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| The chains that bound St. Paul as he was led to his execution |
As American’s, we go crazy over the word “poor”. We associate the slums of India and the inner-city life with this 4-letter word, but we often lose sight of the poverty that plagues all of us, our own inherent impoverished nature.
Our poverty is one that is different than the focus of most congressional banter. Instead of being poor in terms of things and money, our spiritual poverty is one that is infinitely more crippling. Our poverty is one that locks us in sin. When humanity fell to sin we inherited that nature, simply put: we can’t not sin. I find this personally in my Lenten fast of the infamous Facebook. No matter what resolutions I make, I end up on Facebook when I have nothing else to do, which frustrates me to no end. This is a prime example of my poverty, despite my best intentions, I fail.
Paul understood this perfectly when he writes “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.” (Rom7:15). At first this verse makes me pause, St. Paul is one of the most influential of the Early Christians, this is the same man who ended up writing most of the New Testament, and yet he speaks openly of his struggle with sin. What gave him the prompt to share of this idea of being “sold into slavery in sin” (Rom7:14)? It was the universality of the statement (and the Holy Spirit). This deep understanding that St. Paul held is one that ought to resonate within each of us, this frustration with our sin that Paul writes of is inherent to humanity.
I can’t.
It’s the simplest fact, yet one of the most difficult to comprehend. Our nature is one of sin. We are bound to our sinfulness; I am bound to my desire to see what’s going on Facebook. I am bound to being over argumentative, that is my nature. I am stuck sinning, no matter what resolutions I make, I will sin. Our poverty of spirit is the most depressing, yet freeing idea. I am not perfect, nor am I expected to be.
I am expected to rely on Christ. It is in relying upon the Lord that my poverty is made rich. St. Paul speaks of this fulfillment in his second letter to the church in Corinth. Paul quotes Christ: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor 12:9a). He is speaking to the idea of relying on Christ; it is in our poverty that the Lord is made perfect. If we were not spiritually poor, would we need a savior? If we did not sin, would the Cross be necessary? The answer is no. It is because of our poverty that Christ was glorified through the Cross. If we were not sinful people, there would be no need for salvation. Furthermore, if there was no sin, then there would be no weighing mechanism to hold against Goodness. If all we knew was perfection, than would God be perfect? Yes, but there would be nothing magnificent about it. If you look to Cell Phones, today we see them and think no big deal, because it’s the norm, whereas just 20 years ago, a cell phone was quite rare. Perfection is kind of the same way, if it was something everyone had, it would simply be the norm, nothing special. It is because of our poverty that the Trinity’s perfection is made so spectacular. Though our poverty, our imperfection, God is made powerful and perfect.
Paul gives us the ultimate solution in his letter to the Galatians, “Yet I live no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” (Gal2:20). By relying upon the Lord to fulfill our weakness; we allow Christ to live in us and His perfection to be radiated through us. We need to rely on Christ to the point where our lives conform with His, especially His Passion.
Through Lent we are to enter into the desert with Christ, to shed ourselves of all of our belongings and truly trust in Him. Embrace our poverty not as a shortcoming, but as an essential tenant of our identity. This Lent, don’t rely on your own ability, discipline, or self-control; throw yourselves into the infinite grace of Love Himself. No matter how much we acquire, we are still infinitely poor and in need of the Lord’s love and mercy. Let us follow St. Paul and die to ourselves and let Christ live through us, and in us.
