Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ".
I was really moved by this as I was studying the Sermon on the Mount as it captures the key idea behind my theme for this blog. Humility does not come naturally to us all. Only the truly powerless know what it's like and to live it. The rest of us may occasionally feel a pang of guilt when our arrogance gets the better of us, but we don't really know true humility. We betray our true sinful rebellious selves when we respond angrily to what we feel is a slight, or even when we don't and seethe quietly inside.
Something else I read, about the first word of John the Baptist in the New Testament -"Repent". It has also been described as the first word of the gospel. Until we recognize our failings and repent, the Holy Spirit cannot move us. When it does, we recognize that we are the poor in spirit, that our lives are such a poor reflection of what God meant for us to be.
"Poverty of spirit cannot be artificially induced by self-hatred; the Holy Spirit and our response to His working in our hearts bring it about.
This beatitude is first, because this is where we start with God. “A ladder, if it is to be of any use, must have its first step near the ground, or feeble climbers will never be able to mount. It would have been a grievous discouragement to struggling faith if the first blessing had been given to the pure in heart; to that excellence the young beginner makes no claim, while to poverty of spirit he can reach without going beyond his line.” (Spurgeon)
Everyone can start here; it isn’t first blessed are the pure or the holy or the spiritual or the wonderful. Everyone can be poor in spirit. “Not what I have, but what I have not, is the first point of contact, between my soul and God.” (Spurgeon)"
Just a slight digression. For those who do not believe, to what end do they think their striving serve? This is where we are at an impasse. We believe there is no perfection achievable in our earthly realm, whereas the idealist atheist believes he can make a difference towards an ultimate goal. He must believe that most if not all people can be persuaded to act for the greater good and yet, it is as the hymn goes, a construct built on sinking sand. If they do not believe in a eternal kingdom, what will motivate people to do the right thing? Then surely the overwhelming instinct is to do what's best for yourself, to make the most of your limited time on earth.
We believe all man are sinners, that there is a God who sent His Son to die for our sins. The idealist atheist believes all men can be good and ultimately can see that if they all act collectively in the best interests of all, there will be a utopia. Who is the realist? Who is the more naive? I think the recent study of Ecclesiastes sums it up best. The atheist who seeks that dream will find it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
