Beware the Sermon on the Mount

Some of us are trying the 3 Column approach to studying the bible, and we’re slowly working through the Sermon on the Mount.  Soon my articles here will be in-sync with the study I’m a part of, so people can understand what they’re reading and studying.  I hope all who find these articles will join a group or form a group and follow along.  I’ll put more on the website soon about how to start and run a three column group of your own. I hope to help you understand what Jesus was trying to say – and why he was saying it.  

But be forewarned: there’s no blessing in understanding it – the blessing comes from actually living it – doing it – obeying Jesus, not merely hearing his words! 

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he’s like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; then once he’s looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled worship in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  James 1:22-27

If your goal is merely to understand, you’ll find yourself in the same situation as “the Rich Young Ruler” (Matthew 19.16-29).  I hope you’ll open your bible and study this story carefully, because his story is really our story, too.  The following is a review of parts of the story, and how it fits together:

This successful young man was not only rich and powerful and still young – he was also obedient to all of God’s laws!  He was a success in every way.  Now in search of eternal life, he came to Jesus, who challenged him to give up the thing he valued most.  The result was that the man “went away sad.”  The rest of the story reveals that Jesus’ disciples understood this story was about more than just money – it’s about each of us giving up the things we value most.  When God asks us to sell all we have to buy the pearl of great price (Matthew 13.45-46), His message is as old as the Torah itself:

“You shall have no other gods before Me”

The successful guy couldn't imagine life without money.  He relied on it, it kept his household fed, clothed and well-cared for.  The question is: what do you think is impossible?  Can you leave friends, family, popularity?  Can you lose your health or good looks and still be content?  Can you be content with any sacrifice God asks of you? 

Jesus made a promise – a promise that we can leave everything behind, even our family, our spouse, our homes … we can leave everything and still live a richer life on earth, and eternal glory in the afterlife.  Of course this is a faith challenge.  It means that we will stop relying on things that we've always relied on … and replace everything that’s ever been important to us … with God. 

If you follow the story closely, you’ll see what Jesus said: “With man it’s impossible.”  There are some things that we just don’t think we can do, and according to Jesus, we are right.  But “with God all things are possible.” 

So: get ready to do the impossible ... or go away sad. 
Those are the only two choices. 

The Rich Young Ruler went away sad.  He had understanding, he just didn't take action.  Remember what Jesus said at the end of the S.O.M.?  He said that both the wise man and the fool had listened to Jesus – but only one took action (Matthew 7.24-27).  Those of us who are doing the 3-column thing … recognize here that the third column is the most important.  Hearing and understanding Jesus will enable you to impress others, and make you feel better about yourself, but they will not set your house on solid rock, and you will be destroyed in the next storm – or if you prefer the parable of the four soils, your plant will dry up and die in the next drought (Mark 4.16-17).

Before I write more … before you read more … you should take a few moments and visit with God and ask Him to help you to believe.  Ask Him to show you how to increase your faith.  He helped me to do this, and I know He will help you, too. 

This isn't the kind of faith where you merely say you believe in God, it’s going to be necessary for you to “let go” of your security blankets – all of them – and be reliant on nothing and no one – but God.  This is like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute – your whole life is being gambled on some rope and nylon – and nothing else.  It’s not hard because it requires your effort, it’s hard because it requires you to surrender, to jump, to overcome your fear with faith.

Yahweh and His son Jesus have promised us that we don’t need any support but God, and in fact if we will “jump” with no backup, and no other support but God – success is guaranteed!  Sadly, many refuse to leave their “airplanes” of money, friendship, power, wealth, health, family relationships, house or style.  Why don’t we leave?  Because we’re afraid!  The plane ride may be scary itself ... we’re sure it’ll fail us eventually … but it takes a lot of faith to jump out and trust the Yahweh parachute!  

It's only scary before you jump

Here’s the thing you must recognize: everyone is scared before they jump, but everyone is all smiles once they've left the plane! 

What a church - everyone completely committed to God!

And jumping with others ... what a church!  

God is our only hope.  Every other thing will fail you.  Every person will fail you.  You will fail yourself.  God, and God alone comes with the guarantee of success.  Do you believe?  If so, then I’ll explain the science of “parachuting” in these next articles … but you’ll have to make the jump.  Do your third column, and trust God to deliver on His promise. 

“If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:26-27

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?  Luke 9:23-25

If you're ready to take this leap of faith, and trust God only ... read on.  The sermon on the mount begins with some surprising blessings.  We have seen the blessing of being Poor In Spirit, and future articles will continue from there.  "People who mourn are blessed" is going to be an exciting challenge - but if you are willing to taste and see that the Lord is good - you'll find out that this is the greatest life possible.  

