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| “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” so begins Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. If these words were not so familiar, we would find them quite alarming. We would not even think of associating blessing with poverty, be it material or spiritual. Being poor is not a virtue! Or is it?
This is the first of a series of eight beatitudes (blessings) found in Matthew chapter 5 and it is the foundation upon which the rest are built. Jesus is describing people who understand their lowly position before God. They recognize their unworthiness to come before God on their own. This is often misunderstood, so let me illustrate what I mean with a conversation I had recently. I was explaining the concept of the atonement (Jesus dying for our sins) to someone with whom I have had a long and close relationship. He almost shouted, “Damn it Pat, I am a good man!” I quickly agreed that he was, indeed, a good man by almost any standard and I would be happy to bear witness on his behalf. In comparison with other people he clearly rates the status of being a “good man.” But I explained that it was not his status before other people that we were talking about. Would he be willing to stand before God and say, “Damn it God, I am a good man”?
Fortunately, my friend understood and backed off immediately. But not everyone is so willing. Many are self-confident, self-reliant, and self-assured, and are quite willing to go before God on their own terms. It seems that this is their privilege – God has given us that freedom. But Jesus is saying that it is not those who will have access to the kingdom of heaven but rather, the poor in spirit. According to Jesus, heaven is not for the proud but for the humble.
For the poor in spirit there can be confidence, but not arrogance. Instead of self-reliant we are to be God-reliant; instead of self-assured we are to be God-assured; instead of self-confident our confidence is to be in God. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.”
Most of us strive for independence and self-reliance all of our lives, yet Jesus taught that we must be poor in spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. To forget our need for God’s grace and our dependence on Him is to display an attitude of arrogance in the face of overwhelming evidence that calls for humility. And when Christians display such arrogance it calls into question whether they understand Jesus at all. At the very least they have forgotten one of the most foundational elements of their faith–their spiritual bankruptcy before God and their utter need for Christ. As it turns out, being poor in spirit is a virtue and a blessing! |
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by Dr. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor |
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