Thoughts for the Day

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.

Blessings and Woes

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[a] on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on 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.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I can remember visiting someone who had a beautiful piece of framed embroidery that read: "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God". I remember it struck me as as odd. It was years later that I realised it was not a quotation from Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5.1-12) as I had thought, which would have read "Blessed are the poor in spirit". Instead "Blessed are the poor" comes from Luke's account of the Sermon on the Plain. Like many teachers and preachers Jesus no doubt used the same material in lightly different ways and places.

When Jesus talks about the poor and hungry in Luke's Gospel he is not declaring that they are being punished for their sins which would have been the current perception. Instead he is highlighting a situation that demands our attention and our action. Just as today the notion of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults has been highlighted and we can no longer ignore the issue, but have to respond to the situation that faces us, God wants us to be involved to alleviate poverty and hunger - to take His love to all people.

The other difference between the two accounts, is that while Matthew gives us a list of blessings, Luke matches every blessing with a woe. Jesus says "Blessed are the poor…woe to you who are rich". The word "rich" should be as simple as "enough for our needs". Can we stop today to ask some hard questions of ourselves, like "What are our priorities?" And the hardest of all, "Are we helping or hindering the coming of God's kingdom?" Can we look in the eyes of Jesus and say we have nothing to share?

Lord Jesus Christ,
You have taught us to look
for signs of the Kingdom.
Help us to see that You call us to
be a part of spreading this work.
May we learn to manage with less material goods
in order to help others;
may we give up some of our precious time
in order to help others;
and may we give up one luxury
in order to help others.
Amen.