"Poor"

Well, good morning, church.

Would you turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5?

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

That is page 759 in the Pew Bible, Matthew, chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

This summer, we are beginning a series in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the best-known passages in the New Testament,

and probably one of the most practical as well.

But, you know, it's also, the Sermon on the Mount is also one of the most revolutionary.

In fact, any serious reading of the Sermon on the Mount, you discover right away how countercultural it is,

no matter what culture you live in.

And yet, as we'll see in the coming weeks, Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount

is the answer to one of the deepest questions of human experience.

The question of, what does it mean to truly flourish?

How do I live a life worth living?

Here is Jesus' answer in this great collection of teaching that we call the Sermon on the Mount.

Now, I mean, if we're on so much of our religious life, right, it feels empty.

And so often, the church looks just like the world with little substance.

But when we come to the Sermon on the Mount, it's like we stand on the shore of a great ocean,

and it beckons us to come and to raise our sails and to explore the uncharted seas of what it means to be genuinely human,

genuinely alive.

And we see that the seas won't always be easy waters.

They will challenge us.

At times, they'll threaten to capsize us.

Much of what we thought our lives should be and do will have to be jettisoned, thrown overboard.

But the one who beckons us on this journey is a captain who knows the waters of existence better than any,

for he created them.

And the winds and the waves obey his voice.

So we're going to dive in to the Sermon on the Mount together.

And we're going to do so very slowly.

As you might know, the Sermon begins with a series of eight or nine, depending on how you count them,

Beatitudes.

That is a series of pronouncements of blessing.

And this summer, we're just going to take one of those Beatitudes at a time,

one a week for the rest of the summer.

But we're going to begin by reading the whole kind of opening passage of the Sermon,

Matthew 5, 1 through 12.

We're going to read these Beatitudes, as they're called,

and then I'll pray, and then we'll explore them together.

So let me read.

Matthew 5, 1 through 12.

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain.

When he sat down, his disciples came to him.

He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you or persecute you,

and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Now rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

All right, let's pray together.

Father in heaven, how we long to find depth in our shallow world.

By your spirit, help us to hear your word,

and become the sort of people you've redeemed us to be,

through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So today what we're going to do is a bit of an introduction to this section of the Sermon on the Mount,

this opening section we call the Beatitudes.

And I want to do something pretty simple this morning.

You'll notice that each verse in verses 1 through 10 has the same structure.

First there's a pronouncement, blessed.

Then there's a quality or a characteristic, right?

The one we'll look at today, poor in spirit.

And then there's sort of a reason or a promise,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So simply then this morning, what I want to do is just walk through each of those three elements.

What does Jesus mean by blessed?

What does Jesus mean by poor in spirit?

What does he mean by the kingdom of heaven?

And I think if we kind of do that basic work this week,

it will equip us in the coming weeks to grapple more with this section of Scripture we call the Beatitudes

and to be able to really hear in these opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount

what Jesus is really saying.

Because honestly, most of us, on our initial reading of the Beatitudes,

we miss Jesus' point.

We actually miss what he's saying.

And to see that, we need to consider the first thing.

What does Jesus mean by blessed?

What does Jesus mean by blessed?

Now, if you're wondering why we call these verses the Beatitudes,

it's because in the Latin translation of the Bible,

the word blessed is the Latin word beatus, or in the plural, beati.

So these verses have come to be called in the West the Beatitudes.

But what does blessed mean?

Blessing is kind of a funny word, isn't it?

And we don't really use it all that much anymore.

Except when someone sneezes, right?

We say, bless you.

But why do we even say that, right?

What does that even mean?

Or I'm told that in the South, when someone says, bless your heart, right?

Like, but that's apparently not a compliment, I guess, right?

So this word blessed has sort of become like an empty word for us.

But it was not an empty word in the first century.

However, what we don't immediately see in our English translations of the Bible

is that in the Greek, and especially in the Hebrew,

there are two words that we translate into English as blessed.

One of those words in Hebrew that, of course,

formed the background for the New Testament,

one of those Old Testament words for blessed in Hebrew

is the word barach, right?

And that word is the word for God blessing us, right?

God showing his favor to us, making his face shine upon us,

God accepting us.

