Ministry of the Unnoticed

In the year after Law School I clerked for a Federal Judge in Atlanta. I would arrive in downtown Atlanta early in the morning. I would have to literally step over folks who had slept in the streets in front of the courthouse the night before. It was very disturbing at first, but like most things in life, after a while I didn’t even notice them. It was like they weren’t there.

The New Testament notices things that do not seem worthy of notice by our standards. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This literally means, “Blessed are the paupers.” Paupers are remarkably commonplace! The preaching of today tends to point out a person’s strength of will or the beauty of his character— things that are easily noticed. The statement we so often hear, “Make a decision for Jesus Christ,” places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him— something very different. At the foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. I am truly blessed in my poverty. If I have no strength of will and a nature without worth or excellence, then Jesus says to me, “Blessed are you, because it is through your poverty that you can enter My kingdom.” I cannot enter His kingdom by virtue of my goodness— I can only enter it as an absolute pauper.

If we are so poor that we have nothing to bring notice to ourselves, nothing that makes us worthy, then we are qualified for the Kingdom.

Be poor and be blessed.

Nick