“One Thing” (Matthew 5:6) - Follow Me IV -

Hunger

Hunger is a sign of life. Only live people need food, they crave water. A hungry person is a normal person. Hunger is a God-given gift for us to live a life. Along with this physical hunger, every person who has breath is also given a different kind of hunger – a spiritual hunger.

Blaise Pascal once famously said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” Sundar Singh, Indian missionary, also rightly said, “In comparison with this big world, the human heart is only a small thing. Though the world is so large, it is utterly unable to satisfy this tiny heart. The ever-growing soul and its capacity can be satisfied only in the infinite God. As water is restless until it reaches its level, so the soul has not peace until it rests in God.”

But sadly, we see so many people try to satisfy their spiritual hunger and quench their thirst in wrong places rather than in God. God said to the Israelites, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer 2:13). God’s people, you and I, have dug our own cisterns – the cisterns of money, security, fame, pleasure, and success. The more we drink from those cisterns, the more thirstry we become. It’s like drinking seawater. So what’s the cure? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:5).

Hunger for Righteousness

What does it mean to hunger for righteousness? In this context, righteousness means to be right with God. So to hunger for righteousness means to have a strong, constant desire to be right with God, to be in fellowship with God, to walk with God.

The sons of Korah are a great example of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Today’s Call to Worship, Psalm 42, is written by the sons of Korah. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (vv. 1-2). If we go to the Judean wilderness, we can see the dead deer here and there because they couldn’t find streams of water. For the deer, to find water is a matter of life and death. For the sons of Korah, to be right with God is a matter of life and death.

So who were the sons of Korah? How come they had such a desperate desire to be right with God? We can find the name Korah in Exodus 6. Korah was a younger cousin of Moses and Aaron. Moses became a leader, and Aaron became a priest. Korah became jealous. In Numbers 16 it was Korah that led a rebellion against Moses with the tribe of Rueben and 250 leaders from the other tribes. Korah demanded an equal access to God in the tabernacle. So what happened? Korah and his followers all died. The Bible says, “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with Korah, and fire devoured 250 of their followers.” (26:10).

But that’s not the end of the story. The very next verse says this way, “However, the sons of Korah did not die that day” (v. 11). Not only did God spare their lives, but also later in King David’s time God restored them and put them in charge of worship service. The descendants of Korah, including Heman and Asaph, became worship leaders. They wrote this beautiful Psalm 42 and 11 more Psalms. Their recuring theme is a hunger for God, desiring God. In Psalm 84, the sons of Korah pray, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (v. 10). The sons of Korah always remembered the God of forgiveness, the God of second chances. And they always wanted to be right with God and to walk humbly with God. That’s what it means to hunger for righteousness.

Believing and Receiving

You may ask, “I want to have that hunger, that desire. What do I have to do? Where to start?” Basically, that was Nicodemus’ question. Jesus said to him, “You must be born again.” Then, how can we be born again? The Bible says anyone who believes in Jesus and receives him, they become children of God who have new heart, new desire to be right with God the Father.  

You may say, “I already do believe in Christ. I believe in the Church, and I believe in the Bible. Isn’t that enough?” No! We must receive Christ. Billy Graham explains the difference between believing and receiving this way: I may go to the airport. I have a reservation. I have a ticket in my pocket. The plane is on the ramp. It is a big, powerful plane. I am certain that it will take me to my destination. They call the flight three times. I neglect to get on board. They close the door. The plane taxis down the runway and takes off. I am not on the plane. Why? I “believed” in the plane, but I neglected to get on board.[1]

As a pastor’s kid, I always grew up in the church, I always believed in God, Christ, and the Bible. In my college years I read the Bible every day, I prayed every day. But for some reason, I felt like my Christian life was powerless and lifeless. My belief was rather impersonal and speculative. At that time I believed in many other gods (competing values and priorities) as well as the God of the Bible. I was an “on the spot” Christian. Only when I was desperate, I asked God for help and asked myself, “What would Jesus do?” But at other times I lived just like everybody else. My faith didn’t involve complete commitment to Christ. In other words, I believed in him, but I didn’t receive him as the Master, until I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death in East Timor. There I committed myself completely to Christ. There I put Christ first in my priorities. There I received him as my Master. Then I began to see changes in me, in my Christian life. My prayer life, my Bible reading time became living and active and personal, instead of cut-and-dried tasks to be done. I was born anew. I was given new nature, new desire to be always right with Christ, to be always in fellowship with him, to be more and more like him.  

