Readings
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26
How many of us, even taking into account the current inflation, are doing ok financially? Even if we don’t have significant investments, how many of us can make ends meet each month? How many of us have enough food on our tables to not have to go hungry? How many of us are relatively happy and healthy? How many of us can consider ourselves generally well regarded by our family, friends, and neighbors?
Well on the surface, if most of these things are true, then today’s Gospel may leave us feeling more than a little bit uncomfortable.
Today Jesus offers the teaching we traditionally call “the beatitudes,” and at first reading they both defy rational thought and, if we are to take them seriously, up end how most of us think the world works.
The word we translate as “blessed” is, in Greek, the word “markarios,” which is probably better translated as “lucky” or “fortunate.” Imagine, if you will, hearing someone say “Consider yourself fortunate if you are poor, or hungry, or unhappy, or excluded, reviled, or defamed.”
Equally, the word for “woe” is, in Greek, the word “ouai,” which is intended to be an expression of grief and could easily be translated as “alas!” So what might we think if we heard “alas for you if you are wealthy, or have a full pantry, or are happy, or are well regarded.”
From the values out of which we live today, none of this makes sense. We consider those who are wealthy, happy, or well regarded as the fortunate ones. And equally, we consider those who are poor, hungry, unhappy, or excluded, reviled, or defamed as most unfortunate. In fact, we work hard to avoid such a state and to achieve the other.
But Jesus doesn’t just say this to each of those groups of people. He says that those who are poor have the Kingdom of Heaven; that those who are hungry will be filled; that those who weep will be laughing, and that those who are excluded, reviled or defamed are on the right side of God. He also disturbingly says to the rich that they have already received their consolation, that those who are full will be hungry, that those who are laughing will mourn and weep, and that those who are well regarded may in fact be on the wrong side of God.
So then what are we to do with such a reading? What could Jesus be getting at with this list of reversals for both those who we would consider fortunate and those we would not?
Well, it strikes me that at least part of what is going on is Jesus pointing to the impermanence of the human condition. All of these things that Jesus points to as blessings and woes, whether good or bad, are things that we have a tendency to assume as permanent states of being. We tend to think of the poor as being stuck in their poverty, and when we receive our blessings we have a tendency to live as if it will always be the case. Even if you are, like me, someone who tends to worry about such things there is still a temptation to trust in our general well-being when we are doing well and to feel lost or hopeless when things are not going well.
But Jesus points to the truth that none of these conditions are truly enduring. Neither wealth nor poverty are enduring, neither happiness nor sadness are enduring, neither positive nor negative regard are enduring. And yet, we put our trust in a world that tells us that they are. We live in a world that calls us to strive for the good life and to regard our state, whether good or bad, as deserving or fated.
But Jesus called his followers to a deep reliance on God and trust in God’s Kingdom. In fact, in Matthew 6:33 Jesus commends his disciples to “seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
You see the truth of our life is not worthiness or a lack thereof. The truth of our lives is not about how hard we work, or about what we have earned. The truth of the world is not about the permanence of such states. Jesus, in today’s Gospel, warns us that all of that can be lost. We, despite our best efforts, can find ourselves in the very state we wish to avoid. But he also commends to us to remember that when we are in a desperate or down place we can take comfort in knowing that this too is impermanent.
Today’s Gospel calls us to embrace that the only permanence in our lives is the love and presence of God; that all of those things we so desperately cling to, or avoid, are not permanent. All of us will have times when we are lacking. All of us will have times when we sorrow. All of us will have times when we feel isolated or disregarded. But we need not lose heart in those circumstances, because things will change. Equally all of us will have times when we experience abundance or at the very least a sense of sufficiency. All of us will have times of happiness. All of us will have times when we feel connected and well liked or loved. But we need to be careful in those times not to assume that they are permanent or a product only of our making.
No, our call friends, as followers in the way of Jesus, is to walk lightly and hold our lives lightly. We are being called to put our faith and trust in something other than the transitory realities of this world. We are being called to embrace and invest in the Kingdom of God. Which means when we are on top we actively work to support the poor, the suffering, and those who are marginalized. When we do so we create a reality that blesses those who are on the bottom.
Most of us, if we take an honest inventory of our lives, fall into the latter half of Jesus’ beatitudes. So then, rather than being afraid of the loss of our well-being, let us be agents of the Kingdom of God. Let us walk in faith trusting that what God has given us can be an agent of transformation in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. Let us raise up the poor, feed the hungry, comfort the sorrowing, and defend the marginalized.
But, if after careful examination, we find ourselves in the first part of this teaching, then let us not lose hope. Let us trust that the arc of the universe truly does bend towards justice. Let us trust that, just as Jesus proclaimed, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Let us take comfort in knowing that our poverty, our hunger, our sorrow, or our marginalization is not permanent and there are better days ahead.
Regardless of where our lives currently fall within Jesus’ teaching today. Let us all embrace the reality that our lives are marked by impermanence and let us turn our trust and hope to the source of all life and light. Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and let us trust that all that we need will be added to us.