Poor in Spirit – Torah and Sh’ma

Have you ever seen a Mezuzah?  It’s a little box many Jews put near their front door.  Inside this box is a piece of scripture from the Torah, they call the “Sh’ma.”  This is the single most important command for Jews and Christians, and found in our bibles here:

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6:4-5

When people put this scripture on their doorposts, they're obeying the Law of Moses (Torah), for God continued on to tell the people:

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall …
…talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Then it shall come about when Yahweh (your God) brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you didn’t build, and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and hewn cisterns which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you don’t forget Yahweh who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall fear only Yahweh (your God); and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 
Deuteronomy 6:6-13

This teaching, if followed diligently can help produce poverty of spirit. 

What God knew when He commanded this was that when people get involved in daily living, we get deeply involved in our own little dramas, and we forget that ultimately we can’t do anything by ourselves or by our own strength. 

This command was to a specific group of people: descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as they took the land God had promised them.  But in a broader sense, the same thing is true of us today, isn't it?  After all, did you build your dwelling?  Did you even pay for it?  Did you grow your food or carry your water?  No … ultimately whatever else has happened in our lives, we are all completely dependent on God.  We just forget. 

Not only do we forget to recognize our complete dependency on Yahweh, but we often further compound our problems by trusting in other gods.  People think if they don’t have a job, they can’t have money, and then they won’t be able to eat or enjoy the things they want.  We think if we lose a friend or family member we won’t be able to go on.  And our dependencies are widely varied, aren't they?  Arguably the most popular idol in our culture is the idol of “self.”  Self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-worth, even self-discipline … we put way too much power in the hands of “self” instead of the hands of God.  What are your idols?  Do you have the faith to identify them and deliberately destroy them? 

Pay attention to this command.  God knew what He was doing when He commanded this to be constant: when you sit, walk, lie down or rise up … on your forehead and doorpost … this is the constant theme of one’s life, if you would be completely and continuously reconciled to God.  Be surrounded by reminders of Him, His greatness and His love. Count your blessings, and give God the glory.  Talk to Him constantly with gratitude (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18).  

Those of us disciples who are not Jewish, we don’t “have to” obey this command, but it’s still a very wise thing.  If you’re truly willing to be Poor in Spirit … make the Sh’ma a regular, frequent, even constant prayer.  Never – even for a moment - allow yourself to forget the Source of your every blessing.  If you are constantly in touch with this reality, you’ll: serve Him, fear Him, love Him and worship Him increasingly and your faith and love will grow.  

Every time you forget Him as you go about your daily life, you get a bit weaker, and each time you recognize Him, you get a bit stronger - because you're learning to rely on God instead of yourself or people or things around you.  

Forgiveness – the rules

For my last in the series on forgiveness, the rules.  Some people don’t want stories, they just want rules.  What is the step-by step, facts that we have to obey?  This is for you.

Most of us actually need rules when we first start out – rules protect us.  We teach a child not to touch a stove, but a teenager we teach to use the stove.  In spiritual matters, it’s much the same.  So for those of you who are still able to admit that you have a lot of learning to do, here are the rules of forgiveness.  Learn these so well that you’re able to obey them automatically. These 'rules' are really nothing more than the golden rule applied to sin, repentance and mercy.  When you sin, what do you want from your brothers and sisters, condemnation or help?  Unless you are righteous yourself and don't need forgiveness ... read on... 

The rules of forgiveness are about knowing the: “who, when, where, what and how” of forgiveness.  For example, Peter asked, “How many times” must we forgive a repentant brother?  Below are the answers to these with scriptures, but there’s also a flow-chart to make it simple.  If you learn this flowchart (also downloadable here) and obey it … you’ll be in the right. 

Who

This is about inter-family forgiveness.  If a person is not a committed disciple, just let it go and focus on making that person a disciple.  We are NOT called to judge outsiders!  If a non-Christian is stealing or worshiping idols or is sexually promiscuous or gay – that’s none of our business.  Our job with them is to tell them about God and make them a disciple, period.  (1 Corinthians 5.9-13)

"Christians" 

Also, we all know people who consider themselves Christian, but whose lifestyle reveals clearly that there are things they won’t do in service to God.  They have not sold all they have to buy the pearl of great price (Matthew 13.45-46).  Be very careful with these people, for many of them confuse accountability with condemnation.  These people will be very angry with you if you rebuke them.  

Also, they will never forgive certain sins, or they’ll say they forgive with their mouth, but their hearts are not in it.  It’s best to help them work to become committed disciples, if they will … and if not, then leave them alone.  They are tares among the wheat (Matthew 13.24-30). 

