Lent – Day 2
Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
Day Two- Listening to the Sermon on the Plane: Part 1
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” – Luke 6:20 (NRSV)
Theses words of Jesus seem so counterintuitive and countercultural.
What is the blessing of poverty?
It could be that being poor places persons in a position to receive freely and fully.
Most of us have experienced a time when we had to depend on the generosity of others. For me these were times of humility but also of awesome wonder and thanksgiving. I had no illusion that I could continue without the help of God and others.
Our present wealth creates an illusion of independence that is destructive and ungodly.
It might also be a matter of investments. The poor have no stake in the current order and therefore have nothing to lose when the in breaking kingdom turns the priorities of the world upside-down. The poor have no fear of the dramatic reversals proclaimed by Jesus and able to receive them with joy as being good news indeed!
More than these, I think the statements of Jesus are proformative utterances of creative power. The poor are not blessed because of their place in society. The poor are not blessed because we consider them fortunate or because they see themselves to be favored. The poor are blessed because Jesus declares them to be blessed. Simply by speaking the words Jesus changes the fabric of our reality. The means of this blessing is through the body of Christ at work in and for the world. The poor are blessed because Jesus is eternally sending us to bless them.
Today we consider our own poverty and the poor that live alongside us. Are the problems of poverty really a product of scarcity? Has God failed to provide for the needs of all of God’s children? Or is the problems of poverty an issue of proper stewardship and sharing? By ignoring the poor, we too become impoverished as a people. Unlike our current consumer culture, Luke understands the world as having finite and limited resources. Everything we have is something that someone else is denied. To intentionally hoard and recklessly consume resources is an intentional act of greed unnecessarily depriving others. To take more than we need is to abuse the trust given to us by God for the sake of others. One of the Church Fathers once said that a man with two coats is a thief that has stolen from his brother that suffers in the cold. Recent global conversations on the recession and climate change are giving us occasion to see the uncomfortable truth of our present situation.
Today may the poor be blessed through your house. God has blessed you so that you might bless others. How can you share from your abundance to minister to you neighbor’s needs? There are probably several things that you purchase weekly or even daily out of convenience or comfort. Consider doing without that $5 cup of coffee, going out for an evening on the town, or super-sizing during the coming days. The money we save can be well spent serving the needs of others. When we are tempted to make unnecessary purchases, let us consider the people of Haiti. In sharing we not only proclaim the gospel, we live it in a manner that is blessing to all. Today we remember the blessed poor and willingly take the yoke of poverty upon our shoulders as we continue our journey to the cross. – Rev. John Mattox
Let us pray,
O Lord, our Teacher and Friend,
Sometimes we find it difficult to feel blessed
when we are poor.
Sometimes your kingdom seems so far away,
Help us to realize the blessings
you have placed all around us
and help us to be a blessing for someone else.
Amen.
-Rev. Katie Mattox