An old gardener was digging a plot of land as the pastor came along. “Willie,” said the preacher, “it is wonderful what God and human beings, working together can do.” “Yes sir,” said Willie, “but you should have seen this garden last year when God had it all to himself!”
Standing alone we have no garden to dig. But God also does not work alone. We are instruments of creation and in God’s hands we are a hollow bamboo. God creates a song, music, harmony a melody through us and ONLY by Him can we experience the riches of heaven. There are two ways to become poor in spirit and receive the riches of the Kingdom. We become poor in spirit when we lose our dependence on the mind and body and when we can live without the ills of life. Leo Tolstoy, a Great Russian writer said: “Christ is God and humanity working together, walking together, and dancing together.” I agree. I would add Christ is God and us praying together, meditating together and enriching our spirits together. To paraphrase a Great church father, St. Augustine, “Without God, we cannot; without humanity, God will not.” This unselfish part of ourselves has to be developed or we will die without truly knowing God. It is the only part of our being where the less we have the more is possible. This is what Jesus was talking about in the Beatitudes. The general meaning of “Beatitudes” is blessing or be blessed. Jesus gave the ultimate blessing in the first Beatitude when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is one of the great statements of the Bible. Many other Beatitudes given by Jesus followed but nothing He said compared with the first. It is exceptional, it is extraordinary. And the beauty is ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs IS the kingdom of God.’ In other Beatitudes he says, ‘… they will be comforted, inherit the earth, be filled, obtain mercy, see god, called children of god.’ But in this blessing he says ‘… for theirs IS the kingdom of God.’
The problem is many of us, including the Disciples, missed the significance of what Jesus said. If we understand this simple statement we are ready to receive the riches of the Kingdom right here and right now! In order to receive the riches of the heaven, we have to become rich in the spirit. In order to become rich in the spirit we need to understand what poverty of the spirit means. Here is what I think it means to become poor in spirit.
First, we become ‘poor in spirit’ when we lose our dependence on the mind and body. I know we need the mind and body to live. But none of us will get out of life alive. So real faith in God is to lose our dependence on the mind and body. Dependence on the mind and body creates our ego and personality. This is not who we are, it is who we think we are. Our ego makes us feel we are rich and have everything we need if we have money, power and prestige. Material possessions make us think we are somebody and we are somebody in this world but we are nothing without God’s Spirit abundant in us. Without God on the throne in our life we are poverty stricken no matter what we have. When our ego disappears, we become rich in the Lord.
Second, we become poor in spirit when we get rid of the ills of life that keep us from taking the leap of faith by completely and totally surrendering our life to God. It is this absolute surrender that transform and enrich our spirit. The ills of life are doubt, hesitation, insecurity, anguish and fear. We replace doubt with faith, hesitation with action, insecurity with peace, anguish with calm and fear with courage. By doing these things we can receive God’s Spirit and when we experience His Spirit our poverty of the soul disappear. We are poor in the essence of life when we lose our dependence on the mind and body. We are poor in spirit when we get rid of ills of living without Christ in our life. The poverty of our spirit allows God to enrich our lives with His Spirit and we receive the riches of the Kingdom of heaven.