But there's a second word that we translate blessed in the Old Testament,

and that word is ashray.

And ashray is sort of the word that we find, for instance,

in the opening verse of Psalm 1,

where you remember how Psalm 1 starts,

blessed is the man,

blessed is the human being who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers,

but is delighted in the law of the Lord.

But with that second word, with that Hebrew word we translate blessed in Psalm 1,

ashray, here's the thing.

That word doesn't primarily refer to God blessing us or favoring us.

That word is not a statement that this person has now received divine approval

or reward or favor.

Rather, it means actually something like,

this person is truly flourishing.

It's as if someone comes to you and says,

do you want to know who's living life as it's meant to be lived?

Do you want to know who's living the good life,

the fully flourishing life?

It's this person.

They've found it.

Blessed is the one.

But the problem is, for most of us,

blessed doesn't carry that second sense.

I actually like how the New Living Translation translates Psalm 1.

It says,

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, etc., etc.,

but who delight in the law of the Lord.

Oh, the joys of that person.

They know real human flourishing.

That's a life worth living.

Do you see the difference between those two words?

Barak is a statement that God favors you.

You've won his approval.

You've received his favor.

Asherah is different.

It's a statement that you're engaged in a life worth living,

a full and flourishing life.

Now, here's the point.

When Jesus begins his sermon with,

Blessed are,

which of those two did he mean?

At first, we think, right,

he must be talking about God's favor, right?

We're reading the Bible, after all, right?

This is how you get God's blessing, we think.

You try to be poor in spirit.

You try to be a peacemaker.

Then it seems God will approve of you.

He'll reward you.

Blessed are those people who do those things.

But that's actually not what Jesus means.

Because when you open up the Greek translation of the Old Testament,

you'll find that the same word that Jesus uses here in Matthew 5,

makarios, makarioi,

is actually used in Psalm 1.

And in all the other places where the Old Testament is saying,

look, here's the one who's truly living.

They've found it.

There's the life worth living.

Oh, the joys of that one.

Now, what does all this mean?

It means that when Jesus opens a sermon on the mount,

he's not saying,

here's how you were in God's favor.

Rather, he's answering one of the oldest

and one of the most important questions human beings have ever asked.

How do I live a life of true, lasting worth?

What's the shape of real human flourishing?

You know, that's what the Greek philosophical tradition

was striving towards and reaching towards for hundreds of years.

Going all the way back to Aristotle with his Nicomachean ethics,

trying to develop, what does it mean to live the good life?

And that's what the Jewish wisdom tradition in the Old Testament

and in through the intercanonical period

had been speaking to for even longer.

And maybe you've wondered the same thing.

What does it mean to really live?

How do I find lasting happiness?

You know, some translators have even tried to render

Jesus' saying here in the Beatitudes,

it's just that,

happy are those who are poor in spirit,

happy are those who mourn, etc., etc.

But you know, that word happy doesn't really get at the sense.

Happy doesn't sort of have the depth

of what we're searching for or what Jesus means.

Because we don't just want to be happy, right?

We want something deeper.

We want to thrive.

We want to flourish.

But the trouble is,

we've lost our way.

Think of all the ways we try to secure a life worth living,

a flourishing life.

I think first we sort of try to find it in possessions or in accolades, right?

If I amass enough stuff or accolades or professional awards or achievements,

then I'll know what it means to flourish.

Then I'll know what it means to live a life that's satisfying to the soul.

But you know, you don't have to read about human experience

or examine your own heart long enough to realize that doesn't work.

Right?

But the reality is,

a lot of Christians have kind of lost their way too.

We sort of baptize that same thinking,

but in sort of spiritual or religious terms.

We think performance or producing numbers

or making a big impact is what the Christian life is really all about.

But look at the trouble such thinking has caused.

Even in our own day,

even in the last five, ten years,

how many prominent leaders

in the church world have fallen in disgrace,

even though externally,

their ministries had big numbers

and so-called influence.

You see, in the ancient world,

they knew something that we've forgotten.

They knew that the key to a truly flourishing life

wasn't found in amassing wealth or success,

and it wasn't found in being competent

in external performances.

They knew that the key to a fully flourishing life

wasn't found in your possessions or your performance,

but in your character.

Not in what you had,

not in what you did,

but in who you were.

