Odd Todds

First Grade teachers are a peculiar bunch. I should know. I was one for many years. And it has left a permanent mark on my personality. We, first grade teachers, have a song for every event and learning point in life and break out into singing at a moment’s notice. We have a game for everyday of the week. We have pictures to illustrate everything on God’s earth. And we have a book to read to kids for everything we teach.

This brings me to one of my favorite kiddie books; “Even Steven and Odd Todd” by Kathryn Cristaldi, Hank Morehouse and Henry Morehouse.

Even Steven does everything in even numbers. He blends in with societies’ “normal.” Odd Todd, well, he sticks out because he doesn't  conform. He does everything in odd numbers and goes against the fairness law of life. There will always be one left over with him. There will always be one that doesn't belong with the other with him. And you know our world works better if everything swings along evenly.

Since that book, I call everything that sticks out as an Odd Todd. This brings me to the irrefutable fact that Christians are Odd Todds. We don’t travel along with the current of the popular. We stick out. And because we stick out sometimes the world treats us without respect. We go against the grain. We don’t bend or bow to things that do not conform to the Word of God.

Now Jesus said that this peculiar road we Christians walk would be filled with persecution and happiness. That is really Odd Todd because those two things don’t usually go together. We don’t go around saying, “Make fun of me.Tell me just how different I am. Point out my faults. Show me how I go against everything around me. I like it!”

Matthew 5:10 Blessed or happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

One pastor says it like this: (The comments are mine.)

“These are the truly happy people.” (What? What?) “These are the people that are really blessed with a kingdom of heaven attitude. When we have the kingdom of heaven attitude we are going to find that there will be a process of pain and suffering involved.” (Did I sign up for this?) “You will be a peacemaker, yes, but you’ll be a troublemaker, too.” (OK, here is the Odd Todd part.) “And the more you live the Beatitudes, the more likely there is to be a reaction from people. You will create a response, positively or negatively in the world.” (I don’t get a choice about how the world reacts to me. I am supposed to have this happy attitude, this kingdom of heaven attitude, this gracious attitude.)

So in the face of persecution just for being a Christian we say, “Bring it.”

We can handle it.

It makes us happy.

And, yes, we are Odd Todds.

Do Not Disturb

I stayed at a hotel recently and I’m always fascinated with the little “Do not disturb” signs you hang on the outside door handle. You know me and my wacky sense of humor. I always think, “What are you telling people when you don’t hang it on your door? Disturb me please? Yes, even though we are all strangers to each other, please feel free to disturb me.” So I always hang it out because who wants any Tom, Dick, or Harry to disturb you? Not me.

Anyway, this brings me to the seventh happy beatitude:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

The word “peacemaker” here is used as an adjective. It is supposed to describe us. We are supposed to be able to put it front of our name to define our character. We are not just to keep the peace as a status quo but we are supposed to make peace everywhere we go. We are in essence a walking “Do not disturb” sign.

“Peacemaker” is only used this one time in this way in the whole New Testament. So you know Jesus was serious when He said this as an instruction for daily living.

If verse 7 is the “mercy” verse, then this verse 9 is the grace verse. Mercy = not giving a punishment that is due. Grace = giving a reward not due. And that is just what peacemakers do. We are supposed to come into situations and give peace where there is no peace, love where there is no love, comfort where there is not comfort and Jesus where there is no Jesus. Grace (peace) is a giving gift not a receiving gift.

If we can bring these peace blessings to others Jesus said in this verse that we will be called God’s kids. Not only can we claim our family heritage in Christ but we will even look like our Father God.

When all around us is chaos we can continue God’s message that He gave to the shepherds at Christ’s birth:

Peace on earth and good will to all blessed people..

And just before Christ went back to heaven He said:

Peace I give to you, My peace I give to you.

From the beginning to the end of Jesus’ life on earth and beyond into eternity there is the call to the peacemakers.

Here is a quote I found in a commentary:

“Peacemakers are happy. They love, desire, and delight in making peace. They maintain peace in peaceful situations and recover it when situations are in disarray. If peacemakers are blessed then woe to the peacebreakers!”

Wow, this do not disturb is serious stuff!

Pure + Heart = Happiness

Matthew 5:8 Blessed and happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

I have been studying the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 and I’ve come to realize that what Jesus said in His 9 happy instructions are not that easy to live by. Well, they are not accomplishable without Jesus anyway. And getting ourselves out of the way and letting Jesus do it through us is challenging.

And number 6 in the way to happiness list is about actually experiencing being in the presence of God. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses from Psalm 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

I like being happy. I like having access to God. I need having access to God to experience all the joy I can.