Satisfaction in Christ

Jesus promised the disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (satisfied).” Jesus satisfies the hunger and thirst of those who follow him daily and are fully committed to him. What a wonderful experience it is to wake up every morning and know Christ’s living presence in the room! What a joyous experience it is to know in the evening, when the sun is setting, the deep satisfaction in Christ as you go to bed! And you lie down in peace and sleep the sleep of only those who know Christ!

As I close, I would like to share the story of Brother Lawrence, whose nickname was the kitchen saint. He entered the priory at Paris in 1666 as a lay brother. Because he was lame and had no education, he was assigned to the kitchen. He had naturally a great aversion to the kitchen. But, he determined to live as if there was none but God and he in the world. He wanted to be always right with God and to live in front of him daily. He began to do all the kitchen work for the love of God with prayer in all occasions. He prayed before and after the work, and also prayed all the intervals of his time. Every morning as he started a day, he practiced the presence of God. He considered himself as a stone before a carver. He truly desired God to form His perfect image in his soul, and make him entirely like Himself. He did every common business and little things for the love of God. He said, "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."[2] He did seek one thing – being right with God, and nothing else – neither God’s blessings, nor answers to his prayers. And he was satisfied in God.

Before we leave this room today, let us ask ourselves: “Am I filled? Am I blessed in this sense? Am I hungering and thirsting and desiring to be right with God?” This is the glorious promise of Christ to all his followers: “Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be filled.” Amen.

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[1] Billy Graham, The Secret of Happiness (p. 79). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[2] Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, and the Spiritual Maxims (Cosimo, Inc., 2006), 61

“Easy Yoke” (Matthew 5:5) - Follow Me III -

The Order of the Beatitudes

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress probably one of the moving scenes would be the moment when Christian’s heavy burden was loosened from his shoulders and fell off his back at the cross. Surely it was the most memorable time for him. But then, he soon realized that was not the end, but just the beginning – the beginning of his salvation journey. From there, he had to go through many dangers and trials – from the Valley of Humiliation, to Vanity Fair, to Doubting Castle and Giant Despair, to the River of Death, then finally to the Gate of the Holy City. In this book John Bunyan teaches us salvation is a life-long journey.

In the same way, the Beatitudes tell us a Christian life is a long journey. The Beatitudes don’t describe the process how to become a Christian. Instead, they tell us what a true Christian looks like – the distinguishing marks of a Christian. And there’s an order to the Beatitudes, and each one propels us toward the next. By grace through faith we are saved. We’re given new life, new nature, new heart. Then the first thing we realize is that we are unworthy and undeserved to receive God’s extravagant love. We become aware of our spiritual poverty. We realize the gap between our new status (God’s beloved; the person we’re supposed to be) and our reality today (where we are). So we mourn over our sinful nature. In this humiliating process we become meek and lowly. God continues to do internal work, plowing the soil of the heart and transforming us. We become more and more thirsty for righteousness, merciful and caring, pure and holy in heart. Then, our Christian life becomes noticeable and fruitful so that everyone can see it. We become peacemakers in this broken, divided world. Since peacemaking disturbs the status quo, that may provoke resistance and opposition. In the midst of persecution, we stand firm, stay the course, rejoice and be glad. 

What Meekness Is Not

Today we will explore the third beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” First, we will start with what meekness is not. Meekness is not a natural quality. Here Jesus does not refer to those who are by nature mild-tempered. Some people are mild because their mother or father or grandmother was mild-mannered. That is a good quality, but Jesus doesn’t refer to those certain people who are mild by nature. All Christians are meant to have and manifest all of the eight qualities, including meekness. Meekness is not a mild-temper. It is not a natural quality.

Meekness is also not something we can acquire by ourselves. It is not something we can learn in school. It is not something we can inherit. It is not man-made, but God-given.