You see, they knew that it wasn't simply about

following the right rules,

but about developing into a certain kind of person,

a person with depth of what they called virtue.

That was the path of flourishing.

And at a certain level,

we get this, don't we?

You know, consider the athlete,

maybe a basketball player,

who trains for hours every day,

the same skills,

the same exercises,

or think about the jazz musician

who plays the same scales every day.

Why do they do that?

They do that not so they can simply

do the drills or run the scales,

but so that in the moment,

in the moment of the game,

in the moment of the concert,

when something new is called for,

they can then meet the challenge.

They've so internalized

and become so accustomed to their game

or to their instrument,

they've developed such virtue,

such being,

that in the moment,

they can do something beautiful

and satisfying

and wise.

Even if that moment

was totally unexpected,

totally unique.

You see, the same is true

more broadly

of our humanity, right?

Of course we need to know the rules.

We need to know what's right and wrong,

and we need to know

what those rules are

and what we should follow.

We need to do the drills.

We need to run the scales.

Yes, but deeper than that,

we need to become

the kind of people,

people of virtue,

people of character,

who will be able to act

faithfully and wisely

in every new situation

that arises,

when there maybe isn't a rule

that tells us exactly what to do.

So when Jesus says,

blessed are,

he's not saying,

here's how you can earn God's favor.

He's saying,

here's the path

of genuine flourishing.

Here's the sort of person

who lives life

as it's meant to be lived,

and he's inviting us into it.

He's opening the door

and saying,

come inside.

Come inside

and find a life worth living.

Open your sails to the wind

and brave the ocean.

Here are the deep virtues.

Here's the deep character

of a human person

fully alive.

And that brings us

to the second part

of our verse.

Because once Jesus starts

enumerating those virtues,

we're met with a surprise.

We're struck

by what he says.

You see,

if the Beatitudes

are an invitation

to the virtues,

the character qualities

of a human person

truly alive,

truly flourishing,

at first they seem

totally upside down.

Blessed are

the poor in spirit.

Wait, what?

The poor in spirit?

They're the flourishing ones?

How can that be?

Doesn't common sense

tell us that the rich

in spirit have found

the life worth living?

Not the poor.

Who wants to be poor?

Sure.

So what does Jesus mean

by poor in spirit?

Now some people think

that Matthew here

is sort of watering down

a similar saying of Jesus

that we find

in Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

In Luke chapter 6,

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Jesus says,

just,

blessed are the poor.

Not the poor in spirit,

just the poor.

So this sort of theory goes,

and you might run across this,

this sort of theory goes

that Matthew didn't like

that sort of socially radical

Jesus of Luke 6.

So, you know,

who pronounces blessing

on the economically poor,

so he sort of softened

and spiritualized Jesus' saying

by adding poor in spirit.

But you know,

that theory,

that theory cannot be right.

Because Jesus is saying

both in Luke 6

and in Matthew 5

have their background,

again,

in the Old Testament scriptures.

Who are the poor

in the Old Testament?

Yes,

on the one hand,

the poor were those

who lacked material

and economic resources.

And we find in the Old Testament

that God's heart

is near to those who are poor.

He is their great defender.

He rises them up,

raises them up

from the ash heap

as we heard earlier

in our psalm reading.

But also in the Old Testament,

in passage after passage,

we also see that

at a deeper level,

at the most profound level,

the poor are those

who know they need God.

I sought the Lord,

Psalm 34 says,

and he answered me

and delivered me

from all my fears.

Those who look to him

are radiant

and their faces

shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried

and the Lord heard him

and saved him

out of all his troubles.

This poor man cried.

We could produce many passages

like this one

where we see that the poor

is a description

in the Old Testament

of those who know desperately

that they need God.

Whether it's their lack

of external resources

or it's their lack

of internal resources,

they know they don't have enough.

They know they need God.

You see, we don't need

to drive a wedge

between Luke 6 and Matthew 5.

On the one hand,

a lack of external resources

can drive someone

to a deep dependence on God.

But so can a lack

of internal resources

when you realize

that your moral performance

or your emotional resilience

or your intellectual prowess

can't save you

and can't keep you

and can't satisfy you.

