You dont necessarily have to be somebody who follows the stock market or Wall Street to be aware of what happened in our country in the 90s, early 2000. A company named Enron really took off-an energy company that thought outside the box. They diversified the kinds of energy they dealt with. They would use innovative ways to draw investors into the market, really capitalizing on the internet as no other company had done. They made billions of dollars and thousands for their investors. Their stock climbed and had a great rate of return, so they became this paradigm for how to do business in the 90s. In fact, Fortune Magazine-six years in the running-said they were the most innovative company in America. Then, in 2001, the empire came crashing down. It turns out they were not a rich, successful company at all. What they were doing was hiding money in offshore companies, hiding their losses. Then, a reputable accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, was working with them. They were presenting books to the public and to their investors that were inaccurate. They were actually hurting. They then began to encourage their investors to buy stock, their company employees to buy stock, while they-the big wigs, the executives, were selling theirs because they knew of the impending disaster. So this entire insider trading went on while they sold their stock. Then, of course, the company went bankrupt. The stock plummeted to about a dollar a share. People lost their entire life savings. It was not insured. Retirement was gone; college funds were gone, everything. To this day, theyre still fighting to get some of the money back. There have been indictments; some people went to prison. There has been some justice that was merited out, but it was a wake up call to the business world, to investors. It was an example of what greed will do and what selfishness will do-that someone would put their own family and their own needs ahead of an entire company. They really could have cared less [about] the working man who kept the company going. They ruined his entire retirement. As long as they were fat and sassy, they were okay. It was just a sad story. Thats a true story; however, what Im going to say to you right now is not a true story. This is fictitious, but I want you to imagine what if there had been a congressional hearing. Enron executives came, those who had thought up the scheme and carried it out came, and then those who were the investors-the innocent parties, the victims-also came before Congress. Testimony was heard for days and weeks. Finally, the gavel was hit on the table, and the one who ruled over the meeting said, We find that Enron is guilty. We are going to pursue legal action. There are going to be indictments, and people are going to go to prison. We want you to know that youve done wrong. There is coming a day of reckoning. Youre living high in the land now, but there will come a day when youre going to pay the fiddler. You people who have lost everything, we promise you-we guarantee you-youll get back everything youve lost. Were going to give you back interest too. Your sorrow is going to turn to joy when you get that fat check in the mail. Youre going to have a happy ending because were going to see to it that you do. If you had been in that room that day-if this had taken place-those same words would have been both good news and bad news, depending on what side of the fence you were on. If you were one of the investors, that would have been really good news. If you were one of the swindlers, that would have been really bad news. Its a wake-up call that accountability is coming. Jesus in Luke 6 is going to say some words that for some are really good news and for others are a wake-up call. There is an accountability-there is a reckoning-coming. This is called The Sermon on the Plain. It sounds like The Sermon on the Mountain a little bit because it talks about the Beatitudes; but if you compare the two, the Beatitudes in Matthew are different than the ones in Luke. Instead of preaching from a mountain, Hes on a plain. This is called the Sermon on the Plain, and its the first time Jesus and the 12 Apostles are together as a team. Prior to this Jesus has either been by Himself or with a few, but now He goes into a mountain and prays all night on the mountain. He comes down and He chooses twelve. He appoints them as His Apostles. Then they begin as the team of Jesus and the 12 Apostles for the first time right here. So this is the first teaching out of the blocks as that team that were so familiar with. In Verse 17 (of Luke 6, page 1020 of pew Bibles), He went down with them and stood on a level place… Thus, the Sermon on Plain. A large crowd of His Disciples was there and a great number of people all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all. So, this is a hurting group; this is a needy group that has assembled to meet Jesus. (Continuing on page 1021, Verse 20), Looking at His Disciples, He said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in Heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. When we talked about these Beatitudes, the first thing we need to talk about is what this word blessed means because He uses it four times. Its a significant word. Its saying something they are, and we need to understand what it is. As often times is the case, in the original languages, there are several words that translate into our language as a common word. Love, for instance: we read the word love, but if you look in the Greek, it could be a different word. It could be Phileo; it could be Agape. It could be Eros. The same thing is true with this word, bless. There are