Pastor Scott Andrews | May 12, 2024
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Luke 6:20
Things were going well. My father had retired from the Air Force the year before, and we had moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where I was about to start my sophomore year in high school. After just a few weeks at school, it became obvious college basketball, particularly ACC basketball, was extremely important. If I was to be accepted in my new school, I needed to become a college basketball fan. I remember the day well. I went home and talked to Dad about it, who was, by the way, from Gastonia, North Carolina. Dad, I asked, who should be my college basketball team? That’s easy, he said, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The year was 1975, and I remember making the conscious decision that day to become a Tar Heel fan.
The next year, wouldn’t you know it – things were going very well. Yes, I had made friends at school even though I was in the midst of Clemson territory. But that next year, the Tar Heels, with Phil Ford and Walter Davis, made it all the way to the Final Four – in fact, they played for the NCAA National Championship against Marquette.
Now, you need to understand this was before the shot-clock in college hoops. And Carolina Coach Dean Smith was famous for his four-corners offense. When they were in the lead, Coach Smith would hold up four fingers – and the offense would spread the floor. Opponents hated it, fans loved it. Phil Ford would dribble around for a while – someone would break for the basket from one of the corners, which usually resulted in a lay-up. It was so fun.
In this particular championship game, North Carolina trailed most of the way. It was near the end of the game they finally staged a run and took the lead with just a couple of minutes left. As the camera panned the Carolina bench, you saw it – Coach Smith held up four fingers. And victory was in the bag, or so we thought. Carolina lost that game – I remember literally throwing things at the TV. Afterward, Coach Smith was roundly criticized for going to the four corners. You see, he had the momentum – things were going his way – his players had staged a run, they had Marquette on their heels, pun intended. And he slowed it down – he stopped the momentum.
I don’t know whether he should have gone to the four corners or not – when he was asked about it in a post-game interview, he said his record when going to the four-corners was 243-2 – he thought the odds were in his favor. But it illustrates a point well – in sports, and it doesn’t really matter what sport – when you’ve got the momentum – you don’t stop. You don’t take your foot off the gas. Every coach knows you don’t call a time out if your team is on a run, if things are going your way. And every opposing coach knows, if you’re getting blown out – call time out – settle your team down, stop the momentum. That’s what you do.
Well, things were going very well. Jesus had been baptized in spectacular fashion. After successfully withstanding the fiery darts of the evil one, He had entered His public ministry. After a year of ministry in Judea, He then made His way north to Galilee, where He began to call His disciples – starting with Peter and Andrew, James and John – professional fishermen. He told them, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left everything – all they were, all they knew, to follow Him.
And Jesus began going throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing every kind of disease, casting out demons. Things were going well. Sure, opposition from religious leadership was mounting, but His popularity skyrocketed – people came from all over – Tyre and Sidon to the north, Decapolis to the east, and Judea and Jerusalem to the south. Large crowds followed Him. Things were happening – He had the momentum. Word began to spread like wildfire – could this be the One?
And He did something that made no sense – He did what motivational speakers and success seminars and church growth experts and coaches say you should never do – He withdrew from the crowds. He stopped the momentum. He went to the top of a mountain, away from the adoring crowds, and spent the night in prayer. That’s okay, I guess. Then He called His disciples to Him – whew, that was a close one – called the Twelve whom He named apostles. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. After all, the large crowd of disciples was still there. There was even a great throng of people – again, from all over. Some had come to follow, most had come to see what they could get. Perhaps see a miracle, maybe get one for themselves.
“And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say…what? Time to storm the castle? Time to throw out the Romans? Step right up – popcorn and miracles for everyone? No. He began to say some mind-boggling things:
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. What, what are you talking about? We’re all poor – we thought you’d give us stuff.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. What, we’re all hungry. This was at a time when most weren’t sure where they’d get tomorrow’s bread – daily bread. Most of you could go through this week without going to the grocery store – you could live out of your pantries, refrigerators and freezers. Not these people. The Messiah will feed us and meet our needs just like God did in the wilderness to our forefathers – remember the manna, the quail? We are hungry now – we’re not blessed.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. What – what’s wrong with this guy?
Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil – be glad in that day and leap for joy. This guy is crazy. We thought He was the One.
And maybe that’s what some of you think. I thought if I gave my life to Jesus, all my troubles would seem so far away. Life would be good. Isn’t that what the TV preachers promise – health, wealth and prosperity? You can live your best life now. That’s what I signed up for. I came to Jesus in a low point in my life, why does it still seem low? Worse, now I’ve just got new problems.
I said last week it was as if Jesus came into the display window of life and switched all the price tags – the things we thought valuable – the things we strive for aren’t worth it – and the things we thought worthless – the things we’ve tried to avoid at all costs are of greatest value.
I also suggested last week you come prepared to hear things completely different than you hear on TV or the internet. Completely the opposite of everything you read in books or hear on podcasts or see on social media. Jesus is about to turn the tables on us. And this message is for us – the evangelical church of our day and the people of Alliance. Great things are going on; God is blessing His church. But perhaps we should call a time out. Because you see, in order to faithfully follow Christ, there are some attitudes we need to pursue. And those attitudes are found in the introduction to the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest man who ever lived – we call those attitudes the Beatitudes.
