Sunday 02 November 2008

Background

This verse is part of the collection of Jesus' sayings called'The Sermon on the Mount'. The early Church used these sayings toteach new believers the essentials of being a Christian. The word"blessed" can be understood as 'it's a good thing'.

The passage makes us think about worthwhile personal qualities. Theabove verse says it is a good thing to be poor in spirit becausethen you receive the kingdom of heaven. But today, we tend to thinkpoverty of any sort is a bad thing.

On the face of it, spiritual poverty would also appear to be a badthing. It is easy to be cynical about something which seems tooffer only a future reward in heaven - pie in the sky when youdie.

But the kingdom of heaven is not the future - neither is it faraway or only accessible after death. It is the here and now, wherepeople who believe in God live a Christian lifestyle. Being poor inspirit is nothing more, indeed nothing less, than admitting ourneed for forgiveness and to be loved by God.

All of us, in moments of honesty and self-awareness, admit to theneed to be forgiven for something and we all appreciate beingloved. This verse simply says that that insight is a good thing andis something to be sought after.

To Ponder

Is there virtue in poverty of any sort? Whatmight that be?

To what extent does being poor make it easier tobe spiritual?

Did Jesus mean that we should tolerate injusticetoday because things might be different tomorrow? What othermeanings might you glean from this passage?