack of things, poor people just seem so happy. So we want to give 38 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,680 the Mythbusters treatment to this potential myth today. The poor are happier than the 39 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:09,880 wealthy. Is that true? This is a common perspective, by the way, shared by some really thoughtful, 40 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:16,800 smart people, including people from this very platform. Take a look. 41 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,120 Or let's go a little further. Some of you like me, you've been to maybe a developing 42 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,520 country and you've been to those countries and you see people who do not have enough 43 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,520 what. They need more stuff. They need more resources. They need more education. They 44 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,160 need more support. And that's all true. But when you come back, one of the things you're 45 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,520 often struck with is, man, they still seemed happy. 46 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:47,200 Rob, the internet is forever, my friend. But the question is, you know, in the work that 47 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,640 I do and going around the world and I see the work, I look at places and in a little 48 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:58,560 while I'll show a video from my time in northern Ethiopia. In those places, children and families 49 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:04,160 are suffering. They're suffering from lack of food, lack of clean water. They're in conflict. 50 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:10,880 They're in shelter. None of those things are an ingredient for happiness. So I would say, 51 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,800 actually, as a starting point that from my perspective, this myth is, as the show would 52 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:22,060 say, busted. But what's really fascinating is that even in these tough places where poverty 53 00:05:22,060 --> 00:05:27,040 is the theme, we actually do see glimpses of happiness. We're going to explore what 54 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,600 does that look like? Is it about an attitude? Is it something behind the scenes? What we 55 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:39,680 can say is the poor are not happy because they are poor. There's something more to it. 56 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,320 Well this morning, we're going to talk about poverty and its link to happiness using Jesus's 57 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,640 own words in the amazing piece of scripture that Annie read for us. We may have to do 58 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:57,480 a little myth busting along the way. But here's today's big idea. When we embrace our spiritual 59 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:03,880 poverty, that's when we are at the starting line of a journey of experiencing the true 60 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:10,320 happiness that comes from Jesus. And then as citizens of God's upside down kingdom, 61 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:15,600 we get to follow our King to share his peace, his love, his justice, his hope. And that 62 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:22,000 includes tackling all kinds of poverty that others may face. Well the scripture we read 63 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,520 this morning from Matthew is the beginning of what we can think of as maybe the most 64 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:31,120 important sermon ever preached. This is at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. You can 65 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:37,120 read the whole thing in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. It's sometimes called the Sermon 66 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:43,560 on the Mount because Jesus preached it on a hillside near the Lake of Galilee. Now the 67 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,920 sermon starts where we picked it up this morning where Jesus has settled in, he sat down to 68 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:56,680 teach and he begins with a beautiful section that I would say is half poetry and half manifesto. 69 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,600 Jesus starts with eight phrases that point to the character and circumstances of Jesus 70 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:06,440 and his followers. And I'm going to just read a portion of those again. They're on the screen 71 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:13,180 here. Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are those 72 00:07:13,180 --> 00:07:18,960 who mourn for they will be comforted. Happy are the meek for they will inherit the earth. 73 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,280 Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they'll be filled. Happy 74 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:29,200 are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. Happy are the poor pure in heart for they 75 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:35,460 will see God. Happy are the peacemakers for they'll be called the children of God. Happy 76 00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:40,360 are those who are persecuted because of their righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of 77 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:51,840 heaven. I recently had the opportunity to consider these a bit more and you know what 78 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,640 these are familiar words for those of us who have been around the church for a long time. 79 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,440 You may be more familiar with these same words but instead of happy are you might think of 80 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:05,360 blessed are you familiar with that? And sometimes actually this section of the Sermon on the 81 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:10,680 Mount is called the Beatitudes which really just means the blessed. So but actually the 82 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:17,480 Greek and most versions of the gospel can also be translated as happy. Now when we're 83 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,880 talking