About six weeks ago, I asked some of our men
to teach on the beatitudes. You might be
wondering what the beatitudes have to do with the Kingdom of God, but it only
takes the first passage of scripture to reassure yourself that they have
everything to do with it. The beatitudes
define what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about.
The first beatitude can be found
in Matthew 5:3, and because there are two schools of thought concerning this
scripture verse, I assigned the passage to two different people. There is one school of thought that says the
passage should read: “Blessed are the
poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Then we have another school of thought that
says it should read “Blessed are the poor
in spirit (the humble); for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
When I assigned
the lessons, I didn’t tell either of the men that they were teaching the same
verse. I didn’t want either one
defending, or comparing their interpretation of the verse. I also asked them to produce a lesson sheet,
and answer two questions; the first being:
1. How does practicing the particular beatitude make you happy? 2.
What does the particular beatitude have to do with the Kingdom?
The first
lesson was on Humility, and was taught by Curtis, a man in his late
forties.
THE HUMBLE:
v The spiritual principal of humbleness
produces freedom, peace, and an abundant happier life
Ø Humility makes you happier because,
having humility means you are teachable.
Being teachable brings hope, and where there is hope, there is happiness
(Proverbs 29:18)
Ø Honesty, Open mindedness, and
Willingness accompany humility (Romans 12:3)
Ø Pride is the opposite of Humble:
(Proverbs 29:23, Matthew 23:12)
Ø New Ideas CAN NOT be grafted onto a
closed mind, pride closes our minds to new ideas.
Ø Pride keeps us locked in bondage ,
and limited to what we know, and that produces the pressure and stress of
having to know all the answers, and making those answers work.(Romans 12:16)
Ø Living a humble life invites God into
our lives, by letting him know we need Him. (Proverbs 3:5-7)
Ø When we are humble (practicing
humility,) we can look past our defects, or our powerlessness over a situation,
to seek a solution from God. This will
give us the power (grace) to overcome. “overcoming makes us happy) (James 4:6-11)
Ø When we humble ourselves, and place
ourselves in a lower position to be of service to someone, it removes us from
the picture, gets our minds off of the problems, and sometimes that is what is
needed to change our attitude!
Ø MISERY IS OPTIONAL – PRIDE EQUALS
MISERY – HUMBLE EQUALS HAPPINESS !
This last
weekend, 14 year old Stone taught on the same verse, but from the position of
being poor. (If you want to be amazed,
just keep in mind that this is a 14 yr-old.
THE POOR IN SPIRIT:
v Matthew 5:3 (NLT) God blesses them who realize their need for
him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs
Ø The poor have nothing that is an
illusion of security to them. They only
have God to protect them.
Ø “The Lord wants to cause even the
rich and middle class to become poor in spirit and know their total need for
Him.” (Compelled by Love: by Heidi
Baker)
§ The Poor in Spirit have eliminated
every option except for Jesus. There is
no plan B for the poor in spirit. God
blesses them because they realize their need for Him. WE are happier when we are poor in spirit,
because we do not rely on our own strength to overcome. (Note similar thought
to Curtis’ thought)
Ø Psalms 91:2 – This I declare of the Lord: He ALONE is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God and I trust in Him.
§ The poor in spirit don’t run to
anything but God: only He can offer true, and unwavering protection. Only HE is always, and completely faithful
Ø Psalms 20:7 – Some nations boast of their armies and
weapons, but we boast in the Lord our God.
§ The poor in spirit value nothing of
themselves, but always feel that God is the most important in their lives, and
that he alone deserves our devotion.
v The poor in spirit are happy because they do not rely on their own
strength, or other flimsy ideas but fully rely on God. Therefore they have no anxiety because they
are not the ones in control.
There
you have it, two people at opposite ends of the age spectrum, bringing life to
the issue of the Poor in Spirit. I know
how people can tend to be when they are arguing for, or against a point, so I
think it was fun to see this verse taught from such a pure point of view. No matter which interpretation you embrace,
the simple truth of the matter is that our happiness comes from a position of
believing God is our source. Whether it
is humility or being poor, our lives are happier when we rely on God.
I kind of like
the purest sense of the “poor” being the people Christ was referring to in His
sermon. I don’t believe we have to live in poverty, nor do we have to subject
ourselves to poverty to have the Kingdom.
At the same time I believe that those who rely completely on God for
their needs are happier than those who trust in themselves, their money, or
their position. It isn’t the ‘having’ or
‘not-having’ that matters, it’s the heart condition in the middle of it. I’ve know plenty of poor people who are what
I call ‘dirt proud,’ and I’ve known plenty of people with money who’re as
humble as they come. Whatever
interpretation you believe, be happy.