Now that we've narrowed this down to only those of your brothers and sisters who are committed disciples, let’s see the what, where, when and how.  The relevant scriptures (printed below) are:

• Luke 17.3-4
• Matthew 18.15-20
• Acts 18.24-26

Luke 17.3-4 (what to do – rebuke/repent/forgive)

Jesus commands us: if a brother sins, we must rebuke him.  This isn't the same as judging or condemning, it’s actually helping the 'sinner.'  If he is truly a disciple of Jesus, then he wants to be rebuked, because it helps him avoid further mistakes and future judgment. And then if he repents ... forgive your brother and continue fellowship:

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And…
…if he sins against you 7 times a day, and returns to you 7 times, saying, ‘I repent;’ forgive him.” 

Matthew 18.15-20 (how, when, where to rebuke & forgive)

This seems to be an expanded version of the same teaching as in Luke, but in this case Jesus adds what one should do if the brother refuses to repent after the first, private rebuke.  Then one takes along another brother, and then finally it’s taken to the church.  

[1] “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; ...if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
[2] But if he does not listen to you … take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
[3]  If he refuses to listen to them … tell it to the church; and
[4]  If he refuses to listen even to the church … let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.  
Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst.” 

This is spelled out in the flowchart, but remember that it always begins with a private rebuke, because the goal is to "win" your brother!  You must not let a brother or sister continue in sin, rather rebuke him or her in private.  Don’t discuss it with others at church, or spread rumors or gossip, this is a private matter … unless the person refuses to repent.  If the disciple refuses to repent, then you go back with a friend or two, and then if the sinning disciple still won’t repent, then take it to your group (church) and do an “intervention” in view of the whole church.  If that still doesn't work, then cease fellowship with that person. 

Remember that it’s not OK to let a sin “slide,” but neither is it OK to be unforgiving if the person repents.  Both are hard!  Sometimes we only want to rebuke someone we don’t like, and find it hard to rebuke someone who we care about.  And then again, we can say we forgive, but if we deny fellowship – it is not forgiving!  And if we are not forgiving, we cannot expect God to forgive us (Matthew 18.21- 35). 

Acts 18.24-26

This passage is included because it serves as an example of how to handle the matter correctly, and how it can be responded to with a good heart. 

Now a Jew named Apollos … came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.  This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they:

• took him aside and
• explained to him the way of God more accurately  

Random Observations

Note that these ‘rules’ are all to be applied equally within your group.  There is no exception for pastors or committees or others.  It works the same within households, among friends, relatives and coworkers.  If the one sinning is your preacher, your wife, your child or your slave ... it's all equal.  When it comes to sin, repentance and grace – we are all alike in God’s family. 

This is about SIN.  There is no controversy or question here … in 1 Corinthians 5, for instance, the issue is adultery.  No one challenges whether or not it’s sin.  In other words: if the matter that bothers you is considered controversial – you must be very careful in the application of these ‘rules’!  If you believe drinking is a sin, for instance, you also must know others do not.  In matters of judgment (modest dress, language choices, role of women in church, etc.) be very humble!

So what about in controversial matters?

If you see your brother doing something you think is wrong … first, humble yourself before God and ask Him for guidance.  Then take aside the brother in private … and start by asking a question about the activity.  Tell him you’re confused, maybe, or maybe you misunderstood … and then just ask.  Then you can have an open discussion.  There may be something you missed, or he may be unaware that what he did bothers you. 

Bottom line 

ALWAYS take aside the person privately and gently ask them about it.  This encourages fellowship and accountability.  It’s also hard, so it’ll reduce the number of things that really upset you.  And, it inhibits gossip and ill will. 

He who conceals a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
Proverbs 17:9

If you truly love God above all, and love your neighbor as yourself … these are the rules you’d follow.  Every time  

Amen

Poor in Spirit (and forgiveness) in Jesus

Poor in Spirit has been our focus this week in church because of our 3 column work … but also I've been posting things on forgiveness.  These come together nicely in Matthew 18.  

You should open your bible there now - 

Or - 

Download the document I’ll post online (my formatted version of Matthew 18.  It makes it easier for me to follow when it’s like this … and I hope it will for you, too)  

Once you have that opened, I’ll have two articles: 

• This one will focus on Poor in Spirit, then... 
• The next one on forgiveness, but both need this introduction... 