about happy in this context just to kind of set the stage for us Jesus isn't just 84 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:28,760 reflecting how we should be feeling in a particular moment. Blessed or happy it's meant to capture 85 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:35,800 a description of the highest type of well-being that a human can experience in relationship 86 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:41,840 with God. We are indeed happy when we enjoy God's approval and the fullness of life that 87 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:49,940 can flow from him. In fact frankly happy or blessed may be even too small a word here. 88 00:08:49,940 --> 00:08:55,200 These short statements altogether point to what Jesus is saying will make us happy but 89 00:08:55,200 --> 00:09:01,120 the values that he lists are pretty countercultural. I want to show you a sign that I came across 90 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:07,440 a little while ago outside of a coffee shop. Recipe for happiness, smile sharing, a little 91 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:12,600 bit of positivity, good humor, self-esteem, simplicity, goodwill, easygoing and one packet 92 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:19,600 of life loving. Doesn't that sound delightful? But imagine if Jesus was the barista or the 93 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,600 owner of the coffee shop it looks like it may be something more like this. Recipe for 94 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:29,520 happiness, poverty, grief, hunger, thirst, persecution and a sprinkling of virtues that 95 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:37,520 may seem impossible to achieve. Let's not let our familiarity with these verses help 96 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,500 us you know make us lose sight of just how unusual this list is and imagine hearing these 97 00:09:42,500 --> 00:09:49,700 for the first time. Jesus is not saying blessed are the powerful, the self-reliant, the strong, 98 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:55,800 the rich, the virtuous, the important. Rather they are statements right from God's mouth 99 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:06,000 about how he sees us hopeless, grieving, hungry, humble, thirsty and you might ask you call 100 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:12,440 this happy? But hang on because with this different approach these lines are actually 101 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:19,440 Jesus powerful recipe for a full and faithful Christian life in God's kingdom. Where are 102 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:24,320 we define reality in such a way that the world's usual order of things is turned completely 103 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:30,240 upside down. Now each one of these beatitudes or happy ingredients I might call them today 104 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,760 is worthy of a sermon but we're going to do a deep dive in the very first one in verse 105 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:41,680 three where it says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 106 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:46,220 I want to start with this one because it is linked to this idea of poverty that we talked 107 00:10:46,220 --> 00:10:52,560 about right from the outset. But this happy ingredient many scholars say is first for 108 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:58,440 a reason. These list these these virtues these this list in the beatitudes is put there in 109 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:04,360 order because if we can't find the happiness in the first one we can't just skip to the 110 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:11,400 next. Both the happy ingredient and its result the kingdom of heaven are needed for everything 111 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:17,920 else to flow. Well what is what is poor in spirit actually mean? Let's take a few minutes 112 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:24,080 and just unpack that a bit. The word in Greek for poor actually means being in the position 113 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:29,680 of a beggar. That's the language that's there. Beggars rely completely on someone else or 114 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:34,940 something else other than themselves. It's a pretty hopeless situation. In fact there 115 00:11:34,940 --> 00:11:38,760 are some translations of the Bible that actually instead of saying poor in spirit translated 116 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:45,600 to hopeless. I can't think help but think that poor in spirit doesn't exactly play very 117 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:51,460 well in lots of our society's expectations right. Being in business or maybe on the sports 118 00:11:51,460 --> 00:11:58,680 field or politics in setting like these coming across cross being needy or helpless or hopeless 119 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:04,020 dependent and desperate is about the last thing usually we want the world to see or 120 00:12:04,020 --> 00:12:12,000 we want to be. But Jesus seems to be saying here that until we are the kingdom of heaven 121 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:20,480 isn't available to us. What should we take from this? Well first being poor in spirit 122 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:25,960 means that we have to understand and embrace the idea that there is nothing that we can 123 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:34,000 do to earn or learn our way into God's kingdom. Nothing that we can do. Jesus is driving home 124 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:40,240 a point here that is key to the gospel story for everyone. God's happiness is only available 125 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:48,400 to those of us who admit that we are dependent and desperate for God. Like a beggar we have 126 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:54,640 to be completely reliant on God to meet and fill all of our needs. And in this unexpected 127 00:12:54,640 --> 00:13:00,000 contradiction happiness begins when we are honest about our condition, that condition, 128 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:06,320 that we're all spiritually poor. To be poor in spirit is to cry out to God for mercy and 129 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:13,040 being willing to say God I've got nothing. I've got nothing without you. On our own we 130 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:19,360 don't have enough faith. We don't have enough strength. We don't have enough understanding. 