Happy Are The Humble

Last week we began our journey through the Beatitudes. We learned the word “blessed” can be substituted with the word “happy”. The Greek word “makarios” is translated “blessed” and incorporates the meaning of wholeness, joy, well-being, and a holistic peace that is expressed by the Hebrew word “shalom.” If you want to know this kind of peace, the kind that passes our own understanding, the kind of happy that makes you feel totally complete and whole, then this series is for you!

Let us turn to God’s word for us today. May we learn what it means to be supremely blessed and made whole. Our Old Testament reading is from the prophet Micah and our New Testament reading comes from the words Jesus spoke at the beginning of his most famous sermon called the “Sermon on the Mount.” (Mount = Mountain) Let us listen for God’s word for us today.

Micah 6:1-8

1. Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3. "O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 4. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord." 6. "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8. He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 5:1-12 The Beatitudes

1. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus said something preposterous on that mountain that day. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” With these words, Jesus launched into the greatest sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount (mountain) is stunningly brilliant and captivatingly fresh. Jesus quotes no rabbis, religious authorities, or ancient authors. In this sermon Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter with amazing authority as he tells his disciples how to get into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew presents Jesus as the teacher, and the scholars present the Gospel of Matthew as the Teaching Gospel. Here we have the ultimate teacher teaching us how to become blessed—whole, happy, joyful. I encourage you to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) over the next seven weeks. Allow the teaching words of Jesus, the teacher, to teach you how to be happy—in a whole, complete and joyful way.

What Is Poor In Spirit?

Have you noticed that when Jesus began this teaching, He does not begin with curses but with blessings? I have been thinking all week about verse three of Matthew five when Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit—the kingdom belongs to them.”

This statement is like saying that the general admission tickets at Dodger field have the best seats in the house. That’s ridiculous! We would say, “Blessed are the season ticket holders, those with the reserved seats. Happy are the skybox executives with the full buffet. Blessed are the press credentialed who get into the post-game locker room. Happy are the celebrity fans, frequently shown on camera. Blessed are the players who have access to all that fame and money!”

No, that is not what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching us the opposite. Blessed are the fans in the worst seats in the stadium—the kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

What Jesus is saying at the beginning of this sermon is that in order to be happy we must learn how to be “poor in spirit.” Jesus is not talking about being physically poor. We need a theological perspective to understand this poverty.

In today’s world we are taught: “Stand on your own two feet.” “Reach for the top.” “Make something of yourself.” “Plan your work and work your plan.” “Be assertive.” “Look out for number one.” We are advised to spike our resumes with action verbs and finesse the facts. We turn “garbage collector” into “sanitation engineer,” and “short-order cook” into “culinary surgeon.” We list initials before and behind our names, display our degrees on the wall, and keep our credentials handy. Conventional wisdom says we should make ourselves large in stature.

To be “poor in Spirit.” Is to be at odds with the world. To be “poor in Spirit” is the exact opposite of words like “Haughty, self-assertive, self-sufficient, self -concerned, self-reliant, self-supporting, self-contained, independent or an autonomous spirit.”

Last week, in Jesus class, Miss Jac taught the young children through the object lesson of slime that selfishness is lack of consideration of others. She had the kids pick their favorite color of slime and then she paired them with someone who had a different favorite color. The kids had to work it out. Then the children had to make the slime together and figure out who measured, who stirred, who kneaded, and who added what to what. Then at the end, they divided their slime—each taking half. Jac asked the class if they could share some examples of people being selfish. One child said, “I would…but I don’t want to make them look bad.” Instead, Miss Jac shared about our two dogs and how Jonah is way more selfish than Journey! The child who didn’t want to make one of us in here look bad—well that child is poor in spirit! That child is not selfish and did not lack consideration!

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom.”

Mother Teresa said, “The poor can see better. The poor stand a better chance of being saved by God because they know the truth: without God, they don’t stand a chance at all.”

Being poor in spirit is to be spiritually bankrupt before God. Those who know they are spiritually poor are humble in mind. Humility means “low-minded.” “Blessed are the low-minded, the humble, the poor in spirit, the spiritually bankrupt, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”

In his book, Phillip Yancy wrote:

“Why would God single out the poor for special attention over any other group? I used to wonder. What makes the poor deserving of God’s concern? I received help on this issue from a writer who listed the following “advantages” to being poor:

V The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.

V The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.

V The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

V The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.

V The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.

V The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.

V The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience.

V The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.

V When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news.

V The poor can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.”[i]

What Is A Humble Spirit

When I think of a humble spirit I think of the passage from the prophet Micah when he writes, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

How do we walk humbly with God? I was sitting on the plane flying back and forth to Ohio this week. I read two and half books and read several illustrations on being humble.

