Preferences….we all have preferences. Some of us prefer hot over cold, the mountains over the beach, long over short or comedy over mystery. Our preference is our first choice…it is what we like the best, the thing that makes us feel comfortable, content, happy. That is probably why most of us prefer Matthew’s words in his version of this text over Luke’s. Matthew says “blessed are the poor in spirit,” “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” “blessed are those who mourn” and “blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” These are beautiful words that welcome all of us. Sometime or another all of us have felt “poor in spirit” or have found ourselves “hungering and thirsting for righteousness.” Many of us have “mourned” and been “persecuted” because of our righteousness. We can see ourselves in these blessings and we feel comforted, welcomed and reassured.

Luke, however, presents us with a problem. “Blessed are you who are poor.” “Blessed are you who hunger now.” “Blessed are you who weep now.” “Blessed are you when men hate you.” Not a whole lot of comfort in these words for contemporary American Christians, nor is there a large measure of welcome or reassurance. Ninety-nine percent of us are knocked out of the “blessed” group before the first sentence is complete. Regardless of what you think of your financial situation, you are not poor. You may be hungry now, but that is because you chose to skip breakfast. If you walked out of here this minute, you could go home and fix something to eat or stop and pick something up along the way.  Many of us miss out on the “weeping” versus “mourning” also. We may be sad about something in particular. However, we could hardly say that we are actively and consistently weeping, actions that Luke associates with the status of being poor. And that last blessing…”when men hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man.” Perhaps I am a bit cynical, but I don’t see many of us fighting to get in that line, either.  We want to be liked, perhaps by not everyone, but by most people. Some of us are huge name droppers…it is not enough that we know who we know; we need to make sure that you know who we know and what groups we are affiliated with, all so that perhaps you will like us more, respect us more and want to spend time with us. We pride ourselves on our reputations. If we are honest and view ourselves through Luke’s lens, we are probably not getting the blessing.

Not only are we probably not in line for the blessing, we are in line for the “woes.” We know there is trouble coming because the first word in the NRSV is “but,” a sure sign that we are about to look at the other side of the coin—especially when it follows a verse that begins with “rejoice.” We have not seen ourselves in the “blessings;” we really don’t want to know if the next part applies to us.  Unfortunately, it does. “Woe to you who are rich”…yep, there we are. America is the richest country in the world. Honestly, I have always had a problem with that kind of terminology. What does “the richest country in the world” mean in real terms? Glad you asked! According to the World Bank, in 1998 America was ranked number one with $401,000 per capita (per unit of population…per person). At the bottom of the barrel is Rwanda at $5,000 per capita. $401 vs. $5. As ambassadors for Christ throughout this world, can anyone honestly tell me that we are not rich? Unfortunately for us, we “have received [our] consolation.” “Woe to [us] who are full now, for [we] will be hungry.” “Woe to [us] who are laughing now, for [we] will mourn and weep.” “Woe to [us] when all speak well of [us], for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” What does this all mean? What are you trying to say? I am saying that we…the rich, the full, the laughing, the well spoken of…could be in for some real trouble unless we learn to love as God loves.

You see, for Luke, this is what it means to be a disciple. This is the teaching directly from Jesus to the 12 disciples, “a great crowd of disciples” and “a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon” that came to hear and be healed. This is the teaching…blessings for the poor and woes to the rich. It appears that Jesus is addressing a mixed crowd. They are Jew and Gentile, rich and poor. The one thing they all have in common is their desire to hear the Great Teacher. They have waited until Jesus and the 12 descend from the mountain; the evil spirits have been expelled and all who came have been healed. Now they are settling down for this lesson in discipleship. Imagine their surprise when they heard these words. Imagine the joy that must have embraced the poor and the fear that must have overshadowed the rich. The poor have received two blessings, but the rich, who certainly thought they had it made now that there were healed, get a rude awakening! Thank God, for the rich—regardless of the period in time—there is an injunction for those who will listen… love.

