June 15 2025
Matthew 5:1-3
As we are now at last experiencing more summer like weather, I couldn’t help but think that summertime is usually when big, blockbuster movies would dominate the big screen. Many of these big hits were superhero movies where we watch as yet another unsuspecting person finds that they have been granted a super power of some sort. You know, Peter Parker gets bit by a radioactive spider and he discovers he now is Spider-Man. Dr. Bruce Banner gets dosed with too many gamma rays and becomes a super strong Hulk. People just love to imagine just what it would be like to be suddenly given a super power. Would this new power we would be given be the way we rid ourselves of all our problems or would it just create new problems of its own. Well, as it turns out there really is a super hero who has come to our rescue and his name is God. I say that he is a super hero because he alone has a super power. I never quite thought of God in such a way until I was helping with a worship service at Belmont Correctional, and a large, very muscular resident testified to the group. He said that the greatest power on earth was the love of God. Coming from one who obviously has a lot of power in his own right, this was saying something. What he said certainly makes us think, doesn’t it? I mean if you heard of a new movie coming out that had a super hero whose only power was love, I am sure not too many people would be willing to pay money to watch it. Let’s face it, the world with all of its problems seems much too large of an arena for us to comprehend how love could possibly be the answer. Yet, what if we merely considered how love might be the answer for the problems in our own worlds, you know the lives we are living. I wonder, might love be for us the very super power we are looking for?
In this series of messages entitled, ‘The Taste of Blessing”, we are looking at what Paul calls the, “Fruit of the Spirit”. This image is found in the fifth chapter of Galatians, and I believe that Paul here describes the complex taste we encounter from being blessed by God, telling us that the goodness of God is experienced by us as being love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and a dominion within us. To understand how we can know each of these experiences we are going to look at the blessing of God associated with each of these which make up the fruit of the Spirit.
These blessings of God are the very essence of the teachings of Jesus to all who follow him. Today, we are looking at the very first of these experiences Jesus tells us that we will have when the Spirit of God touches our life. Knowing that the love of God is the very super power which changes the world, it comes as no surprise that love is what we discover in our very first moments with God. Jesus states that this relationship where we know God and where we are known by God begins in this manner: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Upon hearing this, we have to ask ourselves just how is this a picture of the love of God entering into yet another human life. Perhaps what helps us in our discovery is to consider what this teaching of Jesus might look like in real time. What we would see is that one day the king left his throne to come and walk the streets of his kingdom. Yet, he does not walk down Main Street through the center of town, nor does he visit the well-to-do sections, no, he instead heads for the side streets, the back alleys and the places where the homeless are found. There he stoops down, and he gently touches a poor soul who cowers at his touch because this beggar expects the worst, as he has absolutely nothing and this king he kneels before owns everything. Yet, what happens next is the surprise of a life time because the king asks this destitute person, “How would you like to own this kingdom with me? “I would love for you to come and reside with me and sit with me on the throne so that you might rule this kingdom with me” the king tells this one who has nothing. This makes for an interesting plot twist, doesn’t it? In our world, those who are powerful expect the rest to get in line to serve them. But here is the one who holds all the power and this one only asks that we receive the gift of his kingdom, not asking us to serve him but he, instead, seeks to serve us by giving us what is solely his, his kingdom.
We have to admit that this is a strange yet beautiful image, this king walking among the destitute and desperate to find any who might desire a kingdom. What this image does for us, though, is to explain why so many people miss out on this experience of God’s love for them. I remember preaching in a little country church one Sunday, and when I told this congregation that Jesus is for the desperate people, I could tell by the body language of my audience that such a belief offended them. You see, many people who live in this country believe that we actually can pull ourselves up by our boot straps, so for them, faith is the belief that God helps those who help themselves. They are not at all interested in a belief where God helps those who are utterly helpless. The danger with this idea is that if we cling to this notion that we are not quite in such dire straits as Jesus tells us then we are going to forever miss out on ever having a deep and powerful encounter with the love of God.
