Prayer of Preparation: Lord, redirect my priorities towards you.
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:20-26
20Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice 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. 24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25“Woe to you ho are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Meditation
My maternal grandmother used to say that one should weep at a birth and rejoice at a funeral. As a child, I thought that was a bit backwards. As an adult, I see there is some wisdom in my grandmother’s philosophy. Life on this ball of dirt (as my grandmother called the world) is full of hardship and a new born baby is just beginning that journey while death is a release from all the accumulated losses that life throws at us. Not to mention, we are resurrection people and believe that suffering is not a part of the afterlife with God—something to rejoice about.
Jesus, at the beginning of this sermon commonly known as the Sermon on the Plain, also preaches a backward sort of life ideal. Certainly, this message is good news for the poor who suffer the results of poverty (i.e., hunger, homelessness, illness, etc.) as well as the ostracization from community. But Jesus is sent for the world which includes folks with wealth and status, too. So, what is it that Jesus is really trying to say?
Let’s look at some theological history to get perspective of social and religious norms in 1st century Jerusalem. In the book of Job (in the Hebrew scriptures or Old Testament) a man is struck with multiple calamities including boils on his skin—he has lost everything. His friends come to visit him in his suffering and proceed to inform him he must have done something wrong to be experiencing all this suffering (see Job 4:7-9, 8:6, and 20:27-29). The fancy theological term for this is Retribution Theology and is found not only in Job but also throughout the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Deuteronomy. “Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous” (Proverbs 13:21). (See also Proverbs 13:25, 17:20, and 22:40). Deuteronomy tells us that obedience to the law leads to prosperity and disobedience to the curse of suffering (see Deuteronomy 8:1-20, 28:1-68, 30:15-18).
So, it is no wonder that the disciples, the crowd listening in, the Jewish religious circles, and society as a whole carried this idea that suffering is punishment. Spoiler alert! God told Job that his friends were wrong about his suffering and about God (see Job 42:7). Interestingly enough, even in the 21st century, people haven’t let go of the idea that wealth and poverty are indicators of righteousness or blessings. This message is rampant in the preaching of what is called the Prosperity Gospel—which teaches that if your faith is strong enough, or you give your tithe, or you pray hard enough you will receive financial rewards and/or healing. Oh, Lord!
The blessings and woes in our passage today are not about perpetuating a type of backwards Prosperity Gospel where poverty becomes a virtue and wealth is demonized. They are about dispelling the old truths about the Retribution Theology. Poverty is not about the lack of faith or disobedience and wealth is not an indicator that you are more faithful. Jesus’ teaching is a warning to stop categorizing people into good and bad based on financial wealth and/or social status (or anything else for that matter). To be sure, the wealthy need to heed the warnings because their redemption kind of depends on them getting their priorities straight. The good news is that in God’s kingdom people are not held captive to their circumstances. The poor and grieving are freed from guilt for being poor and down trodden. The wealthy are freed from performance rewards so wealth can be redirected in realizing the Kingdom of God (which points to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the grieving, etc.).
One thing for sure that Grandma was right about—life on this ball of dirt is hard. Jesus offers the antidote with kingdom-thinking priorities as opposed to performance-seeking rewards.
Prayer Prompt: Thank you, Lord, for making the quality of my faith more valuable than earthly circumstances or financial rewards.
Hymn “Seek Ye First” Chalice Hymnal #354, Glory to God #175, The Presbyterian Hymnal #333, The United Methodist Hymnal #405
Benediction: Today, seek to see yourself and others according to God’s priorities. Amen.