Poor, Mourning and Meek

Introduction

I want to begin this study of the beatitudes by making some general observations about them. The beatitudes, which is the title often given to verses 3-12, are a set of 8 descriptions given by Christ that define what a disciple or a Christian is supposed to be like. Each of them begins with the word, makarioi/blessed. And the term means simply, happy or favored. And in these 8 descriptions of what the blessed man or woman looks is like we have the distinguishing marks that set the man or woman who is a disciple apart from the rest of the world. If we claim to be believers in Jesus or Christians, these marks are what we should expect to find in our lives to one degree or another. And Jesus is affirming that those who have these marks are blessed, happy or favoured (depending upon your translation, but these are synonyms). But they are not marks that we develop or work into ourselves. They are marks that are rather worked into us by Divine Grace. Remember here that Jesus is speaking to his disciples and not to the world at large. Therefore he is not describing any other but the disciple. A disciple is there best described as a trophy of divine grace. He or she is what he or she is by the grace and work of God. That is what Paul said once: by the grace of God I am what I am. These marks will found in you if you are indeed a Christian, not to perfection I say, but to one degree or another. And if they do not exist in you I take leave to say to you it is likely you are not a Christian at all.

The other thing that needs to be said is this: the blessing is not the existence of the conditions that are noted (poor in spirit, mourning, etc.) but rather the benefit that comes with the condition. The disciple is blessed., because/for theirs is the Kingdom of God or they shall be comforted, etc. Now this only underlines the truth that these words are not meant to be a general guide to the every day man who may know nothing about Christ but a few facts. Nor are they meant for the one who wants to be called a Christian without a heart commitment to Christ. Rather, these beatitudes are descriptions of those of us who are Christians because we have seen what we are through the eyes of God and have repented.

• The first Beatitude speaks to our Spiritual poverty (3).
• Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in Spirit. Notice he is not speaking of poverty in general. His concern is not with what is in our pockets or not in our pockets. Rather his concern is with what is or is not in our hearts. The Greek term used here means lowly or destitute, having nothing. And the reference to the spirit ties it to a number of significant Old Testament texts: Psalm 51:17; Isa 57:15 and Proverbs 29:23 seems to be a text that is reflected by our text. The idea is this-the happy man, the man whom God favours, is the man who is humble, lowly, destitute of any good in and of himself. Rather he is one who is aware of his sin and because of this awareness is humbled by it. Rather than being the most confident and proud person on the block, the one who is poor in spirit is ever mindful that he or she is a sinner who deserves the wrath and curse of God. Put another way, they are dependent upon the grace of God to be kept safe from this wrath and curse of God. Have you come to this place? Do you recognize that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved from the wrath and curse of God because of your sin?
• A word here needs to be said about what it means to call yourself a sinner. God has set forth for all men his holy Law, summed up perfectly in the ten commandments. And he has further said that to be accepted by him and kept safe from his wrath and curse you must keep these commandments perfectly (sum them up here). But no man save one, the Lord Jesus, has ever done that or can do that, because all of us are descended from Adam who, as the head and representative of us all, broke God's Law and passed his guilt on to all of us. That means all of us are born poor in spirit-we start life out as that. And that includes all of us sitting here, even you who think you might not be so bad as some others you could name. All of you are poor in spirit, all of you are sinful. So what Christ is saying here is that the man or woman, boy or girl, who recognizes this is blessed. And why? Let us open up that portion of this beatitude just a bit.
• The one who is poor in spirit is said by Jesus to be blessed, happy or favoured because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. That seems like a contradiction, but that is the way with the Lord our God. He dwells with those who are lowly and poor of spirit, with the humble. The Kingdom of Heaven is their possession, it is their property, it is their inheritance. God rules in their life and God dwells with them and they with God. No good thing will he withhold from them. They have confessed their poverty, their sin, and they have repented of their sin. God is for them and not against them. In short, all the blessings of the Covenant, in which he is their God and they are his people are of divine right theirs. More basic than that, these are people who are saved from their sin, delivered out of darkness into the marvelous light of God; they are forgiven children of the Living God. They have everything even if their pockets be empty.
• Are you one of these who have such blessing? Have you come to the place in your life where you can see, with absolute judgment day clarity that you are poor in spirit? Have you confessed this to God and sought his pardon for your sin? If not then I tell you that you are no Christian and in fact stand damned in the sight of God for your sin.

