Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:3)
I can’t recall when I first began to struggle with the Beatitudes. These pithy statements that open the Sermon on the Mount in Luke just didn’t engage me; spiritual poverty, meekness, mourning and so on. As a Christian, was I really supposed to embrace and exhibit these attributes?
Perspective
My initial response to the Beatitudes, and ultimately embracing them as normative for citizens of the kingdom of God, began with an immature and superficial understanding of the Gospel, and evolved over the years as I grew in understanding and experience of God's love and grace. That journey and the insight gained, has and continues to transform my perspective, and more importantly my way of being with God and others.
Have you ever considered that you were fashioned, literally designed, for a relationship - with God and others? That is, neither you nor I can fully realize who we’re meant to be independently of God and other people. Clearly, we can be born, live and die without ever acknowledging this need for God, or that God even exists. However, living into the glory and wonder of what it means to be truly human as God intended is not only a radically different way of being, but a more complete and fulfilled life.
Acknowledging God’s existence, and even coming to believe that he sent his Son, Jesus of Nazareth in the flesh to reconcile humanity to God, does not necessarily mean that one comprehends and believes they are incomplete, contingent even, on God’s love, light and life to be fulfilled. Embracing a deeply felt need for God’s grace and mercy, in other words, a sense of our own spiritual poverty, is in fact the beginning of freedom, joy and becoming.
Becoming Truly Human
Natural evolution of human character is fundamentally different from the transformation God desires to work in us. Beginning with man alone as the sole criteria and means for transformation one can only hope to realize a relative improvement in moral and or ethical character that will ultimately be limited by personal discipline and integrity, as well as contemporary cultural and social standards. Whereas transformation in Christ involves a reordering of our nature; reintegration within and without to God and to humanity. The height, breadth and depth of Divine Redemption is not measured in terms of cultural or social norms, but against the Divine image perfectly revealed in Christ Jesus himself. We must undergo a transformation of Divine origin and design, to be restored in the likeness of Christ himself.
An Attitude of the Heart
Our transformation depends upon the realization of our profound and total reliance on God’s mercy and grace. This awakening is not an event, but a gracious work of the Holy Spirit that involves: experiencing a profound sense of God’s love; recognizing our brokenness on a personal level and our helplessness to redeem ourselves; and most importantly, a passionate desire to be joined to God in an intimate and life changing way. Recognizing and embracing our spiritual poverty before God is a radical form of self-surrender that is opposed to the natural tendency of self-justification and subtle spiritual pride. It is in fact a day-by-day surrendering that entrusts every aspect of our lives to God who alone can make us whole. Failing to recognize our profound spiritual neediness, we will almost certainly continue to strive in our own strength to please God by living a correct moral life out of a sense of duty and personal self-discipline, and "...never descend so low as to be lifted up by God" (Transformation in Christ, von Hildebrand).
I still find the Beatitudes challenging, but I also recognize that Jesus was describing in those few short aphorisms the defining attributes of those who will experience a foretaste kingdom life now, and who will know it and Him more fully when we meet face to face.
Grace and peace to you, and may God’s love and presence sustain you day by day.
Scriptures for Meditation - spend a few minutes reading and meditating on one or more these verses that speak to the theme of spiritual poverty
John 15:1-8 “I am the Vine …”
II Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient …”
Isaiah 57:15 “For this is what the High and Exalted One says …”
1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand …”
Acts 17:28 “In Him live and move …”
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