Blessed are the poor in...are you still listening?

One of the latest podcast I listened to was Erwin McManus's (Mosaic) Blessed are the Poor in Spirit. Towards the beginning of his message he said that, had he been Jesus's PR manager, Lead Marketer, etc he wouldn't have let him start with "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." during the Sermon on the Mount. He offered, that perhaps, minds may have wandered, as then tend to do as one thing lead to another. And about the time those first century listeners may have snapped back to attention, McManus called his own audience to listen up.

He went on to explain that the kingdom message isn't difficult just for us to understand. Most likely, as they were expecting an earthly king, the original hearers of this word were also perplexed.

As I've mentioned before, the vision of our church plant is to see how heaven breaks into our lives, our cities and our world. Jesus prayed "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What does that mean?

Erwin explains it beautifully, "See, whatever else it is, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is a place where the will of God is done on earth like it's done in Heaven. And if Heaven, if eternity, is a perfect expression of the heart, and mind, and presence, and will of God the the Kingdom of Heaven is a place where the will of God is fleshed out, unwrapped, lived out by each of us in an extraordinary and unbelievable way. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where God's will reigns, where love prevails. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where hope overcomes despair. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where faith overcomes doubt. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where forgiveness overcomes bitterness. The Kingdom of Heaven is where compassion overcomes indifference. Everywhere where the heart and character of God prevails that is where the Kingdom of heaven is."

Near the end of his message, something sounding a lot like my life caught my attention. To that end, I must admit that the "something" had more to do with where we've been (in faith and finances) and where we are and the way my perspective has changed...my limits and "practicality" rather than my faith and creativity. I was challenged once more.

He and his wife, Kim, were living in a rented house that, based on his description, I would affectionately call a "crap shack" and had very little, if anything to their name. He was dreaming of "affecting the course of human history, of creating a future that would be inspiring and of identifying and developing leaders across the world and leaving a mark that would be remembered for generations to come." He invited a couple hundred leaders and shared the dream.

One of them stood up and questioned him, "How much money do you have?"

"I have no money so I have an unlimited budget. You see sometimes poverty limits your thinking but sometimes it frees it. The greatest creativity comes from the poverty of a human experience. When we finally have to find our way through a crisis then our imagination allows us to see a new way and a new world. See, if you have $1000 then you might have $1000 of courage. Or $10,000 then $10,000 worth of vision. Or if $100,000 maybe you actually think of $100,000 of good you can do. I just feel sorry for those people who are limited by millions and limited by billions because whenever you think that human resources are the limit for doing the most good in the world, you have limited what God can do through you. And in his kingdom, by the way, you get unlimited access to the resources that matter most. So you may follow Jesus into his kingdom and never have a steady job. You may never buy that house; you may never get that car. You may never get the clothes; you may never get all the stuff you want and go, "wait a minute, Jesus, couldn't I just get a little bit of the [benefits]?" You have hope without limit. You have faith without limit. See when you're a part of the kingdom of Heaven, you can always forgive no matter how many times you have been betrayed. When you are part of the kingdom of heaven you have an unlimited access to mercy and compassion. when you're a part of the kingdom of Heaven love will always prevail over hate. Hope will always prevail over doubt. Faith will always prevail over crisis. See when you're in the kingdom of heaven you have unlimited access to all of these resources that come from the very presence of God and you can live your life free. But it begins here, Jesus tells us. ...he's looking to create a beautiful life through each and every one who will come poor in spirit...."

He closed in prayer...
"Sometimes, Lord God, the most difficult thing for us to do it to admit our need, to acknowledge our poverty, to embrace and confess our brokenness and our desperation. And so tonight, we bring nothing to the table.
...we just want to come to you, poor in spirit, asking you to receive us as we are. And so, if you insist, we give you our lives for your life. We give you all we have for all you have. We lay our emptiness for your abundance, our brokenness for your healing, our existence for your life. And we celebrate that only you, God, would consider that exchange worth your sacrifice. I pray, God, for anyone...who just needs to stop trying, and fighting, and working and they just need to come and receive your love. So I pray in Jesus' name. Amen."