The Sermon on the Mountain Poor

The Sermon on the Mountain

Poor

So is there anything good about being poor

Jesus says there is in the very first point

Of His famous Sermon on the Mountainside

Luke records

"Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20

Crime and sin is evident in both the rich and poor

So if we think we can go to the hood and find the Kingdom of God

 We may instead be robbed and become poor 

Matthew helps us see that it is not just a lack of money

But a lack of “life”, true life

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

Poor in spirit

This is a poverty that is sometimes harder to recognize

The word Spirit is the word breath, it is what keeps us alive
We must recognize our poverty, our need for the breath of life
Before we can become rich

Poor

How would you define the word “Poor”?

What goes through your mind when

you think of the word “Poverty”?

I am sure those words do

not bring you good feelings.

To be poor, you have to understand rich.

Being poor or in poverty

you have to compare the relative

nature of the social environment.

Poverty is not a pretty thing to look at.

No one goes to vacation in a big

city to see the impoverished areas.

We not only avoid those areas

because they lack beauty, but we

fear those areas for fear of crime.

Proverbs 30:8-9 is a cry for a

balance between riches and poverty..

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and

disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God. 

The writer understood the dangers and

temptations of both riches and poverty.

Some might say I grew up in poverty.

Compared to the other kids in school and in

the neighborhood I had less than they did.

There was no car in our drive

because my mom did not drive till

I was married and out of the house.

I never begged, but I did search

for pop bottles and other peoples’

discarded trash to find something of value.

To this day I will race you to pick

up a penny lying on the street.

Poverty drives some to crime,

others to hopelessness and fear.

For the poor to get ahead in life, it is like

walking through a swamp waist deep…

 While a little wealth is like

walking on the sidewalk.

So is there anything good about being poor?

Jesus says there is in the very first point of

His famous Sermon on the Mountainside.

Luke records…

"Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:20

Crime and sin is evident

in both the rich and poor.

So if we think we can go to the

hood and find the Kingdom of God, we

may instead be robbed and become poor.

 

Matthew helps us see that it is not just a

lack of money, but a lack of “life”, true life…

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

Poor in spirit

This is a poverty that is

sometimes harder to recognize.

The word Spirit is the word breath,

it is what keeps us alive.

If you ever had the breath knocked out of

you or seen the effects of asthma or COPD…

You know what it is to be begging for breath.

You know what it is to be dependent

on air to live to maintain life.

The person with asthma knows

they have a constricted airway.

That constricted airway is like sin.

 It is something we live with

and at times it can become so

constricted you cannot get

your next breath of life.

People with asthma depend on life

support devises to get their breath.

For the person with asthma, there

is nothing good about having asthma.

For the poor person there is

nothing good about being poor.

Yet, Jesus says “blessed are the poor”.

What possible blessing or

good can come from poverty?

Most of us do not think about our next breath.

But when you find you cannot

Breath, you are humbled.

 You think about that next breath of air that

in the past you never thought much about.

You understand your need and your

inability to get it on your own.

God breathed into Adam

and he became a living soul.

Something died when Adam and Eve looked

for life in a place other than God, their Creator.

Jesus is trying to give us a picture of our spiritual need.

Jesus paints a picture for all of us.

Everything He taught from the beginning of
His ministry to the very end was a picture of...

 The “Kingdom of Heaven” or of God.

It is the hope of real life, real riches.

You and I will never come out of poverty

without recognizing our need for His Spirit...

Recognizing our depending on the breath of the Holy Spirit for life.

Rich or poor in this world…

If you know you are poor in spirit…

If you recognize your asthmatic condition, and like a poor
man begs for God to breath His life into us again…

If we are humbled in a way

to see our need of dependence

on Him, the Holy Spirit…

We will be blessed.

We will be filled with hope

when in this world we see no hope.

   

 The psalmist in Psalms 34:4-8 says it this way…

I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

We must recognize our poverty

before we can become rich...

To fully receive the riches
of the Kingdom of God.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; 
he saved him out of all his troubles.

Scripture Reading

Luke 6:20 NIV

"Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:3 NIV

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 Psalms 34:4-8 NIV

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Proverbs 30:8-9 NIV

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, 'Who is the LORD?'

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.