Toeing the Poverty Line
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen picture after picture of devastation and loss, desperation and helplessness. Responses have ranged across the spectrum from courage and compassion and generosity to greed, exploitation, and headline-grabbing. But one thing it has brought home to us all is that when hard times come we are all dependent on the kindness of strangers. And that is a very precarious way to live. The goal of most of us is to be independent. Or at least, dependent only on our own skills and resources. Living on the edge of poverty, one mis-step away from disaster, is a very tense and uncomfortable way to live. It is good stewardship, prudent management, to set aside a comfortable margin to cushion ourselves against the unexpected. But the truth of the matter is that our own skills and resources can only take us just so far. They can only protect us from physical or financial dangers.
Except in times of disaster such as we have witnessed over the past weeks most of us don’t have to worry a great deal about food, clothing and shelter... When you don’t have those, “happiness” runs a poor last in the race. Happiness and survival are one and the same. But once your physical survival is assured, life gets a whole lot more complicated, doesn’t it. Once your feet are dry and your stomach full, you start worrying about other things, like finding work and housing and basically rebuilding your life. And it doesn’t stop there. Once those needs are satisfied, you start looking for other things, things that famous psychologist Abraham Maslow identified as “higher order needs.”
Are you happy? If not, what would it take to make you happy?
“What is happiness?” and “How can I happiness?” are two of the greatest questions facing people in the United States today.
Some people think that having the right things guarantees happiness; others that happiness consists of the freedom to make your own choices. A British group in the 19th century called Benthamites defined happiness as minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure. Sounds good, doesn’t it? But along comes the clinker... a phenomenon called “the hedonistic paradox.” The more time you spend looking for happiness, the less likely you are to find it.
The whole world is longing for happiness, and it is tragic to watch the self-destructive, futile ways in which many people are seeking it. Anything which encourages people to opt for short-term happiness and evade the difficulties of life ultimately adds to their problems. This is where the utter deceitfulness of sin comes in: it is always promising happiness, and it always leads - eventually - to unhappiness. If not for the person who actually made the initial choice, then for the people around them.
It’s not wrong to want happiness. Jesus’ most famous teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, starts out by promising happiness. But he goes on to say that there is only one way to be truly, lastingly happy, and that anyone who wants this kind of happiness had better sit up and listen.
Actually, the word “blessed” doesn’t exactly mean “happy,” although one famous modern preacher has suggested that we call this passage of Matthew the “be happy” attitudes. The Greek word “makarios” really means “fortunate” or “prosperous”... In other words, the person who is “makarios” has something bigger than a temporary feeling; there’s something going on here that makes a significant long-term favorable impact on the quality of his or her life. This type of person is truly happy, is truly “blessed.” This is the sort of person who is to be congratulated, and imitated.
The Sermon on the Mount is 3 chapters long. It’s full of short, pointed examples of behavior Jesus is recommending for his followers. And people often take a single incident, pull it out of context, and try to develop a rule with the illustration as its center. That’s not how this sermon works, though. Sermon illustrations never make sense unattached to the fundamental lessons. There are eight of them, and because each one begins with the word we translate as “blessed”, which in Latin is “Beata,” they are called “the Beatitudes.” Everything in this sermon must be understood in the light of the Beatitudes. They come at the beginning for a reason.
Jesus’ sermon is very carefully organized. Verses 3-16 speak in general terms; the remainder applies these generalities to specific situations. Verses 3-12, the words of the Gospel lesson, comprise the Beatitudes. The first 7 describe the Christian character, that is, poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart and peaceful. The last Beatitude, “Blessed are those who are persecuted,” portrays the reaction of the world to people who conform to this description. And the next 4 verses describe the general response of the Christian to the world in turn. The remainder of chapter 5 deals with the relationship of the Christian to the Mosaic law, while chapters 6 and 7 expand to cover a variety of other real-life situations, from the religious to the mundane.
The most important thing to remember about the Sermon on the Mount is that it is primarily concerned with character. Jesus makes it very clear that God judges according to the condition of a person’s heart far more than what is visible to the human eye. This sermon teaches his followers how to develop the kind of character God approves of. Now, to be sure, character is played out in action as each person is faced with particular situations, but it is the character that matters. This is not a new code of ethics of morals, a new 10 commandments, but an illustration of a particular kind of person living in the world. The Beatitudes describe the kind of person the Christian is to be, and the rest of the sermon illustrates how that kind of person responds to real life situations. And so, as we get further into the series, I want you to remember that each example is an application of one or more of the Beatitudes.
A number of other points need to be kept in mind as we go deeper into the Beatitudes.
First, all Christians are to be like this. It is not a description of some exceptional Christians, like those the Catholic church canonizes. According to the New Testament, all Christians are already saints, have already been canonized. We are all called to the heights.
