WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE "POOR IN SPIRIT?"
Matthew 5:3

Jesus begins His Sermon on the Mount with these words, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  What is Jesus saying with these words?  Well, let us first look at what Jesus is not saying.  Being "poor in spirit" is not financial destitution or material poverty.  That is just being poor.  There is nothing super spiritual about being poor, nor is there anything super spiritual about depriving yourself of material things.  Being "poor in spirit" is also not a deficiency of vitality or courage.  That is merely being weak and timid.  And, it is not a lack of the Holy Spirit, for He indwells each of us.

What does it mean then?  Let me share with you what some Bible scholars have said about this verse.  Charles Spurgeon, that great Baptist pastor of the later part of the 19th century wrote, The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves.  (Pretty awesome thought, don't you think?)  John R.W. Stott, the great British theologian of our time, wrote:  It is to acknowledge our spiritual bankruptcy before God.  (That is a concept which many of us have never considered before).  John Calvin, the great Reformer, wrote:  He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.  (That phrase reminded me of the words of John the Baptist about Jesus - He must increase and I must decrease).  Augustus Toplady summarizes it well with these words from his familiar hymn Rock of Ages:  Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.  (Wow!  What powerful words!)

I believe Jesus is teaching that there must be an emptying of our lives before there can be a filling.  We must become "poor in spirit" before we can become rich in God's blessings.  This means the conscious confession of our unworth before God.  It is the deepest form of repentance.  It is the cry of the prodigal son of being unworthy to be considered as his father's son (Luke 15:21).  It is the cry of the publican as he beat his breasts in prayer that he was a sinner (Luke 18:14).  It is the cry of a confused fisherman named Peter as he proclaims to Jesus that he was a sinful man (Luke 5:8). 

There must be a recognition of our moral bankruptcy before God.  This is best described by Paul when he wrote to the Philippians and shared that all those things he once held as dear in his life, he now considered to be worthless when compared with Christ (Philippians 3:4-7). 

There must also be the recognition that there is nothing in me to make me acceptable to God.  Isaiah wrote that even our most righteous acts are considered by God to be merely dirty rags.  Our best efforts are meaningless to Him (Isaiah 64:6).  I need to recognize that without Jesus Christ I have no standing before God.  I have no worth before God.  I cannot be accepted by God. 

Now the reward of being "poor in spirit" is the kingdom of heaven.  Heaven is gained only as we become emptied of ourselves.  There is only one way to heaven and that is through the work of Jesus Christ.  As we give our lives to Him, then we begin to discover the joys of being a part of the kingdom of God.

Father, Thank You for the ministry of this first Beatitude.  Its teaching has reminded us of how needful we are before You.  We stand, together with Isaiah, and proclaim that we are a people of unclean lips.  Thank You, Father, that as we discover the realities of who we really are, that You enable us then to know the joys of who You are.  We praise You for this, in Christ's name.  Amen.

 

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