In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Lord begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3); in Luke’s Gospel (the Sermon on the Plain), He says “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven” (Lk. 6:20).
The idea of gospel poverty is a deeply contentious issue among Christians. Prosperity preachers recoil at the idea that “God wants us to be poor,” throwing the baby out with the bathwater and ignoring the perils of wealth (1 Tim. 6:6-10). Figures like St. Francis of Assisi in the Catholic tradition, on the other hand, hold the idea of poverty in such high regard that he personifies it (“Lady Poverty”). Even faithful Catholics can struggle with the challenges to embrace the practice of frugality and charity, seeking ways to conveniently sidestep such “unrealistic” exhortations.
Our Lord was born in a humble manger and a poor stable. If we are called to imitate our Lord, there must be at least the striving to imitate Him in all things—including His poverty of spirit, for “those who seek their lives will lose it” (Mt. 16:25). Though our circumstances may vary, we all need to take that warning seriously as Christian disciples.
The disciple must wrestle with this charge to become poor in spirit so that we may enter into life. There is no other way. It is human tendency to caricature the poor and the rich—that the homeless man on the street is blessed because of his circumstances (though wretched by worldly standards), while the rich man is worthy of contempt (while forgetting noble biblical figures like Joseph of Arimathea and Zachaaeus). Both miss the mark.
What, then, makes a man poor in spirit? And who are the “blessed poor” whom our Lord addresses?
The Poor Man Does Not Have a Voice
The scriptures are clear that “the Lord hears the cry of the poor” (Ps. 34), both as individuals and as a collective. Because God is a God of justice, those who fix their scales and live sumptuously have earned their reward in this life. Sobering passages like that of Lazarus and the rich man warn us of the fate for those who ignore this cry while on earth. Notice too that in God’s economy, Lazarus is named, and the rich man is anonymous. He is seen by God.
Because God enters the chamber of the heart by the doorway of silence, those without a voice are well disposed to hearing the voice of God. Because they cannot advocate for themselves in a world stacked against them, and because they have so few willing to advocate for them, they are the orphans and widows of the world—vulnerable, trampled upon, and mute. They speak to God in silence because no one else hears them when they cry out. And God speaks back to them in silence as well.
The Poor Man is Invisible
Our Lord admonishes the Pharisees who sought the best places at the table (Mt. 23:6), but the poor man is not even invited to the banquet. That is why our Lord sends His servants out to the highways and byways to bring them in (Lk. 14:13). The poor man finds his standing with God because when men do not see you, when you have no standing, you cannot be flattered or praised. In fact, in being treated with contempt (or worse, being ignored as non-existent), the man poor in spirit shares in the contempt of Christ by the world. He imitates our Lord in being rejected, passed over, regarded as insignificant. When a man is invisible to the world, he can enter the secret room unfettered, to pray to the Father who hears him in secret.
The Poor Man is Empty Handed
Because the poor man has so little in regard to material possessions, he does not fret over what moths and rust can destroy (Mt. 6:19). He is free in the way a prisoner is free. For the man who does have much materially lives poverty in spirit through his disregards for what he owns. This detachment allows him to freely give because he has freely received (Mt. 10:8). He regards it as nothing, or at most a tool to be used in service to those in need—for when one part of the body suffers, all parts of the body suffer (Cor. 12:26). And so he can provide for those in need.
More importantly, the empty-handed man can be filled and filled to overflowing (Ps. 23:5). He moves through life lightly as a pilgrim, for he knows this is not his true home. He makes decisions for the Lord without hesitation instead of weighing what will be taken from him if he does. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.
The Poor Man Regards Himself as Unworthy
“For I am a worm, and no man,” the poor Christ laments in union with the Psalmist while writhing on the Cross (Ps. 22:6). He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped (Phil. 2:6). The poor man shares in the suffering of Christ as an unworthy servant (Lk. 17:10). He receives blessings on account of this virtue of lowliness when he says with St. Peter, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Lk. 5:8). The dove, the Holy Spirit, takes flight from the proud and does not make his home there.
A man who regards himself as unworthy fortifies himself against the thorns of pride. He builds a nest for the Holy Spirit within himself, for he has no merit of his own to claim. He has nothing, he is nothing, and with God, he wants for nothing. All is free gift, freely and gratefully received. For no one is righteous, no, not one (Ps. 53:1; Rom. 3:10). The man poor in spirit knows his unworthiness because the world does not honor his inherent worth. But it is these children that enter the Kingdom first.
The Poor Man Has No Power or Standing
With a modicum of wealth, we are accustomed to our complaints being heard, being taken seriously, or advancing up the ladder. But the poor man has no such luxury. He has no merit, no power, no standing or ability. When he asks to see the manager, he is run out instead. When he seeks counsel, he is assigned a public defender who may not even know his name. And when he is accosted on the street, he has no one to help him seek restitution.
We take security and power for granted. It may be on account of our gender or race or the neighborhood we live in. Even in the Church, the powerless and victims are often ignored or treated with contempt or as liars. But God does not regard the powerful, for the powerful do not have regard for God. True religion, pure and undefiled, is to provide for widows and orphans (Jas. 1:27). The man poor in spirit may not hold his head high here on earth, but in Heaven he will be the one opening the gate.
God does not want us to be rich, and He does not want us to be poor. He only warns us of the consequences and temptations of the former while giving a preferential option for the latter. We are what we are in this life by divine grace, whether rich or poor or somewhere in between, and charged with the responsibilities our state demands of us. But every man, whether rich or poor, is called to charity and can have a humble and contrite heart by grace, which the Lord will not spurn.
Photo by Art Institute of Chicago on Unsplash