Secondly, all Christians are meant to manifest all of these characteristics. Of course each Christian will find some of these to be easier than others. That’s a matter of temperament. But we are not called to be content with the easy bits. We are called to strive for the whole package. And if you really stop to think about them, you can’t really have one without the other. How can you be merciful, for instance, without mourning the pain that calls forth the response of mercy? And trying to make peace is impossible without meekness. You see?
The third point is that none of these descriptions refers to a natural tendency. Each one is produced by grace alone through the operation of the Holy Spirit. There is a sharp distinction between the spiritual qualities Jesus describes and the natural ones which appear to be like them. Of course there are people who appear to be naturally meek, or mournful, or peaceable. But these are not what Jesus is talking about, as we will see as we move further on into the series. And just as no one can claim to be Christian just because they are nice people, none of us has the liberty to excuse our lack of mercy or meekness on our natures.
Thanks be to God, whatever we are like by birth, we can by grace become what Jesus described. We are all meant to be what Jesus describes. The Holy Spirit can take the proudest person on earth and make them poor in spirit.
Fourth, the Beatitudes point out differences between the Christian and the non-Christian. Some people want to blur the difference between the Church and the world, in order to attract more people to it. I believe that those people have already identified themselves as hostile to Jesus’ message - who because they are not themselves drawn to its life-changing promises, cannot imagine that others might be. But the truth of the matter is that when Christians actually live the Gospel they are absolutely different from the world, and people are attracted, even if they want to deny the reason for the difference Even those who hate the claims Christians make about the God and reality have to listen, they have to acknowledge that the differences are real. Even the most committed secularists have to admit, for example, that faith-based rehab programs like Teen Challenge and Prison Fellowship have success rates far above even the most recommended secular approaches.
The fifth and final lesson is that Christians and non-Christians belong to two entirely different realms. Look at the rewards promised... Both the first and the last Beatitudes promise the kingdom of heaven. What on earth would any non-Christian want with that? And yet for us it is the thing most of all to be desired. The kingdom of heaven is Christ’s rule, wherever he is present and exercising authority, where God is honored and praised and obeyed. How can anyone who does not love Christ live for that day, look forward to that day, give up temporary material advantage for the sake of that day? Look at some of the other rewards: the pure in heart will see God; the peacemakers will be called the children of God. It’s a whole different value system. And the currency honored in this world can buy you nothing whatever in God’s kingdom. That is why it is wrong to ask anybody who is not first a Christian to try to live or practice the sermon on the Mount. As preacher D. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “To expect Christian conduct from a person who is not born again is heresy.”
That is why poverty of spirit comes first on Jesus’ list. There’s a verse in Rock of Ages which means a lot to me... “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to the cross I cling.” That’s poverty of spirit. The reason salvation has to be a free gift is that there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. Everything we have is already a gift from God; how can we possibly presume to suggest that somehow he owes us even more? There is no one in the kingdom of God who is not poor in spirit.
Now we have to remember that being poor in spirit isn’t the same thing as being poor in things, even though Luke’s version of this sermon simply says “Blessed are the poor.” A catch-phrase coined by liberation theology has become a religious cliche: “God has a preferential option for the poor.” I don’t agree with that, since the idea that God judges people by economic standards is pretty insulting to God - it’s people, not God, who judge according to possessions. But since Jesus said that it is as hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, we do have to admit that there are certain spiritual advantages to being poor. Why else would Mary say in the song we call the Magnificat that God “has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty”? [Lk 1:53] But we have only to look at the scenes of looting in New Orleans to realize that poverty doesn’t produce virtue. Poverty simply makes it easier to admit that we are dependent - because we can’t fool ourselves into thinking we’ve got it all together. Proverbs tells us, “The wealth of the rich is their strong city; in their imagination it is like a high wall.” [Pr 18:11] But the fact of the matter is that their safety is an illusion. True security lies elsewhere. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” [Pr 18:10] It’s easier to admit that we are dependent on God’s grace and the gift of Jesus Christ when we aren’t stuffed with spiritual junk food..
What’s your spiritual junk food? It is something obvious like entertainment or shopping? Or is it a more subtle trap like work or busy-ness? Even good things can be substitutes for the true nourishment that only comes from a vital relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Beatitudes describe the character of the Christian. It’s the gold standard, the measuring rod, the poverty line. And we’re all below it. Being financially secure, being well educated, having the respect and admiration of your neighbors, none of those get you credit in God’s kingdom. And if you can see that, you’re halfway there. The next step is to sign onto the welfare rolls... and start receiving celestial handouts. Because, let’s face it, we’re all charity cases in God’s kingdom. Matthew 5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
