Monday Morning Mail, 23rd June 2014
Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor;
the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
Congratulations to those who are mourning; they shall be consoled.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are to be envied, because they will be filled.
Congratulations to the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Happy are the pure in heart – because they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
Congratulations to you when they reproach you and persecute you and falsely talk all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice, and be glad, because your reward in heaven is huge. You see, that's how they persecuted the prophets before you.
We saw that these "blessed" people aren't the ones we expect to win at life. It's not the ones with the huge self-confidence and the big egos. But nor is it the people who always feel bad about themselves and let everyone know it! In Tim Keller's words, it's not the people who think more of themselves, but neither is it the people who think less of themselves; it's the people who think of themselves less. It's the people who know they are spiritually poor, even spiritually bankrupt, who know that they can't trust their own opinion about themselves, so listen to God's opinion about them.
In God's word, we see that even though we let God down all the time, if we trust him then we are his beloved adopted children, we are welcomed, accepted, forgiven, transformed. The spiritually bankrupt recognise this, and it frees us from worrying about our own self-worth.
It means that we don't always put a brave face on things – we are free to mourn when our lives and our situations in this world don't live up to God's kingdom standards. It means that we long for God's kingdom and his righteousness like people long for food and water.
It means we are free to show other people mercy; we don't manipulate or stir up conflict but instead are pure in heart and seek to make peace. We don't have to worry about popularity – we know that God's kingdom is coming, and that if we are holding onto God then we are on the right side of the future.
But a word about how we get there. It's easy in this life to get pulled away from listening to God's voice into worrying about our own opinion of ourselves, or other people's opinions of us. When that happens to me, I find what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:5 really helpful – the idea of "taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
So when I find myself worrying about the fact I've let God down again, I take that thought captive and I bring it to the cross. I remind myself that Jesus has already paid the price for everything I've done wrong and so I am free. When I find myself thinking that I've done something really well and leaning towards pride, I (hopefully) take that thought captive and bring it to the cross. I remember that Jesus had to die so that I can be forgiven, and that anything good in me is God's work either by creation or redemption.
The old hymn puts it beautifully:
When Satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see him there,
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the just is satisfied
To look on him and pardon me.
May we know the love of God the Father, the forgiveness and the transforming power that come through Christ's Cross, applied to our hearts by his Spirit, to the glory of God. Amen.
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