SHIFT -WEEK 1
THE WEALTH OF POVERTY
Matthew 5:1-3, Luke 18:18-23
INTRODUCTION TO SERIES:
For the majority of people, Christian and non-Christian alike, the popular idea of finding happiness is based on having the right circumstances. It is what one preacher calls, "When & Then thinking." "When I get a good job, then I’ll be happy." "When I find the right mate, then I’ll be happy." "When I have kids, then I’ll be happy." "When the kids leave home, then I’ll be happy." We think outward circumstances bring contentment. But Jesus Christ tells us the exact opposite is true. He insists that happiness doesn’t come from without but from within. Further He says that all of us have the potential of possessing genuine contentment, authentic joy, if we will just recognize it.
Recently a friend of mine told about how he and his wife went up into the mountains and stayed at a beautiful, quiet cabin. There were none of the normal distractions.. No TV, no phones, no neighbors, just peace and quiet. But after a couple of days they were also looking for something to do. One of the things the cabin did provide were jigsaw puzzles. They loved doing that kind of thing so they picked out a 1000 piece puzzle and started. However, from time to time they became annoyed because they couldn’t find the right piece. They would check borders and colors and the puzzle box picture but finally they became completely frustrated when they realized that the puzzle was missing several pieces. Then, just as they were about to break up their work they happened to pick up the box and heard some noise. When they looked further they found all the pieces they were missing in the packing of the box. Once they retrieved the pieces their puzzle became complete, the picture made sense. And it had been right within their reach. What was root of frustration became a source of joy.
That true story illustrates precisely what Jesus is trying to teach in the Beatitudes. The key to genuine happiness, to a genuine contentment is not from without but within. Joy is not based on certain external pieces but on internal attitudes. Jesus insists that we can have a happiness that holds its ground against pain, a contentment whose roots extend deep into the bedrock of eternity. What type of joy is this? It is a sacred delight. It’s a delight because it thrills. It’s sacred because it is God’s. Think about God’s joy. What can cloud it? What can quench it? Does God ever have a bad day? Does God get ruffled over long lines or traffic jams? Does God ever refuse to rotate the earth because His feelings are hurt? No, His is a happiness which consequences cannot quench. His is a peace which circumstances cannot steal. And it is right within our reach. Within the packing of our Bibles, in Matt. 5, lie the pieces that will complete your life. But be prepared for the fact that the answers will surprise you. We’ll have to shift our thinking some. Many of the things that Jesus says bring contentment are directly opposite from what we think. But if we will listen, if we will heed what He has to say, we will be surprised with joy. My prayer, for the next 8 weeks or so, is that we will learn that our happiness does not depend on what happens around me but what happens in me. So let’s gather with those on the mountainside and listen as He says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now, the word "blessed" means happiness. The Greek word is emphatic, it means "happiness many times over."
This morning we begin with "Happy are the poor in spirit." Jesus could of hardly produced a more startling beginning. Happy are the poor? Yet it makes sense when you understand it, in fact upon this beatitude, all the rest are built. If you are not "poor in spirit" it will be impossible to be genuinely happy. Let’s look, as we will each week, at what Jesus means by this saying, how it applies to our lives and what Jesus promises will come when we put the beatitude into practice.
I. THE DEFINITION:
What does Jesus mean by "poor in spirit?" Well, He is not talking about those that are destitute of possessions. Notice it does not read, "Blessed in spirit are those who are poor." Jesus, no where in Scripture condemns having possessions. He only warns about possessions having us. So this has nothing to do with possessions.
Jesus is also not talking about being self-debasement. Sometimes people can use self-debasement as a way to elevate themselves. But Jesus is not referring here to a false modesty. Notice the beatitude does not read, "Blessed are the poor spirited." He’s not saying that happiness comes when you put yourself down. "Oh, I’m no good, I’m junk, I’m lousy." In fact, Jesus did not die for junk. He went to the cross because you are that important to Him. You have value, you have significance. Now, it doesn’t mean you’re perfect, we’ve all sinned. But, Jesus is not telling us to go around putting ourselves down all the time.
