The Beatitudes: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
They named it “The Sermon on The Mount” neither title is accurate. It was more of a mound or large hill than a mountain and it certainly was more than just another sermon to be listened to and rehashed over dinner. This was God in human flesh here to reestablish a relationship between Himself and man and to reveal the secrets to real living. He said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Evidently that abundant life is not something bestowed on us automatically. It comes when we follow certain principles and attain certain attitudes in our lives.
He sat on the side of a hill and gave us a blueprint of those principles and attitudes in simple detail. Now if He is God in the flesh, and if He is outlining the way to real life, then the words He said there should become the most important words ever spoken or written. The amazing thing is these are some of the most overlooked and ignored words in the Bible. We hear many more sermons on Abraham and Isaac that we ever hear about the beatitudes. We read them and give them our normal, “I know that is what He said BUT?” So maybe it will be worth our time to look at what I call the eight attitudes of abundant living.
BEATITUDE 1: POOR IN SPIRIT
I was speaking to a group of business owners about what changes their industry faced in the future. They were already a fairly progressive group but were in an industry that was bound by a culture of “we have never done it that way before.” When I finished my speech one young man said, “Of course you realize you are speaking to the choir.” It was one of those times when I got the answer I should have said three days too late. I wish I had said, “Joining the choir is one of the worse things you can ever do. Once you are in the choir your creativity is over. Once you think you have it all figured out and are doing it right you will never tremble with excitement over a new thought or concept.”
This is the beginning of a series of blogs on the beatitudes. It seems to me that these profound statements of Jesus are not rules to follow or demands He makes. I could be wrong of course, but to me these are statements from Him on how to be well-rounded human beings. These are psychological statements, as it were, giving some very sound advice about being a whole sane person. The word “blessed” is usually translated as happy but that word does not reveal the true depth of the meaning. I think He is talking about finding a deep sense of contentment and peace within ourselves.
My statement about the choir seems to fit the first one of these statements. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” On the surface that seems to mean we should be so humble we come across as totally beaten down with no self-esteem. I don’t think it means that at all. The concordance translates the word poor as trembling. That too sounds like we are to be trembling in fear and self-pity, but it is also possible to tremble with excitement and enthusiasm about what we can experience and learn.
To me, poor in spirit means I have not joined the choir. I dare not think I know it all yet. Nor should I ever settled down with a set of absolutes and think I am right and everyone else is wrong. Knowing I do not know it all frees me up to seek and learn new and exciting things about God and His kingdom.
Opening our minds to new thoughts and experiences can be frightening, of course. It means we must face our doubts and fears with honesty and often have some things we do not understand and cannot explain. However, keeping a closed mind means we never develop any further and must spend our lives trying to make the same thoughts and the same experiences fresh and vital, and there can be no trembling with anticipation about what wonderful ideas and concepts lie ahead of us. His kingdom can never be reduced to one package of theological opinions.
We live in a world with too many absolutes and too many folks who have found a few scriptures and joined with some other people who believe the same things they believe and have grown content with the knowledge that they are right and do not need to think any further or explore what anyone else has discovered about God. They are like the guy who could only see people as like trees walking around after Jesus touched his eyes once and he needed another touch. But these folks would have settled with the first touch and missed so much of what the gospel has to offer and what Jesus taught.
Absolutes are ripping our society apart. There was a time when folks who saw and believed things different from us seemed to just be on the other side of a small fence. We still loved and fellowshiped with them while just agreeing to disagree. We enjoyed joking with each other about our differences, but somehow we lost our senses of humor. Everything became too serious. Careers can be destroyed by one slip of the tongue. We laughed our way through a depression and a dust bowl but now we are depressing our way through prosperity.
Now anyone who is different seems to be on the other side of a deep chasm and have become enemies to be slandered and blamed. We have moved from disagreeing to judging. Some of the posts offered by my dear friends leave me wondering if they no longer think I am a Christian. We are now polarized politically, socially, racially and religiously and that is scary. A democracy cannot long exist without compromise and acceptance. Closed minds rob people of joy and destroy societies.
It is those who refuse to join the choir, who know they do not know it all, who realize they can learn much from others and are searching for knowledge, that discover all the kingdom has for us and does to us.
To me the beatitude says, “Blessed are those who keep an open and inquisitive mind for they continue to discover and experience all the Kingdom of God has in store for us.”
Attitude one: Keep an open mind.