12 February 2022
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
According to Jesus, it’s good to be poor in spirit, but what does it mean to be so?
The word for poor here means what we’d think it means: without resources or influence. The poor are those with seemingly nothing. And in Jesus’ kingdom they are of a special status, those about whom He seems most concerned. Remember when He launched His ministry by standing in His hometown synagogue and reading these words from the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
Good news to the poor is what Jesus is about, and He reiterates this in His opening line of this great teaching, the sermon on the mount. And by adding the words “in spirit,” He is describing an attitude and posture we all can have, regardless of the largeness or smallness of our financial accounts.
One who is poor in spirit humbly embraces the fact that seeking power and wealth is not what we are to be about. The happiness they promise is a mirage. True power and wealth have NOTHING to do with what this world pursues. The opposite of the poor in spirit are the prideful and powerful, the well-resourced and well-regarded.
Instead, we do well to embrace our utter helplessness apart from God and thus trust utterly in the help God provides. On our own, we are spiritually poor, and in Christ’s way of life this is good: We’re empty-handed but also open-handed, waiting and ready to receive, dependent and devoted. Helpless except for the great help of our God.
This poverty of spirit, this admission of our lack of spiritual credentials, reminds us to be compassionate and empathetic to others and aware of our need for God. Living this way, we begin possessing the kingdom of heaven, the realm where life is eternal and God is welcome and given room to move and rule over our lives.
In other words, in spiritual humility we will find ourselves experiencing God’s love and living more and more according to His will, becoming the kind of people who more and more naturally pray as Jesus taught us to: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The poor in spirit are especially blessed and have particular reason to be happy--they may feel they have little for now, but they can actually have heaven’s kingdom forever.
FROM DR. ESAU McCAULLEY…
“Take delight in being unknown and unregarded. A true understanding and humble estimate of oneself is the highest and most valuable of all lessons. To take no account of oneself, but always to think well and highly of others, is the highest wisdom. ...We are all frail; consider none more frail than yourself.”
Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ
FROM MY READING…
I appreciate writers who stretch my theology while stoking the fire of my love for Christ and His Gospel. In The Cross and the Lynching Tree, James Cone does exactly that in me. No single theological school of thought is perfect and complete, but liberation theology has much to teach if we will take time to learn. Those who’ve suffered bondage most profoundly, taste the freedom of Christ most sweetly. I relish the chance to sit at their table.
In the mystery of God’s revelation, black Christians believed that just knowing that Jesus went through an experience of suffering in a manner similar to theirs gave them faith that God was with them, even in suffering on lynching trees, just as God was present with Jesus in suffering on the cross. …The more black people struggled against white supremacy, the more they found in the cross the spiritual power to resist the violence they so often suffered. …Just as Jesus did not deserve to suffer, they knew they did not deserve it; yet faith was the one thing white people could not control or take away.
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(UN)ORIGINAL CONCEPT…
No one should go through homelessness alone
Wow, this article from Fast Company magazine really got my attention. It features the work of a non-profit called Miracle Messages. Here’s their mission: “We help unhoused neighbors rebuild their social support systems and financial security, primarily through family reunifications, a phone buddy system, and direct cash transfers.” Sounds a lot like “give to the one who asks you” and “I was a stranger and you invited me in.” It may not be a new idea, but it’s a far too rare one.
A PRAYER…
“Holy Spirit, not an hour nor a minute goes by that I don’t need You.”