Blessed are the Poor In Spirit
Notes
Transcript
This morning we are beginning a journey through a list that opens Jesus most quoted preaching in the Sermon on the Mount. They are profound statements that in many ways feel upside down when one considers their own perception. They’re known as the beatitudes.
The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, etc. are not typically those we would count as blessed. Yet, that is exactly what Jesus says. Other scholars have sought to get at the nuance by translating the opening phrase, “Blessed are…” as
“Happy are those…”
“To be envied are…”
“Congratulations to…”
“How good is life for…”
Yet it all seems so upside down, then again nothing about Jesus’ teaching matches how we might have said it. That’s why it’s good news.
For years I wondered if the beatitudes were describing different people or if all of the beatitudes were to reflect on every Christian. It may have taken me a while, but I concluded they are to reflect on every Christian. These are about understanding who we are as Christians and who Christ is as we live in this life.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Two things about this verse quickly before we dive into our scripture for today. First, God has a particular race, a unique plan, for each one of us. Second, we need to be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage. We’ll talk about this more as we explore our verse.
The opening beatitude is this:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We’ve talked about “blessed” now we have “the poor in spirit.” Anyone who has felt, or dealt with someone who felt suicidal understands what it means to be poor in spirit. But this is much more all encompassing than that.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed - this verse is speaking of you.
If you’ve ever felt powerless
If you’ve ever felt you weren’t up to a challenge
If you’ve ever felt less than
If you’ve ever felt trapped by circumstances
If you’ve ever felt your life is unmanageable
You know what it is to be poor in spirit.
Here’s a hard truth: We’re all poor in spirit.
Hard Truth: We are poor in spirit.
Hard Truth: We are poor in spirit.
We live in a world of comparison, and we don’t like to think of ourselves as poor in spirit.
Who among us has never felt overwhelmed by circumstances?
Who among us has never been at a loss for what to do next?
This is where every recovery group begins. The first step is to admit that there is a problem. As church going Christians we’re as guilty as the alcoholic or the drug addict in denying our struggles. We don’t want others to know what we struggle with, and so we hide them - it’s the elephant in the room in every church.
We’ve all heard the illustration of the family dressed in their Sunday best making their way to church. On the car ride to church there is a lot of arguing and screaming, until they’re pulling into the parking lot then it all stops. The facades of the perfect family goes on. They step out of the car with smiles and in their mind no one knows the difference. Yet we all relate. We’ve all been there in one way or another.
Still this is often, whether consciously or unconsciously, the image that we are trying to compete with in our own minds.
People go into horrific debt trying to project the image of having what others have.
Marriages fall apart because couples are so busy trying to project an image rather than admit they need help.
Good church goers struggle in isolation with overwhelming guilt and shame about their suicidal ideations.
Years ago I attended a large Christian conference in Atlanta. In planning the conference the hotels asked if they wanted the rooms to have an open bar. The planners were surprised, “no, we’re a Christian conference.” The person on the other end of the phone call laughed. Apparently the week before they’d had a “dry” denomination - meaning they don’t drink - and they’d never had such a high bar tab.
In so many ways this opening phrase is an invitation to us all. Sadly, though we may read multiple times in Scripture that we are all sinners - we won’t admit it for ourselves.
I contend that until we are all willing to admit that we are poor in spirit and love and accept each other in the same position we will never experience the Kingdom of God as this verse promises. Jesus brother, James wrote:
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
So much of the brokenness in our world resides in people living in isolation never willing to admit the poverty in their spirit, wearing the mask of “everything is fine,” and it’s not. This may come as news to you, but you’re broken. I’m broken. And when we stop to think about it we all know it about one another. So why the secrecy?
I have been truly bless for the past 15 years to be a part of a group of men where we have confessed our sins openly and prayed for one another in our brokenness. I know their struggles, and they know mine. I won’t say I know all their garbage but I can say we’re pretty brutally honest with one another.
How do we get past the secrecy? Let me invite you to take four actions to move past. These are not actions that are one and done, it has to become a way of living.
1. Stop denying the pain
1. Stop denying the pain
Denial has six negative effects: it disalbes our feelings, wastes our energy, negates our growth, isolates us from God, alienates us from our relationships, and lengthens our pain.
Celebrate Recovery Leaders’ Guide, Newly Updated Edition ©1998, 2005k, 2012 by John Baker.
I have watched too many families fall apart because they didn’t deal with the pain in their family. Too many have turned to drugs and/or alcohol to somehow medicate the pain they won’t admit to.
Fred Rogers often said, “Whatever is mentionable is manageable.” It is amazing what happens when we bring our pain into the light. Even David prayed, Psalm 6:2-3
Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me?
2. Stop Playing God
2. Stop Playing God
You’re either going to serve God or your self, you can’t do both. Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
We have this idea in our heads that we can rise above whatever it is that’s before us. We see it in alcoholics, and addicts, but we also see it in everyday people. We have met people who clearly think themselves more capable in a job than their skills demonstrate.
Yet we do the same things in our lives when it comes to trying to live the Christian life. Well, to quote Dr Phil, “How’s that working for you?”
The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, Phil 3:13-14
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
3. Start admitting our powerlessness
3. Start admitting our powerlessness
I already said we need to be more honest with ourselves and with one another that we are not as strong as we think we are. Yes, we have faith, but we also have doubt. Paul admitted that he struggled with sin in his own life in his letter to the Romans 7:18
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
When we keep doing the things that we don’t want to do and or fail to do the things we’ve decided to do its not difficult to recognize that we do not have the power to change that we may have thought we had.
Finally, we need to
4. Start admitting our lives are unmanageable
4. Start admitting our lives are unmanageable
Unmanageable that is without God. The only reaon we might consider anything is wrong with our lives or that we need to talk to someone is because we finally are able to admit that some area - or perhaps all areas - of our lives are unmanageable.
I’ve compare this to those in recovery that the first step is to admit that there is a problem. As one author wrote:
“Pain is the gift no one wants.”
Another wrote:
“Pain is the beginning of healing.”
Perhaps this sounds disheartening to you in this moment and that’s when it’s important to recognize the promise in this verse:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is yours. You have access. It is when we finally recognize what we are capable of and what God is capable of that we are able to recognize the gift that is laid out before us.
Jesus promises us the kingdom of heaven - access to the throne as we saw in the book of Revelation.
Jesus said, Mt 11:28-30
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This opening beatitude is very much about us laying down our selfish hope, desire, wants, and humbling ourselves before God that we might be lifted up not by our skill, work ethic, self discipline, but by God’s grace.
That’s a great promise. God will do it.
AMEN!