It all boils down to having a pure heart.

Now you know how geeky I get with the Greek words. Well here “pure heart” is: katharos kardia (Hey, you don’t have to know how to pronounce it, just know that it is put together.) And what I found interesting is that these two words are put together 3 times in the New Testament:

             Matt. 5:8 - (That’s the beatitude.) Happy are those with a pure heart for they shall see God.

            1 Tim. 1:5 – But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.   

           

            2 Tim. 2:22 – Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.

“Pure” here means clean and free from the contamination of sin.

“Heart” here means your very core seat of your physical and spiritual life.

So “pure heart” is a life free from sin inside and outside. It is holiness. And only holiness can be in the presence of our holy God. My Sunday School Teacher Eddie says that everyday should be set apart and kept holy for God. So everyday we should be in His presence.

So how do we get rid of the sin in our lives that keeps us from being accepted into His presence? How can we everyday experience this happiness by being with God? Sorry, we can’t get rid of this sin on our own. We can’t clean ourselves up enough to have a pure heart. Oh rats! It’s not possible.

Is there no way to be in the happy company of God? Yes. Jesus, Himself, said that He was the way to the presence of the Holy Father.(John 14:6) We just let Him forgive us and clean our hearts. We let Him be the holiness for us. We just stand behind His pure heart as we go into God’s presence. With His forgiveness we have a pure heart too.

So here are 2 mathematical equations for geeky me:

Jesus + Forgiveness = Pure Heart

Pure + Heart = Happiness

The Source of Mercy

Blessed and happy are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7

The fifth happy instruction in the beatitudes deals with mercy. Mercy is an appeal used in judgment situations. It is when someone in an authority position shows compassion, love, and forgiveness toward someone undeserving of this benevolence.

In the first gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, and Luke give eleven examples of people asking Jesus for mercy. In every situation when asked for mercy Jesus gives it. And we find out why Jesus was so giving in the mercy department. Oh yes, I know He is God and that is just what God does. But why?

The answer is ...

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God's grace that you have been saved! 

The answer is …..

Because of His great big love for people.

We will always be shown mercy from our loving God even when (and especially when) we don’t deserve it.

Our lesson from Jesus in Matthew 5:7 is to pass out the mercy. When someone does not deserve our compassion, love, and forgiveness we are supposed to give it anyway. The offender doesn't have to meet our standard or earn it. We are supposed to just give it as Christ gave us mercy. And we get to walk away happy. I know this sounds all “Susie Spiritual” because it is not that easy for us to give out mercy to the undeserving and walk away happy.

Mercy doesn't come from us as easily as it does from Jesus. It's just like a Sudoku puzzle I was working with the heading “Very Easy.” It wasn't true. It was HARD. Finally I had to look in the back for help from the source of the infamous puzzle.

We have to make ourselves consciously be merciful. And it can be HARD to do. We have to go to the source of mercy and use that mercy to give to the unworthy. We have to depend on God to give us the want to for the mercy giving. And when we think about it in this way we realize just how much love God has freely unconditionally given to us so that we can give it to others. Not “Susie Spiritual” but “Rita Reality.”

 

Having a hard time forgiving?

Still angry at someone who has asked for your mercy?

Exasperated with someone who has hurt you and is unrepentant?

Can’t work up any love for the offender?

Need some help in the mercy department?

Go to the source.

He’ll give you all the mercy you need to handle the situation.

Then you can walk away happy. 

Happiness Guarantee

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

 for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

The Bible talks a lot about being hungry and thirsty but not for food and drink. It says we are to crave a God following life.  

I saw a T-shirt that said, “Honey, hush about your diet. Just eat your lettuce and be sad.” And after I laughed I thought that there are many Christians on a diet from righteousness. They just go through life trying to fill themselves with anything but Christ. And they come away still hungry and sad.

Jesus said that if you want to be happy and satisfied with your life then earnestly and desperately seek righteousness. Righteousness here means right living that is God approved.

What kind of life gets Gods approval?

1.    A forgiven life – Romans 4:7 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.

2.    A transformed life – Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3.    A gospel giving life – 1 Thes. 2:4 But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

4.    A hopeful, patient, and prayerful life – Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

5.    A loving life – Ephesians 5:1 Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

6.    A Bible studying life - 2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 

Just as our body craves food and water for physical survival we are to crave God approved right living for spiritual survival.

I don’t want to just sit there and eat my lettuce and be sad. And I don’t want to just sit there and try to make it without Christ and be sad. I want to be one of the righteous ones. I want to be one of the approved ones.

God wants people who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

God likes these kinds of people.

 He approves of their lifestyle.