When those internal resources

give way

and you realize

you need God

and God alone

in utter dependence,

then you are poor in spirit.

And then Jesus says,

you're blessed.

When you've stopped

relying on yourself

and brought empty hands

to God,

then you've begun

to discover

a life truly worth living.

You see,

to be poor in spirit

doesn't mean

that you constantly

beat up on yourself.

It doesn't mean

that you sort of wallow

in self-deprecation.

It doesn't mean

you can never graciously

accept a compliment.

You know,

those are all forms

of false, actually,

spiritual poverty.

No,

genuine spiritual poverty

is discovering

the freedom.

The freedom

from having to be

constantly managing

your interior accounts.

Am I smart enough?

Well, I better invest in this.

I better start reading that.

Am I relationally connected enough?

Am I liked or admired enough?

Well, I better start

connecting with this person,

being nicer to that person.

I better not let people

see my faults and failures.

Am I morally good enough?

I better do more good things,

try harder,

do better.

We're constantly managing

our self-centered

spiritual portfolio

to see if we can get

the spiritual riches

to accrue.

But it's a constant exercise

in anxiety

and pressure

that never gives up.

We frenetically

try to make ourselves

spiritually rich,

but we find ourselves

consumed more and more

when we're less at peace

and we're less at ease

and we're less able

to enjoy the life

that's right in front of us.

And we find that

we're not flourishing,

but we're floundering.

It's not blessing

we experience,

but whoa.

On the other hand,

genuine spiritual poverty

to admit that we need God,

to admit that we have

nothing apart from

what God gives,

that is freedom.

And if you've ever been

around someone

who's genuinely poor

in spirit,

if you've ever been

around someone

who isn't trying

to constantly manage

their spiritual portfolio,

but lives in the freedom

of having nothing to lose

and nothing to prove

because they know

that God is all they need,

if you've been around

someone like that,

then you know

how freeing it is.

It's freeing

just to be around

that kind of person.

Their presence is calming

because they're not

in the rat race anymore.

They're not constantly

measuring up

their investments

against yours

to see how they stack up.

For a moment,

the competition

and the comparison

that exists

in so many

of our earthly relationships

seems to pause

for a moment.

And we can just

meet one another

as human beings

and to relish

in the gift

of each other,

to receive each other,

and show genuine love

toward each other.

Blessed are the poor

in spirit.

Blessed are those

who have stopped

trying to amass

their own spiritual wealth

and have come

empty-handed to God

as their all in all.

And that brings us

to the third part

of the beatitude.

Blessed are the poor

in spirit,

for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven.

Now, what is

the kingdom of heaven?

What is the kingdom

of heaven?

Well, the kingdom of heaven

is sort of a phrase

that's unique

to Matthew's gospel,

but it's his way

of referring

to the kingdom of God.

Heaven there

is sort of a reverential

way of Matthew

to speak of God,

where God dwells

in fullness.

Heaven.

So if Matthew here

is talking about

the kingdom of God,

the kingdom of heaven,

then we find that

all of the gospel writers

speak of the kingdom

of God.

So Jesus is saying

that the poor

in spirit,

they are the ones,

they are the ones

who participate

in God's kingdom,

in God's reign.

And we know

that this reign

of God,

for the prophets

in the Old Testament,

they looked ahead

to a time

when that reign

would begin.

But we know now,

living on this side

of the incarnation

and cross

and resurrection,

that the reign

of God

isn't just

a future reality,

but God's reign

of righteousness,

God's reign

of peace,

God's reign

of restoration

has been inaugurated,

has been begun,

has been launched

into the world

in Jesus' own

person and work.

Remember Jesus' words

from earlier

in Matthew's gospel,

repent,

for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand.

In other words,

Jesus says,

the reign of God

is beginning

right now

through me.

Now, of course,

we await a day

when this kingdom

of God

will be consummated

and there will be

no more tears

and no more evil

and God will make

all things new.

We studied a lot

about this summer

in the book of Revelation,

didn't we?

But this restoring

reign of God

is on the move

even now.

When Christ

ascended into heaven

and sat at the right

hand of the Father

and sent down

his spirit,

the kingdom of God

was, again,

it was flung

upon the world.

And who will participate

in this reign?

Who will be the ones?

The poor in spirit.

The poor in spirit.