two dominant words in the Greek for the word blessed. They mean two different things. When its translated into our language, it simply says blessed or blessing. Its the same word for us, but its really a different word that was used. The first word, and the most common-when we think of a blessing-is Eulogeo. That means to pronounce a blessing, to be blessed. Its a verb; its an action. That word was used when Jesus broke bread. He blessed the bread and broke it. It was used when He came into Israel, and they said, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. It was used when Mary went to Elizabeth, and she said, Blessed are you among women and blessed is your womb. That was the word. It meant divine favor, a verb of action-a blessing of somebody. Thats not the word He uses here. Thats the word we would think He would use, but Hes actually not using that word. Hes using a different word. Hes using the word happy. Now, its accurately translated as blessed. Thats an accurate translation, but it is an adjective, not a verb. It is talking about a state of mind, a state of being-an emotion. Jesus says, Happy are you. Ive heard this taught many times through the years that we shouldnt use the word happy or we shouldnt be happy. We instead want to have joy. Have you heard that? A few of us have heard that. Its not necessarily a bad teaching, but we should not teach happiness as thought its taboo either or some sort of Christian swear word we should avoid, Dont say happy. Thats based on circumstances. This word happy [is used for] circumstances, so if its happiness, that changes with circumstances and emotion. Joy, thats a constant regardless of the circumstances. Its true, but here Jesus said, Be happy or have happiness, so it cant be a bad thing, right? I have a friend who has Christian swear words. His name is Greg Speck. Hes a youth minister. If he hits his thumb with a hammer, hell say dance! or cigarettes! He even invented a word called ginortenfortz. He likes to play basketball, and he fouled somebody. He got mad at the ref and said, I got ginortenfortz. The ref said, What did you say? Ginortenfortz. Oh, okay? I guess. So thats what I think of when I think of the word happy. Oh, dont say that! like its some sort of bad word. Its okay to be happy, Jesus says. Its okay to have the emotion of happiness because in this situation, that emotion is based upon facts that do not change. Theyre based upon a God who does not change. He says, If this is your mindset, you will have the emotion of happiness. This is translated here, accurately, blessed. It is another word for the word blessed, not the one we would normally think of, but accurate nonetheless. Whats interesting is who He says is blessed. Youd think the people who are blessed would be the people who are rich, well-fed, happy, and well-liked. Jesus says, Blessed are the poor; blessed are those who weep; blessed are those who are hungry; blessed are those who are hated. How in the world can that be? Well talk about it in just a few moments, but what I want you to get right now is a different mindset because Jesus is teaching a radical thing here. Jesus is teaching a different mentality, a different way to see the world-a different way to look at the world. Since it is the weekend of Memorial Day, we remember our soldiers and the Military who fought and died for our country, for our freedom. Were going to take a look at an elite group right now of people who pit their lives on the line for humanity. Lets take a look at this, and then well talk about their mindset. This is from the movie, The Guardian. They didnt get paid much money, and there was a very good chance they would die at sea-slowly, cold and alone. Where do we sign up? Theyre saying sign me up because they see the cause. They see a bigger picture. Theyre living for something greater than themselves. Jesus, here, is going to deal with the hurting. Hes going to get them to see that something greater than themselves is at stake here. Notice who Jesus is talking to because thats really the key. If you dont catch whom He is talking to here, then you might read these words and think, Oh, its good to be poor. Oh, its good to be hungry. Its good to cry. Its good to be hated and rejected. Thats not what He was saying at all. Notice in Verse 20, He says, Looking at His disciples, He said… Who was He speaking to here? His followers. The first thing I notice when I read this passage is it communicates to me that even followers of Jesus will struggle in life. Even followers of Christ will experience hardship and loss. Its diverse too, isnt it? Its talking about the poor, financial hardship; he talks about those who are sad-emotional hardship; those who are hungry-physical hardship; those who are hated and rejected-mental hardship. Followers of Christ will suffer. There is a group or a school of thought that is called the Prosperity Gospel. They teach you that if you are a person of faith, youll never suffer or never go through loss. Everything is always going to be great. Everything you touch will turn to gold. Youll always be healed, and everything is always going to be wonderful and rosy in your life. Who lives that kind of life for long? Jesus and the Disciples certainly didnt live that kind of a life. Who am I to think that I should live that kind of a life? Thats not what God promises in His Word. God says, Reality check here. This life can be hard, and you will experience some struggles, but Jesus also says in this passage, God has the last word. He says, Just as sure right now as youre hurting, yours is the Kingdom of God. Just as real right now as youre suffering, you should rejoice because