What does it mean to be "poor in spirit?" It simply means to be totally dependent on God. It means realizing our spiritual deficiencies. Oh, we are not worthless but we are not worthy without God either. It means admitting I am a sinner, it means more than using the saying, "Nobody’s perfect," as a cliche, but realizing it was my sin that caused Jesus to go to the cross. Being poor in spirit means emptying ourselves of our selfishness. In a word it is humility. TLB paraphrases this verse very simply- "happy are the humble." Jesus is saying that happiness is not dependent upon how great we are or think we are, but upon how humble we are. Jesus not only defined it He lived it.. In Phil. 2:8- “When Jesus was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death - death on a cross.”(NCV)The rich in spirit know it all, the poor in spirit admit their deficiencies. The rich in spirit are always seeking ways to make themselves appear greater, the poor in spirit seek God’s greatness. The rich in spirit are self-sufficient, the poor in spirit are Christ dependent.
II. THE APPLICATION:
The application might be seen best by looking at a Biblical illustration from Luke 18. Here is a negative example of one who is not poor in spirit but it gives us some essential principles. Look starting at vs:18. Luke describes a man who comes to Jesus as a ruler and is rich. Matthew adds to Luke’s description by saying he was a young man. So, he’s got it all. Max Lucado in his book Applause from Heaven (which by the way I highly recommend) writes: "He’s rich. Italian shoes, tailored suit. His money is invested. His plastic are gold cards. He lives like he flies- first class. He’s young. He pump’s away fatigue at the gym and slam dunks old age at the court. His belly is flat, his eyes sharp. Energy is his trademark and death is an eternity away. He’s a ruler, powerful. If you don’t think so just ask him. You got questions? He’s got answers. You got problems? He’s got solutions. You got dilemmas? He’s got opinions. He knows where he’s going. He has mastered the three "P" of yuppiedom. Prosperity, posterity, power. He’s the rich, young ruler."
It has always been amazing to me that this guy who seemingly has it all together comes to a carpenter’s son for advice. Maybe he’s trying to impress others because Jesus is popular. Or maybe he’s genuinely feeling empty and really needs advice. Whatever the case, the wording of his question reveals his problem, he’s not poor in spirit. Vs:18- "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 1st problem: He calls Jesus good. The word that he uses here means “perfect” or “Holy” - “God.” But Jesus sees right through his false humility and digs deep into his character when he asks in v:19- "Why do you call me good, no one is good except God." Jesus knew that imbedded in the compliment was the fact that this young man thought of himself as good. 2nd problem: He asks “What must I do?” He thinks he can get eternal life as he has gotten everything else - by his own strength. In other words, "What are the secrets to success? What’s the bottom line? Tell me how much I’ve got to invest to get a return? Jesus’ answer, I think, is intended to make him wince. Jesus says basically in vs:20 -"if you want to enter life, obey the commandments." A man who was poor in spirit, a humble man, would of said, "Keep the commandments? All of them? I’ve tried- honestly I have - but I can’t." That’s what he should of said, but instead of confession and concession he hides behind pride and possessions. Instead of being poor in spirit, instead of asking for help, I think, he hooks his thumbs in his belt and says, "Keep the commandments? Why, I’ve kept those since I was a kid, got any other commandments you want to run by me?"
Lucado writes, "How Jesus keeps from laughing - or crying - is beyond me. The question that was intended to show the rich, young ruler how he falls short only convinces him that he stands tall. He’s a child dripping water on the floor while telling his Mom he hasn’t been out in the rain." So, Jesus, who knows the heart, cuts right to the chase- Vs:22- "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have- then come and follow me." What? This young man thought heaven was just a payment away. It only made sense- you pay your dues, you do what’s right, and `zap’- your account is paid in full. Jesus shocks him by revealing who his true God is: possessions. Jesus is saying, "Pay as you go is not the way it works. You don’t need a system, you need a Savior. You don’t need a resume, you need a Redeemer.”
