By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
I have been an ordained pastor since 1986 and a Mennonite pastor for nearly 20 years. I became a Mennonite 50 years ago in Illinois.
It was a tough season in our lives, and we met these people who tried to actually live their faith. It wasn’t just a Sunday morning thing with them.
They took Jesus’ call to follow him seriously. Not only did they teach me the practical ways Jesus wants us to live but they taught me the reason for living that way…to live more like Jesus.
And they taught me the scriptures behind their theology and lifestyle which in the power of the Holy Spirit we are expected to live.
It seems that from the early days, the Anabaptists believed the scriptures were meant to be lived out by the power of the Holy Spirit in our surrendered lives.
And the best place to see how Christ expects us to live is found in The Sermon On The Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7.
An aside, for those a little confused, Anabaptism is the theology of various denominations like Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Baptists and Brethren who believe in Believer’s Baptism or adult baptism in opposition to others who baptize infants like the Catholics and Lutherans.
The word “Anabaptist” is a Greek word meaning “Re-Baptizers” and came along early in the Protestant Reformation. I’m a Mennonite for theological reasons beyond our stance on adult baptism, things like Non-Resistance, Pacifism and the Theology of 2 Kingdoms but enough rabbit trails for the moment.
OK, back to The Sermon On The Mount. The SOTM is the first serious theological teaching posted in the New Testament.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was going throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues about the good news of the Kingdom of God, in addition to healing the sick and casting out evil spirits.
He was attracting a significant following from as far away as Jerusalem, Judea, and the 10 Greek free cities known as the Decapolis on the Eastern side of the Jordan.
At one point, “he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and he began to teach them…” (Matt 5:1-2). Thus, the Sermon on the Mount.
The first segment of the SOTM is called the Beatitudes or “Declarations of Blessings”. The first Beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3).
It should be noted that the first Beatitude and the last involve the Kingdom of heaven. The concept brackets the Beatitudes.
What is the Kingdom of heaven? It’s one of the 2 kingdoms we live in today. We live in the Kingdom of the world. In our case, the USA.
We are loyal to our kingdom and obey its rules and laws and we incorporate its culture. But the Kingdom of heaven is a second Kingdom we live in and the more important of the 2.
That’s why when the rules and laws of the earthly kingdom are at cross purposes with the Kingdom of heaven, we are obligated to obey the Kingdom of heaven.
The Kingdom of heaven is where God’s laws are obeyed, where his will is done. The Lord’s prayer states it like this “Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is {done} in heaven.”
Our calling is to obey God today just as we will in heaven. So, the Beatitudes are about living in such a way that pleases God here on earth like it will please him when we are in heaven.
So, what does it mean when it says, “Blessed are…”? A lot of folks think it means “happy” as in “Happy are the poor in spirit” but that misses the key point.
Happy is something I do or feel but “blessed” is something done to me. I get blessed or I can even bless others but, in these verses, it means that God blesses the poor in spirit.
He bestowed a blessing on them. He cheers them along. He congratulates them. God gives them his seal of approval. It’s how God wants us to live…poor in spirit.
It’s being poor in spirit that leads us to God. It’s when we are exhausted and weary. It’s when our tank is empty. It’s when we reach the end of our rope and finally turn to him because we know we have nothing left to give or use.
It’s when we turn to him as the only way out. Our only hope. That’s poor in spirit. Matt 11:28 says it like this: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
When we turn to him weary and burdened, he blesses us. He encourages us. He bears some of our burden. He refills our tank.
It’s when we have finally arrived at the point, we should have begun…in his presence, at his feet, on our knees, crying out to him that he blesses us, the poor in spirit.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.