When we refuse to actually believe that we are as poor and desperate as Jesus alludes to, then when we do encounter him, we do so as those who believe that we have something to offer Jesus, seeing ourselves as being God’s gift to whatever God is up to. We know this to be true because the gospel accounts tell us much about the life of Simon Peter. As you study Simon Peter it becomes quite obvious that he was a man who felt that he had something to prove, especially to Jesus. He was so over the top in his response to whatever Jesus called him to do. When Simon Peter let down his fishing nets at the request of Jesus and there were so many fish the nets began to break, it was Simon Peter who was first to kneel before Jesus, being the man who knew what was expected of him. When Jesus was encountered out there walking on the waves of the Sea of Galilee by those in the boat, it was Simon Peter who was first in line to jump overboard and join Jesus even though he was frightened out of his wits. Then when Jesus invited Simon Peter and James and John to come with him up on the mountain to see Jesus talk with Moses and Elijah, there was Simon Peter falling all over himself trying to build them all tabernacles because he could think of nothing else he could do in that situation.
As the story goes along, Jesus gets to the point where he must turn his face toward Jerusalem. So, he begins to ask those who followed him, just who did the crowds say that Jesus was. The disciples told him that they thought Jesus might be John the Baptist come back from the dead, or perhaps one of the prophets of old. Jesus hearing these answers pushes them a little harder, and he asks them point blank just who did they believe that he was. Of course, it had to be Simon Peter who had to rush in and blurt out that Jesus was the Messiah. While Jesus attributes this answer of Simon Peter to the work of his Heavenly Father we have to wonder if Simon Peter was willing to acknowledge God as being the source of his answer. You see, once they knew Jesus as being the long awaited Messiah, this is when Jesus began to tell them that he had to go to Jerusalem to be crucified and then three days later he would be resurrected from the dead. Upon hearing this, Simon Peter lost it, getting in the face of Jesus as if Jesus had made a terrible mistake. Suddenly, Simon Peter found himself working for Satan instead of being the right hand man with all the answers.
Well, Simon Peter did fall in line just as Jesus had told him to do. Just as Jesus had told them, they had made it to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Passover together. After they had eaten and drank together as part of this new meal Jesus taught them about, Jesus speaks to Peter, because Jesus is well aware that Peter still clings to this notion that it is what he brings to the table, this is what matters. So, here at the Lord’s table, Jesus hoped that Simon Peter would at last understand but he also knew that Simon Peter will ultimately fail. So, Jesus tells Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you return to me, bring strength to your brothers and sisters”. Can you understand what Jesus is telling Simon Peter? It is not his strength or ability that is going to bring Simon Peter through the terrible night ahead of him. No, the arm of flesh would indeed fail him, but the prayer and intervention of Jesus, this is what would be the salvation of Simon Peter.
Well, as usual, it was Simon Peter, James and John who went with Jesus as he entered the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus tells these three, “My soul is very sorrowful even unto death; remain here and remain awake with me.” Jesus begins to pray intensely, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ Jesus then returns to Simon Peter, James and John, and instead of finding them awake and praying with him on this the worst night of his life, he found them instead, very much asleep. Listen to what Jesus says to them next,“So, you could not even stay awake and be with me for just one hour? Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into hard testing! The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Here, Jesus is going back to his core teachings telling his disciples yet once again that they are indeed those who are poor in spirit. You see, what Jesus is pointing out is that the spirit within all of us, this inclination and desire we may have to be people who are able to be God’s gift to whatever God is up to, this is going to fail every single time because our flesh, our wherewithal, is too weak. The spirit within us must be considered to be poor because it does not have enough power to do that which we know is right and good. Paul, at the end of the seventh chapter of Romans, tells us the very same thing when he writes, “I do not know my own actions. For I do not do what I want to do, but instead, I do the very thing I hate…For I have the desire to do what is right, but I lack the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want to do is the very thing I keep on doing.” This is exactly what Jesus means when he says that all of us are, “poor in spirit”. This is why we must come to the conclusion that when we come to Jesus, nothing in our hands we bring for we simply are incapable of doing the good and righteous acts that give glory to our king.
