Poor in Spirit

I was a crappy teenager. From ages 13 to 17, I just wasn’t the best specimen of what a teen could be. I didn’t really apply myself, but I made up for it with an outsized ego. I was lazy, content to consume pop culture instead of learn something useful. I would work really hard but it was more of an escape, spending hours on menial tasks like sweeping the Sears stockroom or mowing grass; nothing that required much skill. I was overly opinionated on each and every topic, especially the ones I knew nothing about. I was not at the top of my game in those years. I have great compassion for my teenage self and in turn, great compassion for crappy teens everywhere.

In short, I was no Marty McFly in the movie Back to the Future. I didn’t know how to ride a skateboard. Didn’t have a great scientist friend/,mentor. Didn’t know how to play guitar. You get the picture. Marty McFly was cool. He still holds up, not just an 80s cool, but an all-time cool. The archetype of cool. There should be a picture of Marty McFly in the dictionary next to “cool.”

You would not think of him as a role-model for being Poor in Spirit. It is my hope that by the end of this sermon, you’ll think of Marty McFly as the epitome of being Poor in Spirit.

Before we get to all that… Matthew and Luke are the only two gospels that feature Jesus’ Beatitudes. And the lists differ. Luke is more straightforward with a list of blessings and woes. In Chapter 6 verse 20, Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.” He adds a woe later in verse 24 saying, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
This is hard to hear for those of us who are squarely in the middle to upper-middle class in the richest country in the world. Crappy Teenager Luke was poor. He was all about survival and working hard. One summer I worked 3 jobs to save up for college. I was an assistant to a construction guy. I worked on roofs for mobile homes for another construction guy. And I worked in the Sear’s stockroom. Blessed are the poor, but it doesn’t feel like a blessing. It’s agonizing. It’s a whole mindset of constant crisis, and long hours, and then just tapping out and eating comfort food and watching too much TV to numb yourself from all the things you’re doing just to survive.

The Gospel of Luke is more straightforward. God sides with the poor. Jesus is poor. If you’re looking to get closer to God, serve the poor. At least, according to Luke.

Yet Matthew records Jesus giving the first Beatitude as, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Those two words, in spirit… what does that mean? The addition of those two words, it changes the whole message. As much as we might squirm with the directness of Luke, “blessed are the poor, woe to the rich” I think it’s preferable to Matthew’s abstract proposal. It’s not immediately apparent what “poor in spirit” means.
I used to think I was poor in spirit. There’s comfort in thinking that Jesus is talking about you and blessing you. Jesus is standing on a Galilean hill talking about God’s new revelation to the world. This is a lot like Moses on Mount Sinai giving a new law. Scholar M. Eugene Boring states that the Greek word here is Makarios which is an adjective meaning “fortunate,” “happy,” “in a privileged situation.” These folks are “Blessed” by God. These blessings declare the present/future blessedness of those who are presently in dire circumstances and they will be vindicated in God’s coming kingdom. And these eight statements are exactly opposite to common wisdom. They are eight declarations about the blessedness, contrary to all appearances, of the community of God living in anticipation of God’s reign.

I related to Luke’s “blessed are the poor” but I really liked Matthew’s addition of “in spirit.” That was me, I thought. I was broken of that belief in seminary. What I thought was “poor in spirit” was really “poor self-esteem.” Jesus is not talking about that.

Crappy High School Luke had poor self-esteem. He would try to make up for it by having strong opinions and giving his hot take on whatever the topic of conversation was. Especially in the realm of pop culture. I once had a long, mean-spirited rant about the band Creed that made a good friend cry. I’m not sad about what I said about the band, as history has justified me. I’m just sad of how it made my friend feel. See? Not poor in spirit. That’s a lot of spirit. You’ll never feel more powerful than when you’re convinced you’re right. Like that time I once wrote an article for my high school paper in defense of the Confederate Flag. Like I said, I was a crappy teenager. I’ve gotten marginally better. All of these strong stances were covering poor self-esteem and a general dread that I didn’t really belong and I had no idea what I was doing with my life.

Marty McFly also had no idea what he was doing with his life. He didn’t really have a direction. He thought he’d be a rock star but his band was “too loud” for the talent show when he tried out. He was sort of adrift. But he has a mentor. He has a unique connection to Doc Brown. Doc Brown confounds Marty. Shocks him. Constantly confuses and frustrates Marty. But Marty listens and does exactly what Doc says. Marty has a lot of spirit, but when it comes to Doc, he listens to everything he says.

Back to the Future is a near perfect movie. The pacing is fast. The characters are memorable. There is no wasted element of the script, everything is used again. The set up is perfect. The situation is fraught and high-stakes. Doc makes a time machine out of a DeLorean. Once you set the date and time you want to head to, you drive the car to 88 miles per hour and the flux capacitor turns on and you drive into the past or future, leaving behind really cool flaming tire marks.

