"Showing up with Nothing"

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning’s message is based on the words of Jesus as recorded in today’s Gospel reading: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

In most cases, showing up with nothing is a bad thing.

Showing up at work with no energy to do your job is a bad thing.

Showing up for a test at school with no knowledge in your head regarding the subject matter is a bad thing.

Showing up at the restaurant cashier with a full belly but no wallet or checkbook is a bad thing.

Showing up this coming Wednesday with no card or gift for your Valentine can be a very bad thing.

Generally speaking, showing up with nothing is a bad thing.

So what do we show up with when we come before Almighty God? What do we bring before God when we want to ask Him for something, or thank Him for something, or worship Him? Surely we ought to bring something!

Maybe we ought to show up with a nice offering. An impressive chunk of money to give to God so that He’ll hear my prayer and grant my request.

Maybe we ought to show up with a long list of things we’ve done for God in the past. A list of all the times you served in the church, the times you helped your neighbor, the times you were kind in the face of anger from a friend. All the good things you’ve done, all the bad things you haven’t done—show up with such a list and God will hear your prayer, God will receive your worship.

Maybe we ought to show up with a great knowledge of the Bible. If we show up with all the right answers to every question, then God will smile upon us and welcome us into His family.

What do you show up with when you come before Almighty God? You can’t just show up with nothing, can you? Everywhere else you go in this world—your job, your neighbor, your spouse—your supposed to bring something to the relationship. What is it we have to bring to our relationship with God?

Jesus addressed this question in a story He told in Luke 18. There were two men who went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ In other words, the pharisee did not show up with nothing before God. He showed up with a nice big check for the offering plate. He showed up with a long list of good things he’d done, bad things he hadn’t done. He showed up so filled with the knowledge of God that he felt like he could practically put words in God’s mouth. He was confident that God would hear his prayer and smile upon him and grant him whatever he asked.

But the other man in the temple, the tax collector, stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ In other words, this tax collector did the unthinkable—he showed up before God with nothing. No offering. No list of good deeds. No smug attitude. He brought nothing. He knew he had nothing to bring.

And Jesus said that it was the tax collector, who showed up with nothing, who went home justified before God, rather than the pharisee, who showed up with everything.

Now, how could that be? Why wouldn’t God want to reward the pharisee, who brings so much to the relationship? Why wouldn’t God bless and lift up the pharisee, who was obviously a very religious man and had so much to offer? Why would God, instead, lift up the tax collector, who showed up with nothing?

Because, as far as God is concerned, the emptier you are before Him, the more He can fill you up with good things. The more humble you are, the higher He can raise you up. The poorer you are, the richer He can make you.

But if you come before God already filled up, there isn’t much room for what God wants to give, is there? If you come before God already satisfied with the things of this world, how can He give you anything? If you’ve already got everything all figured out and doing fine on your own, why would you need God.

Which is why Jesus says in today’s text from Luke 6, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man." In other words, "Blessed are you when you show up with nothing."

So when we come together for worship here at Grace, what do we show up with? When we come before God for prayer, what do we show up with? We show up with nothing. This morning, first thing, we admit before God that we have sinned against Him and against each other with thoughts, words, and deeds. We admit that we are not worthy to stand before Him. We admit that we have nothing. We are poor in spirit. We hunger for righteousness, for a right relationship with God.

To be poor sounds like a bad thing. To be hungry sounds like a bad thing. To be empty sounds like a bad thing. But when we show up with nothing before God, poor, hungry, and empty, He is happy to fill you up. Psalm 23:5 says "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."

And with what does my cup overflow, when God fills it?

My cup, your cup, overflows with joy. Joy anchored in God's love. In John 15, Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love...I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." We rejoice in the Lord, always, in the knowledge of God the Father’s great love for us which He has so clearly shown through His Son, Jesus. 1 Peter 1 says "In this you greatly rejoice: that God in His great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and that God in His great mercy has blessed us with an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade."

In other words, my cup, your cup, overflows with an eternal joy from God. This is not a joy based on worldly things, which are so temporary and unreliable. This is not a joy based on a pay raise or a new car or on the fact that the Colts won the Super Bowl. This is a joy based on divine things, eternal things—the love God has for you in Jesus Christ His Son. The love God expressed to you when Jesus gave His life for you on the cross to take away your sins. The love God applied to you individually when, in baptism, He declared you to be His own, He called you into His family, forever.

To be filled with that joy, with God’s joy, is an amazingly powerful thing. God’s joy gives you strength through the hard times. God’s joy gives you peace through stressful times. God’s joy gives you wisdom through confusing times. Knowing that your sins are forgiven, knowing that you’re headed for heaven, knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, is to know true joy.

So, empty yourself. Show up with nothing before God. Acknowledge the poverty of your spiritual condition. Pray "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." As we sing in the hymn "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me":

And God will be happy to fill your cup to overflowing.

Amen

Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to Thy cross I cling.
Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.