#Blessed or Blessed? Luke 6:20-31 - All Saints Sunday

²⁰Then [Jesus] looked up at his disciples and said:
 “Blessed are you who are poor,
  for yours is the kingdom of God.
 ²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
  for you will be filled.
 “Blessed are you who weep now,
  for you will laugh.
  ²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
 ²⁴“But woe to you who are rich,
  for you have received your consolation.
 ²⁵“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.
  ²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
  ²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (NRSV)

DSC_0042 Karin Hamilton on flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0

As someone with allergies, I hear the words “God bless you” a lot…

Do you know how it came to be that we say that?

During the fifth century, the bubonic plague was terrorizing Europe—with one of the symptoms being coughing and sneezing. Pope Gregory 1 declared that by saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes, this prayer would keep that person from dying.

Amazingly, that custom has stood the test of time right up to this day—though it’s no longer a prayer to keep someone from dying, but a simple gesture of kindness. Ironically, it’s one of the few times it is socially acceptable for a stranger to speak kind words to another.

I’m reminded of other kind words we speak to each other in times of adversity: “you’re in my thoughts and prayers.” “My heart goes out to you.” “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” Only trouble is, there’s seldom any action that accompanies these words. And it’s tempting to hear Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel with the same skepticism.

“Blessed are you who are poor…hungry…weeping…hated…excluded.”

I can honestly say that I would never stand up at a funeral and tell the mourners how blessed they are. I certainly wouldn’t walk into a soup kitchen or homeless shelter and say, “cheer up, you’re blessed!”

On the other hand, you can go on social media and find plenty of people who are #Blessed—who gleefully share photos of their healthy, perfect children; their beautiful homes; their exotic vacations; and career success.

But this is far from the truth Christ proclaims today—and that’s something we can take great comfort in as we confront the enormous tragedy of death.

When someone you love dies, you’re not just mourning the ending of that person’s life—you’re mourning that they are no longer around to bless you as they had before.

You’re grieving the loss of that person’s presence and companionship. But you may also be grieving the loss of income they provided; the meals they prepared; the work they did around the house. In many families, there’s a matriarch or patriarch who keeps the family together—and when that persons gone, the family falls apart. Fighting breaks out among the survivors over the estate. Or, the family just drifts apart.

But Jesus doesn’t speak empty words, as we so often do. When Jesus says, “blessed are you,” he’s announcing God’s initiative to bless those who know nothing but woe.  God will be turning the tide against the woes of poverty and pain; fear and shame. A new reality is about to prevail, where the old woes no longer rule the day.

God calls you out of the darkness to into a communion of saints who wait with hopeful expectation for the blessing of God. Blessed are you and blessed you will be because you are part of a Body of people who love you as God loves you. Blessed are you and blessed you will be when you gather with the saints around the Lord’s table, to eat and drink new life in Word and Sacrament.

Yet, we have no business proclaiming God’s blessing if we are not serious about blessing those whom Jesus is targeting for blessing! Far too often, we dictate to God how God ought to bless us. We want to be #Blessed, and live the kind of lives their friends boast of on Facebook. Congregation want to be vibrant and strong like they were a generation ago; or full of families like the megachurches in the suburbs. But what about blessing broken lives and being Christ to the neighbor?

Woe to you if you think you can dictate how God ought to bless you. Woe to you when your desire for blessings takes precedence over your desire to bless. Woe to you who are #Blessed, who give God no glory and the needy neighbor no thought.

Woeful you will be if you curse those who curse you, and harbor bitterness and hatred in your heart. Woeful you will be if you must every battle. Woeful you will be if you answer woe with more woe.

Woeful you will not be who weep now, who struggle now, who hunger now, who are hated, forgotten, and ignored now—because God has not forgotten you.

It’s not for me or for anyone to say how God will you bless you, or when—but you can jump into this promise today: how can you bless your downtrodden neighbors? I don’t think you can fully grasp how blessed you really are if you’re not taking part in the blessing of others.

And secondly, how can you reject the woe that’s been visited upon you by blessing those who persecute you? The endpoint of all woe is the cross, where Jesus turned the tables on death and the devil for good. When anger and bitterness overtake your mind, will you heed God’s call to pray for them and dare to ask God to bless them? Are you ready for God to help you answer their contempt with grace?

The promise of God’s blessing is not the fulfillment of items on your wish list; but instead it is the blessing of belonging to the communion of saints, where we live by a whole different set of rules than the rest of the world. It’s not about winning and losing, or boasting of your good fortune and success. Blessed are you to be counted among those who are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Blessed are you to be the Body of Christ, where God’s generosity meets human need and God’s mercy heals us of all our woes. Blessed are you, Church,

Forget #Blessed. Bless and live blessed—for yours is the kingdom of God.