2145AFC110521 – Treasure, Pleasure, or Leisure?
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Matthew 5:3 – 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Luke 6:20 – 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
This Sunday’s readings bring us the accounts of two destitute widows who have little or no reason to hope for anything and yet they place all their hope in the loving Providence of God. In the Old Testament reading from 1 Kings, we hear about the widow of Zarephath. She was not a Jew; she was a gentile in the district of Sidon. It was about 125 miles from Jerusalem. Elijah was from Tishbe – no one knows for sure exactly where Tishbe was, but that hasn’t stopped folks from trying to figure it out – but it appears the best guess was about 85 miles from Zarephath. We might wonder what Elijah was doing so far away from home and why was he traveling that far. The answer is a little up the page from today’s Key Verse. Here’s what got Elijah on the move.
Elijah 1 Kings 17:1, 8-9 – 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” When Elijah finally found the woman, her plight was terrible. As a woman and a widow, she had no legal standing. There was no one to support her, and she and her young son were getting ready to prepare their last meager meal and then die of starvation, but Elijah sends her to bring him a drink of water and then, sort of oh by the way, “but first bring me a little bit of bread.” The woman did as he said, and that is remarkable because she gave up what she and her son needed so as to care for The Man of God. Despite her absolute poverty, she gave it all for another. As a result, her flour and oil lasted for the entire time Elijah stayed there – about three-and-one-half years!
In the Gospel, we hear the story often called “The Widow’s Mite.” Here’s a refresher: Mark 12:41-44 –42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” The similarities between these two widows is plain to see. Although they were destitute, of no value in society, and no one to protect them or provide for them, they still put their trust in God. They were poor – so poor that they had nothing left but their trust in God. In that regard, they were indeed richer than all the other arrogant show-offs dropping big sacks of money into the temple treasury box. They had their own treasure box, much like the one by our Key Verses, and they also had the key to that treasure – Trust and Love in and for God. Although we do not know their names, they are immortalized as emblems of humility. They were poor as well as poor in spirit. We need to dig into those Key Verses for a better understanding. Did Jesus address this beatitude to “the poor,” (as seen in Matthew 5:3) or to the “poor in spirit?” (As seen in Luke 6:20) Is there any difference between the two? The phrase “poor in spirit” gets a lot of attention from Bible scholars. How do we make that understandable in the 21st century? That’s a type of phrasing that isn’t common in today’s parlance. I’ve prepared a little table to compare these two Key Verses.
| Matthew 5:3 | Luke 6:20 |
| Matthew 5:3 – 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) | Luke 6:20 – 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) |
| New Living Translation “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. | New Living Translation Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. |
| Amplified Bible “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever]. | Amplified Bible And looking toward His disciples, He began speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever]. |
| GOD’S WORD® Translation “Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” | GOD’S WORD® Translation Jesus looked at his disciples and said, “Blessed are those who are poor. The kingdom of God is theirs.” |
| These are excerpts from The Bible Hub. (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com. We are grateful for receiving permission to make use of their excellent resources. Each of the versions represented here has its own copyright and you are invited to use the links presented to explore them in a deeper way. | |
The widow in Zarephath was prepared in advance by God to care for Elijah in much the same way God prepared Abram to become Abraham and the Father of Nations. Her humility was the effective reality of her trust in God. But she was not a Jew, and may not have known God as Elijah did. (Of course Abram was not a Jew either.) Abram and the widow of Zarephath were led by God to do God’s will. The widow who gave her two copper coins to the Temple Treasury did know God and doubtless did all she could to live according to God’s Law. Still, she had little, if any, hope of improving her situation by giving away the last of her economic holdings. Do you remember when we discussed Lection Divina back in 2105AFC012921 (↔ Click Link) – Do you hear what I hear? (↔ Music Link) I encourage you to use this approach when you do your daily devotions and read from your Bible or another source of Bible readings like the USCCB Daily Readings (↔ Click Link). As I looked at these widow stories in Sunday’s readings, I realized they represented both of the expressions in Mark and Luke regarding “the poor,” and “the poor in spirit.”
God blesses the poor with abundant love for one another. That’s pretty much all they have to go on – love for family, friends and neighbors and Love for and from God. The capacity to do that comes from recognizing that they are ” devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant” compared to others. Does that idea ring a bell? You’ll find it in these Bible Hub links Philippians 2:3, and Romans 12:10 as 2 out of several examples. Does one have to be economically impoverished to be “poor in spirit?” No, not always, but indications are that it helps. Wealth seems to get in the way of getting through the gate of the Kingdom of God (the camel and the needle’s eye for example). What it takes, I believe, is the admission that we are spiritually helpless regardless of our economic status. If you read John 3:5 carefully, you’ll realize Salvation is not a DIY project. It involves neither pleasure nor leisure. There is JOY for sure, but it is the JOY of witnessing, martyring. There may be some achievements an individual can make to better her/his “station in life,” but if we are riding that long lonesome train (↔ Music Link) toward pulling into that Heavenly station (↔ Music Link), then we realize that the surpassing value of being “poor in spirit” is the only way to travel. And we don’t need money to buy the ticket because Love already paid the price. That is what we commemorate in our daily Mass, every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is because he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. (See Hebrews 9:25-26) That is something important to remember.
It’s also important to remember the outcomes for “the poor” and “the poor in spirit.” First, regardless of the version or passage we read, we know that there is a Blessing from God involved. What is that blessing? It is “The Kingdom of Heaven” which is “The Kingdom of God.” Are those the same place, or different places? Consider this passage from Matthew 19:23-24 – 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus uses the terms interchangeably, and in both instances the Greek word used is basileia. The Kingdom of God in Heaven belongs to those who endure lacking some material things but do not lack in spiritual things. That is the Key to the treasure box, so keep it close to the treasure. I’ll add a longish passage here to make it clear that choosing Christ means being like him and living a sacrificial life. I’m going to pull this from the CEV and leave the footnotes in so that you can get the full value of the reading. You’ll see there is neither pleasure nor leisure in the sacrificial life. Put on your Lectio Divina thinking caps!
Mark 9:42-50 – 42 It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks. 43-44 So if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! You would be better off to go into life crippled than to have two hands and be thrown into the fires of hell that never go out.[a] 45-46 If your foot causes you to sin, chop it off. You would be better off to go into life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[b] 47 If your eye causes you to sin, get rid of it. You would be better off to go into God’s kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. 48 The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning.
49 Everyone must be salted with fire.[c]
50 Salt is good. But if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again? Have salt among you and live at peace with each other.[d] (Please use the links)
And how do we manage living at Peace with each other? “Repent and believe the Gospel.” We’ve used that in at least 1/3 of the posts this year because it is so important. We are never poor because we hold a Treasure worth more than gold In Earthen Vessels. (↔ Music Link). The pleasure and the leisure we enjoy is part of that Treasure
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts and some Scripture passages in this post are from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