Introduction to Matthew 18

As with the Sermon On the Mount (SOM), Matthew has taken several teachings of Jesus and put them together here to form one flowing idea.  Matthew ‘stages’ his lessons by quoting Jesus’ answer to two questions:

1. Who’s the greatest in the kingdom?  
2. How many times do I have to forgive my brother?

Both of those questions seem obvious to us. Some people want merely to be in a church, to be a Christian, and/or to be saved … but there are a few who want to be ‘great.’  Some of us aspire to be the best – even to be able to be at the big table with Jesus. 

The second question comes from Peter, after Jesus commands us to forgive and fellowship someone when they repent.  Peter realizes how hard this is, and asks Jesus how much we are supposed to forgive.  

Matthew, in writing it this way, sees the connection between these two.  He sees that God’s kingdom (where we all are – once we're born again) consists of people that: 

(1) Start out as little children – learning, and growing and developing into something great.  (2) Along the way there will be things that trip us up (called stumbling blocks here).  Jesus insists that we must never cause another to stumble … but (3) when one does stumble, this is how we are to respond. 

Heather & Taryn, for example, were recently born again – buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk a new life (Romans 6).  Now they are but babies, and their brothers and sisters need to heed these words carefully.  One must be very careful to “baby-proof” our house.  To keep them away from danger (yes, there are spiritual predators and perverts), to begin to teach them a basic vocabulary, move them from milk to baby-food, and help them grow in the Lord.  But as they grow, they will certainly fall a lot. 

All babies learning to walk fall often, it’s normal.  But also we don’t want to deliberately put something in there that would mess them up.  I had a gap in my backyard that Berklie used to trip over all the time – so I removed the stumbling block by putting in a piece of wood that smoothed it out.  Still, she fell often.  It’s the same principle spiritually, and that’s what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 18 … preventing falls, and what to do when they happen. 

There will be more in the ‘forgiveness’ entry, but now, let's focus on... 

Poor In Spirit (PIS)  

Children in Jesus’ day (and most times in history) are nothing like today.  Today children are the center of the household.  We ferry them about and go to their plays, dances and sport events.  Not so in Jesus’ day.  Back then, the father was the center.  Men were providers, givers, masters, owners, even rulers.  Certainly none were as good as the ideal, but we all live with our illusions, and it was no different then.  Dad was the man, back then … mom was his main servant and (if they were middle class or above) she probably ran the household as his “executive officer,” to use a military idea, or in a corporation … she was the C.O.O.  The slaves and children were in about the same position.  Children may have had a higher place in dad’s heart, but in daily life they were little more than slaves … especially when they were small. 

So when Jesus responds to their question about being the greatest in the household, Jesus tells them they must become like the little kids.  Weird!  They are asking to be friends with Dad – to sit at His table with the big boys, and Jesus says it’s to become the absolute lowest on the totem-pole. 

“Boy, you are nothing!  You're lower than whale $#!+” 

This was among the first thing I heard when I joined the navy.  Lower than whale poo is pretty low.  The result is that you know everyone and everything is above you.  You owe everyone everything, and they owe you nothing.  This is PIS

Do you think someone owes you?  

    Even if you’re right – you’re still not PIS. 

Do you want justice for yourself?  

    You may deserve it – but you’re not PIS

Do you want to be served?  

    You ain't PIS

Do you think God’s job is to answer your prayers for your own benefit?  

    You ain't PIS

Do you think you’re smart, clever, good, or wise?  

    You ain't PIS

Get this: you and I are lower than whale excrement in the kingdom.  Maybe you’re not, but if you’ll take that attitude, then you are finally getting somewhere.  Our Lord, on the night he was betrayed, wrapped a towel around his waist and washed his boys’ feet. 

THAT’s PIS!

Check out these excerpts, and pay attention to what Jesus knew, and how he must have felt … and then what he DID:

Jesus (knowing that his hour had come that he would depart out of this world to the Father) having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside his garments; and taking a towel, he girded Himself. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. So he came to Peter, who said to him,
“Lord, do you wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I do you don’t realize now, but you’ll understand hereafter.”  Peter said to him,
“Never shall you wash my feet!”  [note, this is Peter being PIS]
Jesus answered him,
“If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him,
“He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
(For he knew the one who was betraying him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)
 So when he had washed their feet he said to them”
Do you know what I’ve done to you?
You call Me Teacher & Lord; and you’re right, for I am.
If I then (the lord & the teacher) washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave isn't greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than The One who sent him.
If you know these things, you are blessed if you DO them.

The beginning of wisdom is to fear Yahweh, and the beginning of life in God’s household is Poverty of Spirit … it’s knowing who and what you are.  We are foot-washing slaves, not lords.  We are empty of all, our Father is everything.  We will love and serve and forgive each other as our brother Jesus did, who even washed the feet of Judas – and said we are to do likewise. 