What Meekness Is

So what is meekness? Merriam-Webster dictionary says that the word meekness means “a mild, moderate, humble, or submissive quality.” William Barclay points out that the Greek word for “meek” was the word often used to describe an animal which had been tamed to obey the command of its master. Suppose there is a strong animal like a wild horse or ox. It might take some time and effort, but once they are tamed, they are able to do a great deal of work, always obedient to the will of their master. They are not “week,” but they are “meek.” Energy out of control is dangerous; energy under control is powerful. Energy under control - that’s the image of “meekness.”

Meek people have two qualities: surrendered will (yielded will to their master) and indomitable spirit. Think of a man like Paul. He had a strong character. Before his conversion, he was not meek. He was untamed. He was bigoted and boastful. He brutally persecuted all Christians and sought to destroy them. On the way to Damascus, Jesus said to him: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). The goads referred to the tools in the harness of the oxen to keep them under control. God put the bridle of grace upon him, taming him and redirecting his energies constructively. After his conversion, Paul still has a strong character. Paul is Paul. But now he is meek. He is greatly persecuted and falsely accused. But in his letter to the church of Corinth who said such unkind things about him and challenged his leadership, Paul writes to them this way: “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it. When we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (1 Cor 4:12-13). It is a wonderful example of meekness. The meek are the ones who stand for the truth and die for it if it’s the Master’s will.

Meekness is incompatible with weakness. Rather, meekness is compatible with great strength – strength to endure, strength to forgive, strength to love. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect example of meekness. He was patient and long-suffering, when he suffered unjustly. Peter describes Jesus’ meekness this way: “When he was insulted, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus completely surrendered himself to the Father’s will and always stood for truth with indomitable spirit. That is what it means to be meek.

Easy Yoke

As I shared earlier, meekness is not something we can manufacture by ourselves. It is supernaturally given and produced by the Holy Spirit when we are born again in Christ. But meekness is also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. How does the seed grow and bear fruit? In his parable of the sower Jesus says that the seed bears fruit with patient endurance (Luke 8:15). Jesus also says, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).

Another metaphor I want to share with you is the image of bearing the yoke. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30, KJV). First, what is a yoke? Literally, a yoke is a wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen). In Jesus’ time it was common that farmers used to train young oxen to plow by partnering them with stronger and more mature oxen. The job of the younger ox was simply to follow in the same direction and keep pace with the leader ox. The older ox carried most of the weight and understood the commands of the plow driver. As long as the young ox followed the older ox, everything was fine. But if the younger ox decided to speed up or lag behind, the work became much more difficult.[1]

This is how we bear the fruit of meekness – by sharing the yoke of Christ daily, following in the same direction and keeping pace with him. Why did Jesus say it is an “easy” yoke? The yoke is easy, not because the burden is light and comfortable, but because we are yoked to Jesus and he carries most of the weight. That’s why the yoke is easy and bearable no matter how heavy the burden is. So then, what precisely is the yoke of Christ for us? The yoke can refer to anything that helps us stay close to him. It can be all spiritual disciplines – prayer and fasting, journaling, Bible reading, worship, fellowship, service, etc. The yoke also can be any difficult circumstances – illness, health issues, financial challenges, loss of job, relational problems, etc. As long as we are yoked to Christ, the yoke will be easy and we will bear the fruit of meekness.

Reward of Meekness

So then, what is the reward of meekness? Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” In a word, the reward of meekness is contentment (as of possessing the whole world). Under the yoke of grace, Paul became meek and tasted the reward of meekness, that is, contentment. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul says, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:11-13). Under the yoke of grace, we too rest content with just who we are and where we are right now – as long as we are walking close to Jesus.

As I close, let me share the prayer of the one who is meek:

I asked for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for,
but eveything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

The quality of meekness is for all Christians. The gift of contentment is for you and me. Let us come to Jesus today and every day. Let us share the yoke with Christ, following him wherever he leads and keeping in step with him moment-by-moment. And our soul will find rest and say it with contentment, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done.” Amen.

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[1]Kerry Weems, “A Yoke for Rest?” https://www.faithgateway.com/yoke-rest-jesus/#.YoBb_ujMJD- 

“Mourning with Hope” (Matthew 5:4) - Follow Me II –

Happy are the Unhappy

“Blessed are those who mourn,

 for they will be comforted.”