you belong to Me, and great is your reward in Heaven. Jesus says, Number 2: God has the last word. God is in charge. He says, Thirdly, what you see is not the end of the story. There is a bigger picture here. There is something we are working for, and in, and with, and that is the Kingdom of God, and it is eternal. There is going to be partial fulfillment of these Beatitudes here, but there is going to be ultimate fulfillment in Heaven. Jesus says, Thirdly, have a Kingdom mindset. See the big picture. Recognize, just as we saw the Coast Guard here: Yeah, youre not going to be paid much money here; yeah, youre putting your life at risk, but see the big picture. You are working to save lives. What a great cause that is! Jesus is saying, Understand the big picture. See the kingdom in the midst of your suffering! It reminds me of the passage we looked at weeks ago; maybe it was the Clinker Brick series. Remember what an irritant the Apostles were to the Sanhedrin, the men who wanted to shut them up? Remember Peter and John on their way to Solomons Colonnade? Thats where the early church used to meet. They didnt just meet in homes; they also met in a large group. They met in Solomons porch in the temple. They would meet there, and miracles would take place. Preaching would take place. Salvation would happen. They called them in and said, Stop preaching in that name. They didnt. They went back out and continued to do it, and more miracles took place. They called them in a second time, put them in jail and said, Youre going to have a trial tomorrow. Youre in trouble. During the night, and angel came and released them from prison. They left. The guards came in the morning. Peter and John were gone. A meeting was assembled, and they said, What are we going to do? Theyre gone! A guy looks out the window and says, Dont worry. Theyre back at it again! Right there they are. They go and get them a third time and bring them in. This time, they beat them. They flogged them. They stripped them of their robes, they took out a whip, and they beat their flesh. What does the Bible say they do on their way back? Do they get mad? Do they cuss? They dance! I cant believe this happened to me! Is that what it means to be a Christian? Are they crying? No, the Bible says in Acts 5, theyre rejoicing! Theyre happy! Why? Because they had been considered worthy to suffer for His name. Thats what Jesus is talking about here. Yeah, you will go through hardship, but God has the last word. God is in control, and its important that you see the Kingdom-you see the whole picture and know what God is up to. [You shouldnt think only] of what is here on earth, not just whats temporary, but look at life through the lens of eternity. Before we move on to these four woes here, before Jesus changes gears, I want us to watch a unique media. This media is more something we read, meditate and reflect on. It is really a summation of what weve been talking about, so just kind of let this soak in. Just have a mediation time here, and then well continue in Luke here in just a moment. Lets go ahead and show that. Now, were going to have Jesus talking to the Enron folks, the fatcats. Remember there are two kinds of people who are there that day. There are the Disciples, and there is the crowd-the onlookers, the curious. Many of them have lifestyles that definitely dont please the Lord. If you were there that day, you would know when He was talking to you. You knew when He was talking to His followers, and you knew when He was speaking to those who were not [His followers]. These four woes are not meant to be this is just the way it is. This is fate. This is your end. These are meant to be warnings. These are meant to be wake-up calls to do an about face with their lives. Verse 24 (still in Luke 6, page 1021), But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. If you dont understand the context, you might think Jesus is saying, Bad to have money, bad to have food, bad to be happy, and bad to be well liked. But what Jesus is talking about here is a consumer mentality. Hes talking about a person who is self-absorbed. Theyre not thinking about the Kingdom; theyre not thinking about others. Theyre thinking only of themselves. Its like the Enron executives who could have cared less what happened to the rest of the people, investors, as long as they had their wealth. That was all that mattered. So Jesus speaks to that consumer mentality, that me-ism that puts self first. That is certainly our culture. We live in a very self-centered culture, and Madison Avenue plays to that. Its easy to do because thats our bend. There is not a lot of ba-ba sharing going on in that nursery. There arent a lot of babies going, Oh, are you hungry? Did you not have breakfast? Heres mine. Did you like this toy? Sure, Im done playing with it. You play with it for a while. Thats not taking place back there. Its every baby for him or herself. Its a baby-eat-baby mentality. We have to teach how to share and teach how to give because it doesnt come naturally to us. Jesus is speaking to these people who have never grown up. All they care about is their own belly, their own popularity, their own name and fame. He says, You know what? There is coming a wake-up call for you. Anybody who trusts in riches, anybody who trusts in themselves, anybody who trusts in this life alone-everybody who does that has a wake-up call. One day, their fatcat lifestyles are going to be over. Theyre going to recognize that there is accountability. Theyre going to recognize there is responsibility. Theyre going to know there is a God that they answer to. Their joy is going to turn to sorrow. Anytime you get a