Blessed are the poor in Spirit
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of GOD.
As I was reflecting on today’s reflections (Monday) I was most struck by the question: “Tell about a time in your life when you felt physically/emotionally/relationally bankrupt/lost etc. How did it impact your view of God?”
I have a friend named John who is a musician. He was sort of a mentor/older brother to me when I was in college. John recorded his first cd when we had just started our friendship. John lived in a state of need for God. Most of the songs on His cd had a flavor of neediness, brokenness and desperateness. He was completely aware of how self-reliant, prideful, and arrogant he could become. It seemed he walked with a fear of God that I had never seen or felt.
It is interesting that in Luke during the sermon on the mount, Jesus is quoted as saying “Blessed are the poor,” as opposed to “poor in spirit.” It seems that in many ways these things go hand in hand. The poor (materially) understand that they are needy, and that God holds their future in His hands. They are dependent for their next meal, or for clean drinking water. The poor, just like the birds of the air need God to feed them.
However in America we pride ourselves on protection. We have health insurance, car insurance, home owners, renters insurance, nest eggs, and back up plans. Many of these things thrive because we want to be independent. Independent from each other and from God.
So how do we as a community grasp “poor in spirit” in the midst of a culture that believes we aren’t meant to rely on anybody but ourselves? How do we as rich people (If you live in America you are rich compared to the rest of the world, even if you are in college) grasp this idea that we really are poor? How do I live like my friend John?
Micah
As I was reflecting on today’s reflections (Monday) I was most struck by the question: “Tell about a time in your life when you felt physically/emotionally/relationally bankrupt/lost etc. How did it impact your view of God?”
I have a friend named John who is a musician. He was sort of a mentor/older brother to me when I was in college. John recorded his first cd when we had just started our friendship. John lived in a state of need for God. Most of the songs on His cd had a flavor of neediness, brokenness and desperateness. He was completely aware of how self-reliant, prideful, and arrogant he could become. It seemed he walked with a fear of God that I had never seen or felt.
It is interesting that in Luke during the sermon on the mount, Jesus is quoted as saying “Blessed are the poor,” as opposed to “poor in spirit.” It seems that in many ways these things go hand in hand. The poor (materially) understand that they are needy, and that God holds their future in His hands. They are dependent for their next meal, or for clean drinking water. The poor, just like the birds of the air need God to feed them.
However in America we pride ourselves on protection. We have health insurance, car insurance, home owners, renters insurance, nest eggs, and back up plans. Many of these things thrive because we want to be independent. Independent from each other and from God.
So how do we as a community grasp “poor in spirit” in the midst of a culture that believes we aren’t meant to rely on anybody but ourselves? How do we as rich people (If you live in America you are rich compared to the rest of the world, even if you are in college) grasp this idea that we really are poor? How do I live like my friend John?
Micah
posted by Missio Dei at 4:01 PM
3 Comments:
and if we aren't poor (especially in relation to the rest of the world), should we do something to make ourselves poor? Should we work for less money? Should we give everything we have away? God appears to give some people a lot more money than others. So, what are they supposed to do? Maybe there are things that rich people experience that make them desperate for God... Anybody want to make some suggestions?
Micah says "So how do we as a community grasp “poor in spirit” in the midst of a culture that believes we aren’t meant to rely on anybody but ourselves?"
And Anon adds "and if we aren't poor (especially in relation to the rest of the world), should we do something to make ourselves poor?"
My thoughts on this would be to step back and think about the society that Jesus envisioned - the kingdom that he was inaugurating.
In Matt 11:5 Jesus shares the purpose for his mission with his cousin, John, who is in prison. What Jesus says here makes me think "You gotta be kidding, Jesus!". He talks about helping the blind see, the lame walk, the leper to be clean, the deaf to hear and the dead raised back to life. Great stuff!! Then he says to the poor he brings "good news". What is with that?
Build them houses, cloth them, feed them, give them free AIDS medicines. Why was Jesus bringing them good news I am wondering?
Jesus reaches back to the Hebrew word "Anawim" - the poor, homeless, landless Jews that God promised to one day restore to prosperity. Anawim eventually took on the idea of the poor in spirit who had an unwavering trust in God and committed themselves entirely to doing his will. Jesus was met at his birth by the Anawim - the poor ones, the nobodies, the people on the margins of respectability. Ana, Simeon, Joseph, Mary, the shepards.
This is the same word we hear from Jesus lips as he speaks in the beatitudes of the people that will be found in God's Kingdom. Those who allow themselves to be humbled by God through the circumstances of life to acknowledge their utter dependence on Him, even for their next breath.
I think that is why Jesus was bringing the poor good news...it was enough. It was what they were looking for.
I also think that is why Jesus says in Matt 19 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God."
In the world and economy where Jesus spoke those words, we are all "the rich person".
As we each learn to give up our own posture of power and control and fellowship with others that are in need and marginalized and welcome them to the table and minister to their needs, we can learn from them to be the Kingdom of God.
We will be in a position to hear and receive the good news and to offer it to others!
Through this misty haze almost as dark as night I see a shimmer and glow of something faint. An ancient relic that has been coveted by many men over the vast span of time. only to realize I was the one to find it and it was meant for me, I protect it with my life. The relic was a talent that I had, almost lost in the dead of night, its glow was slowly fainting and almost was no more, but not its getting brighter and I'm so much more, there are those who seek to destroy the relic and devour the one who bears it, yet hope remains as I begin to become stronger and the talent gives me power, a few friends I have, have made me now the better. The odds are stacked against me, and my trial has still come, but I as part of Gods mission hope that battles soon won. Do not fret my friends there is still hope that remains. For those who were poor in Spirit God kingdom for them still remains.
a member of Missio Dei
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