April 7, 2002

Service Theme – "Our God is Mighty"

Sermon Series – "Nine of the Toughest Things Jesus Ever Said"

Matthew 5:1-3

A Good Excuse to Be Poor

  1. Introduction
    1. Illustration – From Homiletics Online: During the summer of 1778, a British battleship dropped anchor in the harbor of Nantucket Island, off the New England coast. William Rotch, a leader of the Quaker community on the island, knew that the ship's purpose was to plunder the town. With the consent of his fellow citizens, Rotch formed a one-man welcoming committee, and greeted Sir Conway-Etherege, the British commander, at the pier. He invited Conway-Etherege home to dinner. After a pleasant meal, the commander decided to get on with his business. "We're here to plunder," he told Rotch. "As you can see, your little hamlet is completely at our mercy. Where shall we start?" "I don't know of a better place than here at my house," said Rotch. "I'm better able to bear the loss than anyone else. We have some silver plate, some good, serviceable blankets, and food supplies in the cellar." Conway-Etherege didn't know what to do. He had never come across this response before! "Tell me," he said, "are there any more men like you on Nantucket?" "Oh, yes, many better men," said Rotch. "Well, I want to meet them," Conway-Etherege answered. So Rotch took him around to meet a shopkeeper who had given 400 barrels of flour to the poor the winter before, and another one who had given away blankets and shoes. "Would you like to meet more of our people?" asked Rotch. "Oh, no," replied Conway-Etherege. "I can hardly believe there are three such men as you in the world. A whole street full of them would be too much." So Conway-Etherege went back to this ship, and Nantucket was saved. Johann Christoph Arnold in, Seeking Peace (Farmington: The Plough Publishing House, 1998, 123), writes, Humility is not just gentleness or meekness. It demands vulnerability, the willingness to be hurt. It is readiness to go unnoticed, to be last, to receive the least. Humility offers nothing in the way of peace as the world gives -- and plenty that destroys it. Yet it describes the way of Christ better than any other word. It is the way of Christ. And as such it brings the deepest and most lasting peace.
    2. Context – It seems like Jesus spent a lot of time telling His disciples stuff that didn’t make a lot of sense. In fact, that stuff still doesn’t make a lot of sense. It just doesn’t seem right. It just doesn’t seem to go along with the way life works. Chapters five through seven of Matthew have a lot of those statements that are hard to make sense of. But when we take some time to figure out what Jesus means, it makes all the sense in the world. We’re going to try to figure out a small part of what Jesus taught this morning about this thing called humility. And hopefully by the time we’re done, we’ll catch a little more of a glimpse of the truth Jesus is sharing than when we started.
  1. Scripture Passage
    1. Matthew 5:1-3 – Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
  1. How Can a Poor Man Inherit a Kingdom?
    1. Jesus saw all the crowds around him and knew that there were some basics His disciples needed to learn, so He led them up on a mountainside. Imagine what the disciples must have been thinking – "Since when does one of our most famous teachers leave the crowds in the dust? Who doesn’t want to be famous? Who doesn’t want crowds following them?" But the disciples, in spite of the strangeness of Jesus actions, followed Him up the hill. It’s interesting to note that, by the time He was finished, the crowds had surrounded Him and had heard what He taught. What’s also interesting is the topic Jesus chose to start His teaching with. Humility.
    2. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? The word for "blessed" can also be translated happy, or fortunate, or free from daily cares or worries. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense, and especially when we take into account the fact that almost every time this word is used, it means "a sense of God’s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God" (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969, 35). How can God approve of someone who is "poor in spirit"? Doesn’t God only approve of those who help themselves or those who are giants in our world? You can’t find those statements anywhere in the Bible. God doesn’t help those who only help themselves. God doesn’t help those who are mere giants in our world. God helps those who are "poor in spirit." So what exactly does that mean?
    3. The word translated "poor in spirit" has an interesting meaning. It means "one who crouches and cowers" like a beggar. It denotes "the utter spiritual destitution, the consciousness of which preceded the entrance into the kingdom of God, and which cannot be relieved by one’s own efforts, but only by the free mercy of God" (Vincent, 36). Translation – until you are totally and completely aware of how spiritually poor you are without God, you won’t make it into heaven! Folks, we are spiritually bankrupt on our own! That’s what Jesus is saying! It’s one of the basic teachings of the Bible. How do we somehow manage to miss that? And even more importantly, how do we become poor in spirit?
    4. Proverbs 3:34 says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Referring to that verse, James 4:10 says, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Being humble is an attitude of the heart. I heard something once that stuck with me – if you’re humble, you can’t say you are, because when you say it you’re being proud. I think there’s some truth in that. I’ve come across several people who liked to brag about how humble they are. I can guarantee you this – if He hasn’t already, God will eventually humble those people. Humility is choosing to think of other people and their needs as being more important than yourself. It’s not a self-pitying "woe is me" or a self-deprecating "I’m worthless." It’s recognizing that because God has created you, you are valuable in His sight. But it’s also recognizing that God created everyone else so they are valuable in His sight and deserve His best. In other words, being humble is choosing to value what God values, choosing to love what He loves, and choosing to share that love with those He loves. Let me read again that quote from Johann Christoph Arnold - Humility is not just gentleness or meekness. It demands vulnerability, the willingness to be hurt. It is readiness to go unnoticed, to be last, to receive the least. Humility offers nothing in the way of peace as the world gives -- and plenty that destroys it. Yet it describes the way of Christ better than any other word. It is the way of Christ. And as such it brings the deepest and most lasting peace. Contrast that with what media mogul Ted Turner once said - If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect. What Turner said is what our world tries to teach us. But doesn’t our world keep getting more and more selfish and more and more corrupt? Does it make sense for us as individuals and as a church to value and do something that doesn’t work?
    5. God is challenging us this morning as individuals and as a church to drop what our world values and start practicing what He values. He’s challenging us to do one of the toughest things He ever taught! It’s time we chose to become poor in spirit, to consider others needs more important than our own. It’s time we realized that without humility, we’re not going to make it into heaven. God will use His Spirit within those of us who are believers to help us develop into humble people. The journey may not be fun at times, but ultimately it’s for our own good as well as for the good of the church and the good of those who don’t know Jesus. How are they going to see a difference in people who don’t act and think any different than anyone else in the world?
    6. In closing, let me share with you a passage from John 13. It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him… 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
  1. Conclusion
    1. Please bow your heads and close your eyes. Let’s all spend a few minutes listening to what God is whispering to our hearts. And then telling Him what we’re going to do about it.
    2. Let’s pray together.
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