Whether or not we expect to be raptured, Christians hope one day to be taken to be with the Lord. And when that time comes it will be best for us if we are poor in spirit, otherwise there might be some impediment to lifting up our heads and receiving our salvation (Luke 21:28,34). Spirits of this world other than Holy Spirit could get in the way unless we have worked free of them. But it will also be best for those around us, with whom we can share the kingdom of heaven.
Poor in spirit
Joel says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32) When all is lost, our Father saves those who call to Him in the name of His only begotten Son Jesus. But it is when we are at the end of our own strength and allow ourselves to be weak that we can become strong with the power of our Lord, as Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 12:10.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3), Jesus did not just say, “Blessed are the poor.” He clearly said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (with a small ‘s’). And although it has often been supposed that Jesus was referring to the poor and oppressed – people lacking money, food, and shelter, or oppressed by domination, abuse, ignorance or other restrictions – and implying that people should help and love such people as we are instructed elsewhere, Jesus was saying more than that.
He was inviting individuals to trust God in their despair and let go of their natural reactions, to put their trust in Him and not in human strategies. He said that the kingdom of heaven is open to those in worldly loss who will lay down their life without reservation and seek God’s provision, despite their circumstances or how they feel. In the face of evil and persecution, and the worst this world can throw at us, God’s kingdom shalom, His wholesome peace, is available to those who cry out to Him in simple trust.
His wholesome peace, is available to those who cry out to Him in simple trust.
Social action
Poverty does not automatically make people poor in spirit. In fact, the fallen human spirit naturally reacts to wretchedness, insufficiency, loss of work, oppression or rejection with spirits of defeat, frustration, fear, resentment, envy, hatred, rage and worse. Incited by social media, and political speeches which curry envy, resentment and self-pity, the poor of this world can quite easily be filled with rebellion, ready to gather to argue viciously, to demonstrate and endeavour to make things better in their own strength if they possibly can, sometimes forcefully.
The assumption that Jesus was simply referring to the poor and oppressed of this world, without an understanding of God’s purposes being worked out and without trust in His deliverance, has led to liberation theology (including sexual-liberation theology) and to political action for so-called social justice, which is not necessarily the same as God’s justice. Political activity that endeavours to make things better in human strength without reference to what God is doing is similar to the efforts of those who wanted Jesus to wield political power instead of going to the cross. It depends only on the might and power of those who are considered wise according to human standards, rather than on the Spirit of God working – not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit (Zech 4:6) – through those who come to Him through Jesus.
The Bible gives guidance in all aspects of life and it reveals God as the only authority to be trusted.
Christians are enjoined to love their neighbours as themselves, and faith without works is dead (James 2:26), whilst good works promote evangelism. But good works will only be life-giving in accordance with the purposes of God when done under the guidance of Holy Spirit (see John 14:15-31). Many claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him (Titus 1:16) and when a nation is under God’s judgement, many nominal Christians will suffer with the unbelieving poor. True believers who see what God is doing will have shalom if they listen to the Holy Spirit; and to those Jesus says, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16.)
The broken coming for God’s healing
It is probable that many will come into the kingdom of God in the last days as the world is shaken and the year of the Lord’s favour is proclaimed, together with the day of vengeance of our God (Luke 14:15-23 and Isaiah 61:2 refer). Many are likely to be from different cultures with different ways and beliefs, and a great number will be in need of healing. Some will have been considerably reliant on the welfare state and the internet, which can seem to have all necessary information. So we need to be courageous and sure in sharing with them that the Bible gives guidance in all aspects of life (2 Pet 1:3) and it reveals God as the only authority to be trusted.
There will be a lot of despair for believers to address.
Problems previously brought, in quieter days, into accident and emergency departments, to police stations, and in the offices of doctors and social workers, will appear more and more before God’s people for healing, for all those agencies will have been shaken. (Isaiah 61) and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 to 7 reveals how individuals can easily become victims of other people’s iniquity, and captives of the responses of their fallen nature, making them broken hearted, bound up with problems and in the dark about how to find freedom.
Some people take drink and drugs to ease the burden and try to feel better. Some children are treated harshly at a tender age, and even abused, sometimes before they can remember, which can make them insensitive to cruelty. And so on. Furthermore, people who have no knowledge of the freedom available in Jesus can so easily be tempted to do to others what was done to them. So there will be a lot of despair for believers to address – so what shall we do?
Turning to God’s presence
When we Christians do not know how to pray or what to do when confronted by such situations, we must allow ourselves to be poor in spirit, trusting the presence of Jesus to heal. When, in our poverty of spirit, the kingdom of God is revealed through Jesus, people will find hope in their wretchedness and be set free. The Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Those who are shamed, disgraced, devastated, deluded, confused, lost, robbed or sick will be saved.
It might sometimes take a while for a person to abandon what gets in the way of trust in God and build faith, but the fact is that Jesus is always available to comfort those who mourn, to bless the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He is there to bless those who are merciful and the pure in heart, those through whom true peace is effected, and those who are persecuted for seeking the kingdom of God.
I believe Jesus will return soon.
John Gordon was formerly a GP, a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst. He is now a licensed minister in The Order of Jacob’s Well.