"Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.” (Phil. 2:3, NET)

One picture of the “poor in spirit” is that of the life of Mother Teresa -a life that is lived simply and joyfully where we do small things with great love. Mother Teresa saw everyone she came into contact with, even the most broken people, as the face of Jesus and a gift.

“You are everything that I live for” sings.

Often people who are poor are despised and rejected by others. They are looked down upon. People shudder and walk by quickly the homeless man who is talking to the wall in front of him and smells of alcohol for example. And nobody is seeking out their advice or input for making decisions.

To be looked upon as having value was more than likely a new experience for many of the people who Mother Teresa picked up and cared for. Often they were discarded as garbage. In some places, the poor and old are just left to die on the side of the road.

Sometimes the poor are not as obvious in America. They may even have wealth but be uncaring and uncared for by those around them. They are isolated by their inappropriate behavior, crabbiness or lack of social skills.

The poor often feel dis-empowered. They believe that what they think, believe and do really do not matter that much. There is a sense of powerlessness to change their circumstances. People do not take time to listen or truly hear them.

"When we serve the poor among us, we do more than we think... It's about demonstrating our love in the name of Christ" sings.

We are all called to serve the poor.  Like Mother Teresa, we are to see them as a gift and the face of Christ.   We will always have the poor among us because God uses them to form and shape Christians in compassion.  Jesus says in Matthew 25:45, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

As I read somewhere, it is common to go through stages as we grow in our compassion poor.  We may start out by giving some of our finances towards helping others.  Then as our heart grows, we realize more the injustices that are around us and may move into becoming active in some causes that could help reduce injustice or serve the poor.   This often leads us into greater serving of the poor.  Eventually we are led into relationship with the poor in empowering them and partnering with them. 

Jean Venier writes, “Communities which start by serving the poor must gradually discover the gifts that those poor people bring. The communities start in generosity; they must grow to listen. In the end, the most important thing is not to do things for people who are poor and in distress, but to help them to have confidence in themselves.” [1]

I had a dream once of a poor person who was sitting under a directional sign and looking to me with such a sad and needy face to tell them what to do. They just needed to look up and they could see for themselves. My job was not to give them direction, but to encourage them as they looked up and empower them to act.

Often poor people believe that they do not have the answers and cannot make good choices. They have frequently heard this over and over and have completely bought into it. They expect others to tell them what to do and other people are often quick to offer them solutions.

I remember believing at the core of who I was that there was something wrong with me. I was terribly frightened that others would find out. I would do everything I could to fit in and not stand out. When I was called out from the crowds, I felt overwhelmed. I thought to myself, what if I say the wrong thing and it exposes me?

There was a time that most often I thought everyone else was right. If someone shared an opinion that was different than mine, in most cases I thought I had to be wrong. I lived more like a chameleon that would fit in to the people around me, looking for approval and acceptance and I had no clue who I was or what I stood for.

I saw these people whose faces radiated with life who would stand out unashamed and I couldn't imagine being one of them. I couldn't imagine having that kind of freedom in all my brokenness. And I couldn't imagine having something to say that someone else would want to listen to... I was too busy trying to get what I said right so I could be accepted.

After I was saved, God began to change the way I was thinking and the way I saw myself. I was praying one day in my prayer room and saw Jesus walk by. He was wearing an all white suit. He saw this worthless old rock on the ground that nobody wanted. He turned, picked it up, cleaned it off and polished it. He turned it into this beautiful gem stone in his hand and wore it on the front of His jacket with such pride. I knew who the rock was (it was me) and I sobbed for days.

What was more healing to my soul than anything was that someone saw me is genuinely worthwhile. I mattered to Him and He was not ashamed of me. As He began to heal me I could declare with David, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

This was something I at one time could not even fathom being able to believe. Suddenly my life started drastically changing. I was no longer afraid to have my own opinion and began to discover who I was and how God had wired me.

Some questions we can ask ourselves in reflection:

How does it feel to you when someone is genuinely present and listening to what you have to say without judgment, correction or fixing you?

What does it look like to give someone the gift of genuinely listening and enjoying their presence today?

Do you believe that everyone is a gift and has things to offer the community you are a part of? How do you demonstrate this with intentionality?

Jean Venier talks of someone who felt guilty for his existence because nobody wanted him as he was so he built walls of protection around his heart. [2] How do we communicate to the unwanted that they are wanted and a gift to us|?

What does it look like to listen to someone overlooked or on the margins of society and call out that life of God in them?

Lord, I could never repay You for all You have done in my life. I long to love you like You have loved me. Give us hearts to notice those around us that are feeling worthless. Help us to be more like you -to pick those up who are discarded, and make room for and use of them in a way that displays the beauty You placed inside of them.

1-2. Vanier, Jean and Haurerwas, Stanley. Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness. IVP Books, Downers Grove, Illinois. 2008.