The Beatitudes - The poor in spirit

I started out my first day of the year trying to understand the various way to practice this core attitude of the beatitudes and I surprised myself. I never even thought that practicing the virtue would be as elevating as studying it’s meaning in scriptures. There is no better teacher on how to live the poverty of the spirit than our Lord Jesus Christ. If you back up a chapter before the event of the sermon, He took out some time to fast and be tempted by the devil. Let me point from experience that fasting mortifies one’s body and deprives it of all of its pleasures. This weakening of the flesh causes the soul to begin to look for strength. The soul inevitably gets detached from all pleasures and realises that it’s totally dependent on its spiritual source of life. In those moments, we experience a bit of this poverty of the spirit. We realise that we are in a state of blessedness and “ours is the kingdom of heaven”. We pray better. Now contemplate this with me, Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, rejected the temptations of the adversary who offered him food, power and wealth and received a wholesome treatment from the angels [cf. Matt IV:1- 11]. As soon as he comes out of the wilderness he began telling people that “…the Kingdom of Heaven has come near” [Matt. IV:17]. Why did Matthew tell us the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus’s first teaching after all that mortification: the humiliation of the body to bring about the humility of the spirit?

I know that attitude is a choice. I’ve also come to understand that this humility of the spirit is not brought about by circumstances but by the willing choice of the soul to be detached and lowly in spirit. St. John Chrysostom in his narration said “What is meant by the poor in spirit? The humble and contrite in mind. For by spirit He has here designated the soul, and the faculty of choice. That is, since many are not willingly humble, but compelled by stress of circumstances; letting these pass (for this were no matter of praise), He blesses them first, who by choice humble and contract themselves”. Our Lord first of all blesses the poor in spirit because these ones willingly choose to live with a humble and contrite spirit. These ones are already landlords in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Ph. D. once said that the poor in spirit are ‘those who have in spirit given up everything. You may see a lot with them, but they have counted everything but dung…You’ve come to a point in life where nothing matters and everything you have is for the purpose of the kingdom of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you know you can be wearing a watch, an expensive watch but you have given it up? In other words, you have come to a point in life where if the spirit of God says, “hey! Can you give this to someone or can you give that in the offering?”, no arguments… you’ve come to a point in life where nothing really matters to you… it doesn’t matter what you see on them, those things don’t own them anymore’. I even saw it practiced once and I was bewildered. It made no sense to my shallow view of the spirit. Once I sat next to someone who had no offering to give to God and she pulled off a watch that meant a lot to her and put it in the offering tray. I thought it was unreasonable. Today I know that nothing satisfies. Nothing is important. In spirit, we must give up everything for the purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven. As Heavenly Citizens, the poor in spirit do their work with such energy as though it is a task that has been given to them by God. They give with all their might and all of their souls and what does God do for them? He “opens the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that there will not be room enough to store it” [Mal. III:10]. When you develop so much of this beatitude, you are not corrupted by these blessings. The blessings from heaven will become tools for more works for the kingdom. You begin to see the need to sow every last penny for the propagation of God’s word. Your supernatural outlook on life is that of St. Paul when he says “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in this body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet, what shall I chose? I do not know! I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” [Phil I:21-24]. When you are poor in spirit living would mean fruitful labour. This is a step above achieving the need of self-esteem, self-mastery and self-actualisation. This is self-divination in the One who is himself Divine.

Wishing you all a fruitful and happy new year.

“O the Blessedness of the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” [Matt V:3]