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.

Jesus opened his mouth and taught them saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Does this mean that one has to be poor, physically to be accepted into heaven?  No, but it does mean that one has to be poor in spirit.  To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty before God.  In our sinfulness, we have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy the favor of heaven.

We belong the publican, who cried out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”  At the very beginning of the Sermon Jesus contradicts the world’s standards by stating that the poor are the richest.  

Where are your riches?