When the Prodigal Son came home, he didn't ask to have his old bedroom back.  He asked to have a job as a slave, do a slave’s work, and get a slave’s pay. - That’s PIS

Prodigal’s older brother thinks he has earned something with his years of service.  He forgets that everything he has is really stuff he inherited from his Dad.  - - He ain't PIS. 

Choose to be PIS: like the little children of Jesus’ day

Choose to be PIS: be a foot-washing fool, essentially a doormat – for your Father. 

It’s what Jesus did … and it’s how you’ll find your place at the big table in heaven.

Wash these, boy ...
"Gladly," responded our Lord
(and Paul - and Peter , James & John, etc.)

a response from your Father

By Yahweh (the Father of Israel & Goy: Prodigal & bro)

To My Children:

Boys, I’m pleased when you obey me.  Israel, you stayed home and followed most of the rules for a long time; and Goy, the day you repented and came home was one of the happiest days of my life. 
BUT: 

I don’t love you because you’re good  

In fact, I love you in spite of the fact that you’re mostly not good!  

Obedience is pleasing, but: 
I didn't send Jesus because I love obedient children. 
I sent him because I love the world. 

Your brother Paul wrote:

We have peace with God ... through Jesus ... through whom also we've obtained our introduction by faith into this grace -  
For while we were still helpless ... Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will hardly die for a righteous man (though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die).  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   
(Romans 5)

Children, read and apply these words:

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious:
Anyone who doesn't practice righteousness isn't of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
We should love one another.
We know that we've passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
He who doesn't love abides in death.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.
We know love by this:
That He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  
We love, because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who doesn't love his brother … cannot love God….
And this commandment we have from Him:
That the one who loves God should love his brother also. 

(1 John 3.10-16; 4.19-21)

You claim to love me, fear me, and put me first. 

If so, prove it - live like it. 

When your brother sins - rebuke him 

If he repents, forgive him, every single time. (Luke 17.1-4) 

If you won’t obey,

if you refuse to love and forgive your brother,

Then you are disobedient liars, unwelcome in My house, for: 

My house is a house of mercy & grace

My house is a house of refuge & sanctuary

My house is a house of love

Choose this day whom you will serve

Poor in Spirit, by Paul

Below are scriptures written by Paul for your study and meditation as you work on “Poor in Spirit.”  

First, let me tell you about Paul. 

Paul was a Jewish bible scholar whose mother named him after Israel’s first king: Saul.  He was on the fast track to be among the finest scholars in history, and he was on fire with zeal for God – he was a very, very good man.  In his zeal to protect Israel from false teaching, he worked for the high council as an enforcer – like one of the Catholics in the Inquisition; he arrested, tortured and murdered to further his beliefs.  On the road one day Jesus appeared to him, and he changed from a murderer of Jesus’ disciples – and instead became one.  Much of the New Testament was written by Paul.  Letters to churches and preachers, from Romans to Philemon … Paul was “the man.” 

The excerpts below should reveal to you Paul’s Poverty of Spirit.  Notice that when he says “we” or “I,” he’s not talking about us, but himself and his fellow missionaries. 

“…in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.   He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…”  (2 Corinthians 1.9-10)

If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Torah, found blameless.  

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Torah, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”  (Philippians 3:4-11)

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)  

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father.  (Ephesians 3:8-14)   

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:12-17)

I charge you in the presence of God (who gives life to all things) and of Christ Jesus … that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—  

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion!

Amen. 

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.  (1 Timothy 6:13-21)

Poor in Spirit = the First Step

I’m interrupting my ‘forgiveness’ theme for a quick insert of something for the three column groups who are studying the Sermon on the Mount:

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The 12 step programs we’re familiar with (like Alcoholics Anonymous) have this as their first step:

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.”

If we change that sentence just a bit, it gives us insight into what it means to be “Poor in Spirit.”  You can replace the word “alcohol” with the word “sin,” or make other changes … what do you think of these?  

“We admitted we were powerless over sin - that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Or:

“We admitted we were powerless over sin and self - that our lives are unmanageable.”

Or:

“We admitted we were powerless to manage our own lives.”

What kinds of re-writes may you suggest? 

Before we go on … let me show you the second of the twelve steps:

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Doesn't that sound like it sums up our conversation?  We are powerless, but God is powerful, wise and loving. 

Now let me repeat a suggestion from our meeting: read, meditate and pray over Psalm 22 & 23.  Take your time and study it – not to pass a quiz, but to get to know God.  See if you agree that Psalm 22 basically says: “I’m powerless,” and 23 says, “I can do anything with Yahweh.”

Are you becoming poor in spirit this week?

Are you checking on your bros & sisters?