131 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:24,400 When we're poor in spirit we want to have hope but it seems like all we have is fear. 132 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:31,760 We want to do the right thing but we consistently fail. The poor in spirit are needy and they 133 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:40,720 know it. They need God. We need God. Second I think it is important for us to think about 134 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,240 the nature of what that poverty actually is. I mean when you think about poor in spirit 135 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:51,040 is this Jesus talking about how pious a person is? Or is it related to something like just 136 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:56,520 a person with no money? Scholars actually think it may be a little bit of both. In fact 137 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:02,320 in Luke chapter six there's a version of this same sermon that's retold by Luke and when 138 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,920 he gives this first one he kind of skips the whole in spirit part. He just says blessed 139 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:13,520 are the poor which is interesting. But what's true I would suggest is that God values the 140 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:19,200 poor and hopeless in all situations. I do want to take a couple of minutes and explore 141 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,160 this because this may be a twist. It's certainly something that was new to me as I went through 142 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:31,160 this. In some ways it comes right back to the myth that we were exploring in the beginning. 143 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,920 There's hopeless or poverty in situations of inward spiritual poverty or outward material 144 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:41,480 poverty and of course if you look across the Bible in so many references you see that God 145 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:47,560 holds the poor, materially poor and spiritually poor close to his heart. He's present with 146 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:53,440 the hopeless. There's so many places. I mean one example Psalm 138 verse six. God is close 147 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:59,200 to the lowly or close to those who lack influence but he's far from the self-sufficient and 148 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:08,040 the proud. Professor Bryant Myers in his book Walking with the Poor makes some really important 149 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:14,960 observations about poverty. He starts by saying that poverty we should understand is complex. 150 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:21,000 It's multifaceted and there's nothing simple about it. And yet even though it is complex 151 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,360 there are two fundamental realities that I think are important for us. And remember this 152 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:31,640 is about poverty in all of its forms. First he says that the nature of poverty is fundamentally 153 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:40,760 relationship relational and it means the presence of broken relationships. We're poor when we 154 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:46,080 don't have relationships that work, relationships that are unjust, that don't last, that aren't 155 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:54,360 harmonious or enjoyable. Those could be relationships with each other, with God, with creation. 156 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:58,840 It's the lack of the true peace that God offers. What the Bible often talks about is shalom 157 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:05,200 which is not just the absence of conflict but the existence of right relationships. 158 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:15,080 I'm carrying lots here. But second, and this is important, so it's about broken relationships. 159 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:21,760 Professor Myers goes on to say that poverty needs to be understood as fundamentally spiritual. 160 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,960 So no matter what kind of poverty it's poverty of spirit. We can ask what causes the injustice 161 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:33,680 in our relationships, in our world. What divides us? Why do we abuse creation? What stands 162 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:40,600 between us and God? What leads to brokenness and hurt? What is it that works against true 163 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:46,960 peace? Each one of these questions has to be understood as spiritual questions. Now 164 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:52,160 why am I going down this path? Why is this important? Well I think it makes the link 165 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:58,480 between the idea of being poor in spirit to both those who are materially poor or materially 166 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:04,440 rich or non-poor. It immediately breaks down this idea of us and them or that there's just 167 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:11,340 spiritual poverty, materially poverty. Any place that poverty shows up there is spiritual 168 00:17:11,340 --> 00:17:18,800 brokenness at its core. And it's key for us in our dependent posture to see this connection. 169 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:24,920 When we're spiritually impoverished not only does this lead to a need for us to rely on 170 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:30,560 God but also it makes a profound connection to everyone no matter their circumstance. 171 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:36,800 We all face the desperate need of hopeless poverty. We all need to let the good news 172 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:45,680 of Jesus help us find our way out of sin, deception and lies and point us to God. As 173 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,880 a pastor Brian Wilkinson has said, being poor in spirit means I don't simply come to the 174 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:59,640 end of my rope, I come to the end of myself. But here's the great news. When we recognize 175 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:05,600 that we're poor in spirit Jesus invites us down an unexpected path of happiness to experience 176 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:11,920 God's peace, joy, love, life and what Jesus calls the kingdom of heaven. And that takes 177 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:17,880 us to the second part of our verse. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes it says 178 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:24,400 the poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. What is this kingdom? Well we've 179 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:30,280 got to start of course with the clear fact that if there's a kingdom there's a king. 180 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,440 And our king is Jesus. Jesus is the one that we follow, that we worship, that we imitate, 181 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:43,480 we learn from. But his kingdom is not a political entity or a physical place. It's not limited 182 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:49,080 in time or space. Essentially we should think of the kingdom of heaven as a place wherever 183 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:55,440 God rules. Where God rules the kingdom of heaven is. Jesus himself often talked about 184 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,400 the kingdom of heaven. There are so many examples of where he tries to get around this idea 185 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:09,520 about using metaphors. Just a couple of examples. In Matthew he calls it a hidden treasure or 186 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:15,480 he uses the idea of a pearl of great price. Which highlights the idea that this kingdom 187 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,800 that he's talking about is priceless. It's something for which we should be willing to 188 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:26,200 give up everything including ourselves to be part to possess. And the kingdom of course 189 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,920 is both now and yet to come. As followers of Jesus we have the opportunity to enter 190 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:37,840 into the grace and abundance that the kingdom provides. We can experience God's transformative 191 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,960 power because of the victory over sin and death here today. But it's also a kingdom 192 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,720 that still looks toward the future. We're still living in a broken world. The events 193 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:52,040 of the past couple of weeks have certainly shown us that if we didn't need to be reminded. 194 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:59,680 So the ultimate realization of God's kingdom is still to come. So we know that the kingdom 195 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,320 is meant to be but here's the other element. When we recognize that we're poor in spirit 196 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:10,400 and we're dependent on God. We are offered to participate as citizens of that kingdom. 197 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:15,440 To be part of Jesus ongoing life and ministry here in this world. And we get to align ourselves 198 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:21,600 with the values perspectives and mission of our king. I pretty much carry my passport 199 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,080 with me all the time. I just never know exactly when I'm going to get have to get onto an 200 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:31,320 airplane. And this is a symbol of the fact that I am a citizen of it may not be a kingdom 201 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:35,840 but we certainly have a king. In fact it says the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada 202 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,680 requests in the name of his majesty the king all those who are they concern allow me safe 203 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:46,280 passage says in the beginning of this by carrying this it signals that I'm connected to something 204 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:52,840 here in Canada. It's laws its values things that we need to hold dear. There are rights 205 00:20:52,840 --> 00:21:01,120 that go with this and also responsibilities. But as followers of Jesus then with citizen 206 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,800 ship in this kingdom our mission then is to think about what are God's values Jesus's 207 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:10,600 values. How do we advance this kingdom on earth reflecting those values of love and 208 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:18,320 grace and mercy especially in a broken world. I mean Jesus told us to do this. We'll be 209 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,480 having this prayer in just a few minutes the key moments says your kingdom come your will 210 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:31,200 be done on earth as it is in heaven. But we are more than just merely citizens I want 211 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:36,940 to suggest as well. We enjoy the benefits of citizenship but we also get to be ambassadors 212 00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:41,260 for that kingdom. We should maybe be carrying one of those red diplomatic passports really 213 00:21:41,260 --> 00:21:46,960 when we think about the kingdom. Because as his ambassadors God invites us he wants us 214 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:54,360 to bring hope and happiness to others. So how do we do that work. Well we've as we've 215 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:59,200 explored a little bit today it starts by understanding our own poverty busting down some of those 216 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:05,240 myths of the difference between material or spiritual poverty recognizing that no matter 217 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:11,000 our circumstances only God can meet our needs. Through Jesus in the spirit our needs aren't 218 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,340 only only met but God actually gives us more than we need. He gives us abundance and overflow 219 00:22:16,340 --> 00:22:21,160 and out of that overflow we're