Blessed are the poor...

 

Living in the midst of one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere gives us cause to consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  One commentary translates this verse as "Blessed are the desperate."  Why did Jesus say that a person who is poor in spirit has an advantage over someone rich in spirit?  Maybe, just maybe the desperate person will cry out to God for help.  If so, that person is truly blessed.

Philip Yancy, in The Jesus I Never Knew, quoted from writer Monika Hellwig who listed ten "advantages" to being poor:

1)  The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.

2)  The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their inter-dependence on each other.

3)  The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

4)  The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.

5)  The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.

6)  The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.

7)  The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.

8)  The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.

9)  When the poor have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.

10)  The poor can respond to the call of the Gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

So today as you consider this meditation, substitute the word "I" for the word "poor".... 

Comments

[con]

Not to totally miss your point because it is a good point...but #6 it seems to me that even the poor, being human as they are, sometimes just like me confuse luxuries and necessities.
#5 It seems to me this atribute is more about kingdom living than it is about poverty...In other words I think the poor can be very competitive.
Now I am just writting as I think so forgive me if I say something stupid...but here I go...Maybe it goes back to that "poor in spirit" thing because I have observed some (relatively)physically poor people who did not posses very many of these advantages but some relatively rich who posses many of them. I don't know just pondering outloud with you. We are freezing here in the mountains -3degrees this morning less with the wind chill.
Connie

[Goyo]

Right. Hellwig's list definitely breaks down on the individual level. The thing Yancy brings out in "The Jesus I Never Knew" is how, when you examine most passages in scripture that focus on the poor, God is nearly always on their side. This had led some theologians to call this "God's preferential option for the poor." Now, however, we must define what is meant here by "poor." From Yancy's angle it is primarily the poor as in economic conditions and then poor as in humble and knowing your need. Certainly a poor person can be in the position to fit very few conditions on the list above while a rich person who is "poor in spirit" can meet nearly all the criteria. That's the usual rub of most of Jesus' sayings - they always seem to cut both ways.

Believe it or not, it's actually felt chilly here over the last coupel of nights. I put the thermometer outside and the lowest it's gotten is 65 but man does that feel chilly when you're used to the 80s!

[Linda]

Pardon me if I don't feel too sorry for you.

We left your wonderful weather (which admittedly did get chilly enough to appreciate a blanket a night) and flew into Houston where it was in the 60s, then to Omaha which was 2 degrees. Culture shock in multiple ways! Were we really in Nicaragua just 48 hours ago??

[Jan]

Hi Linda,

Glad to hear you're safe and sound! We already miss you and wish you could see the Christmas play tomorrow night.

[linda]

SO DO I!!! Actually, when buying the tickets, I considered letting the team go home without me and coming home with Anna Marie, but I didn't want to take any of the focus from her in her last few days, plus John reminded me that we have three other children, and odds were that I'd have things to do to get ready for Christmas, so the three extra days would be a good thing. He was right, of course, but I wish I could have stayed as a fly (or should I say "lizard" to be more culturally correct??) on the wall. Please be sure to have someone use all the video tape so we can see as much as possible. It's really hard to believe we were there just a few days ago. We miss you, too.