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Jer. 17:5-10; i Cor. 15:12-20; Lk. 6:17-26]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Beatitudes, the blessings Jesus mentions today are a very well-known part in the New Testament. Luke has four blessings and four warnings. Matthew’s version has eight blessings, and it’s this version which is most widely known and quoted.
When Jesus is speaking to his contemporaries, he does so in a specific time and a specific place. It’s important to keep this in mind when we then try to distil his message for our own lives.
There’s no shame in having questions when reading the parables of Jesus, and indeed these Beatitudes, to be unsure about their meaning.
Most of us don’t fish or hunt, most of us don’t farm or work on the fields.
People in the city might live their whole lives without ever seeing a cow or a horse.
Most of us have only experienced the detriment of war on TV.
Many of us prefer to gloss over death and old age.
Some people might go a long way to avoid the ugliness and messiness of life and prefer to only see the world wearing rose tinted glasses.
No wonder, that some of Jesus’ sayings are confusing to us or unclear.
That’s why the thoughtful retelling or rephrasing of these texts for a modern audience or readership can be so helpful.
Our ‘new Beatitudes’ this morning were partly inspired by a sermon from 2014 by The Revd Marc Abernethy, an American pastor:
Blessed are you who are skeptical and doubt but are still open to debate and wonder; you who wrongly think you have nothing to offer; you who were behind at school; you for whom getting by at the end of the month is a struggle or you who live on our streets.
Your poverty will teach the world humility.
Woe to you who demand rigidity and fundamentalism in religion or politics, but at the same time ignore the rules when it suits you, discarding the poor, accusing the stranger, condemning anyone who isn’t like you!
Blessed are you for whom death is not an abstract concept; you who have no more tears left; you who no longer have the time nor the luxury to take things in life for granted; you for whom isolation and loneliness are a daily routine.
You will smile again.
Woe to you who take advantage of the misfortune of others, of their despair, you who make your fortunes from the machinery of death, whose insatiable greed and love of money is the direct cause of so much pain and deep sadness!
Blessed are you whom no one takes the time to notice, the softly spoken, kind and mainstream, who are never rewarded for their efforts of mediation; you who are voiceless, underrepresented and unimpressive.
Your Father in heaven has counted all the hairs on your head.
Woe to you who constantly seek the spotlight, the ongoing gratification of cheers and applause, who dread anonymity, whose ruthless ambition has no consideration for others!
Blessed are you who are wrongly accused, who can’t seem to catch a break, who fall through the cracks of our social and justice system due to no fault of your own; you who believe we can and must do better for ourselves and for the generations to come.
You will find support and friendship.
Woe to you who are corrupt, who barter with human lives, for whom justice, democracy and peace are empty concepts!
Blessed are you who have received enough undeserved grace in your lives that you no longer feel the need to distinguish between who is deserving and who is not; you who have received enough forgiveness in your lives that you no longer feel the need to figure out whether true forgiveness is deserved or not; you who recognise the abundant grace and mercy of God because you are the ones who truly get it; you who know that life isn’t quid pro quo.
Your attitude will change the world, even if you won’t notice it right away.
Woe to you who don’t admit that everyone has the right to grace, that everyone deserves a second chance, to you who take for granted forgiveness but are unwilling to give it!
Blessed are the creative, the innocent, the optimistic, those who see beyond.
You make the world a better place.
Woe to you who thrive on negativity and spite!
Blessed are you who work and volunteer for the common good, in shelters, soup kitchens, lobby groups; you who can’t sit on the sideline but go out for what you believe is right, who put time and energy in what you believe needs to be done.
You are like wingless angels.
Woe to you who claim the work of others as your own, who like to stir things up and who relish in conflict, you who are vengeful, hypocritical and aggressive, you who would rather manipulate, deceive and twist the truth than admit others are right and kind and loving!
Blessed is anyone who is reviled because of who they are, whom they love, the colour of their skin, their perceived handicap, their gender or how much money they make or don’t make; anyone who is an easy target, who gets bullied at school or work, who is forced to justify their very existence every day.
God has seen you! God knows you! God loves you!
Woe to you, woe to all of us when we are the bullies, the war mongers, the persecutors!
The Beatitudes are both Law and Gospel, both commandment and encouragement.
They represent everything that is good in us all as human beings, and everything that isn’t.
We’re asked to take these words to heart, take these blessings and warnings, and absorb them as it were.
We’re asked to live them out, free and blessed, in faith to God and in love to the neighbour.
Amen.