Westwood Presbyterian Church

April 6th, 2008

197 Browning  Boulevard, Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3K 0L1

REV. PETER BUSH's SERMONS

Matthew 5: 3

 

Blessed are the poor in Spirit 

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

     I was taught in debating that it is always important to define our terms – and with the beatitudes and especially this beatitude that is an important thing to do because “poor in spirit” is one of those phrases that we all think we know what it means – but when at least I try to define it -- I end up realizing that I don’t really know what I am talking about.

     “Poor” – the poor are those who have not, right? Poor are people who have less of this world’s resources – the poor possess less – the poor have less – the poor don’t have – they have not.

     Let’s stick with the material world for a moment before we launch into the spiritual world. So can a person wear nice clothes, live in a nice house, eat in fine restaurants and not have – not possess? I would argue yes. Let me explain. The issue is possessing, having – it is an attitude issue. Is the attitude towards the things of life that I possess them – that they are mine, all mine? Or do I hold them more loosely, recognizing that in fact none of them are mine – that I possess none of them, that they are all gift.

     The blessed poor are those who realize that they have nothing – that nothing is their possession – that nothing is fully under their control. Everything is simply passing through their hands on its way to someone else.

I am sure that you have heard about the four buddies who made a deal that when the first one died the other three would put $1,000 in the coffin to go with the deceased to the other world. Well, the one guy died and at the wake his three buddies were there – the first two each slid a wad of $100 bills into the casket – the third guy wrote a check for $1,000 and put it in.

We can’t take our stuff with us – and that is something that we discover even this side of death – we can not take it with us. Things come and they go – we can never possess them. And even more shocking – those things that we try to hold to tightly – we discover that they are especially likely to slip out of our hands.

 

      Not only do we have no ability to possess – to have – the things in our hands. But we didn’t really earn them either – they – especially the ones that we care most about come as a gift. Our children, our friendships, our spouses – none of these would we say that we “earned” – we would recognize these as gifts.

     And we can apply the same truth to more tangible realities – yes, we may have worked hard at paying off the mortgage on the house – but finding the house was for many of us a gift. And the things that made the house into a home were not about owning and possessing – they are about gift and surprise and grace.

     And if we really want to be point blank about this gifted nature of life – what have any of us done to earn living in one of the wealthiest and most stable countries in the world. What have we done to make being in Canada something that we can claim to “have” – “possess.” The fact that we are here and not somewhere else is gift – pure and simple – it is gift.

     Let’s not forget where this started – we are defining “poor” – to be “poor” is to be a “have not”. To be poor is to possess little – to possess nothing. Thus it is possible to have a healthy back account with your name on it – but to be poor for you live as someone who does not possess that – you live as someone who understands that all of this is gift.

 

     To be “poor in spirit” then is to take that “have not” idea and apply it to not just the material aspect of my life – but to my spiritual life. To apply it to my view of myself.

     I am sure you have heard the line – “Last year I had a problem with pride, but now I am perfect.” The “great” country and western song hit the same theme: “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble; when you're perfect in every way.”

     The poor in spirit are those who know they “have not” – they know that they are not perfect, they know that they do not have their act together. The poor in spirit are those who are humble about themselves, their ability, and their gifts.

     The poor in spirit are those who are surprised when people talk about them as examples of living the Christian life. The poor in spirit are those who are surprised when people complement them on their gifts and abilities. The poor in spirit are those who are surprised when people want to honour them in some way. The poor in spirit wonder why their spiritual life is flat – they wish their prayer life was better – they feel they have nothing to say when asked to tell their story of faith.

     Those not “poor in spirit” quietly complement themselves on their faithfulness in following God when those other people are not pulling their weight, are not living up to what God wants. Those not “poor in spirit” live in expectation of being thanked for their hard work and live to be honoured for their ability. Those not “poor in spirit” anticipate personal glory and complements rather than being surprised by such words.

    

     At this point people are going to be saying – “Wait, what about self-esteem? Shouldn’t I feel good about what I can do, who I am, about myself?” Sure we are too feel good about who we are – but my self-esteem is not rooted in what I have (gifts, abilities, applause) – my self-esteem is not rooted in what I can do.

     If my self-worth is rooted in what I can do – my gifts and abilities – and for a moment we will pick on me. If my value is rooted in what I do – which includes speaking – what happens is suddenly I lose my voice – is my value lessened. If what gains me applause is speaking words that are appreciated by others – what happens when my words are tougher and more demanding – and there is less applause – does my value decline.

     My self worth can not be rooted in what I do, because that it is build it on something that I am trying to possess, to have – and we now that I can not possess anything – it will slip away.

     So what then gives me value – what allows us to feel good about ourselves?

     Psalm 8 helps us here. Each of us has been made by God – and God has crowned each of us with glory and honour. God has given us our place, our value – and nothing can shake that sure reality. So my value – my importance – rests not on what I do, not on how capable I am – rather it rests on God’s gift in making me, and in giving me value – end of story. This is not something I have earned – it is a gift. It is grace – it is offered to all. Because all human beings – regardless of what they do or do not do; regardless of their abilities are made by God and crowned with glory and honour.

 

      So blessed are the poor in the spirit – those who have not – those who seek to possess – control – own nothing. Blessed are those who know that they have nothing – that everything they have is a gift which is theirs to use before it slips away. Blessed are those who know that even their following of God is a gift of God.

 

     So what blessing do the poor in spirit receive? – the Kingdom of heaven.  

     The religious people of Jesus’ day thought they were going to get into the kingdom of heaven – they did all the right things. They also knew exactly who wasn’t going to get into the kingdom of heaven – those people who the religious people were better than. There was a clear set of parameters -- there were the ins and the outs and people knew which was which – or thought they did. 

     Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children, you can not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Little children have little sense of earning – of deserving. Little children just receive and rejoice in the receiving. The poor in spirit are the same – they simply receive graciously, unexpectedly, joyously.

 

     When I was in grades 9 and 10 we lived in Wolfville, Nova Scotia a community of 3,000 people, we lived half a block from the Applebee’s – not the restaurant – but in this case two elderly spinster sisters and their mentally challenged elderly brother. Irma did most of the care giving for Harold. She would send him downtown to do the shopping. Since Harold found calculating change difficult – Irma would call the stores find out how much the various items she wanted were and then work out the taxes and put enough money in different coloured change purses for each store -- so Harold knew that the red one was for the grocery store, the green from the hardware store, and so on. Even though it would have been easier for Irma to do it herself – she took the time so that Harold was not embarrassed and had value. Irma arranged for Harold to usher and collect the offering at the Sunday evening service in one of the local churches – and she made sure he got there on time to do his job.

     As a 14 and 15 year old I looked at Irma’s life and thought – “How boring, how full of drudgery.” Because Irma could have had a very different life if she wanted to, one with much bigger fanfare, but this is the life she chose. Now I see her life differently – whenever I think about the poor in spirit I think of Irma. A woman who did not seek to possess much – but rather gave much. A woman who if she knew she was being held up as a model of the poor in spirit would be shocked and embarrassed. But she knew that her life had value not because of great applause, but because she was made by God and she cared for another person who was also made by God.