Good morning! Today we begin an 8 week journey called Life’s Healing Choices. Our text will be the Beatitudes from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. I believe God is going to use this series and the small group opportunities that go with it to set some of you free from things that have held you captive from the time of your childhood.
Anybody remember merry-go-rounds? When I was a kid every playground had one. What do you remember? It was a lot of fun until some bully started whipping it around so fast that you couldn’t get off. A few times of that and you never want to get on a merry-go round again.
Life can be like that. We want to shout “Stop the merry-go-round, I want to get off.” But we don’t know how. And some bully, we can’t even identify keeps kicking it around, and we’re getting sicker and sicker, and the bully won’t stop. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Or how about that place where you keep stubbing your toe? There’s a place like that on the sidewalk near our house. I’ve walked past it dozens of times. Yet unless, I keep my eyes open, I stub my toe on that same place in the sidewalk time after time. Every time I do, I feel so stupid! And my toe hurts! And I wish somebody would fix that place!
How many times in our relationships with each other, with ourselves, with God do we end up tripping over the same old hurt, hang-up, habit? Words that someone said over us years ago come back to condemn and haunt us? We’ve hurt others, others have hurt us and no matter how hard we try to shake some of these things off, we can’t. But God can – let’s get started.
The freedom we seek begins not with our choice, but with God’s choice! “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves it is a gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
God has already made a choice for us. He decided to create us, love us, gift us. And when we fell into sin, he decided to redeem us. It was while we were dead in our sin, unable to make any kind of choice at all, that he gave his one and only Son to give his life in our place. He made us alive so that instead of being perpetual victims, we could be empowered to make some new choices – healing choices – in the difficult circumstances of our lives.
The first healing choice is the REALITY choice. Believe it or not, this first choice is the most difficult. It goes like this, “Realize I’m not God”. In fact, I’m not the savior of anything. I can’t be all things to all people. I’m not perfect. I’m not in control, all powerful, all knowing.
Maybe you say, “I’ve never claimed to be God, never tried to be God. I’m just trying to survive.” Let me give you a little reality test… are you ready?
Have you ever attempted to deal with your hurts, hang-ups, and habits by blaming others?
Have you ever denied that you have any hurts, hang-ups or destructive habits? “Hey, Mary, How you doing?” “I’m fine, just fine!” And we know Mary’s lying! We know she isn’t just fine! So why, like Mary, do we do that?
Have you ever harbored resentments against people who treated you unjustly? Of course! Those tapes just keep playing in our minds over and over. We keep telling the story over and over and we can’t let go of it.
Have you ever thrown a pity party for yourself? It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, you would cry to if it happened to you!
Have you ever tried to escape pain or responsibility through alcohol, drugs, food, over-working, procrastination, sex, porn, being hyper-religious, buying stuff, playing hooky, fishing, skiing or golf? Getting personal!
Have you ever tried to control others through anger or shame or charm or being a skunk or a turtle?
Have you ever tried to deal with your stuff through disappearing or conforming or rebelling or a thousand other brilliant but equally deceitful ways?
I don’t know about you but I scored 100%. How about you? The truth is, when we do this stuff we are attempting to play God. We are trying to control things we can’t control. God doesn’t do this stuff. He doesn’t have to. He’s God. So in Dr. Phil’s words, “How’s that been working for you?”
The reality is I can’t fix my past. I can’t control other people, I can’t even control myself. I’m in bondage to my own sin and can’t free myself. The first healing choice I must make on the road to recovery is to own up to the reality of who I am and who I am not.
Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mt 5:3 The first beatitude, Blessed are those who have quit trying to play God. They are willing to own up to their own spiritual poverty and emptiness.
The reality is, you can’t be god of your own little kingdom and be part of the kingdom of heaven at the same time. Blessed are those who have it all together, for theirs is the kingdom of them!” What a hideous place to spend eternity – the kingdom of me!
Only a person in complete denial would want to live in a place like that forever! The only people who can truly experience the wonder of the kingdom of heaven are those who quit trying to play God. The ones who realize how empty and poor of spirit they really are. The ones who are willing to own up to their own spiritual poverty and let God be God.
Let’s look at Psalm 32. “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1-2
The word “Blessed” means far more than just happy. It means, healthy, at peace, whole, in sync, put back in our right mind, restored from insanity to sanity, washed, cleansed, healed.
Vs 3 “When I kept silent (pretending) my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:3-5
The first healing choice is admitting my need. David counsels us “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:6-7
With a God like that on your side, why would you try to do it yourself? That’s the problem isn’t it! Even when we know it’s insane to push God away and try to do it ourselves we still do it! Who will save me from myself? Anybody else struggle with this or am I here by myself?
David certainly understood his sinful nature. Look at verse 8ff. The Lord begins speaking to us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.” Psalm 32:8-10
Do you believe that? Are you willing to let go of trying to control, justify, deny, blame, resent, escape, manipulate, procrastinate, hide, pretend and admit you not “just fine”.
God made a choice to rescue you. Through Jesus death and resurrection, he made it possible for you to be set free from whatever might hold you captive. He empowered you to make a decision, a choice to get off whatever merry-go-round you may be on.
The first healing choice is admitting my need, my emptiness, my powerlessness to save myself. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”
One of the blessings of that kind of honesty is fellowship. Real Christian fellowship isn’t a bunch of phonies who are full of themselves pretending that they have it all together. It’s in our common emptiness and sinfulness.
Look at these words in 1 John… “If we claim to have fellowship with him (God) yet walk in darkness (hiding, pretending) we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, (where our emptiness and sin is exposed) we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7
The first healing choice we make in response to God’s choice for us is the REALITY CHOICE!
Are you willing to make the reality choice?
Will you join me as we pray…
“I confess that I’m powerless to fix my life, Lord. All my attempts to fix myself, deny my problems, control others have failed. I’m not as spiritual as I pretend to be, not as together, not as strong, not as innocent, I need help. The hurts and hang-ups of my past, the habits of the present are sabotaging my future. I choose to confess to you today that I need your help and I’m willing to let you do it your way. In Jesus name. AMEN
Next Sunday, THE HOPE CHOICE – Turning to the One who can truly help me!