I asked you, do you want to be happy? Do you want to have a joy that is so real, so deep, that nothing happening out here can take it away? It doesn’t matter how bad things get in our world, or at work or in school, or with your friends. It doesn’t matter how bad things get at home – you can have a joy nothing can touch. If you want that, join me as we sit at the feet of Jesus on the level place and listen to Him say…blessed are you who are poor, who hunger and weep and are persecuted. He seems out of touch.
Jesus was in Galilee of the Gentiles. Not in Judea, not in Jerusalem where the spiritual people were, where the self-righteous people were, where people thought they had it all together. He was in Galilee, where the yucky people were – Gentiles and fishermen, Jews who had been influenced by the world – not Pharisees and Sadducees who had it all figured out and were living under their man-made rules and traditions and thought themselves acceptable to God.
He began doing miracles in Galilee, healing people, teaching them. And so, people started turning out in large numbers – oh boy, we’re going to be something now. We’ve got it going on. We’ve got a real winner in this Jesus. And Jesus called a time out, and the first thing He said was mind-blowing, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” What in the world does that mean? That sounds odd – in fact, all this sounds odd. Blessed are the poor? Happy are the hungry, blessed are the weeping, joy to the persecuted? That doesn’t work for me. Happy are the rich, happy are the happy, full are the full, blessed are the popular, not the persecuted. That’s what we’ve sought all our lives. To be healthy, wealthy, and happy. To be self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-assured – to have it all together – to develop those seven habits of highly successful people. I read the book.
We even want to look that way in church. We want everyone to think we’ve got it together, life is grand. Go to the local Christian bookstore and you can find all kinds of books on achieving fulfillment in life – how to be a success, to be effective, to be filled with joy, books promoting the higher life, the deeper life, the inner life. And Jesus switches the price tags and says, you don’t get it. Kingdom people are blessed, they’re content, they’re happy, when they are poor, because the kingdom of God belongs to them.
Now immediately, you may think, Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit. That’s what He said in the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s talk about that for a moment, because undoubtedly, Luke had spiritual poverty in mind. What is it to be poor in spirit? First, you need to understand that there are two words for poor in the Greek language. The first is penikros, which speaks of poverty – of having very little of what life has to offer, and yet, somehow, having the ability to muddle through. Oh, you may live a miserable life – you may have to forage through the garbage heaps of life, but you do it. You’re poor, but you can earn a living, you can make it.
The second word for poor is ptochos, and it’s the word that Jesus used in Matthew 5, and Luke 6. It speaks of bankruptcy, of total destitution, of having no strength or ability to even forage through the garbage. (Acts 3) Of being totally dependent on someone else – having no strength or resources upon which to draw. It speaks of being a poor beggar. Oh boy – just what I always wanted. Sign me up.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus is saying, blessed are the spiritually bankrupt, those who realize they have nothing to offer – those who realize they don’t even have the strength to forage through the garbage. They are spiritually destitute, they are beggars. That’s why Jesus said, apart from me, you can do… a little and I’ll help you the rest of the way? No – apart from me you can do nothing. “God helps those who help themselves” isn’t in the Bible. Rather, the message of the Bible is God helps those who realize they can’t help themselves.
Think about it. When’s the last time you went into the Christian bookstore looking for a book entitled, How to be Spiritually Emptied, Steps to Spiritual Poverty. And yet Jesus’ sermons in Matthew and Luke could be titled, How to be a Nobody, How to be Nothing.
Spiritual poverty is the opposite of the proud, self-assertive and self-sufficient attitude which the world not only possesses but admires. We’re taught to be that way. We’ve tried all our lives not to be dependent on someone else, but to be independent, to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. The world says believe in yourself, assert yourself, have a healthy self-esteem, be self-confident. Jesus comes along and says, happy are the humble, the poor in spirit – happy, He says, are the broken. Is that what you hear and see on social media?
And so we understand, to enter the kingdom we must be broken. Which is why Jesus said, how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not because riches keep you out – but it’s the confidence in the riches that keep you out. That’s why Paul later wrote, you see your calling, brothers, how that not many noble, not many wise, not many strong are called. Why? Because you can’t be noble or strong or smart and be a Christian? No. Because often, the noble, the strong, and the smart are relying on themselves to get in. I’ll just add a little Jesus to my wonderful, self-made life. There is no place for the proud in God’s kingdom. It’s a low doorway, and to enter, you must crawl.
And to remain fulfilled in the kingdom, you must remain broken, realizing you have nothing, you are nothing, you can do nothing, and you have need of all things. We are utterly incapable of doing it by ourselves. It’s going to take not only the grace of God to bring me into the kingdom, but the grace of God to keep me there. I have good news for those broken here this morning – the kingdom belongs to you. Because it’s when we realize our own helplessness, our own unworthiness and dependence upon God; it’s then we enter. And I have bad news for those of you who think you’ve arrived – who like the Pharisees are relying on your own sense of accomplishment, on your own religiosity and spirituality; woe to you – the kingdom is not yours.