wake-up call like that, its a hard thing, but hopefully its a good think for people. I know when I think of somebody who is selfless, somebody who could care less about the spotlight, somebody who basically lives only for the joy of others and gives all their possessions away, I dont know about you, but I always think of Paris Hilton (congregation laughing). In case you havent been following the news, this socialite, this heiress, was on probation with the law. While she was on probation, she received a DUI. She went before the judge, and of course, her defense was Im Paris Hilton. That was basically it. You know who my dad is. You know who I am, so give me a fine. Ill pay it, and Ill go home. The judge had the audacity to uphold the law and sentence her to jail, which I think she starts serving very soon here. They appealed to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, to set her free. The mother protested, This is unfair. She protested. The judge basically said, I dont care who you are, and I dont care who your father is. I dont care how much money you have. You drove while intoxicated. You were on probation. You violated the law, and heres what you get. Youre going to go to jail. That was a wake-up call. There were tears and mourning. The judge said, Youre accountable. Youre a citizen like everybody else. When somebody else does what you did, they go to jail, and so will you. Jesus gives a wake-up call here. A lot of these people remembered Matthew or Levi. He just comes to the Lord, and he invites his friends over. I bet you some of those people are there, some of these fatcat tax collectors. Jesus gives them a wake-up call and says, Listen! You have a responsibility! Theres something called the Kingdom of God. Right now youre living for the kingdom of self. You think you have the world by the tail, but youre going to find out that tail is attached to a tiger, and it will devour you. Woe to you who are well fed. Woe to you who are popular. Woe to you. Wake-up call time. Jesus still preaches this sermon. Did you know that? He preached it this morning, the Sermon on the Plain. Its still being preached. Every time somebody reads these words, Jesus is preaching this sermon. Guess who is listening? The same two groups of people: the Disciples and the crowd. It still encourages the Disciples, and it still challenges the crowd. You know who it also challenges? It also challenges the Disciples because sometimes you and I forget what it means to be a Christian. This passage causes us to reevaluate our faith. For some of us, our Christianity basically means we know the right answers. When somebody asks us a theological question, we know the answer. We maybe can even turn to the right page and quote it. Our Christianity is our knowledge. For some of us, our Christianity is defined by this: that we come together once a week and huddle up-either on a Saturday or Sunday morning. We sing some songs. We pray. We hear the Word, and we go home. This is our essence of our Christianity. So we say, What does it mean to be a Christian? Well, you go to church. Well, this is an important aspect of our faith, but its simply an aspect. What Jesus called the church to be and do was to be world changers. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount? It was kind of like the sister sermon of this in Matthew 5? He said, Youre salt. Youre light. Let your light shine before men. Salt gets on what it is called to preserve. Were called to be in the world. We get out of the salt shaker and get in the world. We come here and get equipped and prepared to go out and be ministers. We have the Kingdom responsibilities beyond sitting in a church for an hour on Sunday. So, I start to evaluate my life. I think of our church. I think of the good things we do, but is it enough? Could we-and should we-do more? Lets pray together: Father, we just come before You now, and were simply asking for wisdom. I pray for wisdom for myself and wisdom for our leaders, our elders, our trustees as we make decisions. We dont want to go ahead of You, neither do we want to go behind You, neither do we want to inhabit-in fact we cant. Your purposes will be accomplished. I pray that You would clearly lead this church, that we would know Your purposes and walk in them. God, we just ask You for Your will. Father, as we reflect upon this Scripture, we think of this sermon, which is still very much being preached to the same two groups. To the believers who are struggling, You still speak encouragement. You still say to Your Disciples, yes, in this world you have troubles. You have struggles, loss and hardship, but God has the last word. You still encourage us to be Kingdom-minded, Kingdom-focused, not just on what is temporary-what is seen. Father, You still speak to the other group, to the fatcats-rich, sassy, and lazy. In America, in the eyes of the world, were those fatcats. We have a consumer mentality, a me-first mentality. Lord, I pray that it would not be so in the church. I pray that in the church, we would be about the Kingdom, using our gifts, our passions, our talents, for the good of the Kingdom and for the good of humanity. I pray that we would live for a cause greater than ourselves. That cause is the Kingdom of God. Lord, if there are any who feel like they fall under that second charge, the woe, I pray that Your Holy Spirit would give them a wake-up call, let them know and speak to their hearts. I pray that they would change. I pray they would repent and follow after Your Kingdom. Thank You for teaching us this morning, for challenging us, for leading, guiding, and for providing. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.