The Other Beatitudes [Epiphany 6C]
The Rev. Jeremiah
Williamson
Luke 6:17-26
The Other Beatitudes
“’In spirit.’ You
forgot to say ‘in spirit.’” That’s how I
imagine this went. Someone in that crowd
yelled out the “in spirit.” That’s just
life on the road. You make enough
stops. Give enough speeches. Stand before enough crowds: and your groupies
know your bits. Someone knew, I’m sure,
that the line, the opening line, of the Beatitudes, is “Blessed are the poor…in
spirit.”
It might have been some
kind-hearted soul who just wanted to protect Jesus, just wanted to help him out. He was, after all, early in his ministry at
this point in Luke’s Gospel. He maybe
wasn’t so used to the big crowds, “the great multitude” is how Luke describes
this gathering. There were a lot of
people listening. And you don’t get all
political and start talking about people’s money on your first arena tour –
unless you want to go back to working the clubs, unless you want to spend the
rest of your days talking into the open mic at some seedy dive bar. So surely Jesus meant to say, “Blessed are
the poor in spirit.” People like that
one.
It’s that other
version, that Matthew version, of the Beatitudes that ladies needlepoint onto
pillows, that shows up on Christian bookstore bookmarks. It’s that Matthew version that people
remember and set to pretty music. That’s
the one with the “poor in spirit” and the “hunger and thirst for righteousness”
and the “pure in heart.” That is the one
folks like. There are no woes in that
one.
This version, in Luke’s
Gospel, it has none of the lovely spiritualized language; it lacks the
universality of the other, in that there is something for everyone in the
Matthew version: who hasn’t been a little poor in spirit at one time or
another? But this one, it is packed with
as much woe as blessing. And it talks
about money. Not poor in spirit, but
poor poor. And everyone knows it is not
polite to talk about money.
I mean, it does start
nicely enough. Even the richest folks in
the crowd probably thought, at least initially, that it was good of Jesus to
say something nice to the poor people who came out to hear him speak. They’re poor and hungry and weeping. It was nice of Jesus to try to cheer them
up. That’s good: a good idea.
But the mood shifts
pretty suddenly. Things take a turn when
Jesus starts in on the woes. I would
imagine the wealthiest attendees were caught a bit off guard. Their opinion of Jesus likely changed rather
quickly. Stand-up comedian Bill Burr
said, “There’s this new level of…selfishness when you
go to a comedy club—where they’ll watch you for forty minutes and take
everything as a joke, and then…you’ll hit a topic that’s sensitive to them, and
then all of a sudden you’re making statements.”[1]
And they are getting up in the middle of the show and walking out. This was probably a little like that.
I think it
is important to remember when we read Jesus’ words, which we do so far removed
from Bible times: Jesus wasn’t killed for running around hitting people in the
head with a baseball bat; he never robbed a bank or took anyone hostage. Jesus was killed for talking, for offending
powerful people, influential people with his words. Jesus was killed for talking.
Jesus said
the wrong things throughout his entire ministry. You might remember his first sermon, also
found in Luke’s Gospel. He is in his
local synagogue and he is doing really well.
Initially his hometown supporters are whispering to each other, “How did
this guy get so smart? I mean, we know
his dad, so… How did he get so smart?” But by the end of the sermon, and I don’t
know how long Jesus’ sermons were, but this feels like a pretty fast turn-around,
they are trying to throw him off of a cliff to his death. Because of words. Because Jesus said something that offended
them.
So in
sense, these folks, gathered to hear yet another Jesus’ monologue, probably
should have seen this coming. But it was
still shocking. Because when people say,
“I’m so blessed” doesn’t that mean, “I’m happy” or “I am financially secure” or
at least “I’m not going hungry.”: “I’m so blessed.” But here Jesus is calling out those who
appear to be most blessed of all and raining down woe upon them.
And
anyway, is there anything inherently wrong with being rich, or being full, or
laughing, or being well-liked? Do the
rich people in the audience deserve to be called out like that? Do they deserve the woe?
