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No doubt the most famous sermon ever preached was the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. When Jesus preached this sermon, it was radical; the most revolutionary message these people had ever heard. It totally reversed everything they had believed about being happy and successful; it was all about different priorities, different goals and objectives than before. It challenged them to think and live in an entirely different manner.
Jesus’ sermon is just as contrary to our culture as it was to theirs. It is the opposite of “the American dream.” The Beatitudes are the first part of that sermon, and they provide a plan for finding real happiness in an unhappy world. The word beatitude means supreme blessedness, and they offer the pathway for us to that overflowing joy and peace that Jesus gives us.
Notice that the Beatitudes do not mention health, wealth, work, homes, love or friends. These are the things we think of as necessary to our happiness, but in truth, they accompany happiness; they don’t produce it. I want to look at some of those seven beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).
When Jesus says “poor in spirit” he is not speaking economically because poverty does not necessarily produce righteousness. The poor in spirit are those who are conscious of their sins and know in their hearts that they are completely unworthy of the grace that a most holy and loving God pours down upon them.
A prime example of the “poor in spirit” is the prodigal son who finally acknowledges his sinful, helpless condition, and goes back to his father. Jesus said that only the poor in spirit will enter the kingdom of God. That prodigal son would never have been saved from his dreadful situation unless he had been willing to be “poor in spirit”—to humble himself.
You know, humbling yourself is not our natural bent. Our instincts—our fallen nature will lead us toward building ourselves up. “Poor in spirit” is not exactly appealing, is it? Who wants to be poor in anything? Yet, in this paradoxical statement, totally opposite to what feels right to us, Jesus says that the “poor in spirit” will be in the kingdom of heaven.
So, ponder this beatitude today and ask God to help you become poor in spirit—recognizing your total dependence upon God.