The second beatitude almost sounds like “Happy are the unhappy.” At first, it seems paradoxical. It doesn’t make sense. But if we understand the context, we soon realize it makes good sense. As the first beatitude (“poverty of spirit”) was not something financial, but spiritual, so the second is something essentially spiritual. Here Jesus is not primarily talking about those who mourn the loss of a loved one, but those who mourn over sin. It’s about the sorrow of repentance. If we turn to the parallel passage in Luke 6, the context becomes even clearer. There Jesus says,

“Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh…

Woe to you who laugh now,

 for you will mourn and weep.”

Negative, before positive. That is God’s economy. We have to be poor in spirit (empty ourselves) before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must go down into the valley of grief before we can climb the heights of spiritual glory. We must become tired and weary of living without Christ before we can seek and find His fellowship. We must come to the end of “self” before we can really begin to live. John Stott rightly said, “It is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.” Many people want a sense of joy and acceptance, but they don’t want to hear about the seriousness of their sin. They try not to face the true reality, ignoring it and just being happy. “Let us eat, drink, and be merry” is their motto. They are the ones who laugh now. But Jesus says that only when we grieve and mourn over sin first, then there will be a true joy of salvation.

My Sin

Christians are those who mourn – those who mourn over their own sin. The Apostle Paul grieves and mourns over his sinful nature. In Romans 7 he says, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from the body of this death?” David Brainerd, sensitive and Christ-like 18^th century missionary to the Native Americans, wrote in his journal on October 18^th, 1740 this way: ‘In my morning devotions my soul was exceedingly melted, and bitterly mourned over my exceeding sinfulness and vileness.’

Once my mentor pastor shared with me the following story. He was falsely accused by one of the church members who had spread malicious gossip. His reputation was greatly damaged. The pastor was too angry to even breathe. He went to the church’s prayer room. There he wept and prayed. But he was still simmering with resentment. He still wanted to fight back and get even. About an hour later, he became calm. Then all of sudden, he burst into tears. They were tears of the Holy Spirit, who helped the pastor feel the heart of Jesus. Jesus was mourning over the man who gossiped – his brokenness. Jesus was mourning over the pastor who wanted to revenge – his sinful nature. After this, the pastor prayed, “Lord Jesus, I have been crucified with you. No longer I live, but You live in me.” That was the moment when he came to the end of “me,” then there was peace.

A good doctor asks good questions to accurately diagnose a problem. This past week I was suffering from toothache. After three days, finally I called Dr. Woods’ office, and thankfully I was able to see him the next day. He asked me some good questions, then he found out it was my sinus issue that caused tooth pain. In the same way, the Holy Spirit, the physician of the soul, asks good questions to diagnose the state of our soul. He is a true comforter, not a superficial one, saying, “Everything will be ok. Hang in there.” Instead, before comforting us, the Holy Spirit first invites us to examine ourselves and helps us to be more sensitive to our sin and sinful nature. “What is it in me that makes me behave like that? Why should I be irritable and impatient? Why should I be bad tempered? Why am I not able to control myself? Why do I harbor that unkind, unloving and jealous thought? What is it in me?” If we answer honestly and thoroughly to those questions, we cannot but mourn and weep over our sinful nature.

The Sin of Others

Christians are those who mourn over their sin. Christians are those who also mourn because of the sins of others. They are concerned about the state of society, and the state of the world. They feel its brokenness, its pain, its unhealthy and unhappy condition, so they mourn because of it. Ezra heard the news that the people of Israel were conformed to the world around them, following their detestable practices. When Ezra heard this, he tore his garment, praying, confessing, weeping all day long. Nehemiah did the same. When he heard the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the people there were in great trouble, he sat down and wept. For several days he mourned and fasted and prayed before God. He prayed like this: “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses” (Neh 1:6-7). Instead of blaming others, Nehemiah included himself and his family as a part of the problem. He considered the sin of others his own sin and mourned over it.                                                                               

Jesus is our perfect example to follow. Isaiah describes the Messiah Christ as “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isa 53:3). Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Why did he weep because he would raise Lazarus shortly? Jesus wept because of the very nature of sin – how it entered into the world, how it brought terrible results – suffering, pain, and death – to us. It grieved him and he wept because of it. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Why? Jesus wept because of sin – rejecting him, resisting him, turning to their own way. He wept because of it. Christians, followers of Christ, also mourn because of the sins of others, as well as their own sins.