• We want to move on to the second beatitude, which may be said to flow from the first.
• The second Beatitude speaks of mourning (4).
• Jesus says, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Jesus is not speaking of those mourning those who have died. He is speaking of those who have seen their spiritual poverty. I say this flows from the first and you can see why, can you not? A man who sees his spiritual poverty, realizes how far short of the glory of God he has fallen. He sees what he ought to receive from God and then realizes what a wretch, what a worm, what a sinful creature he is, and he mourns. He sees further what afflictions his sin has thrown him into-the harm his sin has done to his own life and the lives of those around him, and he mourns. Even as a Christian, one who has trusted in Jesus Christ alone as his only hope of salvation, he mourns-he mourns for the lost and for his remaining sin; he mourns for the church and its still too sinful condition. Yes, he mourns at the death of a loved one, but his mourning is more profound than mere self-pity or the sense of loss. Rather death is mourned because of the death sin has brought upon the world. Think of Jesus at Lazarus's grave. He mourned, but we do not understand him rightly if we do not see this as a result of despair or a sense of missing Lazarus or regret that he did not come to heal him-no! He mourned because of the harm the sin of Adam and his posterity had done to this pitiful creature, man, and those he loved especially (Mary and Martha). Perhaps the sense Jesus has in mind is best summed up by Psalm 119:136.
• Have you ever mourned over your sin and the sin of the world? Have you ever seen the offense your own iniquity is to God? How a gracious Creator has lovingly formed you in the womb of your mother and then caused her to give birth, ever seen that he has provided you with life and breath and all things? And have you seen how profound your sin is in that it offends this holy and just God, that you are like the child who sits on Daddy's lap and slaps him in the face or spits on his chest in disgust at him? Or have you ever considered that this world of humanity will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ and that the vast majority of them will be cast into hell for all eternity for their hatred and sin against the Almighty? And what of your own appointment at that own judgment seat? When the book of life is opened, will your name be there? What Jesus is telling us in this second beatitude is this: that the one who truly is his disciple will understand all of this, especially his own sin and it will move him to grief, grief for his own sin and grief over the lost and broken condition of his fellow man. The heart that is broken over such sin and its devastating effect is the heart of Jesus given by his grace to the one who has seen his spiritual poverty and has nought but tears to give in return. And if you do not have such a broken heart, how can you possibly be his disciple, how can you possibly call yourself a Christian believer?
• Now it seems again a contradiction, even more here, to say that one who mourns is blessed or happy. But Christ says it is so, and why? Because such a one is comforted. He mourns for his own sin, but he is comforted to know of the mercy and grace and forgiveness of Christ. He mourns for the afflictions he suffers because of his sin, but he is comforted to know that God works all things together for good to those who love him and are the called according to his purpose. He mourns for the calamities sin brings upon others, but is comforted to know that God can bring good to them by his mercy, especially as that mercy is revealed in the gospel. And he mourns for the calamities of sin in his own life, but he is comforted by the sympathy of his High Priest, Jesus Christ who prays for him and supports and bears him up. The one who mourns will not always do so. He will find ultimate consolation in his Saviour and in heaven-and here we simply want to note the future tense, they shall/will be comforted. We who serve Christ do not mourn and will not mourn without hope and a promise of relief from our sorrow. When we see him we shall be like him, and his hand shall wipe every tear from our eyes. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.
• And perhaps no statement so sums up what Christ is speaking about when he speaks of comfort, better than the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism: Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and in death? Answer 1: That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto Him. And I simply ask you this morning, do you know something of this only comfort in life and will you know it in death?