Do you grasp the truth from this incident? Do you understand what Jesus is saying to this man and to us? Please grasp this principle: you are nothing without God! Think of it. You cannot boast to God about your goodness. The worst thing that can happen to you is to think you are good. The Bible tells us that repeatedly that is self deception. In fact, Isa. 64:6- tells us that even "We’re all sinful and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags compared to God’s goodness." (GW) Why does Jesus try to do the same thing with us as he did the rich young ruler? Jesus is trying to get us to understand this basic truth. The first quality to possess in order to find true happiness is to recognize you are not good! To understand that you are destitute spiritually, that you are poor in spirit. That sounds absurd doesn’t it? We’ve been taught to hide behind our masks, to put on a front, to puff up with importance. But Jesus says, “No! You must first understand you are not good, because if you don’t you will never recognize your need!” You can’t boast about your goodness.
And you can’t awe the Creator of the universe. Listen, you don’t impress the officials at NASA with a paper airplane. You don’t boast about your crayon sketches in the presence of Picasso. You don’t claim equality with Einstein because you can write `H2O’. And you can’t impress God by your success. You’ve done good in business? Made some money? Psa.24:1- "The earth’s is the Lord’s and everything it!" You’ve done some great things? God says, "Really? Maybe, like Bruce Nolan, you ought to try to do God’s job.
{Video Clip: Bruce Almighty - Start: Chp. 8 - 0:35:45 - Stop: Chp. 8 - 0:37:26 = 1:41}
Now, I know of no where other than the movies that God ever let someone do his job but he did ask a man named Job whether he would he qualified to do it or not. He asked, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world? Did you mark off it’s dimensions? Did you shut up the sea behind doors. Have you ever given orders to the morning? Or shown the dawn it’s place?"(Job 38:1-12) And of course Job kind of did what Bruce did... he got all sheepish and wished he had never said anything. Because compared to God we are not great.
And the one who is poor in spirit grasps the most important principle of all: you cannot save yourself. Eph. 2:8-9 "For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it."(TEV) We are nothing without God. And we will never be content until we understand that principle.. We need God.
Now, that’s certainly a shift in thinking, it’s certainly a different path to happiness than we follow. We have a hard time understanding how confession of failure is admission into joy. We don’t like declaring our impotence. Oh, the irony of God’s delight is that it is born in the parched soil of admitted failure rather than in the fertile ground of achievement. We figure accomplishment not admission of need is the way to happiness. But you know what? God has never figured things the way we do. And it is only when we become poor in spirit that we are surprised by joy.
III. THE SATISFACTION:
Look at the blessing that comes from being "poor in spirit." We "inherit the kingdom of heaven." What characteristics or blessings describe this kingdom which belong to the poor in spirit? Well, the phrase “kingdom of heaven” in this context is not referring to that place where those who believe will live forever but rather the environment that Christ rules over. It’s like the trusting child who benefits from his parent’s provision. And what kind of life will the poor in spirit have if Jesus rules over them rather than trying to be the ruler themselves? Among other things they will receive these four blessings.
(1) A life that brings God’s grace. Several times in the Bible it repeats this proverb: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."(James 4:6) I love that acrostic for Grace which describes what God has done: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. If you are poor in spirit, that’s when you admit your need for Him, and that’s when He gives mercy, forgiveness and His grace, His favor when we deserve punishment.
(2) But not only does this life bring God’s grace, being humble, admitting our need also reduces my stress. In other words, when I’m humble I don’t have to have all the answers. When I’m humble I realize that the world does not depend on me, I can resign as general manager of the universe. When I’m humble I can admit I don’t have it all together. When I’m humble.... I don’t have to fake it anymore. I can relax in the Lord. I don’t have to pretend I’m perfect because God doesn’t demand that I be perfect in order for me to be happy. And things don’t have to be perfect for me to be joyful. Humility accepts the fact that you can be happy because you are depending on God, not depending on everything to be ideal. When I depend on my job or my mate or my friends to make me happy they invariably fail... because they are not perfect. But God never fails. That’s how Paul could say in Philippians: "I have learned the secret of being happy at any time and in all things that happen... I can do all things through Christ because he gives me the strength." (Phil. 4:12-13 NCV) I’m not depending on things or others for my approval but on Jesus alone. So when I become poor in spirit and walk in dependence on the Lord, it reduces the stress in my life. And when the stress goes down, happiness goes up.
