During the Holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas, we are typically very aware of the needs of the poor.  We often utilize this time to help those with extra needs.  I applaud this sense of desiring to help.  But the other day, as I was reading in Matthew, I began to think a bit about another kind of poverty.
Jesus states in Matthew 5, “blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

As I think through this, I have to wonder, what is “poor in Spirit?”  I found some commentary here, and I begin thinking that poverty of spirit has more to do with what one thinks they have rather than poverty in finances, etc.

In other words, when we think we have it all together spiritually, that we are a spiritual leader, when we have a good understanding or mastery of the Gospel, we may actually be far from God. However, when we are humbled, knowing that we are not “the stuff”, we are able to see some glimpses of God’s Kingdom, the one on earth here and now.  

There have frequently been times when I hear a preacher preach his sermon, and I have a hard time accepting the “truth” that they are propagating.  At times it feels like scripture is not the sword of the spirit, but the sword of the preacher, being wielded to strike out at the listener.  It does not feel that the preacher is striving to give a taste of the divine to draw people toward it, but rather to convince someone that their way is right, and un-belief in their way is not only wrong but also ignorant and stupid.

God’s opposite economy does not lend itself to people who have it all together.  The Kingdom of Heaven is not for the spiritually arrogant, but those who realize their absolute need for God, their lack of understanding, and that they can’t figure it out and do it on their own.  Hence, the term “poor in spirit” then reflects someone who does not “have it” already, but someone who sees their need and is forced to rely on something outside of themselves instead of looking inward to find the answers.

There are none who can find the answers within.  Instead, we all have this need.  However, we are not all “poor in spirit”.  Many feel that they can by their own power and knowledge figure out the Kingdom.  As scripture says elsewhere, they try to take it by force (Matthew 11:12).  However, this approach does not work, instead causing a puffing up of the individual rather than a realization of the need for reliance on something much bigger, that we cannot truly and fully grasp.

Let us not be those who act with violence, but rather those who act as the poor, approaching the Kingdom humbly.