Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach 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 be shown mercy.

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

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

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1-12

I have a good friend who really seems to believe that Jesus was just a really inspirational motivational speaker who had a lot of good stuff to say.

I have heard many people talk about how Jesus wants us (usually us clergy) to be financially wealthy.

To these people, I say, you haven’t listened very well to what Jesus said!

Understand this: Jesus wasn’t just a motivational speaker, telling you how to be nice and how to live your life well so that you didn’t end up living in a van down by the river.

No, Jesus wasn’t anything like that. Jesus had a lot of hard words for his followers. Even members of his closest circle of friends doubted. At times they wondered "who can understand this?"

Unfortunately we’ve often missed his radical message and replaced it with a message of sin management. We’ve exchanged the "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me" message for a message of "I’m OK, you’re OK."

This is why over the next couple of months we’ll be looking at what Jesus said in his famous Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, we’ll be diving into a passage of scripture known as the Beatitudes… a series of "blessed are" statements Jesus made.

Before we dive into our first blessing, let’s look at what it means to be blessed.

BLESSING = Shalom

Some paraphrases of the Bible do us a great disservice by translating "Blessed" as "happy." This is more than just putting on a happy face. Blessing is always rooted in God’s character and God’s action. What does God want for us? What does God want from us? Remember what Jesus said was the most important commandment? To love God with our heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love neighbor as ourselves? Shalom is the essence of living that out – of having peace and wholeness in every aspect of life. And guess what – this does not happen apart from God. The only way to truly have shalom – true wholeness – is in God. We often think of blessing being things God has given us – we’re blessed with money, we’re blessed with health, we’re blessed with all sorts of things. But really, they’re only secondary. The only true blessing is God Himself.

OK, so it’s in this context that Jesus makes this statement: Blessed are the poor in spirit.
What kind of nut is this? Proclaiming that somehow it’s a blessing to be poor in spirit? And what’s more: he’s proclaiming this blessing as a present reality!

If we’ve already defined blessing as shalom, let’s define "poor in spirit." This concept has caused all sorts of trouble for commentators; he couldn’t mean "poor" as in "having no wealth" could he? Doesn’t everyone knows that Christianity is for the well-to-do – those with nice church clothes and fancy cars, that it’s our burden to carry to the poor and down-trodden so that they can join the middle class and be productive members of society?

I’m sorry, but that falls way short of God’s magnificent, awesome plan for our lives. God wants a whole lot more for us than that.

So what is Jesus saying?

Does it feel like it’s a blessing to be poor? Frankly no. It stinks.

Then how could Jesus get away with saying the poor are blessed? Don’t get confused by the phrase "in spirit" here – because the financially poor are also poor in spirit. They’re at the end of their rope. They’ve tried everything and got nothing. They’ve worked in their own strength – every bit of strength they have – and have fallen short.

And guess what – they’ve never been closer to God than in that moment.

The picture I have here is my friend Michael at the high ropes course. Michael slipped from way up high and held on for all he was worth. He held on and wouldn’t let go, even as his strength was beginning to fail him. He was scared to let go… even though he was securely harnessed in. Even though he was assured that he would not fall. He was at the end of his rope.

And that’s when God works best.

Why is that? It’s because we finally stop relying on ourselves for the things we cannot attain on our own. It’s like me going out to play basketball and deciding that I’m going to dunk. Guess what – that would take a miracle! There’s no way I can do that on my own. That’s what defines living a life of shalom – full reliance on God… for everything.

Being poor in spirit means that you have realized your utter reliance on God and have given up on doing it yourself. This is really humbling, isn’t it? But that’s where God wants us, because when we are there, we are able to rely on God’s grace and mercy for everything. Financial wealth isn’t to be trusted. Just ask those who’ve lost everything due to today’s economy.

Think about it – if you’ve got lots of possessions, who really owns who? If you’ve got to buy a bigger house just to hold all your stuff, you don’t own it anymore…

On the other hand, being poor in spirit is a blessing from God.

In Isaiah 61, the prophet says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor."

Here’s the good news: those who are poor in spirit are given – GIVEN – the Kingdom of Heaven. Did you notice that Jesus speaks in the present tense? He doesn’t say, "Those who are poor will get to go to heaven when they die." He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."

This is good news indeed! When we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, we’re talking about what we say in the Lord’s Prayer: God ruling here on earth just like in heaven. When we rely completely on God, He gives us the Holy Spirit. When we seek first a right relationship with Him, he gives it to us and gives us the desires of our hearts as well! When we seek first the desires of our hearts, we find out that they are counterfeit – they don’t bring Shalom at all. We also miss out on the right relationship with God, the only thing that brings wholeness – Shalom.
This is great news for the poor – they realize their need for God and they hang onto Him for everything they’re worth.

This isn’t just a financial truth. It’s a spiritual truth, too. On our own, we’re helpless to escape from our own sinful nature. We’ve sinned and we continue to sin. Sin stinks. When we think we’re spiritually rich, all of our own volition, we’re full of pride and arrogance. And guess what? It doesn’t help us at all. While this blessing is good news for the poor and for the poor in spirit, it’s not good news for the arrogant. The kingdom of heaven is far from the arrogant.

If you find yourself poor, spiritually or financially, hold on to Jesus. He’s what you need.

If you find yourself rich, spiritually or financially, turn it all over to Jesus. That probably means sharing your resources with others. It probably means encouraging someone. It probably means denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus. Because if you do not, you risk everything. You’re holding onto what can’t save you, leaving behind what can.