This past week’s Gospel reading from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer is from the Gospel of Matthew, and is the Beatitudes, a list of eight blessings God gives to those most would consider unfortunate. There is not enough time or space today to sufficiently cover all eight beatitudes, so I have selected only one to look at this morning. Let’s look at the first beatitude - “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The Beatitudes were the opening to the vital Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus preached to the crowds early in His ministry, and we find in Matthew 5 - 7. The first item on any list is generally an important one, and the first one of the Beatitudes, the first that the Lord Jesus calls blessed, are those who are poor in spirit.
Who are the poor in spirit? Some people might think that this is referring to those who are depressed, who are feeling down in the dumps, or those who don’t have much self-esteem. Some might think that this is referring to people who are poor, who don’t have much financial resources. However, the “poor in spirit” that Jesus was referring to are not any of these folks.
Those who are poor in spirit have a deep spiritual humility, and recognize their utter spiritual bankruptcy apart from God. Those who are poor in spirit have a realistic understanding of their standing before God. They know that God is perfectly holy, powerful, and wise. They also know that they are sinful, not in control, and do wrong, sometimes even terrible actions. They acknowledge that they are sinners and in need of God’s grace. They are acutely conscious of their own lostness and hopelessness apart from God’s grace and the gift of salvation through the shed Blood of Jesus.
The poor in spirit have an attitude of total humility. They are ones who acknowledge their spiritual poverty, that they have nothing on their own to offer God, and who, due to their sinful condition, deserve nothing from Him. They are honest about being sinful, and come to God empty-handed, turning to Him in total trust and dependence for salvation.
Only when we face the truth of our spiritual condition are we rightly called blessed. Only by letting go of what we try to do in our own strength can we receive what God has done for us. In order to receive a part in the kingdom of God, we must acknowledge our spiritual poverty, that we can do nothing for ourselves, and that it must all come from Him. The kingdom of heaven is a gracious gift to those who sense their own poverty of spirit.
To be poor in spirit is the opposite of having a spiritually self-sufficient spirit. It clashes with the worldly values of pride and personal independence. Someone who has strong-willed pride will not willingly acknowledge that there is nothing they can do to earn heaven. They will not come to God in humility, acknowledging their sinfulness and need of His mercy and grace. Those who are poor in spirit will. A spiritually proud spirit was a fault in the Laodicean church which we read about in Revelation 3:14-17. They were proud, and blind to their own spiritual neediness. They were not of the poor in spirit that Jesus was talking about.
In his epistle, James tells us that when we are humble before God, such as those who are poor in spirit are, He will lift us up (James 4:10). Not only lift us up, but give us a part in His kingdom. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah also spoke of God dwelling with those who are of a lowly and contrite spirit (Isaiah 57:15). God loves the lowly in heart, because He is lowly in heart.
Is your spirit filled with pride and self-sufficiency? Do you feel that you can merit heaven through your own efforts? Or are you one of the blessed that Jesus speaks of, those who are poor in spirit? It is to them that the kingdom of heaven is given.
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