Poor in Spirit

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:1-3

Jesus has reached a point of some popularity in His ministry. Crowds of people are following Him now. So, He climbs up a mountain, sits down, and delivers a sermon that calls His followers to a radically new way of living, one that is deeply at odds with this world. He calls us to live in light of Heaven, to live like we believe Heaven is really real. And He starts this sermon on the mount by turning our idea of what it means to live the good life on its head. He starts by telling us who the truly blessed people in this life are. And the very first people that He says are blessed are the poor in spirit. 

To be poor in spirit means you're deeply aware of your own need. It means you approach God not with arrogance or self-righteousness but with lowliness and desperation. You approach Him with empty hands confessing your unworthiness and crying out for mercy. 

This is the tax collector in Jesus’ parable who went to the temple to pray but stood at a distance and wouldn’t even look up to heaven but beat his breast and prayed “God have mercy on me a sinner” (Luke 18:9-14). This is the prophet Isaiah who upon seeing God in a vision cried out “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).

Being aware of your own sin, of your unworthiness before God, isn’t something our world encourages. We are surrounded by distractions that keep us from thinking like this. There are an endless number of ways to puff our egos up falsely and shift the blame onto someone else so we never have to admit our sin. But in this first beatitude Jesus reminds us that ignoring our sin actually hurts us in the long run. There’s a peculiar advantage to being deeply aware of your sin, of coming before God knowing you have nothing to offer, because that’s the only way to receive mercy and grace and it is the only way to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

You can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven all puffed up with self-righteousness. You must first be broken by your sin and cry out for grace. And having entered the kingdom like that, we dare not turn back to arrogance and self-righteousness. Of all people Christians ought to be poor in spirit. We ought to easily and regularly acknowledge our need and our sin before God. 

When was the last time you confessed specific sins to God or wept over your brokenness? Take time to do this. Cultivate a heart that is poor in spirit before the Lord, and you will be blessed for it.