then given the opportunity to serve others and share 220 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:26,160 with others. A little bit later in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus goes on to talk about how 221 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:31,640 we should be salt and light in the world if we want to follow him influencing the world 222 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:37,040 for good spreading the message of God's love and salvation. And through our actions our 223 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:43,120 words our deeds we can help live out the values of God's kingdom on earth today and invite 224 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:50,880 others to experience God's amazing gift. And to care for others who are not just spiritually 225 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:57,480 poor but to care for those in line with the heart of the king that we serve including 226 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:03,960 those who lack justice lack the basis basic necessities of life they face material need 227 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:09,920 to help people who may be marginalized or broken hearted to share the fullness of the 228 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:16,680 good news of the gospel. My organization at World Vision is certainly fueled by the idea 229 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:22,080 of the kingdom of God. Our calling starts by trying to follow that be citizens and ambassadors 230 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,680 of that kingdom to help meet the needs specifically our slice of kingdom mission is to help meet 231 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,840 the needs of children and families and communities who are facing poverty and injustice around 232 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:35,560 the world. It's a calling that is grounded in our understanding that it's only through 233 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:41,080 Jesus that true healing and hope can ultimately be brought. And we're certainly grateful for 234 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:45,860 the ongoing partnership of Trinity and in Honduras with World Vision where you're walking 235 00:23:45,860 --> 00:23:51,160 with us and with communities. I mentioned a couple of minutes ago I had the opportunity 236 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:57,840 to travel to one of the most challenging parts of the world which is northern Ethiopia Tigray. 237 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:02,220 If you want to look for a place in the world think of it as almost a cafeteria a buffet 238 00:24:02,220 --> 00:24:11,200 of crisis conflict climate economic uncertainty terrible violence it's ongoing displacement 239 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,560 World Vision. It's only been since last November that there's been even any peace in this area 240 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:23,760 of the world allowing us to respond. I had a chance to record a short video for our team 241 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,880 at World Vision. We have a day of prayer every year recognizing that we have to be dependent 242 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:34,200 on God in our ministry. Our whole World Vision world stops and prays for a full day. The 243 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:39,440 theme this year was strength and courage in Christ. I had a chance to reflect on that 244 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,720 this was a message for our team but I think it's relevant to the conversation that we 245 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:48,080 have today. But what does it mean to reach out and seek happiness even in challenging 246 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:56,200 contexts. Let's take a look. I'm here in an internally displaced people's camp in Shire 247 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:02,240 in Tigray Ethiopia. 10,000 people live here they fled from conflict and violence. They've 248 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,480 been living here for as many as three years separate from their families their friends 249 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:10,240 their communities and education. But in the midst of all of this we're here in what is 250 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:16,320 an oasis of hope and encouragement and excitement because we're in a child-friendly space. This 251 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:22,440 is a place where children can come together to play to heal together. We've talked about 252 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,920 home we've drawn we've played it's been just really encouraging and we just hope that through 253 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:31,920 this moment where kids can escape the reality of the hardship of the day-to-day life living 254 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:38,280 in this camp away from their friends and family they can experience togetherness hope and 255 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:43,400 healing. This is a special place for little Hadesh. We met him and his family earlier 256 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:50,000 today nine of them living in a space about 10 feet by 10 feet here in this camp. I know 257 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:55,080 from talking to his family the horrendous violence that they've experienced and that 258 00:25:55,080 --> 00:26:00,720 he has witnessed things that no child could see. And so to see him with a smile on his 259 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:06,400 face drawing expressing himself this is so encouraging. So we know that's the beginning 260 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:11,340 of the healing that's necessary and the hope that's going to cause the situation for him 261 00:26:11,340 --> 00:26:15,560 to to be in a place where when peace comes he and his family can come back hopefully 262 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:20,840 resume their education resume their lives and he can live up to his full potential. 263 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:29,360 But we also met Hadesh's sister's baby daughter and one of the things that I think is so was 264 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:35,360 so meaningful for me this morning is her name in the local language translates to glimpse. 