For Those That Need It

"I need help!"  It is so hard to say that sometimes.  That's like your tongue having an intense wrestling match with the words "I'm sorry" before they can be thrown out of the ring of your mouth!  We are taught to be self-sufficient in America.  Jesus teaches us that his grace is sufficient to give us the gift of life in his Kingdom.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, who humbled yourself on the cross in obedience to your Father's command to lovingly save us, give us the courage to be humble, to see ourselves clearly, to see our desparate need of your grace for our every moment!  We are too proud and hardened and much poorer for it.  Open our hearts to humility so that we can receive the life-giving flood of your saving grace!

Matthew 5: 3-6

Comments

It seems as though Jesus was contrasting the spiritual pride of many religious leaders around him with the spiritual hunger of regular people who knew they were weak and tired and needed God's help.  This contrast between the spiritually proud and the poor in spirit helps me see more clearly what Jesus meant. It's not that Jesus wants us to be spiritually poor. He is correcting a problem. Those whose spiritual lives have led them to believe they are self-sufficient and superior to others are those who cannot inherit the Kingdom way of life. Those who recognize they are in need of grace and are no better than others have the Kingdom open to them.

This reminds me of the old Smith Barney commercial during which an old scratchy person's voice says, "We make money the old-fashioned way, we eeeaaarrrnnnn it!" In the Kingdom, we can't earn it. We must humbly accept it as a gift. Life with God, the way God intended is a gift, not a right, not an accomplishment. It is a gift. All of our effort goes to remind us of our need for grace and to respond to that grace with our greatest effort to love God and others.

This past weekend we talked about the humility of Mary who came from a poor family in a "nowhere town" called Nazareth.  Why did God choose her to be the earthly mother of Jesus, to carry the King of Kings into the world through her body?  It's possible God did this because Mary's poverty meant that she knew her dependence on God and she would have had fewer dollars, social commitments, and important appearances to weigh down her commitment to do as her God asked her?  For those of us who have much, let us ask God to free us to be obedient no matter what it may mean we have to give up!

Life Questions

1.  What comforts, things, reputations, self-perceptions do we have that might be difficult to give up to

     follow where Jesus leads?

2.  Where does pride keep me from acknowledging my need for God?

Prayer

"Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free, tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, and when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight.  When true simplicity is gain'd, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed, to turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning, turning we come out right ("Simple Gifts", Elder Joseph Brackett).  Thank you for calling us to the freedom of humility.  We need you, the grace you give, the Kingdom you offer.  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen!"

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