• Finally, for now, the third Beatitude has a word for the meek (5).
• Jesus says, Blessed are the meek. Now what is a meek man or woman? Meekness certainly does not mean weakness. The Greek term here means humble or gentle, and that tells us that this meekness or humility has a direct relationship to seeing one's poverty of spirit and mourning over it. And meekness is a signal or important characteristic of believing, godly men and women throughout history: Num 12:3; Ps 25:9; 147:6; 149:4; Gal 5:23. And of course, meekness marked the character of Christ ((Matt 11:29; 21:5). So it is not weakness and you can easily see the tie between this and poverty of spirit. If you are meek, you know how little you are in the sight of God and you live as a small man or woman before men.. You do not seek to be known as an important person. Meekness is the opposite of pride. No man or woman who is conscious of his or her sins will ever be proud or live proudly. They will by virtue of their knowledge of their own spiritual poverty, be meek, humble, gentle. The meek one knows what he or she deserves from God's hand and see God as controlling affliction. Pride would seek the right to be free of affliction and God's dominion. But meekness knows what should be (condemnation) and what has happened instead (salvation).
• We will be meek if we have seen our spiritual poverty and have known anything of grief for it. Think of a child who has been brought to see his or her own ingratitude toward mom and dad, or who has been brought to see his or her naughtiness in the way they have treated brother or sister. When you see them after they have been disciplined, they are usually quiet, and often happily so. Well this is what Jesus has in mind here. When you are brought to see your sin and have mourned over it, you no longer have any conscious reason to be proud or self-exalting. You are meek and you express that meekness in your carriage toward others. Your very speech reveals humility, not to say your ambitions become more Christ honouring.

• Such a one, says Jesus, is blessed, for he will inherit the earth. In an era of Roman domination, who would have thought so? Would it not have made more sense to say, happy is the man who is bold and strong enough to gain a following that will support him, for he will inherit the earth? Ah, but in Christ's economy that is not so. Christ is meek and lowly, but he is also King of kings and Lord of lords, and King of the Universe. To lowly Israel in slavery to Egypt he gave the land of Canaan. To the lowly believer who wrestles with sin, he gives the Kingdom of God, which in point of fact rules the whole earth. Those who are meek will one day sit with Christ to reign over all the earth, of which they are joint heirs together with Christ.

Conclusion

1. You who do not claim to be Christians: you have set before you the blessed and happy condition of those who are poor in spirit, who mourn and who are meek. Christ promises his Kingdom and more to those who will trust in him. In the last beatitude, Christ spoke of the blessedness of those who are meek. There is one more way in which this meekness and blessedness may be applied and so... I want to call you to see your poverty of spirit, your sin, and grieve enough over it to repent. And then in meekness, I call you to come to Christ and find in him forgiveness of sins based upon his death upon the Cross. May this be your hour of salvation.
2. You who are children-too young perhaps to understand some of the big words I have used in this message. Let me try to put it simply-here is what Jesus wants you to know, what he wants to say to you. Little children, you are sinful because you are the child of Adam. And you do not need me to tell you that you sin every day when you lie or hit your brother or sister or disobey mommy and daddy. You are sinful and Jesus wants you to be sorry enough for your sin to be willing to hate your sin and stop doing it. And then he wants you to come to him and be forgiven. That is what Jesus wants you to know.
3. But then there are those of you who know in your heart of hearts that you are not showing any signs of these things in your life at all. You have never acknowledged how poor, how really poor you are before God. You think your sin is just weakness or a disease or mistakes. And so you do not mourn for them. And you are too proud to be taught by Jesus how much you need him. I warn you that as you sit here, be you a member of this church or not, that you will go to hell with that kind of ignorance. Go to Jesus and beg him to show you what you really are, and do it now before it is too late.
4. But if you are here this morning and you have seen your poverty and sin, and you have mourned before God for it, and you have meekly trusted in Christ, then rejoice in your salvation, but take care lest you be proud. Rejoice in the mercy and grace of God and give thanks for his saving love. May it please God that this would be the case with all of us who sit here today, that our trust would be by his mercy in Christ and in him alone. Amen.

Rev. Arthur J. Fox, Pastor
10 Spruce Street
Middletown, PA 17057
(717) 944-5835