Blessed are the Poor
Matthew 5:1-3
July 10, 2022
One Sunday after worship --- a little boy told the pastor, “When I get a job, I’m gonna give you some money. The pastor said, “Well, thank you, but why?”
“Because my daddy says you’re one of the poorest preachers we’ve ever had.”
Being poor, ooh, nobody wants to go there, do they? Nobody really wants the word POOR to be associated with their name. I have never met anybody who said being poor is on their bucket list.
We seek to escape it, not to embrace it. Poverty may look good on some saint, like Saint Francis, but it’s not one of our life goals.
We don’t want to be called financially poor, nor do we want it to be said we did a poor job, or that we’re poorly dressed. And we don’t want it to be said we have too many pores on our head!
There’s a former NFL football player, Jamarcus Russell. He was the first pick of the NFL draft in 2007. After 3 years he was released and has been called the biggest draft bust in the NFL. We don’t want that to be said about us in any respect.
“Oh, Deutsch, he had all the tools. He was super talented, but he turned out to be really bad . . . a bust. A poor selection, a poor addition to the team.”
And when it comes to finances, I’ve not heard of too many people who say ‘they’d rather be poor.’ Or ‘no, please reduce my salary, you pay me too much!’
We’re in week 2 of taking a good look at the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus. And we’re looking at the beginning of that sermon, which is called the Beatitudes. The story is found in the gospel of Matthew, in chapter 5 - - -
1 Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
2 And Jesus opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So, what does this means, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.”
Jesus isn’t talking about being financially poor. He’s talking about being poor in spirit. And who really wants to be called poor in spirit? Certainly not me! I don’t want to be associated with that. So, what’s Jesus getting at with this statement!?
Jesus isn’t talking about economics, He’s talking about every aspect of our being - - - He’s talking about our HEART, our SPIRIT, our MIND, and our BODY. We can’t just give Him a small morsel of ourselves, it’s a striving to give all that we have to Jesus. And this is what makes this passage from Jesus so difficult. In fact, it’s what makes the Beatitudes — counter-intuitive and seemingly backwards.
When Jesus used the word POOR, let me explain what He meant. There are 2 Greek words for POOR. The first word describes a person who has to work for a living, they’re not destitute, but they would be considered struggling financially. Jesus is NOT referring to this type of poor.
The POOR Jesus is talking about - - describes a person who’s destitute of wealth, influence, position, and honor; they’re helpless and powerless. So, when Jesus talks about the poor in spirit, we could say - - - Blessed are those who are destitute of wealth, honor, influence, position and honor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Again, who wants to admit they’re poor - - - whether it be poor in spirit, poor in money, or even poor in their job or dressed - - - - who wants to make that admission?
We tend to look at others and give them extra credit for their stylish clothes, language, looks, and knowledge. We glamorize these people. We uphold them as the standard. But we lose sight that these are the externals, and what Jesus is concerned with is the internal . . . THE SPIRIT and HEART.
Let’s look at a Biblical story to see what Jesus means. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about two men.
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:9-14
This parable is a perfect case study. Two men go to the Temple to pray . . . the Pharisee exalts and praises himself, and thanks God he’s not like that other lowlifes, especially that good for nothing shnook of a tax collector, who’s standing across the room from him.
The Pharisee reminds God about all of the good he’s doing . . . he gives 10% and fasts twice a week. He’s the model of the perfect Christian, isn’t he? Someone who’s in church, they’re here every time the doors are open, they give time and money, and they read the Bible and pray. We hold them up as the model Christian. But where is their heart? Who’s got their heart? What is it their heart treasures? Is it really God? In this parable, Jesus would say NO!
Then we meet the tax collector, he’s the low life. Tax collectors were despised, because they were Jewish and were working for the Roman government --- taking money from their own people to give to the Romans. Any time the Romans wanted to raise taxes they could, the Jews had no rights. And if you were short of money, the Jewish tax collector would strong arm you to get your money.
The tax collector could still attend the Temple, but he would not be welcome and asked to sit near the front. He’s a poor quality guy in their opinion. Yet, the tax collector couldn’t even look toward the heavens. All he could do was beat his chest, call himself a sinner and ask for mercy from the Most High God. He just wants to experience the mercy and grace of God, because he knows he’s a sinner. He has no problem admitting his sinfulness.
Go back to the first verse of this parable from Jesus and you can see who it was addressed to. Luke told us it was addressed to those who trusted, in fact, who were confident in themselves. They didn’t think they needed anything, they had it all.
Jesus is telling us they were certain in who they were - - - the righteous, the better than you . . . Jewish leaders. They felt so rich in righteousness that they had contempt for anyone who wasn’t as good as they were. They were checking all of the right boxes.
It would have been unheard of for them to consider themselves poor in spirit.
