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September 10, 2001 Are You Sitting Down?"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:1-3 NASB) The word Jesus used for poor means a beggar or a pauper, someone with no thing or no power to commend them. Poor people have no ability to control their destiny. Their fate is not in their hands. It is a fearful thing to suddenly become poor. I have become more sensitized to the poor since recently moving to Africa. Never before in my life have I been waiting at a red light (they call them "robots" here in South Africa) and had a child approach my car asking for money, or seen a mother with a toddler playing on the middle of the concrete street divider in the traffic holding a sign asking for food. Poverty produces a state of being powerless. We could discuss poverty and its causes, its curse, and its cure, but the reality is, poverty hurts people in real ways. Besides hunger, disease, or illiteracy, there are affects on your soul and your culture. When you are poor, you are weak. Poor people are not noticed; they disappear off the screen. Poor people have no standing in our social circle, no significant identity, no vital relevance, no impact on our world. When you are poor, strong people might ask you, "Who are you?" But when you are well-off, the same people will ask you, "How are you?" Poverty humiliates the flesh, shames the children, embarrasses the parents, and produces seeds of bitterness in succeeding generations. My friend here in Johannesburg, Bishop Jackson Khosa, says this: "Poverty crucifies the flesh. Prosperity resurrects it." We get foxhole religion when we fall on hard times, then we forget God when the money rolls in. Jackson and his family lived in a township of shacks for many years and planted a church amidst deep poverty. I have recently been in that church with him. Jesus was there! Jesus loved the church planted in the poorest circumstances imaginable. Men and women who want to walk with God today have to renounce the spirit of mammon and cut the strings of money's manipulation. Only then can God trust us with a transfer of wealth from the wicked to the righteous. Prosperity enables fulfillment of apostolic purpose, but not without suffering. Suffering enables us to cease from sin. The cross is designed to set us free. The flesh becomes quiet in the presence of God. Then, power is channeled for a holy purpose. I don't like being poor. I have been rich and I have been poor, and I like rich better. Being poor is not a virtue. It is the opposite being blessed. God's kingdom works to destroy Satan's works, one of which is poverty. Righteousness in a people who dwell on a land cleansed of idolatry invariably produces the blessings of God manifested in prosperity. But who will CHOOSE to become poor? If we don't know how to become poor for Jesus' sake, then we will never become rich with His revelation. Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What did He mean? Why is it a state worthy of envy? Whatever it is, Jesus commended it first in His beatitudes. This makes it valuable in his kingdom. Being poor in spirit is equivalent to being compatible with God. I battle being proud, being in a hurry, thinking more highly of myself than I should. I get frustrated, impatient, and angry. And yet I'm saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus, I need your grace! Can God transform someone like me? I know He can! He said, "My grace is sufficient... for power is perfected in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) Therefore, I confess my sin and my need and call on God for help. If weakness attracts grace, then I want to major on being weak. The opposite of being poor in spirit is to be strong, haughty, arrogant, a know it all, self-satisfied, sure of your self, cocky, confident in your own abilities or knowledge or experience. Does that describe many Christians you know? Does it describe you? Does it fit the bill for any ministers you might have met? Lord, help us to repent! Any of us can become victims of our own advertising. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. We can believe our own PR and become full of ourselves. The opposite spirit which Jesus wants us to manifest is a child-like acknowledgment of weakness borne of God's revelation of our own disability, carnality, tendency to mis-hear what God says, failure to follow through with what God wants done, tendency to handle one another in an unkind manner, not discerning Christ in each other. Those who are poor in spirit make good learners as they sit at Jesus' feet. Jesus sat down to teach the disciples who came to him. Most of us preachers stand up. We stand up so people can see us. We say we stand up because we want to address the BIG crowd, the HUGE auditorium, the VAST television audience. But maybe we are standing up so people can see US. Yes, Jesus stood and preached at times. There is nothing wrong with that exercise. Peter did it on the Day of Pentecost. But do we have to do it all the time? Not Jesus. He knew there were times when He had to speak personally to his inner circle, the small group, the core of his committed followers, the behind-the-scenes staff that did the work so the big meetings could happen. This was the cell meeting, the discussion group, the explanation time for the parables, the "love one another " exhortations, the "Fellows, this is how the kingdom of God works" times. If we can't sit down, then we won't be able to make disciples. We have to slow down and sit down so ordinary people can relate to us in a real way, else we'll just have shallow sycophants following a celebrity rather than sons following a father. Nothing is built to last if our followers don't know our values. Do your disciples know why they believe what they do? When we sit down, we take our charisma off and show our real self. That's humbling, but healthy. Seated, we can rest in relationships rather than perform behind a pulpit. For many leaders, it is not safe to sit down. They can't take their mask off. Their insecurity won't allow it. But Jesus gave us a pattern when he sat down to teach his chosen few. His command to us is the same, "Go and make disciples." That requires real relationships in a context of covenant love. It means we have to live with the sons we've raised, the doctrines we've espoused, the kind of atmosphere we've filled our house with. When you sit down, you notice (perhaps for the first time) what's at your feet. Sit down. Don't be afraid. What is real will come out of you. Let yourself love people and let them love you. The crowds won't be as big, but when you stand back up, the authentic anointing will come on you and you won't have to pretend. Family meal times aren't as good when everyone stands. Ron Wood September, 2001 THE ARCHIVES
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