One of the
differences between this version of the Beatitudes and Matthew’s version of the
Beatitudes is that Matthew’s are in the third person; Luke’s speak in the
second person. And so instead of
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Blessed are
you who are poor.” In that crowd, that
great multitude, there were rich people and there were people experiencing
poverty. And Jesus is talking directly
to them. Not some generalized
philosophical lecture about the nature of wealth, this was a person addressing other
people, real people: blessed are you, woe to you.
Context
matters. I don’t think it was just that
members of his audience were rich and that bothered Jesus because of some
personal bias; I think what mattered to Jesus was that members of the audience
were rich, full, and laughing at life when in the very same crowd, same village,
same region others were beat down by the crushing effects of poverty. I think it breaks Jesus’ heart to see someone
suffering while another person is swimming around in a pile of hoarded cash
like some Scrooge McDuck. The woe to
those who are laughing now is not because Jesus didn’t have a sense of humor; it’s
don’t take it so lightly that the kids down the street from you are starving to
death. This wasn’t some hypothetical for
Jesus; the wealth gap was standing right in front of him. It is painful to see extreme wealth and
extreme poverty in the scene. Like it’s
hard to hear about the threat champagne corks pose to yacht art when people are
literally dying of thirst on the same planet.
Jesus
loves everyone, of course. But here
Jesus makes a special point of loving the poor.
Jesus cares so much for the poor, not because they are necessarily
morally superior to the rich, or anyone else for that matter, but because it is
hard to watch someone you love suffer. And
poverty is devastating. And Jesus sees
that. Jesus sees those suffering in
poverty; he sees them. It is hard to
watch someone you love starve to death or freeze to death. And Jesus sees that. Jesus looks at the people who are told that
they are not worth much and sees infinite worth in them. And so it breaks his heart when we don’t see
the same thing.
Maybe the
problem isn’t being rich or full or happy.
Maybe the problem is that being rich and full and happy breeds a kind of
contented apathy towards those in need.
We feel so blessed, so superior, that we forget that Jesus said,
“Blessed are you who are poor” not “Blessed are you who are rich.”
The face
of poverty is a complex one. Some people
are poor because of bad choices, or bad luck; some are in poverty because of addiction,
or illness – mental, physical, emotional, spiritual. Some people are poor because they were born in
the wrong time or place or circumstance or family.
The face
of wealth is also complex. Some people
are wealthy because they made good decisions or because their hard work paid
off or because they got lucky. Some people
are wealthy because they were born in the right time or place or circumstance
or family.
Money is
just a thing – an idea we imbue with meaning and morality, in which we invest
our self-worth and measure the worth of others.
But it’s not worth much except that it tells God and the world what we
value. In this Gospel Jesus tells us
what he values. And it is not money; it’s
not stuff; it’s not status; it is people, human beings, every one made in the
image of God.
You know, it
is not illegal to be rich in our nation.
You can save up billions and never give a dime to charity and the worst
you will face is bad PR. There is
nothing in the Ten Commandments that forbids one from accumulating wealth. But there is this version of the Beatitudes
in Luke’s Gospel. And while it does not
tell us what to do, it does challenge us to go beyond the basic requirements of
this world – to think about where we will store up our treasures: the Cayman
Islands or Heaven.
Jesus
doesn’t seem to care too much here about the complexities of poverty and
wealthy. He does not qualify his
statement. He does not make a
distinction between the worthy poor and the unworthy poor. He simply says, “Blessed are you who are
poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” And
“Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
For those
living in poverty, in that crowd and still today, this is a word of
comfort. A better day is dawning; those
tears: God will replace them with laughter.
In the kingdom of God the weight of poverty under which they are suffering
will be no more.
But for
those of us who are not living in poverty, where is the grace; where is the
Good News; where is the hope? The grace,
I think, is there in the challenge. I
don’t think Jesus’ goal is to inspire guilt. (What good would that even do?) I think the point is to challenge us to be
generous. Jesus is challenging us to
invest now in the future God wants for this world. Jesus is offering to those who are rich in
resources, in that crowd and still today, the opportunity to give to something
that really matters, to invest in peace, to invest in justice, to invest in
mercy, to invest in love, to invest in the coming kingdom of God: to make this
world look a little more like heaven. It
is a limited time offer. But the good
news is: Jesus is still looking for some investors. The good news is: it’s not too late.
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