Comfort

“Blessed are those who mourn,” our Lord Jesus promises, “for they will be comforted.” What kind of comfort will Christians receive? They will have the same comfort that Jesus received from the Father – the comfort of the blessed hope and joy that comes from above. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Heb 12:2). There is no such true comfort in this world. But if we are Christian, we do know – the joy of sins forgiven and the freedom, the joy of reconciliation with God, others, and ourselves, the joy of knowing that we are his beloved, the joy that is set before us. That is our comfort.

Some of you may have heard a story about an old missionary couple who had been working in Africa for years, and they were returning to New York City to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were old now and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions. When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other officials were there, and everyone made much over him, but no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East side. That night, the missionary’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this; God is not treating us fairly.” His wife replied, “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?” He examined his soul – his bitter and envious thoughts. He wept and mourned because of the brokenness of the world as well as his own brokenness. He poured out his heart to the Lord and said, “Lord, I can’t take this. You are not treating us fairly. The President received this tremendous homecoming, but no one met us as we returned home.” But when he finished it, God simply said to him, “My son, you’re not home yet!” The comfort of the blessed hope from above!

 Sisters and brothers in Christ, we’re not home yet. While we are in this world, may we be sorrowful, but not miserable. May we be serious, but not solemn. May the Lord reveal sin in us to ourselves, and then reveal to us the joy of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. How blessed are those who mourn over sin now, for they will be comforted eternally. Amen. 

“Dependence” (Matthew 5:1-12) - Follow Me I -

What Is a “Real” Christian?

“Follow me.”

It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to Peter, his beloved disciple (Mark 1:17; John 21:22). When Jesus saw Simon Peter casting a net into the lake, his first word was, “Come, follow me.” After Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared to Peter, reinstating him and saying, “Follow me!” A whole life of Jesus’ disciples lies between these two calls. The name Christian literally means “follower of Christ.”

How can we then follow Jesus? Where can we find a map to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? One of the best ways to do is to listen to his own word directly. The Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Beatitudes, is considered the essence of Jesus’ teachings. There we can find what it means to be a real Christian. There we can find Jesus himself. Two things are important as we come to listen to the Beatitudes. First, the Beatitudes are not eight separate qualities of distinct groups of disciples. Some of them are meek, while others are merciful. No! Rather, they are eight qualities of the same group who at the same time are meek and merciful, poor in spirit and pure in heart, mourning and hungry, peacemakers and persecuted.[1] All Christians, we are meant to manifest all of these eight qualities together and at the same time. Second, the Beatitudes are Jesus’ own description of what every Christian ought to be, not just for some exceptional Christians. All these eight qualities are to characterize and shape all his followers. The message of the Beatitudes is for you and me. The aim of the Beatitudes is to become more like Christ. By this, we follow Christ.

The Poor in Spirit

The first of the Beatitudes is this:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 So what does it mean to ‘be poor in spirit’? To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, to be fully aware of our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. Eugene Peterson’s Message Bible interprets this verse as follows: “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” We are blessed when we are aware of our spiritual poverty. We are blessed when we are humiliated and humbled; that’s the place where we can see God face to face. One day Jesus told this parable: two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.” Meanwhile, the tax collector stood at a distance, not daring to look up, saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). In this story, who is the one poor in spirit? Yes, Jesus said, “I tell you that this tax collector, not the other (self-satisfied, self-sufficient) went home made right with God.”

We are blessed when we know our spiritual poverty. Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev 3:17, NLT). Sadly, Laodicean church did not know how wretched, how miserable, how poor they were. Many of our spiritual ancestors in the Bible acknowledged their spiritual bankruptcy. When Moses was called, he felt deeply unworthy of the task laid upon him. So he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Ex 4:13). When Peter was called, he too felt unworthy and said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). After I was called to ministry, I was first assigned to serve the young adult group at the church in Boston. Soon I realized no mater how hard I worked, I saw no fruits of ministry, no transformation in their lives. I felt so incapable of doing ministry. I still remember – one Sunday after the young adult group meeting, I was so discouraged. I went down to the basement of the church and got down on my knees and prayed: “God, I am sorry for doing such a poor job. I know your word is living and active, but when I preach, I feel so powerless and incapable. I can’t do this anymore.” That was when I heard the voice saying, “Don’t be afraid, keep on speaking… For I am with you… I have many students in this city” (cf. Acts 18:10).