So it is true – blessed are the poor in spirit. And again, there is likely a sense in which Luke, or rather Jesus, is talking about that here. But that’s exactly what Jesus says. He said, blessed are you who are poor – period. And just in case you don’t think He’s talking about actual socioeconomic poverty, verse 24 says, “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.” That is a technical, financial term – it speaks of a debt being satisfied – you are paid in full – nothing is owed, because you’ve enjoyed the comforts of wealth and a full life now. Let’s go ahead and read the text – to get the full context of what Jesus says to begin the Sermon on the Plain – Luke 6:20-26.
Clearly, there are four beatitudes here, followed by four woes which are set in juxtaposition with those beatitudes:
- Poverty vs. Riches
- Hunger vs. Well-fed
- Weeping vs. Laughter
- Persecuted vs. Popular
So again, Jesus is talking about more than just spiritual realities – He is talking about physical, dare I say, socioeconomic realities. He says blessed are the poor, and woe – or pity to the rich. What does that mean? Well, people have messed that up through church history. They’ve taught the way to spirituality and blessedness is to be poor – to have nothing. And so, the church has at times taught it’s good to give away everything and live in abject poverty. Don’t miss this – to pursue poverty. But while there is danger in being rich, it is not the riches themselves that are evil. Rather, it is our dependence on the riches, our self-sufficiency, that is evil.
That’s the problem with being rich – the rich are less likely to sense their need. I can make it just fine. I don’t need to add Jesus – my life is fine. Conversely, you’re blessed if you are poor, because you are more likely to sense your need of Christ. You don’t have much else on which to depend, if anything at all. Remember, blessed are the ptochos, the totally destitute.
Scripture is full of the dangers of wealth. That’s why Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. That’s why James said in chapter 2 of his letter:
2 …if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Where did He do that? Right here. Then again, in James 5:
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
By almost any global measure, we are rich. Beware. Don’t count on riches. We remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived in wanton luxury every day, while the poor man, Lazarus, lived in begging poverty. But in the life to come, the roles were reversed. Because he was poor and the other rich? No – it’s because of where they found life. We remember the story of the rich young ruler, who wanted to follow Jesus, but was unwilling to give up that which was his true god, his wealth, and sadly walked away.
To be clear again, we don’t pursue poverty. We also don’t pursue riches. We pursue Christ. Christ had rich followers – namely, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and some tax collectors, like Zaccheus. The issue is not wealth – it’s where your priorities, your focus, where your heart is. The issue is not poverty. The church has again messed that up through the centuries, and people who gave it all up and lived like hermits in the desert were thought to be most spiritual. That’s not the point. The point is, for what or for whom do you live?
So let me ask you, who are you? Are you a Sunday Christian, attending church, tipping God by dropping some money in the plate – or are you a fully devoted follower of Jesus? Is He your treasure?
I have longed for us to be a church where broken people can come – a hospital where people can find spiritual healing. Where they don’t have to come putting on a show, masks – they come as they are – dirty, broken, hurting, begging – and find broken people, willing to love them, to bind their wounds.
That’s what it is to be broken – to be poor, in spirit. To depend totally on Him. Now, how do we become poor? On your mark, get set, go – let’s all be poor now. Understand – Jesus is making a statement here – it’s not a command – it’s a statement of fact. He isn’t saying, do it – be broken – He doesn’t give us five steps to brokenness, to poverty. He’s simply pointing out the kingdom belongs to those who know they have no right to it. Who’s only hope is Jesus.
Listen, one thing I do know is beggars beg. Blessed are the poor – those who find their wealth in Christ. Those who are spiritually poor and know it. And you come to God in your brokenness and seek His forgiveness, His grace, His strength, His life. Because you understand it’s the only way to enter the kingdom.
Now, how can you tell if you’re broken? It seems to me a broken person is kind, forgiving – because they’ve been forgiven much. They’re quick to forgive – they don’t hold grudges. And they’re not very critical people – because they see others in light of their own brokenness and the grace of God. They’re slow to anger – what do they have to be angry about? They’re just beggars – which means they spend a lot of time praying – beggars beg. They’re quick to listen to the pains and struggles of other people, and they offer consolation, not condemnation. Broken people are humble people – having been humbled by the grace of God.
You have a decision to make today. Do you want to live in the kingdom of this world, where happiness is sought in success, affluence, personal gain, all of which is temporary and fleeting? Do you want to be rich – to pursue riches to your own destruction? Or do you want to live in the kingdom of God, where the way to blessedness is through brokenness. Where you realize you have nothing to offer. Where you come to the end of yourself and say, Jesus, my only hope is you. You see, you might need to face the startling realization if you’ve never been broken, you may not be in the kingdom at all.
Today, these are either words of consolation or confrontation. If you’re relying on yourself and your spiritual activities to make you right before God, then there’s only a message of confrontation for you. But, the message of this sermon is a message of consolation, to whom? To those who are poor. To those who are broken. To those who don’t have all the answers to the questions of life – to those who are struggling and know it. To those who grab hold of God and won’t let go. To those who say, let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, His kingdom is forever. Jesus, my only hope is you.