You see,

when God looks

at the world,

when God looks

for those

who will join

his work

in the world,

he's not looking

for the wealthy.

He's not looking

for the people

who think

they're spiritually

loaded and well-off.

He's not looking

for the people

who think that,

wow, God sure is lucky

to have me on his team

because I bring a lot

to the table.

No.

Friends,

he's looking

for the poor.

He's looking

for those who know

that everything

they have

is grace

and his grace

is enough.

of course,

God can use

your talents

and gifts

for his kingdom.

But the poor

in spirit realize

that these gifts

are just that.

They're gifts

given to you,

not earned.

And such gifts

are best used

to glorify

the giver.

Hudson Taylor,

the missionary,

was once scheduled

to speak at a large

Presbyterian Church

in Melbourne, Australia

and the moderator

of the service

introduced the missionary,

introduced Hudson Taylor

in these eloquent

and glowing terms.

He told the large congregation

that Taylor,

told them all

that Hudson Taylor

had accomplished

in China

and he sort of

presented Taylor

as our illustrious guest.

And Hudson Taylor

stood quietly

for a moment

and then opened

his message

by saying,

dear friends,

I'm a little servant

of an illustrious master.

That's a good picture

of what it means

to be poor in spirit.

But of course,

all this raises

a crucial question,

doesn't it?

If the poor in spirit

are the truly flourishing ones,

if they are the ones

who participate

in God's reign,

the question is,

how do we become

poor in spirit?

You know,

anyone who simply

tried to,

you know,

proverbially sell off

their self-made

spiritual wealth,

if you try to sell

that off,

you realize

how hard it is.

You realize

how easy

we slip

into a conversation

some good deed

we've done,

right,

to look good.

You realize

how unconsciously

we begin to look

down our nose

at someone

who isn't quite

as accomplished

or as successful

as we are.

You realize

how anxious

we still get

when we see

the success

of a friend

or a colleague

wondering if

will measure up.

There's something

in our fallen

human hearts

that clings

tightly

to our self-made

spiritual wealth.

The truth is

we can't simply

make ourselves

poor in spirit.

But what we cannot

do for ourselves,

God can do

through the gospel.

On the one hand,

simply encountering

God as he reveals

himself in scripture,

that begins

the process.

I remember the story,

I think it was

Teddy Roosevelt,

you know,

Teddy Roosevelt

is a great outdoorsman

and he would take

his guests outside.

This is probably

apocryphal,

but I'm going to

share it anyway

because it's a good

illustration.

Whenever he was

with friends,

he would take them

outside and he would

have them look out

at the stars

or whatever they

were looking at

and then he would

say,

okay,

I think we're

small enough now,

let's go to bed.

Right?

When we come

to an encounter

with God

as he reveals

himself,

not just in nature

but in scripture,

that begins

the humbling process.

John Flavel

once said,

they that know

God will be

humble

and they that

know themselves

cannot be proud.

But you know,

there's a deeper

level.

Why?

Why do we cling

so tightly

to our self-made

spiritual wealth?

Why are we so

afraid to open

our hands

and become

poor in spirit?

Because we're

afraid.

We're afraid

that without

those spiritual

riches

that we've made

for ourselves,

we're afraid

that we'd be

nothing,

that we'd be

cast off,

that we'd be

destitute.

And you see,

only Jesus

can meet us

in that place.

because at the

foot of the

cross,

we see,

on the one

hand,

we see our

total spiritual

bankruptcy.

We are so

destitute.

Our good deeds

are so

counterproductive

to the kingdom

of God

that Christ

had to be

crucified

for our sins.

but also

at the cross,

our deepest

fears are

meant.

You see,

at the cross,

we're not

left as

beggars

because he

did all

this for

us.

Do you

remember the

song we sang?

Two wonders

here I

confess,

my worth

and my

unworthiness.

Paul put it

this way in

2 Corinthians

8-9,

you know

the grace

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ,

that though

he was

rich,

yet for

your sake

he became

poor,

so that

you by

his poverty

might become

rich.

When you

see that

Christ became

poor for

you,

that he

gave up

the riches

of heaven

and emptied

himself and

became poor

and a

servant,

when you

see that

he did

that for

you,

then you

have the

real

treasure,

the real

riches.

