Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Chatting with my brother the other day, he shared something his life group had discussed.  “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”  The sermon on the mount starts with this very interesting assertion.  It is the first big sermon of Jesus’ ministry…thousands have gathered, eager to hear what he has to say…and he starts with that. 

Poor in Spirit…needy…weak… as Eugene Peterson puts it in “The Message”: “You are blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.”  Can’t count on your own strength…ready to give up…not knowing how you’re gonna get through the day…poor.

It’s a very interesting concept.  You have to be at the end of your rope…the end of yourself to have the kingdom of God.  I know we all get this in terms of our salvation.  Anyone who has accepted Christ as savior and Lord, had to be near or at the end of their rope in some way or another.  But I think this is more than just the recipe toward salvation.  It seems to me that Jesus wants us to live like this…every day.  Poor.

I have spent a good deal of time rich in spirit…feeling in control, feeling strong, I had the answers,  I could plow through.  I have also spent a good deal of time trying to pretend I was rich in spirit…don’t tell me how to solve this problem…I know…I can handle it…but really feeling like I was caving in.

This year…God is making me poor in spirit.  He’s yanking up fears and anxieties…long held insecurities…tearing it out and laying it next to the stress, the mistakes, the failures and…the worst of it all…the “what ifs” and “what does it means”.   He’s forcing me to look at it all…over and over until I reach my own poverty.

I am absolutely nothing and have absolutely nothing without you, Jesus.  This…is the start of the kingdom of God.

Because, as Jon’s life group discussed, all the rest has to start here.  Once you’re poor in spirit then you can:

        Mourn

        Be gentle

        Hunger and thirst for righteousness

        Be merciful

        Have a pure heart

        Be a peacemaker

        Be the salt of the earth

        Be the light of the world

And if you take many a misstep in any of those…stop being those things…it all has to go back to the beginning…being poor.

He tells us that we’re blessed when we’re persecuted, blessed when men cast insults because of Him…to consider it joy when life sucks.  But it doesn’t work unless we’re poor in spirit.

I think poor in spirit changes everything.  If you read verses like “Rejoice in the Lord always” or again, “consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials”, or “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer …with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” without the poor in spirit, you think that a true Christian never doubts, never worries and always “chooses joy! (Insert happy face)”. 

But I think the poor in spirit part negates that.  Reading those verses with poor in spirit says this instead. 

This life is brutal and you can’t do it. You won’t have the strength or the confidence, and most of the time it’s just a lot of hard work.  But…rejoice…remember…hope…you have the kingdom of heaven which means I am with you, I will help you and I am making it all into a beautiful tapestry of glory.

Isn’t that what “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” means.  God’’s kingdom at our fingertips, right by our side.  Unfortunately we misunderstand what that means and how that feels.  I don’t think it is supposed to feel that good…and certainly it doesn’t feel that comfortable.  We’d much rather feel strong and confident, yet the kingdom of God…the power that raised Jesus from the dead…the grace that brings life from death…the hope that soothes the wounds…that belongs to the poor in spirit.

If I think about it, I am much more likely to have patience with the little old man going 20 mph on the freeway in front of me, or much more able to empathize with another’s pain, even shedding tears at the sound of their pain, or much slower to anger when confronted with another’s weakness and demands when I am at the end of rope.

When I am not…when I am confident, strong, ready to conquer the world, I am much less patient, empathetic and quick to anger.

 It’s that descending into greatness that I’ve heard pastors talk about, if you want to be strong you must be weak.  If you want to be first you must be last.

And I think when we are poor in spirit, somehow all the burdens we carry start to fall from our shoulders.  We know we can’t handle them, so lay them down.

 But I really prefer to be strong.  I like packing all my responsibilities, cares, expectations, and stresses into my backpack…strap on the “what ifs” and “what does it means” as if I can take care of the future myself…and carry it all on my back.  It feels really good until my back breaks, my knees buckle, my emotions seem to run wild, and my stomach is in knots.

 Poor in Spirit. 

I think it’s what Jesus really wants from us…more than joy, more than confidence, more even than perfect assurance of our faith…He wants us poor…

at the end of ourselves…

laid out before Him…

ready to let Him fill with all things good…

to have the Kingdom of Heaven.