We are given numerous examples of loving behavior that all culminate in “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.” Sounds ridiculous to our contemporary ears, doesn’t it?  It probably sounded equally ridiculous to the people who were hearing it for the first time. Why would I want to love someone who hates me? Why in the world would I let someone hit me once, let alone twice? If someone steals from me, I am not to seek restitution?  Ridiculous! Why are we encouraged to “love” in this manner? Because it is the way of God. God loves regardless… regardless of how you look, smell, speak, act or react. God loves you regardless of where you come from, where you were born, what you have done to yourself or to others. God loves and blesses regardless. As children of God, we are obligated to demonstrate this same love.  Love that is demonstrated regardless of the circumstances or the situation is the way of God. Love that is demonstrated regardless of person or stature is the way of God. Love that is demonstrated without expectation is the way of God. Love that is demonstrated by the rich on behalf of the poor, expecting nothing in return, expressed sacrificially and solely because it is the Christian thing to do is the way of God.

That kind of love is radical! That is what gets lost in the contemporary spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the radical nature of what he taught. Jesus Christ was hanging out with the outcasts, conversing with women he was forbidden to speak to, eating with known sinners, touching people who were considered dirty. Jesus Christ proclaimed a radical shift in the status quo. If we are to call ourselves disciples and desire to live up to the standard that Jesus set, we are obligated to proclaim that same radical shift. 

Admittedly, in our current society, we must work very hard to arrive at this radical shift in our thinking. Do not misunderstand me; there is no crime in being rich. There are rich people throughout the Bible, and nowhere does it say that being rich is bad. The problem occurs when those who are rich think they are set in this life and the next because of their riches. The problem with being rich is thinking that what you have belongs to you and is for your use only. The shift we must make is from “I have made it and now I can keep my immediate family safe” to “I have made it and now I can keep my universal family safe.” If your brother/sister worked at a meat processing plant where he/she were confronted with unsafe working conditions, sexual harassment, intimidation and injury everyday would you sit idly by? If your brother/sister was working two or three jobs trying to keep a roof over their children’s heads, clothes on their backs and food in their stomachs yet could not afford their medication, would you stand idly by? No, you would not. You would do something. Some of you would help them find another job. Some of you would pressure the company owners to improve conditions. Some of you would pay for the medication. Some of you would push legislators to provide better medical coverage. Some of you would move to a better neighborhood with better schools. Yes, all of us would do something. But how many of us would choose the way of God that loves and blesses the poor?

Getting another job, paying for the medication, moving… those are the easy ways out. These options leave the focus on the rich, favoring our ability to change our circumstances and giving no regard to others who are less fortunate. Those of us who choose the easy way out need a radical shift. We need the mind of God so that we can follow the way of God. Showing God’s love means that we fight for better working conditions for everyone because we are rich; we would not work under those conditions, why should our brothers/sisters? Showing God’s love means that we fight for better medical coverage for everyone because we are rich and the nature of our wealth gives us the ability to fight against systems that are unfair and unGodly. Showing God’s love means that we fight for better educational systems for everyone because we are rich and we know that this generation of students and the next are doomed unless we demand some change. God loves regardless. God loves rich and poor and God will judge rich and poor. The poor will have their standard of measure but, I am afraid, the rich will be judged by what we did with the wealth God gave us as it relates to the poor. Unfortunately, some of us will be greatly disappointed when we realize that the measure we gave will be the measure we will get back.

It is by the grace of God that we are rich and it is by the grace of God that we are rich. I say it twice because the focus changes with each statement. The first speaks to the personal; it is by the grace of God that we were born in this country, to people who were able to provide for us and give us opportunities to succeed. It is the grace of God that has allowed us to progress to this point and that will carry us on until we meet him face to face. The second speaks to the universal; it is by the grace of God that we, in our richness, are able to stand up against those forces of evil that make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is by the grace of God that we, in our richness, are able to fight for a world where no one goes hungry. It is by the grace of God that we, in our richness, are able to not only wipe away the tears of those who weep, but to eradicate the reasons for weeping. It is by the grace of God that we, in our richness, are able to stand before those who hate us, those who want to exclude us, those who revile us and those who defame us without fear of reprisal because we stand, with God, on the side of the poor. It is by the grace of God that we, with God and in the richness that God has provided, are able to live lives that say “blessed are you who are poor.”