Gospel: Luke
6:17-26
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke, in
the 6th Chapter
Glory to you, O Lord.
(Jesus) came down with them and stood on a level
place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from
all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to
hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with
unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed
are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep
now, for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when
they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of
Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great
in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. “But woe
to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you
who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for
you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that
is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ!
Then he looked up at his
disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of
God.
·
We have all heard this passage that we know of as
the Beatitudes and we might know it well. It touches on a turn-around that we
might expect from Jesus, calling the poor and the mourning blessed and
declaring the rich to be in woe.
·
Let’s admit it; this is scandalous. The idea of
turning everything upside-down is a scandal. Poverty in and of itself is not a
good thing. Mourning is not something to be wished for. Hunger is not something
to be sought after. Being excluded and reviled by others are not happy times.
Yet Jesus call people who are enduring such things “blessed.”
·
What might be most scandalous is the idea that
this message brings hope to so many who might have no hope. Poverty, mourning,
hunger, and persecution all are times of hopelessness. When will I have enough
to continue to live? How can I live without that beloved person I’ve lost?
Where will I find food for today, let along tomorrow? How can I make these
people stop what they are doing to me? Haven’t we heard those questions? Maybe
we’ve said them ourselves.
·
Conditions such as these are realities and the
facts of daily life for many. Hope is risky and it is a rebellion against the
way things are. Jesus says people in those situations are “Blessed.” (Some
translations say “happy.” I’ll let you decide which is best.) Jesus says to
these people (and to us) that we must refuse this reading of reality, even at
our own risk. It is hope that Jesus gives and hope for blessing despite
suffering is what he offers.
·
Hope has another side, a revolutionary and
subversive side. It confronts the self-sufficiency of the rich, the full, the
laughing, and the admired. Hope reminds them that the reality they hang on to
is not always the way things are nor is it the way it always has been. Hope
calls the present into question, reminding us all that things could be
different and the pretensions of those on top are just that pretensions.
·
The hope Jesus preaches and gives reminds us that
we are not completely in charge of all that is. It acknowledges the reality we
all face and holds the absurd idea that things can change. The poor will
inherit the Kingdom; the mourning will be comforted; the hungry will be filled;
those reviled for Jesus’ sake will be proved right. Beyond that the tables will
be turned for those on top of all… and they will be subject to the grace of God
in the midst of all their woes. It’s even good news for them.
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
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