265 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:41,560 And I like to think that in this moment as these kids come together as we experience 266 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,160 the potential here that it's a glimpse of hope as we gather for our day of prayer of 267 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:51,000 course we want to remember what we're praying for. Our vision statement says our vision 268 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,460 for every child life in all its fullness our prayer for every heart the will to make it 269 00:26:56,460 --> 00:27:01,960 so as I think about the every child there that includes these children in this child-friendly 270 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:09,160 space in an IDP camp in remote Ethiopia these children have experienced all of the things 271 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:16,480 that we talk about COVID climate of course conflict most recently the cost of food the 272 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,120 lack and scarcity of so much and so today we also think about those other three C's 273 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:28,580 that we want to ensure for these kids courage care and compassion. Let's pray that God will 274 00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:34,240 intervene miraculously and bring peace to this region including every child here that 275 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,960 they may experience a life that is free of need but one that is full of promise. That's 276 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:46,000 our commitment that's our calling it's our staff here in World Vision Ethiopia in Africa 277 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,920 around the world and in Canada too. We pray that we will experience God's strength and 278 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:59,800 courage in Christ. A world that is free of need and full of promise that kind of describes 279 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:06,400 the kingdom of God and each one of us in this room has something deeply in common with those 280 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:13,080 families that we saw in the video in Ethiopia with Hadesh and little glimpse poverty we're 281 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,440 experiencing spiritual and material we are all desperate for God we're called to love 282 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:23,440 each other to help each other and to serve each other's needs. So even as we think about 283 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,280 whether we've busted their Mr. not myth or not I'm not sure we needed to think about 284 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:33,800 that because going back to our big idea the first steps in Jesus recipe for happiness 285 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:40,520 leads to amazing transformation in our own lives in the lives of others as we serve. 286 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,940 We need to be desperate for God to reverse our position our thinking of who we are knowing 287 00:28:45,940 --> 00:28:51,840 that he loves us but that we are called to be totally dependent on him and then as part 288 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:56,240 of the kingdom as citizens and ambassadors we have a chance to help others to wrestle 289 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:03,120 with their own poverty of spirit and move to a place of joy. We don't do this alone. 290 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:10,760 Jesus is with us the author and finisher of our faith. I guess my challenge or question 291 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:16,800 or invitation to you today is are you ready to be ambassadors for this kingdom. Will you 292 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:25,440 join me in recognizing our poverty of spirit and invite God in to fill it. And will you 293 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:33,380 let Jesus work through you here together and on our own to help that kingdom come and transform 294 00:29:33,380 --> 00:29:40,680 our world. As we close I've asked Libby to come up to lead us in a worship song during 295 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:45,220 which we can reflect on our dependence of God on God. I've talked about this upside 296 00:29:45,220 --> 00:29:50,360 down kingdom and we're going to do the same in this song. This actually was approach was 297 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,120 first shared by the late Rick Tobias who was at the Yonge Street Mission in a challenging 298 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,800 talk some years ago. You're going to be familiar with the song that we sing it talks about 299 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,640 being thankful and showing gratitude to God but instead of the usual words we're going 300 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:10,320 to reverse them. Pay attention to the chorus where we are going together to put ourselves 301 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:16,280 even in worship in a posture of dependence on God letting go and inviting God into our 302 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:25,320 need. The words are going to say this let the rich say I am poor at the strong say I 303 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:33,200 am weak because those are the lyrics that are sung by people who are poor in spirit. 304 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:37,240 I wondered at the outset whether we'd actually have an happy ending to this sermon on happiness 305 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:42,840 and I'm not sure about that but my challenge is in our dependence on God let's see this 306 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:49,880 message maybe less of a happy ending and more of a happy beginning of something amazing 307 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:55,840 with Jesus and his kingdom. Thank you so much for joining us today and we hope that you 308 00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,840 enjoyed what you heard today. If you enjoyed the message please take some time to rate 309 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:06,400 and review our podcast we would really appreciate it. Today's sermon was taken from the October 310 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:13,160 22nd 2023 service at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga Ontario.