Well, even though Jesus has told Simon Peter that he is being prayed over so that he does not lose his faith and even though Jesus has point blank reminded Simon Peter and the others, that even though their spirit may be willing, their flesh, nonetheless was weak, and even though Jesus tells Simon Peter that later that night he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows, Simon Peter still refuses to give up this notion that he is somehow God’s gift to whatever God is up to in the world. So Simon Peter blusters forth full of courage and belief that he is able to last the night and prove Jesus wrong. So what we are left with is this tragic image of this friend of Jesus, warming himself beside a fire on that cold evening, afraid to admit that he even knew Jesus. Three times he was questioned; three times his answer was, “I do not know him”. Then the scene shifts to the rising sun, and the rooster crowing and a man becoming totally undone, weeping bitterly because he suddenly realized that there he was indeed unable to bring anything to this friendship with Jesus. As his tears washed over his face, Simon Peter knew what it meant to be one who was poor of spirit, yet if this was so then we have to ask, just where is this blessing that Jesus once told him, would be found in this confession?
As it turns out, the blessing of Simon Peter is recorded for us in the twenty-first chapter of John. There we discover that Simon Peter has gone back to being a fisherman along the Sea of Galilee. It is not hard to imagine that now that he has figured out that he has absolutely nothing to offer Jesus except failure he should go back to what he was always good at, fishing. As Simon Peter tries all night to catch some fish he strangely is unable to catch even one fish. This must have given him a case of deja-vu for there was one other time this very same thing had happened. And just like that time, some three years past, when the sun was coming up, Simon and the others heard a voice asking them if they had caught any fish. You know, the last thing you want to hear after a long night of coming up empty is someone who seems to just be pointing out your failure. Yet, just as had happened some three years ago, this voice told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. And just like the last time, the nets became so full of fish they were impossible to haul aboard their boats. This is when they knew who was calling out to them; it was their Lord, Jesus. There on the beach they saw Jesus, frying up a breakfast of grilled fish sandwiches.
When breakfast was over, Jesus pulled Simon Peter aside, and Jesus asked him, point blank, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? “Yes, Lord”, Simon Peter replied, “You know that I love you as a brother.” Jesus then tells Simon Peter, “Feed my lambs”. Jesus turns to Simon Peter a second time, and asks him, “Simon son of John, do you love me with the love of heaven, the love found in the kingdom of heaven, will you love me as I have first loved you? Simon Peter , with tears in his eyes, tells Jesus, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”. Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Tend my sheep”. Then Jesus asks Simon Peter a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? Standing there around that charcoal fire there along side the Sea of Galilee, it would have been easy for Simon Peter to remember another charcoal fire on a terrible night when the reality of his poverty crushed him as he denied that he ever even knew this one called Jesus. Yet, despite his utter failure, Jesus has not abandoned him; no, far from it for here was Jesus asking him if he loved him. You see, that is all Jesus ever asks of those he encounters. Jesus is not interested in anything we might bring with us for there is absolutely nothing that he needs from us. All Jesus desires is a simple response of love when he offers us the gift of his kingdom. So, for a third time, Jesus asks Simon Peter, “Do you love me?, to which Simon Peter replies, “Lord, you know everything; you have to know that I love you.” Jesus then replies, “Feed my sheep”. What we learn from Simon Peter is that none of us have anything that Jesus can use except this, our hearts. Jesus asks that our hearts respond in love when he tells us that we have a place in his kingdom, a kingdom where everyone loves and serves one another. The goodness of the love of God can only be tasted and experienced if we come with empty hands, desperate to experience this love which invites failures such as us to be his kingdom. If we have tasted this love then when Jesus asks us, “Do you love me? Our response will be just like Simon Peter, who replied, “Yes, Lord you know that I love you! I pray that love will always be our response when Jesus blesses us, and we taste the goodness of our king’s love of us. Amen!
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