Sean C. Capparuccia
16 February 2025 – Sermon delivered at Trinity Methodist, Magnolia, NC
Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; I Corinthians 15:12-20
Gospel Lesson: Luke 6:17-26
“What would you do with a million dollars?” A question that comes up every now and again in the family sitting around the dinner table. And I don’t know how ‘a million’ became the magic number for this kind of discussion, I mean, a million today is chump change for a lot of people (I’m not one of them!) But what would I do with a million dollars? Often, it’s pay off all our debts; then I’ll pay off all my childrens’ debts because I love them, and then after the debts are out of the way the fun begins and the imagination kicks into gear. What would you do with a million dollars?
It has been said the difference between a poor mentality and a rich mentality is this:
“the rich invest all they can and then spends what is left over on their wants; the poor spend all they can on their wants and then invests what is left over.”
This is perhaps why 70% of lottery winners blow through their winnings within 7 years and end up right back where they started. Keep that in mind as we will come back to it in a bit.
In Luke’s version of this sermon, Jesus said, “Blessed are you poor.” There are a couple things to notice here: one, He doesn’t say, “Blessed are the poor,” He said, “Blessed are you poor.” Nowhere in Scripture are “the poor” labeled as a class of people who are especially blessed; “the poor” are instead those whom the “not poor” are to have compassion on and not ignore as if they were outside the imago Dei, image of God.
Jesus had just chosen the 12 men who would follow Him closely for the remainder of His ministry, the 12 apostles; chosen from among many disciples who had been following Him thus far. And Luke says in vs. 20, “He turned His gaze toward the disciples” as He addressed the multitude. These 12 had left their livelihoods, some, even their families, to follow Jesus. Aside from whatever any of them had in savings – which, considering the time and place probably was not much (except for Matthew) – these guys were now certifiably poor. Not exactly what most would consider a “blessed” situation. At least not how we typically define “blessed.” Jesus’ words, then, though for all to hear, were especially for these 12 who gave up everything.
And with poverty comes hunger; according to Jesus, another “blessed” situation, in vs.21. In many countries far less fortunate than ours, ‘poor’ and ‘hungry’ are often synonymous. I think being “poor” in America has a somewhat different connotation, though. I mean, really, what is “poor”? We know that some people go hungry, and we’ve certainly been hearing about the homeless crisis in places around the country. But what is it to be “poor”? Truly, everyone has their own idea of what “poor” is and it’s all relative to other people. Despite what we hear from the media, we don’t have a “poor class” and a “wealthy class”; we have some very poor and some very wealthy and the rest of us are somewhere in between. Yet, I imagine that if the banks and lenders around the world all called in the debts, most all of us would be truly poor, if not hungry and homeless, too. Even so, God’s Word tells us over and over again to have compassion on the poor, or those less fortunate than we are; and to help satisfy the needs of others as best we can.
Aside from knowing what poor really is, how is it “blessed”?
Most of us know that to be blessed – Makarios in the Greek– means “happy.” But it’s actually a little deeper than just ‘happy’; Similar to the Hebrew word, Shalom, it is a spiritual well-being, a deep joy and contentment that comes from having a right relationship with God; being favored by God and experiencing His grace and favor in our lives.[1] Is Jesus saying that salvation belongs to the poor, as in, only the poor? Obviously not, as one’s net worth can not and does not merit anyone’s salvation.
So, what is Jesus getting at here? If we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, which is always the best interpreter, we must look to Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount we hear Jesus say in chapter 5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” So then, here is the beginning of salvation: to come to God with a poverty of spirit. Now it may be easier for someone who is economically poor to do that, but it is not a prerequisite. It may be easier for someone who is hungry to realize that they need help, and maybe for more than just food, but even a king or a Bill Gates can get to that point.
In a generalized way, then, wealth, and the striving for more wealth, can very well blind you to the need for God’s saving hand. From the prophet Jeremiah we heard, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength,” but “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord.”[2] While Luke, as he recounts this magnificent sermon of Jesus, casts people into the two groups of ‘rich’ and ‘poor,’ these are merely temporal terms for the ‘carnal’ and the ‘spiritual.’
From Gensis to Revelation, God’s Word separates humanity into these two groups, and only these two groups: those who trust in man (or themselves) and those who trust in God. Those who follow after Cain, and those who follow after Abel.
Money, or wealth, is not the object here, but God, and coming to Him with a poverty of spirit and a contrite heart. Contrite means broken, crushed, or broken into pieces.[3] In last week’s OT passage Isaiah cried out after being chosen by God, “Woe is me! I am ruined! I am a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips!”[4] There was certainly no pride of spirit in Isaiah; imagine if he had responded with, “You know, God, you have chosen well; I am the man for the task; I’ve been studying Torah for a while now and I think you and I are on the same page; I get you, God, and apparently God gets me.” Perish the thought.
Later in Isaiah God is speaking of a dwelling place; He says, “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool, where then is a house you could build for Me? Where is a place I may rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My message.”[5] Indeed, where can the Creator of Heaven and earth Who made all things, visible and invisible, find rest? Is there any structure that you or I can build that could house the God Almighty? Of course not, and yet any student of the Bible will recall Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?”[6] God is not looking for a building, He is looking for a humble and contrite heart, poor and broken, ready to be rebuilt in the image of His Son. It is this body, this little temple, which will be raised from death on the last day. On that day this body will no longer ache and pain, praise the Lord! And as Paul said, if this is not the absolute inviolable truth, then everything we’re doing here in this church is for nothing.