He gives His favor and blessings to them.

 And they are happy and satisfied.

This comes with His happiness guarantee.

Gentleness Is Next To Godliness

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

The third happy instruction from Jesus that we call the Beatitudes is the one about being meek, gentle, and humble.  He said we’ll be happy and blessed by God if we possess this character quality. We will be assigned an inheritance of contentment on earth. We know we've got heaven in our future but we can have a little “heaven on earth” if we can live in a peaceful gentle way.

I think it’s not so much the activity or action as it is the attitude. It is a joyful submission. It’s the golden rule we were taught as a child: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (From Jesus in Matthew 7:12) But Jesus took this attitude a little farther. He took awful actions from others and He gave in return the attitude of love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy.

I think that when we give gentleness in the face of harshness directed toward us we are being the most like Christ.

We quietly submit to God and the authority He has placed over us. We bear insults and do not retaliate with insults. We are patient with those who are impatiently angry. We don’t belittle others so we can build up our own ego. We don’t join in the step on whoever I have to, to get ahead philosophy. We don’t get bitter if someone mistreats us or takes away our life prizes.

And by the way, just think about those people who are insubordinate, insulting, angry, ego indulgers, clawing their way to what they think is success; those who grab and hold the stuff of the world and are never remorseful over who they hurt to get it but are bitter and unforgiving if they don’t get their way.  Are they happy?  Are they ever content? Do they ever reach that place of relaxed peacefulness?

Well Jesus has that place on earth. And we can be in that place on earth. Be gentle like He was gentle. Be humble like He was humble. Give love and forgiveness to others as He does for you.

Change the golden rule to the Godly rule: Do unto others what Jesus did for you. Do unto others what Jesus did for them. Be as much like Jesus as you can. 

 What do you get out of this way of life? You get happiness. You get contentment. You get that place of relaxed peacefulness that the world doesn't understand.

It sounds like a wonderful place and I don’t know why I don’t go there more often.

 Too many times I get my feelings hurt because someone wronged me. I get angry that it didn't go my way. I get impatient with slow people. Yes, and on occasion, I've even said, “I don’t care,” and I didn't. Those were the unhappy times. Those were the times I wasn't accessing the inheritance God has for me on earth. 

I don’t like that place.

I want my happy inheritance place.

I want the place of gentleness.

That place is next to Jesus.

Hopeful are the Hopeless

I’m a bit of a Pinterest follower. I know it can suck up a lot of time but I've gotten some neat ideas from the site. And not only have I pinned them but I have actually used them. Anyway, I saw a pin that said, “I feel like I’m always waiting for something that will never happen.” When I read that I thought that that was surely the definition of hopelessness. How sad this person must be to always be longing for something that will never actually occur.  

I’m studying the Beatitudes now and this Pinterest led me to verse 4. I’m stopped in my study with this verse as I take it apart and put it back together. (Yes, my friends call it “cleaning a corner with a toothbrush.”):

Matthew 5:4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

God blesses the hopeless. He makes them happy and hopeful again. One of my favorite theologians and teacher calls this verse, “Happy are the sad.” I say, “Hopeful are the hopeless.”

This word “mourn” is a term of intense grieving over something that is lost or gone forever. Many theologians argue over what that is. I could be the death of a loved one. It could be an irreparable loss. I could be grief of the loss of a relationship with God because of our sin. Whatever it is it is a sorrow so severe that it takes possession and overwhelms. It makes you feel helpless and hopeless. And this is what God blesses?

Yes, Jesus said that in this hopeless situation He shows up with comfort. The happiness doesn't come from the situation but it comes in God’s response to it. He sends comfort through the “comforter.” It’s no accident that the Holy Spirit is called our comforter. The Greek word is “paraclete.” (I know. It reminds me of parakeet too.)  It means the part of our Holy God who consoles, helps, counsels, comforts, encourages, uplifts, refreshes, and stands before the Father on our behalf as our advocate. He is in us and with us and goes before us. We don’t face the awfulness of life alone.

And the best part is that Jesus makes the promise that in this distressing time we will be comforted. It’s not a sometimes or a maybe. We will have the comforter. Now that is hope in our hopeless circumstances. A friend of mine just last week said, “Things are so bad in my life and I’m really going through the wringer. But I don’t know what my state of mind would be if I was not a Christian. God makes it OK.” And I could relate to the feeling. I've been there. And God made it OK. 

God makes it OK.

God gives hope in hopelessness.

God gives us relief that we are not facing things alone.

Something good is going to come of our most retched situations.

Just wait and see.

Happy are the sad.

Hopeful are the hopeless.