On the first test of this time machine, some Libyan terrorists show up because Doc gave them a fake bomb in exchange for plutonium. Doc used the plutonium to power his time machine. From Marty’s point of view, the terrorists murder Doc and then come after Marty. Marty jumps in the DeLorean to make his get-away and hits 88, accidentally going back in time to November 5, 1955.
Marty is now stranded. Since plutonium is not available in 1955, the power surge needed to send the Delorean back to 1985 will have to come from the bolt of lightning Marty knows will hit the clock tower. Marty spends a week in 1955 as Doc prepares for the storm. Marty keeps busy by attempting to undo the damage he has caused from preventing the first meeting between his father and mother. He discovers his dad is sort of a nerd who is being bullied. His mom has a crush on Marty.

I’ve seen this movie a million times, and I still find new things each time I watch it. I still have the sense that Marty just might not pull it off. But Marty succeeds in getting his father to stand up to local bully Biff Tannen, as well as ensuring his parents dance together at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance and fall in love. Marty is successfully sent back to the future.
Yet to do so, he has to follow all of Doc’s advice. And Doc’s advice is counter-intuitive. It goes against common sense. Most of us want to avoid being struck by lightning yet Doc’s solution to the problem is for Marty to drive the DeLorean into the path of a lightning bolt. And Marty does so, because Marty obeys everything Doc says.

Marty knows his life is not in his control. He is dependent on Doc and Doc’s wisdom and knowledge. He has to follow Doc’s advice even when he doesn’t understand it. Especially when he doesn’t understand it. And Marty is not always successful in doing this. But he tries.
That’s what Poor in Spirit means to me. Following God and trusting God, especially when you don’t understand. God says not to murder, that’s lucky for a lot of people. Sometimes I get so mad and frustrated at people I could just shout, but God says to be slow to anger. Jesus follows up the Beatitudes with a whole list of “you have heard it said… but I say unto you…” One that speaks directly to being poor in spirit is when Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” Anger equal murder in Jesus’ mind. Those are some strong words.

Crappy Teenager Luke was angry most of the time. Frustrated with people. Mad that people didn’t think the things he liked were the best ever. Mad that he was invisible but also mad if anyone paid him any attention. Like I said, I have great compassion for him. Our egos can get all out of whack. We insist on our own way. That things have to be EXACTLY. LIKE. THIS. The world must bend to our exact expectations or it’s worthless. I spent part of life like this and it’s exhausting. You’re mostly just waiting for something to be up to your standards, which is never. Which means you’re mostly just waiting for things to end. This is not ideal. Not ideal for virtues like gratitude or thanksgiving or wonder and awe.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for they can just roll with things. I tend to want things to go a certain way and I get all bent out of shape when they don’t. Whole days have been ruined. I’ve missed the blessing of what did actually happen. Sometimes what happens is better than what I had planned. Blessed are those who do not have a robust ego but those whose identity and security rest in God.

I want to be more like that. I’ve slowly gotten more so. I take my lead from all the Doc Brown’s I’ve met at church. Those of you who trust God no matter the circumstance. Even when things don’t go your way. Or you don’t understand something. Or you’re facing a crisis, or a life change, or a diagnosis. Even when your loved one lies dying. Even when you, lie dying. I think sooner or later we all have an event where we understand that we’re not in control. We’re completely robbed of the illusion of control. Or of even pretending like we know what’s going on.

Marty goes through most of the Back to the Future series with his mouth wide open in disbelief. He fixes things in 1955 and returns to 1985 to see that his family has become successful. His father is a published author where before he was still doing Biff’s work for him. His mom previously appeared to have a drinking problem, now both appear very much in love. Biff has been reduced to being the errand boy for the family. Then Doc returns to say that Marty needs to come with Doc to save his children in the future. That sets up the next coming movies.

I want to be more and more like Marty. Not the cool part. I don’t think I’ll ever get there. I am trying to become more poor in spirit. Not poor in self-esteem. Not wallowing in teenage angst. But open to God’s future. To pray “not my way, but your way oh God.” To go with God into the future, whatever awaits me there.

My seminary classmates recognized my strong and spirit and gave me two signs upon my graduation that are on my office wall. The first is from Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.”

And the second one is like it, it states, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow.”
I pray these every day. I promise you, this counter-intuitive way of being dependent on God, of having faith in God, will help you see the kingdom not just when you die, but right here. Right now.

People who you once thought were your enemies will become your best friends. People who you once found confusing and confounding become your best teachers. We already pray a poor in spirit prayer each and every Sunday when we say, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We often want to make it “MY will be done…” but it’s God’s will. Not ours. Not our political party or our brand of choice or even our latest strong opinion. You will be less angry. Maybe less anxious. Gratitude might walk with you more. Holy surprise and delight instead of judgment and ego. Maybe your high personal standards might relax and you’ll find that you have compassion for your past self. Instead of regretting, beating yourself up, and generally throwing a hootenanny of a pity party, you learn, grow, and find love for yourself and your neighbor.

For the kingdom of heaven is going to blow our minds. We’ll walk around like Marty, mouths wide open in surprise saying, “Oh Jesus lord and savior, that’s what you were talking about?! That’s what you were doing in that hard moment?!” Just like our friends Marty and Doc. I think when we arrive fully at the kingdom of heaven, we’ll be able to look at it, as the artist Bright Eyes sings, “Like a painting on a wall
Then I think we’d see the beauty then
We’d stand staring in awe.”

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they do this all the time, and the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Amen.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *