Blessed or Not
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“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 people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” – Luke 6:20-26, NIV
“Together with the following woes these beatitudes make a mockery of the world’s values. They exalt what the world despises and reject what the world admires.” - Leon Morris
Typically, if a message generates lots of questions and discussion, one of two reasons emerge. The first reason is there has been something left unclear and the hearer by their questions/conversation want to establish clarity. Or, the truth has hit a nerve and by their questions/conversation the hearer hopes to resolve the pain and tension. Sometimes, it is a bit of both. I suspect yesterday’s message had the opportunity to do both though probably it is more on the side of confusion and lack of clarity that most of you ended up on. Here’s what I should have said in explaining the beatitudes better, “If all of the realities on the ‘woe’ side of Jesus’ list (riches, well fed, laughter, great reputation) were to disappear tomorrow, would you still count yourself ‘blessed’?” Sorry that fog-cutting question hadn’t emerged before yesterday’s message. It probably would’ve saved a lot of unnecessary confusion. On the other hand, the pain and tension producing part of this needs to remain. Reading this passage and living in it for a week really force some evaluation and I will warn you: its uncomfy. Jesus pulls no punches. He is ferociously after our best and that’s why He is addressing His disciples here. If you want to follow Jesus, then you must live upside down. If you want to live for Jesus in a world gone mad, its going to be painful and rewarding; though most often the pain will come first. As a pastor (and a fellow follower of Jesus), one of the necessary parts of teaching (and living) in the way of Jesus is to make you strong in what matters most so that, when the lesser things are stripped away, you won’t say, “Woe is me.” In other words, we must reframe our understanding of blessed and not blessed by the value system of Jesus or, we will find ourselves heartsick and confused as we follow Him. He is not intent on leading you to a comfortable middle-class existence. He is intent on leading you to follow Him into the richest blessings God can give a human. And so, it is my hope that with passages like this one, we can be honest about the pain they produce so that, they train us for walking well with Jesus. Once more, His life as an example becomes all the sermon we need on temporal and material matters being priority over spiritual ones. Jesus didn’t neglect or harm His own body but, He refused the path of wealth and ease. He chose instead to value the things that matter most and demonstrated it by His lifestyle. He did things like stay up all night to pray. And so, you and I must ask, as we look at our lifestyle, does it resemble Jesus or our culture? Does it clearly distinguish the things that matter most? Does it put first the Kingdom of Jesus or some other priority(ies)? When was the last time we refused some ‘creature comfort’ so that we could pursue Jesus? In closing, I want to put before you a paraphrase of the beatitudes in Luke. And here’s why: the paraphrase by Euguene Peterson is ruthless, it gives us no place to hide from the truth Jesus is intent on passing on to you as a disciple-
You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.
God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.
Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.
You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.
“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.
But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made.
What you have is all you’ll ever get.
And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself.
Your self will not satisfy you for long.
And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.
There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.
“There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular. – Luke 6:20b-26, MSG Paraphrase
Questions for Further Discussion/Application:
In a culture that constantly tries to sell us the ‘woes’ of Jesus’ list as answers to our deepest desires, how can you counteract the lies?
Reflecting on your story, when is a time where you can look back and see one of the ‘blessed’ statements coming true? What happened in your followership of Jesus? What about one of the ‘woes’? What happened in your followership of Jesus?
What is the greatest challenge you have in living upside down? What would encourage your obedience? How does God need to change your thinking so that you can see the world as Jesus sees it? Pray for that perspective shift to happen.
A song to keep the truth close: