Pages

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Pastoral Pings ~ The Liberating Power of Poverty

          Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount begins with a phrase that has now become the first thing I look for in God’s work in our lives: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”[1] This one quality indicates, before anything else, that someone is listening to the Spirit of God, rather than doing things in their own strength. The sark (flesh) is prideful, and seeks its own ways. Only when people are relating to God by his Spirit do we see that they are humbled in a very hopeful way.

          At the time Jesus’ presented this collection of teaching, the people were very familiar with a religion that presented the best behaved and most prideful people as the most exemplary of God’s will for their lives. Everyone thought they had to be like the religious leaders to have assurance of acceptance from God.

          I am sure I understood things that way in my teens because of a particular verse that made me feel quite hopeless. It said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”[2]

          Because I thought I had to be good to be accepted by God (along with believing in Jesus, of course), this verse sounded like a rather impossible situation for me. I knew that the scribes and Pharisees had very high standards of righteousness. How could a teenage boy possibly expect to “exceed” their level of good behavior?

          I’m not even sure how old I was when I understood what Jesus meant, that the only way to exceed the kind of righteousness modeled by the scribes and Pharisees, a righteousness based on self-dependent good works, was to turn to Jesus Christ in the righteousness that comes from faith.[3] Instead of thinking I had to try to be better than the Pharisees, I actually had to see my poverty, that there was no way I could be good enough at all.[4] That would cause me to open my heart to what Jesus came to do, and hunger and thirst for his righteousness,[5] something that could only be experienced as a gift freely received by sinners.[6]

          One of the most notable examples of someone changing from the insatiable pride of the Pharisees to the poverty of spirit of a child of God, was the man we know as the Apostle Paul. He had once been top of his class in every way we could measure someone’s religious devotion to God.[7] That was, until he met Jesus.

          When Paul met Jesus, he discovered that he was actually the worst, or foremost, of sinners.[8]While he was putting Christians in prison because he thought they were some terrible cult that had corrupted what was true about God,[9] he discovered that he was actually persecuting the Christ, or the Messiah, the very person Paul was waiting to show up in the events of history.[10]

          When Paul realized he had been persecuting the Christ, the Messiah, his Savior, he could not escape his poverty.[11] He was so sure he was right, and yet so absolutely wrong. While he felt proud of himself, justifying why he would disrupt people’s lives and families just because they believed in Jesus, he could not even see the truth about God. But, when he humbled himself, and felt and owned his poverty, he could then receive what God was offering him as a free gift.

          Paul’s explanation of the change in his life comes down to this: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”[12] Poverty of spirit is coming to count, or consider, all that we thought might give us good standing with God, to be nothing, to be as a loss. There would never be anything to gain by trying to be good enough for God.

          However, the reason that poverty of spirit is not hopeless is because it opens our hearts to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul referred to his previous good achievements as rubbish.[13] It may have been hard for him to admit that he had saved up absolutely nothing towards his eternal retirement; but it was a great and joyful relief to know that Jesus Christ had his eternal life covered,[14] that it was a free gift,[15] and that no one could ever take it away from him.[16]

          There was a time when it terrified me to consider things that were wrong with me. After all, it could only mean one thing: I wasn’t good enough; not being good enough meant I was worthless; and being worthless meant no one, including God, could love me.

          When I truly understood Jesus, I knew that his whole reason for coming into the world to rescue me from sin was because he loved me. He loved me before he brought dust together to become the first human being.[17] He loved me knowing that creating that first man would bring sin into the world,[18] would be the ruination of humanity,[19] and would require him becoming sin,[20] and becoming a curse,[21] in order to redeem a people back to himself, who were his very own, eager to be like him.[22]

          Now it is always a joy when I spend time with God and catch another glimpse of some area of poverty in my life. It means I am on my way to becoming more like Jesus. It is also a joy when I hear other people admitting some area of poverty of spirit they are facing. It always means God is up to something. And the something he is up to is always good.[23]

          From my heart,

          Monte
 

© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)



[1] Matthew 5:3
[2] Matthew 5:20 (note that this is also in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount)
[3] But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3)
[4] “None is righteous, no, not one;” (Romans 3:10
[5] Matthew 5:6
[6] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2)
[7] Philippians 3
[8] 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (I Timothy 1)
[9] But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. (Acts 8:3)
[10] Acts 9
[11] though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, (I Timothy 1:13)
[12] Philippians 3:8
[13] Philippians 3:8
[14] 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8)
[15] “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
[16] 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8)
[17] Genesis 2
[18] Genesis 3
[19] “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—“ (Romans 5:12)
[20] “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21)
[21] “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—“ (Galatians 3:13)
[22] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:14)
[23] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

No comments:

Post a Comment