PASTOR’S CORNER, Bailey Norris, New Beginnings Church, Liberal
The Sermon on the Mount is arguably one of the most known teaching of Jesus. It contains a multitude of teachings that challenge Christians to live a radical, countercultural life.
The Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5:3-12, form the opening of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Each Beatitude reveals a paradox—the kind of person whom the world often overlooks is, in fact, the one whom God blesses.
When we think of what our world considers blessed, we can look to Instagram or TikTok with people posting awesome pictures lounging on the beach or on some fancy vacation with the #blessed. Its the sense that the they are blessed because of the item in the picture. But Jesus flips those ideas on their head. When you read these phrases, you can probably think along the lines that these phrases don’t seem like things that are blessings or things that will make us happy. But rather how we are blessed when we submit ourselves to the will of our savior. It is more than a temporary feeling or something based on our circumstances.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
The first of the beatitudes is one that can be hard to wrap our heads around. Its this idea of when we have recognized that we as humans are poor in spirit. Our human nature is one that is spiritually bankrupt. Without Jesus, we are a broken people.
It would be like going on a camping trip and getting ready to pack your backpack. But here’s the thing: what if your backpack is already full of stuff you don’t need – like old wrappers, empty water bottles, and things you haven’t used in months? If you try to put in new, useful items without emptying the backpack first, you’re going to run out of space, and you won’t have what you need when you get on your journey.
Jesus talking about being empty of everything we’re trying to carry on our own. “Poor in spirit” means recognizing that we can’t fill our lives with our own pride, control, or self-reliance and still expect to experience the fullness of God’s blessings. Just like the backpack needs to be emptied to make room for what’s important, our hearts need to be emptied of things like pride, selfishness, and independence in order to be filled with God’s love, peace, and grace.
When we acknowledge that we are poor in spirit, we shift our perspective. We choose to grow in our relationship with God. We move from depending on ourselves and instead depend on a God who has good things for us. All we have to do is approach his throne with humility and admitting that we cant do life on our own. When we attempt life without him. It can get messy.
The beatitudes challenge us to check our heart state and how we live our lives. Instead of living for all the worldly things that make us blessed it calls us to walk humbly and seek the things of the kingdom. Then will we truly be blessed.
