Processing the kingdom 3: The Beatitudes of Lack

I'm still thinking about the beattitudes of Jesus.   They totally floor me.

Let's take just the first four for the time being.  

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Notice that these are all beatitudes that emphasize lack.  They are completely counter-intuitive.  An old boss of mine used to use the third one, "blessed are the meek," as his proof that the Bible was full of, well, I won't say what he said it was full of.  I mean, it didn't make any sense at all to him.  It was a radically stupid think for Jesus to say, he thought.  The truth is, it was a radical challenge to the presiding world-view that all of us labor under to one degree or another.  Jesus is demolishing world-systems with these words--or at least forecasting their demolishment.

So who are the blessed ones, and what are they blessed with?

Take "poor in spirit."  I think that little phrase "in spirit" seems to give us permission to spiritualize this condition so that we who are really not poor in any way shape or form can still say, well, I'm born again, and I know I need God, so that means I'm poor in spirit.  Right?

Here's what I think it means.  Bottom line: shattered.  Broken apparently beyond repair.  Chewed up, spat out, kicked about, laughed at, humiliated, chastized, dismissed, ignored, tossed aside.  A mess.

Ever been there?

God is saying, I'm going to bless those people in a big way.  I'm going to bless them with all the blessing of the kingdom of God!  I'm going to make that kingdom their kingdom.  I'm going to give it to them for free.  The ones who were last will be first.  A lot of people aren't going to believe their eyes!

Now, all the predicate phrases of these beatitudes refer to some aspect of the kingdom of God, which Jesus has been preaching about up till this point.  The kingodom of God is at hand, he's been saying, then healing people right and left.  Then he pulls aside his undoubtedly awe-struck disciples and says, let me tell you more about this kingdom I'm talking about.  It's coming to all the people you least expect!  The broken, the helpless, the mournful, etc.  And it reverses their present condition completely.  You're probably not going to get this just yet, but just keep my words in mind and keep following.  It'll all come clear eventually.

From the beginning of my meditation on these verses I've been wondering if I share any of these condition that Jesus says are blessed.   Am I poor in spirit?  Am I in mourning?  Am I meek?  Am I hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

Umm, well, I mean, well, kind of.  Maybe.  Sometimes.  A little.

But what I am realizing is that Jesus personified all these characteristics.  He lived them, start to finish.  Yes, he was poor in spirit, crying out, My God, my God, why have you foresaken me?  Yes, he mourned.  He mourned for the lost.  He mourned for Jerusalem.  And on the cross, he wept.  And yes he was meek.  Like a lamb to the slaughter, lifting not his voice.  And yes, he hungered and thirsted for righteousness like no other man who ever lived before or sense.

And here's the final point.  What belongs to Jesus, even to his very nature, in some sense through my unity with him in faith, belongs to me.  But unity with Christ does not mean victorious living in any sense that we usually understand it.  The apostle Paul knew that it would mean unity with him in brokeneness, mourning, meekness, and hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Paul's goal was to know Christ, and he knew that the fullest and most intimate form of that knowing would have to include a sharing in his suffering,  even "becoming like him in hs death."

Is it all beginning to pierce your heart yet?  Because that's what's intended.  If your God-view does not leave a lot of room for God to work his blessings through suffering and brokenness, then your God-view needs a rehab.  And you know what?  I can't do that for you.  I can only point the way.  

There.  Over there.  On a hill far away.  Three crosses.  A murderer.  A thief.  And the Son of God.  Go there once again, and be made well.