Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Preached on Pentecost:  May 30, 2004

At Hanover Street Presbyterian Church

By the Rev. Thomas C. Davis, III, Ph.D.

Texts:

Acts 2: 1-21

While the day of Pentecost was running its course they were all together in one place, when suddenly there came from the sky a noise like that of a strong driving wind, which filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them tongues like flames of fire, dispersed among them and resting on each one.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  Now there were living in Jerusalem devout Jews drawn from every nation under heaven; and at this sound the crowd gathered, all bewildered because each one heard his own language spoken.  They were amazed and in their astonishment exclaimed, ?Why, they are all Galileans, are they not, these men who are speaking?  How is it then that we hear them, each of us in his own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites; inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them telling in our own tongues the great things God has done.'  And they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ?What can this mean?'  Others said contemptuously, ?They have been drinking!'  But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them:  ?Fellow Jews, and all you who live in Jerusalem, mark this and give me a hearing.  These men are not drunk, as you imagine; for it is only nine in the morning.  No, this is what the prophet spoke of:  "God says, ?This will happen in the last days:  I will pour out upon everyone a portion of my spirit; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.  Yes, I will endue even my slaves, both men and women, with a portion of my spirit, and they shall prophesy.  And I will show portents in the sky above, and signs on the earth below?blood and fire and drifting smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the mood to blood, before that great, resplendent day, the day of the Lord, shall come.  And then, everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 14: 24-27

The word you hear is not mine:  it is the word of the Father who sent me.  I have told you all this while I am still here with you; but your Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have told you.  ?Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give.  Set your troubled hearts at rest, and banish your fears. 

Matthew 5: 1-5

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:  ?Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Sermon Text

On this birthday of the church we celebrate the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit came upon the disciples like the sound of a mighty wind, says our text, and at once there appeared upon each of them tongues like flames; and they began to speak the good news about Jesus; and each person there, no matter what language he spoke, understood the message.  Powerful gifts!  Later the disciples would receive other extraordinary powers from the Holy Spirit:  the power to heal, the power to preach, the power to express the ecstasy of knowing God.  Pentecost is a time for celebrating such wondrous spiritual powers that are yours and mine, gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

But my sermon today isn't about feeling powerful.  It's about feeling weak, feeling needy, feeling dispirited.  "Happy are the poor in spirit," Jesus taught.  That's odd.  I sing a little song with my granddaughter that goes:  "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!  If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet!"  We associate happiness with pep, vigor, being full of spirit!  But Jesus stands this convention on its head.  He says instead:  Happy, are the powerless, the poor in spirit.  Why?  Because the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs, he says.  What in the world could he mean by that? 

We might get to the answer by hearing a different translation of the phrase, "happy are the poor in spirit."  The New English Bible puts it this way:  "How blest are those who know their need of God."  Now, that's a very liberal translation, but it's not a misleading one, because it gets to the point of all three of the verses in this morning's reading from Matthew:  Happy are the poor in spirit, happy are those who mourn, happy are the meek The point is this:  The truly fortunate people are not the powerful ones, the successful ones, the ones who can get by quite well on their own steam.  No, the really fortunate people are the ones who discover that they cannot make it on their own; they need God.  Let me illustrate.

I have a new friend who works with me in the Community for Progressive Christianity.  When I first met Tom Yohe I didn't know whether he had a bad cold or sore throat or what.  He speaks hoarsely, and weakly, and clears his throat often.  We had lunch two weeks ago, and shared our life stories--especially, how we got where we are now, spiritually.  I told Tom about my experience in Vietnam, how I was at my whit's end, scared to death, desperately poor in spirit, painfully in need of God; and then, received the light of Christ, was calmed and consoled.  The scripture today says:  "Do not let your hearts be troubled; neither let them be afraid."  Well, that's what happened to me.  I was very poor in spirit, and because I couldn't make it on my own anymore, and was reaching out for help, the spirit of Christ came to me, and I wasn't afraid anymore. 

Then, Tom shared his story.  I found out why he is always hoarse.  He's a survivor of throat cancer.  Several years ago he developed a chronic sore throat.  For a while he paid it no mind, because he was a heavy smoker.  By the time he went to the doctor, he had a stage four tumor, and a terrifying prognosis.  The tumor had wrapped around his vocal chords and jaw.  If he lived, he would probably have to take nourishment through a tube the rest of his life.  That wasn't acceptable news to a thirty-something father with children.  He decided to go with the radiologist's plan, which was to reduce the tumor by extremely high dosage, and then use chemotherapy on it.  "What choice did I have, really?" said my friend.  "I went for the option that didn't seem a living death, but proved instead a living hell.  I was nauseous for two whole years.  Couldn't eat a thing.  Took artificial nourishment through a tube, and got so skinny I could scarcely recognize myself in a mirror.  During all this, I started to let people pray for me.  I had never been religious before, but it felt good when I would get a card from an old lady far away who wrote she was praying for me every day.  Partly because others were praying for me, I started to reach out to God myself--not by praying so much as just hoping that there was a God, and that I would somehow make it through all this.  Well, finally after two years, I started to get better, very gradually.  I had qualified for a drug-testing program, and I was receiving an experimental drug, or maybe a placebo; I didn't know which.  Little by little I was feeling less nauseous, getting stronger, gaining a little weight.  I went back to a doctor I had seen early in my treatment, and he said whatever I was doing, I must stick with it.  Problem was, the company that had been supplying the experimental drug had come under legal investigation and would not be able to keep supplying me.  I was desperate!  The doc had told me I must keep doing whatever I was doing, but how could I if I couldn't get the drug anymore?  Well, that's when I got the surprise of my life.  Since the company was being forced to end the program, they had to divulge all their medical records.  And I discovered I had been in the placebo group!  I hadn't been getting any medicine at all, not after my initial chemo treatments.  The doctors were astonished.  They couldn't explain it.  Keep on doing whatever you're doing, the one had said.  Well, maybe that was believing, trusting in a power beyond myself.  Something had worked.  Maybe that was it.  So, I kept it up.  I kept reaching out to a power beyond myself.  I haven't quit, and my life has been altogether different, peaceful, happy.  I hadn't known what I was missing."

"Happy are those who are poor in spirit," said Jesus, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Happy are those who can't make it on their own steam, and are forced to reach out to a power beyond themselves.  Happy are those who need God, for God answers the prayers of those in need, even if their prayers are like weak, wistful hopes no bigger than mustard seeds.

Pentecost is about the power of God's Holy Spirit, a power that came upon weak and fearful people, and made them strong.  Come to this table, all you who are not powerful, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens.  Come to this table all you who are poor in spirit, with scarcely any faith at all.  Come all you who need God, for here you will be fed by God's spirit.  You will grow stronger, and be blessed beyond your heart's imagining.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.