Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Familiarity not only breeds contempt but apathy. Every Christmas Eve, churches put on a pageant of some sort and tell the story of the Lord's birth. The problem is that people are too familiar with it.

For instance, why wasn't Christ born to a royal family instead of a carpenter and a young woman of no apparent noble birth? Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:3 (Bible in Basic English), "Happy are the poor in spirit: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs."

God loves humble people. As King David sang in 2 Samuel 22:27 (BBE), "He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge."

Human nature makes us wonder why shepherds, not religious leaders, were the first to know about Christ's birth. King Solomon certainly knew why folks, like the proud Pharisees, wouldn't accept the news. Proverbs 18:12 (BBE) reads, "Before destruction the heart of man is full of pride, and before honour goes a gentle spirit."

And though Israel was God's covenant people, believing gentiles throughout history also humbled themselves before the Lord. Matthew 2:1 and 2 (BBE) tells us, "Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, 'Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship.'"

It's no wonder Christ wept over Jerusalem thirty years or so later. He prophesied in Luke 19:42-45 (BBE), "Saying, 'If you, even you, had knowledge today, of the things which give peace! but you are not able to see them. For the time will come when your attackers will put a wall round you, and come all round you and keep you in on every side, And will make you level with the earth, and your children with you; and there will not be one stone resting on another in you, because you did not see that it was your day of mercy.'" That came to pass in A.D. 70.

May all of you keep these things in mind at tonight's service.

If Christ hasn't come back by Saturday, I hope to post about the blessing of a well-earned rest.