(3) Being poor in spirit improves my relationships with others. How many of you enjoy being around arrogant, boastful, prideful people? I mean who is saying right now, "I can’t wait to go out to lunch with a conceited jerk this week?" No one likes a selfish person. When you are poor in spirit you take an interest in others. When you take an interest in others, you become interesting to others. Being poor in spirit means you ask forgiveness of others, and you in turn are forgiving. It improves relationships.
(4) Being poor in spirit provides contentment in that it releases God’s power in my life. Remember the verse we mentioned a moment ago? "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."(James 4:6) The truth is, God only works dynamically through those who are poor in spirit. We shared a negative Biblical example of the rich, young, ruler, let’s look at a positive illustration of someone who was poor in spirit.
The apostle Paul, probably the greatest missionary that ever lived and the writer of almost half of the New Testament, was not Paul before he met Jesus Christ, but Saul. He was renamed later partly because of what kind of man he was before meeting Jesus. Saul was somewhat of a hero to the Jewish leaders. You might say he was their Wyatt Earp. He kept the law and order- Jewish Mom’s held him up as an example of a good Jewish boy. He probably was selected "Most likely to succeed." If there was such a thing as religious fortune, Saul had it. Later he wrote, "If anyone had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be me. I did everything right.. I obeyed the law, I was a leader, a Pharisee. And sincere? Yes, so much so that I persecuted the Church. I was convinced that Christianity had to be stamped out." (Phil. 3:4-6 paraphrased)
Saul was so convinced that this Jesus Christ was a fraud and that Christian’s were a blight to the faith, that he killed and imprisoned those who gave allegiance to the carpenter from Nazareth. All that came to a halt, however, on the shoulder of a highway. Equipped with subpoena’s, handcuffs, and even a posse, Saul was on his way to do a little punishing of the radical right, in Damascus. But all of sudden it was if someone slammed on stadium lights. He was driven to the ground and he heard a voice. When he found out that the voice was none other than Jesus Christ Himself, he thought he was dead. He probably felt the noose tightening around his neck. Here was the Son of God, who he thought was a figment of some disciples imagination, in the flesh! Jesus told him what to do and agreed to do it. You see, Saul was a step ahead of the rich, young ruler. He knew better than to try and strike a deal with God. He didn’t make any excuses, he just pleaded for mercy. So instead of death he got the first of a lifetime of surprises. For three days, having been blinded by the light, he saw himself for who he truly was- an arrogant, rich in spirit, legalist. To use his own words- "the worst of sinners." So when it was time, God sent a man by the name of Ananias to Saul to tell him what to do. Ananias’ words are worth repeating- "What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16 NLT) Saul didn’t have to be told twice. The legalist Saul was buried and the liberator Paul was born. God changed his name and his life. He was never the same afterwards and neither was the world. He became the greatest missionary ever known. Paul could never get over it. Jesus should have finished him out on that road. He should of sent him to hell. Instead he sent him to the lost. His messages could be reduced to one sentence- "we preach Christ crucified." No more Saul, only Jesus. The story of Saul to Paul has always amazed me. Show a man his failures without showing him Jesus and you have a defeated person. Show a man religion without showing him his sin and you get arrogance. But have a person see their sin, what they really are- and then see their Savior, and you get someone poor in spirit- someone that knows the first step to true happiness.
Maybe the clearest explanation of the first beatitude lies in the difference between these two - the Rich, young, ruler and Saul who became Paul. The first one, the Rich, young, ruler made a name for himself in this world and is never mentioned in Scripture again. But Saul, who called upon Jesus’ name - and His name only - became Paul the Apostle, getting a new name and a new life.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom heaven."
PRAYER
{All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise noted.}
Major Rescources used:
Sermon Series by Rick Warren entitled: "Don’t Worry - Be Happy."
Book: The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado
