Two Paths to the Kingdom?
Whose kingdom is it anyway?
"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." - Matthew 5:3,10
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew, we have the Beatitudes. The word itself means blessing or grace, and we know these as the blessings of God that Jesus shares with his followers from the sermon on the mount.
While I have heard these often, I never realized that the kingdom of heaven belongs to both the poor in spirit and those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.
What do they have in common?
The poor in spirit are not necessarily poor economically. They are spiritually poor, meaning they must lack spirit. A crossword answer for lacking in spirit would be languid, which doesn't really do the term justice, since it tends to evoke images of loss of energy or despair.
The poor in spirit lack what is vital to sustain life, what drives one forward, what gives one purpose.
If we are poor in spirit then, we may be among the living dead.
Jesus had a special fondness and compassion for those who were targeted by the righteous and persecuted in the name of righteousness.
He challenged the persecutors to see themselves in the faces of those they persecuted, using parables and other means of introspection. So perhaps he is doing the same with these beatitudes, asking us to look inward and see where we belong in the kingdom.
Are we lacking the spirit of life in our daily routines? Are we acting righteous and persecuting others, or are we the subject of their persecutions?
The kingdom of heaven is here for us now, if we seek it. It belongs to all who need it for refuge, for comfort, for justice, for peace. And yet it is elusive. If we choose the path of selfishness and fill ourselves with useless and empty thoughts, we will miss it completely.
So, there are truly many paths to the kingdom, but only one path away from it. All who seek God will find Him, and those who choose to abandon Him will lose their way.
It is up to us, then to help them back, for they are truly poor in spirit.
More to come...