Back to the poor, then… John Wesley asks, “Who then are ‘the poor in spirit’?” And then he answers, “Without question [they are] the humble; they who know themselves; who are convinced of [their] sin[fulness]; those to whom God has given that first repentance, which precedes faith in Christ.”[7]
“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied”; And Matthew records, “Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” There is no food on earth that will satisfy your hunger for more than a day or two. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “Drink that water from the well and you will be thirsty again. But ask me and I will give you living water.”[8] At the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry the Lord said through him, “My people have committed this evil: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to make for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”[9] Broken by the realization of our own sin; coming to Christ, the source of Living Water; do we not hunger and thirst for more? Not that we aren’t satisfied but because it is so pure. The “food” which the world gives goes in, is chewed up, used and, well, you know. The food of greed and gratification, of covetousness and fame; “likes” on your Facebook; But Jesus doesn’t give as the world gives – what He gives is beyond understanding and satisfies not the stomach, but the soul. He produces within His people a delight in His law and the ransomed soul meditates on His Word day and night.[10] In other words, to the poor in spirit, to the hungry, God’s Word is pleasing to hear, when, at one time, it wasn’t. Friends, the “wicked,” as Jeremiah calls them, couldn’t care less about what God’s Word says. The unsaved “heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.”[11] Can we bring Christ to them?
“Blessed are you who weep now.” Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, understood this; and Isaiah understood this. Remember when he said, “I live among a people of unclean lips”? It wasn’t just his own unworthiness that confronted him, but the unworthiness of the culture in which he lived. Hungering for righteousness he wept at the unrighteousness all around him. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked; who does not stand in the path of sinners; who does not sit with scoffers.”[12] Do we weep not only at our own ungodliness but for the ungodliness that goes on around us? We must. We must. Because if we can’t see it and weep for it, we have no reason to seek its healing; to bring it to Christ.
“Blessed are you when men hate you, ostracize you, and insult you [because of Me – Matthew]. There is a very definite distinction here that the hate and insults are because of Jesus. And I think this is the number one reason why many Christians hesitate to share the Truth of Christ with others. Most of us would rather be poor and hungry than ostracized and hated and insulted, don’t you think? Especially by people in our own families or workplace. And I don’t believe that this is some kind of command to share Jesus with everyone all the time; not that you can’t. But just as Jesus was a reasoned and logical Messiah, He calls us to be reasoned and logical disciples. There is a time and a place and a way to share the Gospel and, through prayer, He will – and He does – guide us in that endeavor. Nevertheless, anyone who shares Truth will be insulted at times. “Trust in the Lord.”
What does this all mean, then? First let me state that I don’t know much about this church other than that you pulled out of the UMC and aligned yourselves with the GMC. And I was told that you are small congregation of disciples who deeply love the Lord. That tells me that you have a heart for righteousness and where there is a heart for righteousness there is hope – in fact, there is “blessedness.” This church may be what some call “poor,” meaning that, being where it is, there aren’t hundreds of people passing by every day; it’s a rural community; it is what it is. But God’s Word tells me – and clearly so – that a church with 20 disciples who are sincere and contrite; who love Him and are committed to preaching Truth and studying His Word; who pray together and for one another; and break bread together is worth more than a mega-church that come to just put a check in the box on Sunday and listen to the praise concert.[13]
Coming back to the lottery winners mentioned at the beginning, one of the reasons many of them blow through all their money is because they can’t handle so much wealth thrust upon them. (By the way, God, I’m pretty sure I could handle it…) Most of the time, a slow growth is always better because we can adjust to the increase as it comes. A depth of understanding is usually more profitable than a breadth of understanding. And so, in any church, instead of striving for big numbers, strive for great wisdom; strive for a re-formed heart.
God “searches the heart”, Jeremiah says, “He tests the mind.”[14] I am confident that if this church continues to extend its roots towards the stream of Living Water, it will yield its fruit in due season. I believe that True worship is the most important thing we do, closely followed by purposeful discipleship and pointed evangelism. When worship is true, discipleship is deep, and the Gospel is faithfully shared, God will bless His church with riches beyond compare. And I pray God will continue to bless you, Trinity, as you draw nearer to the Father through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray,
Lord God, Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We thank You for how cohesive it is and how it never fails to satisfy our longing for Your truth for us. Help us to be people, a royal priesthood, that never fails to live what we learn and take it outside this meeting-house into all the world, without fear for our own sakes, but for the love of those around us who so desperately need to know Your love for them. In Christ’s Name we pray…
[1] Strong’s – Makarios – 3107.
[2] Jeremiah 17:5, 7.
[3] דָּכָא – daw-kaw’
[4] Isaiah 6:5.
[5] Isaiah 66:1-2.
[6] 1 Corinthians 6:19.
[7] John Wesley, John Wesley’s 53 Sermons, ed. Edward H. Sugden (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 231.
[8] John 4.
[9] Jeremiah 2:13.
[10] Psalm 1:2.
[11] Jeremiah 17:9.
[12] Psalm 1:1
[13] This is not to say that there aren’t committed disciples in some mega-churches but that, as is most often the case, mega-churches do not tend to breed sincere discipleship because of their commitment to ‘breadth’ and not ‘depth.’
[14] Jeremiah 17:10.
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