Nothing to claim, everything to receive | Blessed are the poor in Spirit | Matthew 5:3
Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes (Latin – blessed) do not tell us what it is to do saintly things. They show us what a godly, a saintly life looks like. And these are not an optional extra for monks or nuns, for stained glass heroes and heroines of the faith, for super-Christians. The audio of this talk can be found here Hebrews writes, ‘Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). The word ‘holy’ has the same root as the word ‘saint’. Or the beatitude, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God’ These are for all believers. Fra Angelica C15th Monastery of St Marco, Florence ‘Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.’ That implies that if we are not poor in Spirit, we have no share in the Kingdom of Heaven I would like to focus this morning on that first beatitude: 'blessed are the poor in Spirit' because it is the key to all the rest. To be poor in Spirit is to 1. See myself as I am. It is to ...