Poor In Spirit

This last Wednesday night I had the chance to visit with someone I have not seen much of in the last few years.  This person was describing to me how during an extremely difficult time in life she began to question why her life did not match up with what she understood about her faith.  I guess the question was why was she suffering when she had Jesus?  So, she went back to read the Bible for herself, and in that process she discovered that Jesus was not exactly who she thought he was.  She also discovered that much of what Jesus taught was different than what she had been lead to believe.  Through her suffering, her eyes had been opened.

To me, at least, the conversation was confirmation not only that we are on the right track, but that God is leading many people to this same place of rediscovery that we have been on now for the last couple of months.  I think virtually all of us have seen God peel away misconceptions that we have picked up somewhere along the path of our spiritual journeys.  I think all of us are truly discovering for the first time important truths about our faith ... and about the real freedom we have in Jesus.

As I was contemplating all of this something occurred to me that I wish had come to mind on Wednesday night (although, then again, God's timing is perfect).  When we think about the radical contrast between the disciples during the last days Jesus was on the earth in human form and those same disciples for the remainder of their lives after His resurrection, we attribute the difference (as we should) to God's gift of the Holy Spirit. 

In those last days, of course, Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:16-27), the disciples deserted Jesus and fled (Mark 14:50) and they at first didn't even have the faith to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead (Mark 16:14) (among other things).  But after the Holy Spirit came these same disciples, now equipped with the very power of God, changed the world forever.

While I would never discount the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, I often wonder why so many followers of Jesus do not seem to live victorious lives.  I wonder, for example, why we have the same divorce rates, the same rates of alcoholism and the same rates of drug and other addictions as the secular world.  I wonder why we worship the same idols as everyone else, and why we struggle with anxiety, anger, lust, pride ... and the list goes on and on.  I mean really -- if the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us why can't we overcome such things?

And, while it might be foolish to think that there is a single answer to this question, I do think that before the Holy Spirit came on the disciples there was one more thing they needed to know deeply in their hearts and minds in order to be truly transformed.  I think they needed to know in no uncertain terms that the journey before them would only become possible when they learned what it means to be "poor in spirit."

Between the time Jesus was arrested and the time He rose from the dead, if anything became clear to the disciples it was that they were utterly lost without Him.  Jesus had told them while He was living that His followers could do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5).  But, I doubt they fully understood these words at the time.  After all, they were chosen among all men on earth to walk with the one true God. 

But now they were on their own.  They were powerless and lost.  They knew without any doubt that without Jesus they could accomplish nothing.  They were nothing.  They had nothing to offer.

         “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
                 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is one of the many paradoxes of the Christian life that in order to find real power in our lives we must come to the realization that we ourselves are powerless.  Pride and self sufficiency will destroy us, but humility and utter dependence will give us life.  Indeed, humility and utter dependence are necessary to open our eyes to the reality of Jesus, and to open the very gates of heaven.

Jesus tells us that we must give up everything in order to be His disciples.  In fact, we must hate our own lives to be His disciples.  Luke 14:25-33.  It is at first a daunting thought.  Who possibly could or would follow Jesus given the cost?

But as time goes on hopefully we get to a place where, like the disciples, we truly know that we have nothing to offer -- we embrace the fact that we are poor in spirit.  When we know with certainty that we bring nothing to the table and that we are powerless, then giving up everything is not as difficult as it at first seemed.  Indeed, we realize that the "everything" we are called to give up was really valueless in the first place.  Our trust in our possessions, our jobs, our status and even ourselves turns out to be an illusion anyway.

  

If someone else thinks they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

                                                                                           Philippians 3:4-14.