Then Jesus 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 on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.
(Luke 6:20-23, NRSV)
Jesus seemed to like to turn things upside down -- in the parables he told and the many encounters of his ministry, While respecting and observing many Jewish religious observances and customs, Jesus was bold to confront whatever did not reflect the truth of the great love of his Father (the Kingdom of God).
The Beatitudes must have seemed a bit shocking to the many who sat on the mountain that day. Blessed are those that are poor? those who mourn? those who are persecuted?
There must have been much murmuring..
In her book, "Good Enough," Kate Bowler writes about the upside-down message of blessing that Jesus shared on the mountain that day:
"Jesus was looking into the eyes of those who felt like the misfits. And then used the everyday experiences of weeping, hungering, thirsting, suffering as a badge of belonging.
The left out will be welcomed with a warm embrace. The forgotten will not just be remembered but honored. The ones who don't have it all together are exactly who God is inviting into the kingdom. In fact, the whole kingdom belongs to the ones on the edges. This is the upside-down kingdom -- directly available to those of us who don't have it all together.
Sometimes the only thing that's possible is to bless life's every moment -- even, and especially, the hard ones. Blessings in those moments fall like a summer rain over the driest times and places in our lives. And though a blessing seems counterintuitive in moments of grief and sorrow, that's when you need to be reminded of the presence of God most -- the God whose kingdom is available to all of us.
The world looks a bit strange from here, upside down. But maybe it's how it's supposed to be: our feet rooted in heaven." (emphasis mine)
(Ukrainian refugees)
Music: Blessed Are You, by Sarah Hart, https://youtu.be/0XSViv4a9eQ
from: A Blessing for When You Don't Feel Blessed (Kate Bowler)
Blessed am I when someone hurts me, and I feel offended, and I don't return insult with insult. Instead, I forgive, recognizing the number of times I've needed to be forgiven.
Blessed am I when I strip away all the extra. When I see the world as it really is -- broken, tender, fragile, beautiful. These are the same eyes that see God in everything too.
Blessed am I when I take the hard road. The winding one that doesn't opt for the shortcut of rage or resentment or unkind words. That doesn't pave over with trite niceties, but walks toward peacemaking. For I am God's kid.
Blessed am I when I face hardships of all sorts. Insults, hurt feelings, lies, and vindictive neighbors (why is loving your actual neighbor so hard God?). Blessed am I when I work to usher in God's kingdom of love and compassion and justice and forgiveness and peace, even when it's hard.
Blessed are we. The imperfect and don't-have-it-all-together.
God's Beloved.
Prayer:
May we glimpse our blessedness, even when life is hard and we feel tender and hurting.
May we sense the presence of God in the upside-down places in our lives, and trust that we are held in a "warm embrace."
May we have courage to stand and speak for love, justice, compassion and peace -- for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the world.
May we share (with a generous and grateful heart) the blessings we have been given.
Amen.
Resources:
Bowler, Kate, "Good Enough: 40ish Devotions for a Life of Imperfection."
(painting above is "Sermon on the Mount" by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1877)
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