Dependence on God

We may feel wretched, humiliated, unworthy. But, that is a good place to be – to be poor in spirit. In fact, to be poor in spirit is a necessary quality to enter the kingdom of God. Only when we are poor in spirit, we can live in God’s reign. The poor in spirit are also described as people with “humble dependence on God” – those who have no refuge but God. 

This past week I meditated on the story of David and Goliath. This time I noticed that “dependence on God” is David’s most outstanding quality. When Israel was challenged by Goliath for 40 days, David volunteered to go and fight him. Saul said, “You can’t go. You’re too young and inexperienced, and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.” Now listen to David, “I’ve been a shepherd. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, strike it, and rescue the lamb… And I’ll do the same to this Philistine. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Dependence on God.” When Goliath saw that David was little more than a boy, he despised him, cursed him, threatened him. But David said to him, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty… This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head… and the whole world will know that there is God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” “Dependence on God.” [*object lesson] This is a stone from the valley of Elah. As you see, there’s nothing different about it. David’s victory is not from his stone, not from his might, but from his humble dependence on God.

Cultivating God-dependence

To be poor in spirit can be identified with humble dependence on God. This quality – “dependence on God” – doesn’t come naturally. It is not a natural quality, but it’s supernaturally given to Christians by the Spirit. Then, it also has to be cultivated over the time. David had to learn to depend on God every time he faced a lion or a bear. Through those crises and challenges, he learned to depend on God – more and more.

John Stott, in his final book The Radical Disciple (at the age of 88), describes eight qualities of Jesus’ followers. One of them is dependence. He shares with us how humiliation can lead us to humility and dependence on God. One Sunday morning he fell and broke his hip (when he was 85). It was an embarrassing and even humiliating experience for him. For a while, he had to be completely dependent on others. It was a painful but liberating experience. By this, he learned to depend on God.

For me personally, as I came down with COVID twice, though I had to admit it was not a pleasant experience, I realized how vulnerable, how frail I am. By this, I learned to depend on God. I always remember Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, saying at the ordination service:[2]

Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly, but they help you to be humble. There can be the trivial humiliations. Accept them. There can be the bigger humiliations...All these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our humble and crucified Lord...

Humiliating experiences – whether it’s an illness, or ageing process – can be our guide to cultivating God-dependence. Nowadays, thanks to Joyce, I came to love poems, writing as well as reading them. There’s a particular poem/prayer that I love and revisit and savor again and again. The title is “Granddaughter” written by Missy Buchanan:[3]

Not so long ago I carried her in my arms and read her favorite good-night story to her.

I held her small hand as ocean waves lapped our bare feet, making us giggle with unbelievable joy.

But now she steadies my stooped body as I move from bed to chair.

It’s so humbling to accept help, especially from a granddaughter who once thought I would always be able to chase after fireflies on a summer night.

God, where are you when the generational tables are turned, when the young care for the old?

Is it your plan that we learn to serve each other and accept being served?

Give me grace to surrender my pride, to delight in my granddaughter’s compassion.

Let me teach her the truth about faithfulness in the trenches of life.

In this curious season where old and young intersect, may we look in each other’s eyes and see the eyes of Christ peering back.

Ageing process, or any humiliations can be so many chances to learn to depend on God, to be poor in spirit.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

sight, riches, healing of the mind,

yea all I need in thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

This is the language of the poor in spirit. How blessed you and I are when we are poor in spirit, because that’s how we enter and live in God’s kingdom. Amen.

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[1] John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (The Bible Speaks Today Series) (p. 31). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] John Stott, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling. InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. Location 893 of 1271.

[3] Missy Buchanan, Living with Purpose in a Worn–Out Body (p. 12). Upper Room Books. Kindle Edition.