Greetings my friend.
This is Mark Ludman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks,
And this is day 23 of Advent 2025.
Thank you for being with us right through Advent at this point as we get very,
Very close to the end of our Advent season.
And we continue to reflect on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
Entering today,
Matthew chapter 5,
In verse 3,
Where Jesus begins the Sermon of the Mount with the famous words,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So as we prepare to begin,
I invite you to still yourself,
Settle yourself,
Rest your hands,
Your body,
And your heart.
As we ask God to open our ears,
Our minds,
And our hearts to the voice of the Spirit,
As we contemplate this verse together today.
There's a strange quietness at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus opens his mouth to teach and his first words,
He's blessed.
Not successful,
Not strong,
Not accomplished,
Not holy,
Not moral,
Not put together,
But blessed.
And the very first people he names as blessed are those who have nothing to show for themselves.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Here on a hillside,
Overlooking the sea,
Jesus reveals the doorway to his kingdom,
And it's a doorway low enough that only those who kneel can walk through.
If Advent is the season of learning how to wait,
Then this beatitude is the season of learning how to wait in the Lord.
Empty-handed.
Now let's just reflect on this poor in spirit for a moment,
Because to be poor in spirit isn't to be self-negating or self-loathing.
It's not a rejection of your worth or dignity,
Rather it's the recognition that God is God and we are not,
That everything we have,
Every breath,
Every moment,
Every gift is received.
Poverty of spirit is the interior posture that knows that it's not self-sufficient.
It's the confession that your life isn't anchored in your own strength or your own understanding or your own capacity to hold it together.
It's the deep exhale of someone who's finally stopped pretending to be their own source.
Poverty of spirit isn't weakness,
It is honesty,
It's clarity,
It's freedom from the exhausting illusion that we can save ourselves.
And in a world that rewards the polished and the powerful,
Jesus blesses the ones who have let their walls fall down.
And notice the tense.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Not will be,
Not someday,
But is.
This is present,
This is immediate,
This is already.
The kingdom belongs most readily to those who come with nothing to defend.
Those who know that they can't make themselves whole are the ones most open to grace.
Those who aren't full of themselves have room to receive God.
Those who don't hide behind competence can admit their need and encounter mercy.
The first step into the kingdom isn't moral achievement,
But surrender.
The first requirement isn't perfection,
But openness.
Not effort,
But receptivity.
And this is why Jesus begins here.
This is the ground floor of discipleship.
This is the soil where Advent hope grows.
Advent is a season of longing,
But longing is only possible when we're not already filled.
If your soul is cluttered with self-reliance,
If your calendar's crowded,
If your expectations of yourself are heavy,
There's no room left for Christ to break in.
Poverty of spirit isn't about losing everything.
It's about letting go of the need to have everything under control.
It's the discipline of emptying.
The empty womb of Mary becomes the place where God grows.
The empty manger becomes the place where God rests.
The empty heavens,
Silent for centuries,
Become the place where God speaks.
In Advent,
God comes to the empty places.
So the question isn't,
How can I be worthy of Christ?
The question is,
What do I need to release so that Christ has room to enter?
Sometimes,
Sometimes we don't choose poverty of spirit.
Sometimes,
It finds us.
A season of loss,
A season of exhaustion,
A season of not knowing,
A season when prayer feels thin,
A season when nothing in our lives is tidy or resolved.
And we think,
This shouldn't be happening.
I should be stronger.
But Jesus stands on that hillside and speaks a word that pierces our shame.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are you when you don't have the answers.
Blessed are you when your faith feels small.
Blessed are you when the illusion of control collapses.
Blessed are you when all you can do is breathe.
Blessed are you when the ground beneath you shifts and you discover that you're held by something deeper.
The kingdom belongs to you,
Not because you're strong,
But because you finally know that you need a strength beyond your own.
And there's a deep liberation that comes with poverty of spirit when you no longer have to build your identity because it's then that you can receive it as a gift.
When you don't have to defend your worth,
You can rest in the worth that God gives you.
When you no longer have to cling to what you can't control,
You can live with open hands.
And open hands are the posture of Advent.
Open hands can welcome Christ.
Open hands can carry hope.
And open hands can hold the light when it comes.
The poor in spirit aren't empty because they have nothing.
They're empty.
And because of that,
They can receive everything.
Let's just take a moment of stillness together.
Take a deep breath.
And then another.
And imagine yourself sitting on that hillside.
The wind gentle.
The sea glinting below.
Jesus' voice cutting through the air with unexpected tenderness,
Saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Hear him speak it to you,
Not as a judgment,
But as invitation.
Where are you poor in spirit today?
Where do you feel stretched,
Thin,
Tired,
Uncertain,
Unable to fix what's in front of you?
Hold that place before God.
Not as a problem to solve,
But as a doorway through which the kingdom is already coming.
And as you hold that place before God,
Will you join me in a prayer?
Jesus,
You who began your teaching not with commands,
But with blessing.
Teach us what it means to be poor in spirit.
Where we cling too tightly,
Help us to let it go.
Where we rely only on ourselves,
Teach us to lean into your grace.
Where we hide our weakness,
Give us the courage to step into the light.
Make space in us for the kingdom that is already near.
Give us open hands,
Willing hearts,
And the freedom that comes from trusting you alone.
This Advent,
Bless the empty spaces within us,
So that they can become the manger where your presence can rest.
Amen.
And so my friends,
As we rise from our time together,
May you find freedom in releasing what you were never meant to carry.
May your emptiness become sacred space for Christ to enter.
And may you discover,
Even now,
That the kingdom is already yours.
And may the grace,
Peace,
And love of God go with you,
Be with you,
And always remain with you,
This day,
Tomorrow,
And every day.
Amen.
Until tomorrow,
My friends,
God's peace be with you.
