Opening and Introduction
In today's Gospel lesson, we heard the introduction to the most famous sermon that Jesus delivered, the Sermon on the Mount.
1. Setting the Stage
When we align all four of the Gospels, we see that a lot has already happened with His ministry. He’s been baptized by John the Baptist and received public acknowledgment from God the Father that He is pleased with His Son. Jesus has healed many people who were sick, chased out a few demons, and taught in the temple. Word of His wisdom and the miracles are spreading. Jesus was becoming well known and had a following of people who sought Him to hear what He had to say. Along the way, He’s called a small group of students that we know as the Disciples.
1. a. Location
Our text says that Jesus gathered his disciples on a mountain. Although we can’t physically confirm where Jesus preached this sermon, the generally agreed upon location is a hill in Northern Israel overlooking the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The hillside would’ve served to amplify Jesus’ words to reach more people. The combination of the bowl-like shape of the terrain, and the strong winds common in the area, likely served as a natural amplifier and would have carried quite far if the wind was blowing toward the sea.
The city of Capernaum is close by, where two of the disciples, brothers Peter and Andrew, called home. Although I’ve not had the pleasure of visiting this place, the pictures are magnificent, with the sea below the hill, and additional hills in the distance. Today, there is a domed church called the Church of the Beatitudes that marks the likely location of the sermon.
Crowd and the Disciples
Our lesson begins at this place with Jesus sitting down on the hillside. Today, we think of teachers in a classroom standing before seated students. But, in Jesus’ day, it was more common for a rabbi to be seated, and for students to either sit or stand around their master.
Our Lord was here to teach His Disciples, but the crowds who followed wanted to hear too. So, some of the Beatitudes were addressed to the crowds. Of the nine phrases, the first eight of the verses were for the crowds to hear. We know this because Jesus is talking to the Disciples, yet each of the phrases is addressed to “they.” They shall be comforted. They shall inherit. They shall be satisfied.
However, the last one is different. Here, Jesus, talking directly to his closer circle of followers, speaking with the phrase ‘Blessed are YOU’. This is more personal. I can imagine Jesus looking and this
close-knit group of men, looking them straight in the eye, and saying, “YOU” This applies to “YOU”.
“1. b. Blessed”
And what was said matters. In this conversation, it’s good to understand what was actually said as our English language doesn’t always capture the full meaning.
Each of the Beatitudes begins with the Greek word makários (µa??????), which we translate as “blessed.” The word captures a positive circumstance, and describes being fortunate and being granted divine grace. Divine grace is not something earned, but something freely given because of God’s goodness… not ours.
The word “blessed” is not intended to mean outward but inward blessings. These are not physical gifts, but spiritual blessings. This is the joy that comes from being a member of the family of God, and from our perspective… understanding what Jesus has done for us. With this in mind, I offer that the word blessed can be replaced with “spiritually prosperous” as a lens to view the remaining scripture. These phrases in the Beatitudes all refer to spiritual health.
2. Poor in Spirit
Each of the Beatitudes are separate phrases, yet each is connected to the other. Today, we’re going to focus on the first of the phrases. It’s the most prominent, and the one that sets the stages for the others that follow. It’s addressed to the poor in spirit, and aimed toward the crowd, but it also applied to the Disciples, and to us too.
Each and every one of us is unable to avoid the temptation of sins that our ancestors, Adam and Eve, passed down to us. Like our first father and mother, each of us has listened to God’s commands, yet still found a way to misbehave and do our own thing. We might not like to admit it, but all of us have failed to meet God’s standards.
And we know the standards. As Lutherans, we honor spending time reading the Bible and learning about God’s promises. We value God’s word and even use the catechism to teach our children about law, gospel, the creeds, and most importantly, God’s love, grace, and mercy.
Each Sunday, we share our faith in the words of the creeds, recognizing our broken nature. Each Sunday, we profess our sins, like we did earlier in this service, and confess that our very nature is ‘sinful and unclean’! Each of us struggles with temptation and sin on a regular basis. We need that confession. More importantly, we need absolution.
Do children always obey their parents? Are our actions always honorable? Do we fight temptation or run towards it? Paul wrote about how our actions should be measured. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8, ESV)
If we’re honest with ourselves, we struggle with meeting this standard! Are we always honorable? Do we always think pure thoughts? Would we feel comfortable announcing our darkest secrets to the world? It’s likely that we’re struggling in parts of our life. But, we’re not alone.
Even though the Apostle Paul defined how we should act, he struggled too. Paul wrote much of the New Testament. Paul, the great missionary for the Gentiles! He commanded a cripple to walk, and the man was healed (Acts 14:9-10). He even chased a demon out of a woman (Acts 16:18). He was an incredible, faithful, man. Yet, even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin in his life. In Romans chapter 7, he described his battle with sin. He wrote:
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Romans 7:15-18, ESV)
Let’s read that last part again, “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
Have you ever felt like that?
Like Paul, we’re unable to fix ourselves. We’re broken, sinful people, partly because we focus on ourselves rather than God’s will. Partly because we like to do our own thing, and partly because sin is all around us, and we often like to follow the ways of the world.
This brings us to the first phrase of the Beatitudes. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, ESV). Matthew’s use of the word “poor” is not meant to talk about money. It doesn’t indicate economic means. But there is a similarity.
