In the name of Jesus, amen.
How many times have we heard the Gospel lesson appointed for today’s celebration of
All Saint’s? According to the One Year lectionary, it only occurs during this celebration, but how many times have you read these words outside the context of the Divine Service? Probably a goodly number of times, but how many of us have ever noticed a nuance that occurs only in verses 3 and 10? Indeed, have you ever even noticed a difference in these verses from the other six? Take a second to look and see if you can spot the difference.
In these verses, there is a present tense promise. Notice what the Lord says; “Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Everything else is a future promise, except for these two groups of people. Why is that? Moreover, who is it that our dear Lord is speaking about? Certainly we can figure out who qualifies as “those who are persecuted for righteousness'; sake”, but who are the so-called “poor in spirit”? Well, it may very well be that these two groups are references to the very same people!
As Lutherans, we understand that Scripture interprets Scripture, don’t we? So, to more
fully understand who these “poor in spirit” are, we should probably look to the authoritative source of Scripture for an explanation and, thankfully, we don’t have to look very far. A little further in St. Matthew’s Gospel; chapter 11, verses 4 and 5 tell us this, “Jesus answered them,‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind are receiving their sight and the lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised up,and the poor are having good news preached to them.’” There, did you hear it? Jesus once more references “the poor” as He gives answer to the disciples of John the Baptizer and his question of whether or not Jesus was the Messiah to come. While that might seem like a non- answer, Jesus was telling John and his disciples that He was doing just what was prophesied so,yes, He was undoubtedly the Mesiah who was promised to come!
Moreover, Jesus’ answer comes in the present tense form; “the poor are having good
news preached to them”. This means that the poor are those who are actively having the Good News, which is the Scriptures way of speaking of the Gospel, proclaimed into their ears! So exactly who are these who are poor in spirit? It is us! We who are actively having the Good News of the Gospel preached into our ears and hearts are those who are poor in spirit. “But how can we be poor in spirit if we are gathered here and are having the Gospel preached to us” you ask? Because we still live in a sinful world as fallen and corrupted versions of what our God originally created us to be. In our world today the term “poor” is commonly considered a pejorative, but as Dr. David Scaer writes in his book on the Sermon on the Mount, “’the poor in spirit’ refers to those who make no claims on God for themselves. Before God they stand as destitute beggars. They make no claims in heaven and expect no rewards.”
It is us, those who are simultaneously saints and sinners, who struggle daily with the
sinful flesh, who need more of our Lord’s Holy Spirit to lead and guide us day by day who are the “poor in spirit” about whom our Lord speaks. Because without His Spirit, we are destitute, as Dr. Scaer points out. We have no claim on heaven, and in our sin we can expect no reward from our Heavenly Father. The poor in Spirit are the ones, to paraphrase Luther, who need the Gospel every day because we forget the Gospel every day. And we desperately need that proclamation because, though our lives may be filled with trinkets and baubles in this life, none of those things can do anything to help, save, protect, or defend us from the devil, the world, or the consequences of the sins of our flesh. In fact, in many regards, they may be agents of those terribly enemies. For how quickly and how often have we made idols of those good and gracious gifts that have ben given to us by our Lord? How often have we thought that, if some is good more must be better, and then done everything in our power to get more of what God has portioned out to us? We so often lust after the things in this world and life that we need to the Good News, both Law and Gospel preached into our ears in order that our hearts might be turned from hearts of sin and stone, to hearts that love nothing other than the Lord our God and understand His blessings as the dearest and most precious gifts we can ever receive.
And, you see, it is precisely in the preaching of the Good News that the kingdom of
heaven is given to us. Oftentimes the term “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with Jesus, and what is the preaching of the Gospel but Jesus proclaimed to us for the forgiveness of all of our sins? And so it truly is we who have the Good News preached to us this day, who receive the kingdom of heaven. But the Good News also comes to us through the means of persecution. That seems antithetical to our understanding of God, but ours is a God who hides Himself in suffering. Because as He tells St. Paul; “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So when we are at our weakest points in life, when everything else has abandoned us and everyone and everything seems to be against us, it is then that we can rest most comfortably in the promises of our Savior that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Isn’t that the very purpose of the Good News? The Good News the very thing that
reminds us that, as we sang last week; “though devils all the world should fill all eager to
devour us, we treble not we fear no ill they shall not overpower us”! And this not because we are strong or stalwart, but because it is our God who is our mighty fortress. His word prevails! His Word never ceases! His Word will endure until the very end of the age, and even though the mountains will topple, the world will burn, and everything in it will be destroyed, the Word made flesh will yet prevail and rule over the new creation that will no longer be stained and tainted with sin and the corruption that comes from it. Because He died for the sin that corrupts us, because He paid our debt to sin, we have the blessed assurance of the promise that He makes to us that the kingdom of heaven is ours. For in Christ alone we are won back from the gates of hell, and given the keys to the kingdom of God. His blood and propitiatory sacrifice for each of us makes us inheritors of a greater treasure than anything this world can ever offer to us.
And that is what we see, and celebrate, this All Saint’s Day. Those who suffered before
us, those who were poor in spirit, they are the ones who are in heaven, looking forward to that day when their Lord, and ours, will return to make all things new. On that day sin will be no more, neither will there be weeping anymore, and we will see Him face to face and know Him fully, even as we are fully known by Him. That is our great hope and promise, no matter what trials or persecutions may come our way in this life. Through it all, we know that we have One who fights by our side, He who has overcome death and the grave and, through His means of grace guarantees our place with Him in His glory.
Just as those in the first lesson yearn to witness his return, so to do we. Until that time,
we are given the great hope and comfort of the Word incarnate, preached into our ears every single week. This blessed hope is our bulwark against the schemes and machinations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh and, rage as they might, they shall never overpower nor prevail against the blessed and holy promises of our Lord given us through the gift of His body and blood, sacrificed for each and every one of us that frees us from our shackles to sin, death, and hell. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are”! This is a love that can never be overcome because it is a love that will never run out. For we are His children, recreated by the blood of the Lamb of God who washes our sins away. So let us ever look forward to that Final Day when we will see our Lord’s return, and rejoice with all His people in the promises given us now that will soon be our reality!
Amen.