Happy New Year! The sentiment seems a bit redundant now eight days into 2022. In the Church year, in fact, we are entering our third season. The church year starts with Advent, then the Twelve Days of the Christmas Season. Now Epiphany has arrived and will last until Ash Wednesday (March 2 this year).
As we enter the Season of the Epiphany, which started on
January 6, we’ll be looking at what the Beatitudes might tell us. This well-known
series of “Blessed are” can be found in Matthew 5:1-16. In this part of his Sermon
on the Mount, Jesus presents his disciples and the crowd eight counter-cultural
promises.
This week we start with Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
What is “poor in spirit” referring to? Is this a hair-shirt,
self-flagellation, 'I am a worm but no man', ‘woe is me’ kind of theology? Or is Jesus talking about
being humble enough to know that the Holy One is creating the Kingdom of God,
and humanity is not in control?
Isaiah refers to this humble form of Kingdom living: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind
of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be? Has not my
hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These
are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.” (Isaiah 66:1-2) We cannot, on our own,
build any sort of true Kingdom of God. Only as we are in self-giving relationship
with the Holy One who loves us totally can we lay even one brick of the
Kingdom.
About this time every year I read The Story of the Other
Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke. Written in 1895 it is the story of a fourth
Magi, Artaban, who was supposed to be with Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchoir.
However, on his way to their appointed meeting place, he encounters a dying man
on the side of the road and pauses to help him. Because of that he misses the
rendezvous and spends the rest of his life in search for Christ. Along the way,
he spends the treasures of jewels that he was going to give the Child to aid
others. Ultimately, he reaches Jerusalem on the day of crucifixion. Yet again
he is stymied by the decision to ransom the daughter of a fellow Magi or to try
and redeem Jesus with his final gem.
At the end Artaban understands, “What had he to fear? What
had he to live for? He had given away the last remnant of his tribute for the
King. He had parted with the last hope of finding Him. The quest was over, and
it had failed. But, even in that thought, accepted and embraced, there was
peace…He knew that all was well, because he had done the best that he could,
from day to day. He had been true to the light that had been given to him. He
had looked for more…he knew that even if he could live his earthly life over
again, it could not be otherwise than it had been.”
Artaban was “poor in spirit” because he gave all he had to
seek the “light that had been given to him.” At the very end of his life he
hears Inasmuch as thou has done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, thou has done it unto me. “His journey was ended. His treasures
were accepted. The Other Wise Man had found the King.”
Culture tells us that we should strive for the bigger,
newer, updated (and therefore supposedly better) house, job, car, laptop, etc. This
carries over into our ministry. We can slip into thinking that ministry is only
valid if it makes a huge impact and helps many people. Artaban learned that his
small acts of mercy were in fact the way of the Kingdom of God. Epiphany is
about showing God’s love to the world. Though he didn’t make it to the manger,
Artaban did show love in each act of mercy. He thought he had failed and was
poor in spirit, but in fact he inherited the Kingdom. Being “poor in spirit” is
not beating ourselves up for not being perfect, it is being open to how the
Spirit of the Holy One is acting through us each and every moment.
I have a copy of The Story of the Other Wise Man gifted
to my grandfather by his father when he was probably about 8 or 9. It is a
little ragged, partly because years ago a puppy used it as a chew toy. It is
precious to me because it contains a touching note from my great-grandfather “In
the future, when things are different, read this little book and think of the
donor who may have made many mistakes, but who tried always to do the best things
for you. From Papa.” Like Artaban, my great-grandfather
was aware that he was human, but he also understood that in trying to do the
best for his son, he was reaching for the Kingdom.
Entering this secular year of 2022 and the church Season of
Epiphany, ask yourself in what ways you are poor in spirit, and how those
actions are really seeds of the Kingdom. Then go and be an Epiphany of God's love in your little space of the world.