So, how easy is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven? In Matthew 19, Jesus told us - - -
24It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. - Matthew 19:24
Why is it so hard for the rich person to enter the kingdom? Because they don’t believe they have needs. What material needs does a rich person have? When I sat for my Oral Defense for my doctorate, my first reader and mentor told me about his son in law who is Jewish - - about the fact that he refuses to listen about Christ. After all, my mentor said, he makes 10 digits per year. In other words, his son-in-law is loaded. He makes over $10 million. In his heart, who needs God when you’ve got the world where you want it?
So, Jesus tells us, when you think you have no needs, when you look at yourself and you’re confident you have it all, when you wallow in your arrogance and narcissistic pride, who do you think is in control? You are! Yet, we have needs which we refuse to admit having.
So, what is Jesus really getting at?
For Jesus - - - to be poor in spirit means we recognize and even claim that we are totally, spiritually bankrupt before God. It’s admitting --- that because of our sin, we’re completely destitute ---- ---- spiritually bankrupt . . . and we can’t deliver ourselves. We’re powerless to redeem ourselves.
Jesus is saying - - - no matter our status in life, we must recognize our spiritual poverty before we can come to God in faith to receive the salvation He offers.
But how does being poor in spirit result in the kingdom of heaven? The phrase can have a few meanings, but the main meaning of “kingdom of heaven” refers to salvation. Yet, the kingdom of heaven has a dual meaning.
It’s both a present, a here and now promise, but it’s also a future promise. It means we have eternity in heaven with God after death. It’s what Paul said in Romans 6.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23
That’s our future promise, the promise and hope of eternal life, that our sinfulness will not be used to punish us when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
And it’s also what Jesus said about our time in this world . . . in the 2nd half of John 10:10, He said - - -
10 I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10
God offers us salvation as a gift, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the full payment for sin’s penalty. In order to receive the gift of salvation we need to claim our spiritual bankruptcy. Claiming we’re sinners in need of grace. Ultimately, it’s a daily prayer.
And we’re offered the hope of living the abundant life until we reach eternity with God in heaven.
If we don’t see ourselves as having any needs . . . if we can’t see that we’re sinners in need of grace, then we will never move towards a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Yet, we come to understand that we’re sinners. We sin on a regular basis. We do it without thinking and we do it with thinking. We do it by accident and we do it premeditatedly. So, we state before God, just like that tax collector . . . Lord, have mercy on me God, I’m a sinner in need of your grace.
It’s what David prayed in Psalm 51 - - -
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. - Psalm 51
David recognized his plight. He knew he needed to be cleansed, washed, purified. He’s admitting his sin, his spiritual brokenness. That’s the road to redemption. That’s what God wants us to do. Ultimately, David cries out to God at the end of this psalm . . .
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. - Psalm 51
You see what God wants? He doesn’t want all of your sacrifices. Jesus tells us later to leave our gifts at the altar if we have something against our brother or sister. What God wants is a broken and contrite heart. Because that’s a heart and spirit which recognizes it’s brokenness and sinfulness. It’s the proclamation that we are poor in spirit.
Jesus says after you reconcile, then come back and offer your gifts, because you’ve now accepted your broken spirit and you’re receiving the kingdom of heaven in your gifts.
A heart like that will never be cast away by God. God wants us to admit our need for Him. Everyday!! On the good days and on the not so good days. Call out to God.
Another word we can use to substitute for poor in spirit is to say we must be HUMBLE in spirit. When we practice humility, we’re placing others ahead of us. We’re proclaiming we don’t come first. That’s not always easy to do. It’s not always the way the world wants us to look at ourselves. They want us to look out for ourselves before anyone else.
But that’s not true in God’s economy.
When we come to God, we must realize our own sin and our spiritual emptiness. We must not be self-satisfied or proud in our hearts, thinking we don’t need God. It’s impossible for God to bless us when we don’t see a need for God in our lives. James tells us - - -
6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. - James 4:6
Jesus’ message is clear: we desperately need Him. Jesus didn’t come to earth to save those who already have it figured out — He came to save those who cannot save themselves. Which by the way is all of us.
In John 9:39-41, Jesus described the self-righteous Pharisees as blind men, proud of their own righteousness and oblivious to their own depravity. Jesus came to save those who knew they were blind and recognized their spiritual poverty.
If we don’t recognize this, then it’s really hard to embrace Jesus and call ourselves sinners in need of His amazing grace.
Christians should be the humblest people on the planet. When we recognize our spiritual poverty we can then run to the King of kings and Lord of lords. We can run into the arms of our gracious God, the one who is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
So, Jesus tells us - --
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Are you one we would call poor or humble in spirit? Would you call on God with me as we pray to be filled with His Spirit in our spirits to help us to recognize our sinfulness, our brokenness.
Claim your spiritual poverty and embrace the kingdom of heaven!