Here are a few thoughts:

Did you know that Second street is the first street in America? According to R. L. Polk & Co., publishers of city directories, Second Street is the most common street name in our country. Park Street is in second place. Third Street is third, Fourth is fourth, Fifth is fifth, Main is sixth. First Street? —it’s seventh.[ii]

Albert Einstein wrote, “A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am receiving.”[iii]

David Livingstone wrote, “God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation of Him I am, or wish to be.”[iv]

When John Newton, the converted slave trader who became a preacher and a song writer, lay upon his deathbed, a young clergyman came to see him and expressed deep regret at the prospect of losing so eminent a laborer in the Lord’s vineyard. Newton replied, “True, I’m going on before you, but you’ll soon come after me. When you arrive, our friendship will no doubt cause you to inquire for me. But I can tell you already where you’ll find me—I’ll be sitting at the feet of the thief whom Jesus saved in His dying moments on the cross!” Although a distinguished man, Newton felt that he could only class himself among the chief of sinners who have been saved through marvelous grace.[v]

When I was in Ohio this week for the ordination of Pastor Alan Aley, I was struck by the humble, poor in Spirit attitude of Alan and his wife, Teresa. Alan grew up here in California. He went to Fuller Theological Seminary. And then God sent him to a small farming town in northwest Ohio to do his one-year internship. When he completed his year, Alan was then able to send out his pastor information in order to find a call. A small church in northeast Kansas called him to be their pastor. The town that Alan and Teresa now live in has 260 people in the town. Can you imagine moving from Southern California to a town of 260 people? Alan and Teresa will serve a congregation of 70 people. They will share the Good News of Jesus with all the people they can. It struck me while I was there, that Alan could have felt like he was not being recognized for his hard work at Fuller. No, Teresa and Alan have given up everything in order to follow Jesus. Alan and Teresa were so happy and blessed when he was ordained. The church in Ohio was packed out—they had never held an ordination there before. Pastors from every church showed up to bless Alan and to send him off. Teresa called this morning and told us that twenty members of their new church in Kansas showed up upon their 9 pm arrival in order to unload their 26-foot U-Haul. They had planned to sleep on the floor and have the people unload them in the morning. Nope. Those 20 people showed up and unloaded that truck in an hour! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom.”

Our Leadership Team is working this summer and reviewing our vison statement and mission statement. While I was in Ohio, the hotel room where I stayed at had this picture hanging in my room. I looked at it for three days. “God what are you saying to me? What are you doing with The Seed?” I don’t think it was a coincidence that this picture was in my room—the dandelion is the logo of The Seed. I’ve shown the picture to several people over the week. One person said, “Dave, that is what The Seed does, it spreads the Good News of God by helping other churches ordain a new pastor.” Another person shared, “Dave, God is saying ‘MISSION IS THE SAME—know, grow, go sow!’” As I sat there in my room and looked at the picture, I truly felt like God was telling me that our church is aptly named THE SEED. We plant seeds of faith. We plant people of faith—I think of Larry and Joan, and Lynn, and Mike and Terry, Don and Joanne and so many others.

SO WHAT

The “so what” question for us today is “How do we become low-minded-- poor in spirit?” The answer is “We must empty our lives in order to be filled with God.” I read a great illustration on this:

Let’s say it’s morning. And let’s say that you’ve stumbled into the kitchen and made yourself a cup of something to drink. And let’s say that as you stumble to the table…you slip and stumble and you spill your drink a little. If you’re drinking coffee—then you’ve spilled coffee. If you drink tea, then you’ve spilled tea. If you’re drinking water, then you’ve spilled water.

That’s just how we are. Whatever it is that we are full of—is what is going to spill out of us when we stumble and fall. Or when someone else stumbles into us. If we are filling ourselves up with the words of Jesus, we stand a much better chance of spilling out humility, happiness, joy, grace, love and mercy.

We were driving home from our grandson’s all-star baseball game yesterday. Jac looked at the sign she printed and taped to the dash of her car and she said, “You know, I should make a bunch of these and sell them wherever I go. I could probably sell 5 a day at $1 each.” You know what the sign says, “HOW IMPORTANT WILL THIS BE IN TEN YEARS?”

Your homework for the week is to keep emptying yourself of your negativity…and to read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5-7. Let’s try to fill our hearts and minds with the beatitudes. Let’s start with the first one: Blessed are the poor in spirit…for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

You want to be truly happy? You want to be truly whole and complete? Somehow, we have to figure out to be happy sitting in the bleachers of life.

The Seed Christian Fellowship

Rancho Cucamonga, California 91701

www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

July 1, 2018

Pastor Dave Peters

[i] Phillip Yancy. The Jesus I Never Knew

[ii] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 573). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[iii] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 573). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[iv] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 573). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[v] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 571). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

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