Then you

have the

kind of

riches that

enable you

to sell

off all

of your

self-centered

investments

and become

truly poor

in spirit.

In other

words,

when you

get Christ's

righteousness

credited to

your account

through faith

in him,

you can

discard your

self-righteousness

and then you

can know the

blessedness of

genuine

spiritual

poverty.

But you

know,

for those

of us

who are

in Christ

and we've

begun to

experience that,

how do we

grow?

How do we

grow in

this virtue

of spiritual

poverty?

What sort

of practices

might help

us more

and more

to become

this sort

of people

that Jesus

has redeemed

us to be

and that he's

making us

to be by

his spirit?

Well,

there's lots

of things we

could say

here and

we're going

to get into

a lot of

them as

we proceed

through the

Sermon on

the Mount.

But perhaps

this morning

we might

just mention

the practice

of what I

would call

being more

intentional about

being on the

receiving end.

In our pride,

we like to be

the ones who

give, right?

And of course,

generosity is

important,

but if we are

always the

giver,

then we are

always the one

in control to a

certain extent.

We're always

the one with

something to

give.

Instead,

we need to

practice being

on the

receiving end.

Practice being

empty and

getting something

from someone

else.

Receive a

compliment and

simply say,

thank you.

Receive the

help of a

church member.

Receive the

counsel of a

friend or a

small group

member.

Put yourself

in the place

where you

need to

receive.

Of course,

sometimes it's

actually hardship

or trials or

suffering that

will put us in

that place,

won't it?

Friend,

thank God for

those times,

even if they

are difficult.

Not for the

suffering itself,

but because that

in those times

when suffering

forces us to

receive from

others,

we're learning

more and

more the

virtue of

spiritual

poverty.

We're

learning more

and more

what it

means to

be truly

blessed.

But you

know,

perhaps one

of the

greatest ways

that we can

put ourselves

on the

receiving end

is at the

Lord's table.

When we come

to the Lord's

supper,

right,

we are all

on the

receiving end.

We come

hungry and

needy,

admitting our

spiritual poverty.

And in the

bread,

in the cup,

we receive these

signs telling us

that Christ and

Christ alone

can feed us,

and He has,

and He will

continue to do

so.

And you know,

it's at the

table,

it's at the

Lord's supper

where we

experience our

greatest solidarity

with one

another.

Because at the

table,

right,

whether we are

materially wealthy

or materially poor,

we all come as

spiritually bankrupt

in need of God's

provision.

And if we can

practice that

kind of solidarity

here with one

another at the

table,

where we are

truly one

before the

Lord,

if we can do

that practice

here,

if we can learn

what that means,

then we can go

into the world

and start to

practice other

forms of

solidarity,

working,

living,

listening

alongside of

those whom

the world

would consider

marginal or

unimportant or

poor.

You see,

the first step

of practicing

solidarity with

the poor,

to echo God's

heart,

the first step

is to start it

right here as

we come to

the Lord's

table.

It all starts

here,

receiving these

signs of the

gospel,

gospel,

because here

we're all

receivers,

each one of

us.

And you know,

as we celebrate

the Lord's

Supper,

we hear Jesus'

words in this

first beatitude,

not just as an

invitation,

not just as a

challenge,

but at the

table we hear

these words as

an assurance.

Jesus hands us

the bread and

the cup,

we receive them,

and we hear

Jesus say,

blessed are the

poor in spirit,

for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.

Let's pray.

Father, as we

come to the table

now, we ask for

your grace.

Would the bread

and the cup make

real to us again

the great self-

emptying of Christ?

Christ.

Help us to see

Christ as the

one who modeled

perfect poverty

of spirit,

but not just as a

moral exemplar,

as a Savior,

his body broken,

his blood shed

for the forgiveness

of our sins.

At this table,

would we have a

fresh realization

of our spiritual

poverty?

Would we be able

to say again,

nothing in my hand

I bring,

simply to the

cross I cling.

Naked, we come

to you for dress.

Helpless, we look

to you for grace.

Foul, we fly

to the fountain.

Wash us,

Savior.

Wash us,

we pray.

Thank you for

washing us.

Fill us with your

spirit as we take

this meal together.

In Christ's name,

Amen.