Monday June 30th :: Lk. 6 :: Blessed?

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 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.

23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

(Lk.6.20-24)


Saturday I spoon-fed melted ice-cream to a guy named Larry. Larry is a resident at a local nursing home called Byron Manner. He's living with Alzheimer’s. It’s one of those diseases we hope we never get too familiar with. Nancy Reagan called it ‘the long good-bye’.

So I thought of good 'ol Larry as I read these words of Jesus today. We don’t preach on this passage much in evangelical circles. Probably because it doesn’t lend itself to a ‘practical take-away’. It’s not easily apparent what Jesus wants us to ‘do’ with his strange words. “Fortunate are the unfortunate?” No one crochets that on a wall hanging.

Yet here’s my thought this morning. Perhaps the takeaway for me is a startling realization that God sees things differently than we do. While we look at the big house on the corner and say “Blessed,” God says “woe” (vs. 24). He says “woe” not because there is anything wrong with having a big house (I have one), but because making much of our stuff can make it very difficult to make much of God. It’s very hard to depend solely on God when you are a D.I.N.K. (dual income, no kids) like me. But if you’re Larry, and you can’t hold your own spoon, dependence comes naturally. And God says: THAT is a blessed. The truth is, the rest of us are just as dependant as Larry. We just do a better job of faking it.

So here's to looking toward God today as Larry does.

Peace. Love. Ice-cream.