Dr. Rodney Plunket

Matthew 5:1-12

This past week has been an incredible one for me. I spent all of it with our teens at the Covenant Heights Conference Center in Estes Park, CO. The occasion was Rockcleft––Broadway’s annual summer youth retreat. We had over ninety young people there, and it was great. It was made extra special by the fact that Brook and Amanda Roberts were there; Brook and Amanda will officially become our new youth ministers on August the first. They interacted with the kids in a great way, and I think they knew the name and something about every single teen before Rockcleft was over. I believe that Brook and Amanda are going to bless our teens in a powerful way, and I look forward to having them on staff.

At Rockcleft we had great times of physical recreation. Twenty-six teens went rafting. Lots of us played volleyball during the afternoon periods of free time.

We ate camp food, most of which was all right. Now the meatball sandwich was an item I hope never to see anywhere again, but most of the meals were good.

We could not have our regular nightly campfires because of the drought conditions and resultant forest fire risk, but Don Harmon placed a Coleman Lantern in the middle of the campfire site, and we sang as we have very year. We called it "camp-lamp."

We laughed a lot. I laughed pretty hard when one of our sponsors was asked to make a "Lost and Found" announcement. She stood up and said to the whole group, "If any of you have lost anything, please stand up now and tell us where it is." No one quite knew how to follow those directions.

We had a very serious and poignant moment when all of our graduated seniors were asked to stand up on the stage together so that we could honor them at their last Rockcleft. They all got up there and put there arms around each other. They swayed back and forth as we sang to them, "We Love You with the Love of the Lord." It was such a wonderful moment. Rick Flippin even stood up on a chair to take a picture so that we could all remember this special time. But all of a sudden Rick’s chair collapsed underneath him. He came crashing down with a thunderous bang. Still lying on the ground he raised his hand and said, "I’m alright." The poignancy of the moment was lost to laughter and Rick sheepishly got up and returned to his chair. He sat in that one.

T. C. Freeman was baptized in the lake at the camp. T. C. will you stand up. T. C. is a great kid with a great heart. I believe God is going to work powerfully through him. But I must confess that I got nervous when I looked over at the edge of the lake and there was Rick Flippin again with his camera photographing this wonderful event. He was standing on a rock that stuck out in the lake. I was so afraid that we were going to have two baptisms–
–one intentional and one accidental, but Rick returned safely to more stable ground without a mishap, and I was able to "breathe easy" again.

Rockcleft, as always, was centered on growing closer to God. We had incredible times of worship and praise every morning and every evening. In addition, all the teens were put into small groups of six to nine teens with two adult sponsors. Those small groups met three times a day and focused on the Beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew (Matt) 5:1-12. And I must thank all of those who put together the class material as well as Joe Hays, our summer intern from Princeton. Joe served very effectively as Rockcleft’s "Beatitudes Guru."

To bring home to you some of the power of Rockcleft, I want to share with you the enhanced understanding of the Beatitudes that I came away with. Please take your Bible and follow along as I read those Beatitudes. Matt 5:1-12:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Let me tell you what I learned from these words of Jesus as I studied them with a great group of nine mature and creative teens. I learned that I must depend on God with the utter dependence of the righteous poor of Jesus’ day. I learned that I must mourn because of the sin and injustice in this world. I learned that, like the meek of Jesus’ day, I must not put my hope or confidence in this world but in the new earth that is to come.

I learned that I must hunger for the justice and righteousness of God, a justice and righteousness that will not be fully present until the in-break of God at the second coming of Christ. And I learned that I must hunger and thirst in a life-changing way, so that God can use me to impact radically this world with a God-glorifying justice even before Christ returns.

I learned that I must be merciful and forgiving to those who sin against me. I was reminded of Luke 17:4 where Jesus told his disciples, "if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive." I realized, as did the members of my small group, that this is one of the hardest commands Jesus ever gave.

I learned that to have a pure heart I must delight in giving God joy by the way I live and the way I love others. I learned that I must do all that I do because my eyes are focused on the joy of seeing God.

I was reminded again that "peace" in the Bible does not primarily mean an absence of war or conflict; "peace" in the Bible refers to the presence of a healthy God-centered community of faith. My desire for God to make of Broadway just such a community was powerfully enhanced. I want to be a peacemaker/a community builder for God.

And last, I learned from the Beatitudes that I must stand up for Jesus, stand up for His way and His will without regard for the consequences. I must have the courage to accept persecution. Even if people revile and insult me I must stand up for the will and way of God. If people lie about me because of my stand for the truth of Jesus, I must continue to stand. If people afflict me with physical persecution, I must still stand for God. I must be like the prophets of old; I must speak the truth when everyone would rather hear lies. I must speak the truth; I must live the truth even when it is despised. We can stand up for truth with boldness and courage and tough love because we know that our real home is not in this earth but in the new heaven and the new earth that is to come.

There are powerful promises associated with each of these Beatitudes: promises of receiving the kingdom of heaven, of being filled with righteousness, of receiving mercy, the promise of being called children of God. These promises let us know that Jesus Christ and our God honor those who take on these Beatitudes and live them before the world.

The theme for Rockcleft this year was "All Heaven Breaks Loose with Applause." When we take on and live the attributes of the Beatitudes we are honored, we are applauded by God. Truly all heaven resounds with applause for those whose lives are shaped by these words of Jesus.

I want to close by using the words of a book by Max Lucado. That book is "The Applause of Heaven." These words that I am about to read were printed on the inside front cover of the journals given to everyone who attended Rockcleft this year.

I have one request of you as I read these words. I want you to close your eyes and imagine what Max is describing. And teens, just the teens, I want you to applaud with me when I get to the final word, the word "applaud." Everyone else, as you hear the teens applaud, imagine that it is Jesus applauding you for a life shaped and transformed by the Beatitudes. Imagine and have awakened within your heart a desire to live a life focused on the life to come. Please close your eyes and listen as I read.

You’ll be home soon, . . . . You may not have noticed it, but you are closer to home than ever before . . . .

Before you know it, your appointed arrival time will come; . . . . You’ll see faces that are waiting for you. You’ll hear your name spoken by those who love you. And, maybe, just maybe––in the back, behind the crowds––the One who would rather die than live without you will remove his pierced hands from his heavenly robe and . . . applaud (Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven, [Dallas: Word, 1990], 189-90).

Please come to Jesus. Please come and allow Him to transform you so that one day you will hear all heaven break loose with applause because your life shone by the power of God to the glory of God. Come be cleansed by God and prepared to live a life focused on the life to come. Please come now as we stand and sing.