Money provides opportunity. People without money have less opportunity. They are humble of means. In fact, someone who is in abject poverty is utterly helpless, a beggar, powerless, and destitute.
Just like the poor lack money, the ‘poor in spirit’ is similar in lacking righteousness. They have less opportunity to improve their sinful situations and no opportunity to remove the guilt from their lives.
The word for poor, ptochós (pt????) is used in several other passages in the New Testament, including Luke 16:20-21, where it is used to describe Lazarus, a poor man who was covered with sores and longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. In this context, poor conveys a sense of utter helplessness and dependence. In the Beatitudes, this is the state of being that Jesus is referring to when he says 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'.
The crowd was poor in spirit. The Disciples were poor in spirit. And we too are ‘poor in spirit’. We understand that we lack the resources to take care of ourselves. Sinful people can only continue in their sinful lives. We are spiritually broke…
spiritually bankrupt… spiritually destitute. We are the poor and needy, utterly helpless, and dependent on God for mercy and redemption.
Much like Lazarus… we’re looking for scraps coming from God’s table.
We’re begging for mercy, because we know we deserve punishment for our disobedience. Yet we ask for our sins to be forgiven.
King David understood what it meant to be poor in spirit. Although he’s recognized as a good man, a great king of Israel, a faithful man, he was also a sinner who errored in dramatic ways. David recognized his own weaknesses and captured some of these in Psalm 51. He wrote:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51: 1-3, ESV)
David understood his sin. He understood his powerlessness to fix that sin. David, was poor in spirit.
3. Lessons for Us
All of Jesus words are good for teaching, and the Beatitudes are no exception. I have three things that I’d like you to remember today.
First, the world around us is not our spiritual guide. It has a different standard than the one that God intended.
The Beatitudes explain God's blessings in a way that’s counter-intuitive to the world. The world honors the powerful and self-sufficient. Not the meek.
It’s the cut-throat business practices that succeed in society. Not the merciful.
Similarly, those who grieve show their emotions and may be considered weak. Yet, we tend to look up to those who strong, confident, and in control.
Meek, merciful, grieving… these are all blessed, but the world turns these around to lead us astray.
It’s hard to lead a sinless life… in fact, it’s impossible to be perfect… and the world around us does no favors to keep us on the right path. Society is filled with temptation…. and we’re subject to being pulled toward spiritual distress.
We can turn on the news and listen to reports of crises and debates of the day that revolve around sin. The world is not interested in being part of God’s plan but rejects His very nature.
Although we live IN the world, we are not destined to be part OF the world. Instead, we walk a path with temptation on either side. Walking a tight rope to get to the place where God’s plan is fulfilled.
First, the world is full of temptation.
Second, on our own, we’re powerless to improve our sinful state. We are spiritually destitute.
By acknowledging our sins and how far we’ve missed God’s standards, we humble ourselves and join the helpless beggars.
When we acknowledge the standard that God has established, the law identifies our sin and reflects it back to us. We recognize that the law is good. When we acknowledge our mistakes, we grieve over sin and our failure to comply with God’s will.
Yet, it’s those who recognize their sinful state, the inability to receive a cure for their sin. It’s the poor in spirit who realize their nature and place themselves at the feet of Jesus asking… begging for Mercy.
We have nothing to offer. No excuse for our actions. No righteousness to pay off our debt of sin. We are the poor in spirit, because we recognize our sinful debt, and recognize our powerlessness to do anything about it.
First, we’re tempted by the world.
Second, we’re spiritually destitute.
And third, the story doesn’t end with our spiritual depravity and temptation. Yes, we, too are the
poor in spirit... But we also know that God loves us dearly… and provides a solution for our sinful lives.
Shortly after the fall of mankind, God confronted Adam and Eve. But, it wasn’t a conversation that ended their lives or destroyed the world to begin again with more perfect creatures. Instead it was a plan of action that God set in motion.
In Genesis chapter 3 God established that a savior would come into the world to defeat Satan, and free us from our bondage to sin.
The Old Testament was written over many different histories with prophecies of a coming savior and predictions of how He would arrive. Born of a virgin. Rejected by His people. A suffering servant. He was a prophet… a priest… and a king… for all time. All of these prophecies were fulfilled.
Then He died by taking our sins to the cross… and rose from the dead defeating even death.
This was because of God’s love for us.
[Jesus said,] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18, ESV)
God had a plan from the very beginning. The prophets of Old Testament were part of that plan. We’re part of that plan too.
4. Conclusion
Tempted… powerless… yet redeemed.
Yes, the world around us is broken and sinful, and only God can make things right. That’s why Jesus came into the world. We can’t redeem ourselves from our sin. But Jesus can! He took our sins to the cross. He paid the price for our mistakes. He defeated death and rose from the grave.
And with those sacrifices that Jesus made for you and I… He paved the way for our entry into heaven. He set the stage for our admission into the holy city where we will be blessed with the Kingdom of Heaven.
And here on this All Saints Day, we can reflect on the promises of God, the fulfillment in Jesus, and the restoration of our very souls in the future. We are the poor in spirit. But Jesus is here to take care of us, redeem us, and deliver a path for us to enter the heavenly realm.
