Luke 6:17-26 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Sunday, February 13, 2022 “Jesus Defines Blessings Differently”
Are you blessed? I think we would all agree that we are blessed in many ways. The fact that we are here this morning means that we were blessed to be healthy enough to get out of bed and get ready, blessed to have transportation in some form to arrive here, blessed to be clothed and fed. And all those things are only a small percentage of the blessings we enjoy. We could talk about the blessings of families and friends, jobs and careers, houses, cars, entertainment, and so many other things that we enjoy. God has certainly blessed us in many ways. So what exactly is a blessing? How would you define it? Usually, we probably think of a blessing as something that makes us happy. A blessing is any good thing that God puts into our lives. A blessing is something that we want to have. Appropriately, we thank God when he gives us these sorts of blessings. In our Gospel today, though, we hear Jesus saying something surprising. He takes what we think about or know about blessings and curses, and he flips it completely on its head. And while our other readings help us understand better, this lesson in particular makes it clear that Jesus defines blessings differently. And it goes without saying for us that Jesus is worth listening to. However, we see in this account how he drove that point home to his listeners. As Luke records, Jesus had spent time both calling his disciples and then allowing them to witness his miracles. He had recently spent a night in prayer before appointing twelve followers as his apostles, and then as our text records, he went down to an open place, a level place. That is where the crowds met him. They came from the coast, and they came from the cities. They came with diseases, and they came with evil spirits. All many of those people wanted to do was to touch Jesus. They had seen how his power was healing people just like that. So do you think that Jesus had their attention when he began to speak? He lifted up his eyes toward his disciples and he announced a series of blessings. “Blessed are you who are poor…Blessed are you who hunger…Blessed are you who weep.” I don’t know how the people reacted. The Bible doesn’t tell us. But I know my reaction when I hear these words. Don’t you wonder whether Jesus switched up his notecards for this sermon? Doesn’t it sound like something got confused on the teleprompter? So many people have been coming to Jesus to have him fix the problems that they are facing, and he seems to tell them that they should instead embrace the problems. He seems to tell them that the problems are actually the blessings. The people don’t want to be poor. They don’t want to be hungry. They don’t want to weep. They certainly don’t want other people to hate them. Who would want that? And yet, those four things are the exact four things that Jesus calls blessings, the things that he says make people blessed. The people to whom Jesus first spoke this sermon, like us, needed to hear these shocking words. They, like us, far too often failed to understand true blessings. They, like us, too often failed to look at the world the way that God would want them to. Sinful people often see the world according to their own narrow perspective and their own selfish goals. The reality is a lot more complicated than just asking at any single moment whether I feel happy. Blessed are you who are poor, because yours is the kingdom of God. Riches can’t buy our way into God’s kingdom. Those who are poor understand that they have nothing to offer to God. They rely on him completely. They know that is has to be a gift from God to be a part of his kingdom, and that is exactly what it is. And if you are a part of God’s kingdom, it doesn’t matter what kind of earthly wealth you have or don’t have, you are truly rich in the most important of ways. Blessed are you who hunger NOW…Blessed are you who weep NOW. The blessing is not all about what is happening now, but it is found in the fact that you WILL BE satisfied, you WILL laugh. Jesus teaches us to look beyond our immediate situations and circumstances. He has something better in store for us. He has promised us an eternity in heaven. Those who are part of God’s kingdom now may still be poor and hungry and weeping, but the time will come when they will not. At that time and in that most blessed place we will be completely satisfied and forever happy.