Rich, Joyful, Stuffed, & Liked--Sounds Good
Zephyr United Methodist Church
Early First United Methodist Church
Rev. Eddie Smart
February 11, 2007
Luke 6:17-26
17He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
20Then he 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.
Blessed are the poor?
You've got to be kidding.
Rather, blessed are the rich.
That's the gospel according to a wealthy Texas woman on Oprah. She was on the show to display her opulent mansion and new found riches. She went from modest beginnings in Amarillo to become a multimillionaire by creating her own cosmetics business. A video cam pans the outside of her enormous mansion. The camera follows her through the house. In the entryway is a spiral staircase. Chandeliers. Carpet echoing the pattern of the glass ceiling. Ornate, gold leaf, French-designed walls. The camera zooms in on her beaming faces as she shows off her bathroom bigger than a poor man's house. Gold faucets. Marble bath tub and floor -- heated. Walk-in closet with a long line of evening gowns with matching shoes. In the back is an olympic-sized swimming pool and jacuzzi blended into the naturalistic setting. After showing off this monument to herself-indulgent fantasies
to an oohing and ahhing audience,
the woman says to Oprah, with the conviction of a nun,
"Gawd has blessed me."
Blessed are the rich.
Isn't that the truth?
It's not hard to see why we might consider
wealth a blessing.
Isn't being wealthy more blessed
than being impoverished?
May West once said,
"I've been poor, and I've been rich.
Believe me, rich is better."
Would any of us dare to say to a beggar on the street ,
“Hey, buddy, you sure are blessed."
Rather, we consider wealth and abundance
a blessing of God; don't we?
Not everyone is "blessed" with what we have.
Some people in the world are poor.
Some people don't have it as easy as we do.
And we wouldn't wish that kind of life on anyone.
We don't consider poverty a blessing; do we?
Well then, blessed are the rich.
Matthew must have thought rich was not so bad.
When he retells the story of Jesus sharing the beatitudes,
he writes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew puts the spiritual twist to the poverty.
He doesn’t want to speak of poverty as a blessing.
It’s a different thing to be POOR IN SPIRIT.
Matthew keeps the spiritual bent with,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.”
How blessed can a hungry person be?
BUT to hunger for righteousness – that’s different.
We rich folk,
we don’t want to hear about the poor and hungry being blessed.
We particularly don’t want to hear,
“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.
What is Luke talking about?
It’s the RICH who are BLESSED!
Just how rich are we?
Have you ever considered the record of the Rich Young Ruler
and his obviously wrong choice.
Think about it.
No matter how much wealth he had,
he could not ride in a car,
have any surgery,
turn on a light,
buy penicillin,
hear a pipe organ,
watch TV,
wash dishes in running water,
type a letter,
mow a lawn,
fly in an airplane,
sleep on an innerspring mattress,
or talk on the phone.
If he was rich, then what are we?
Boy are we blessed!
Did you know that 500,000,000 children
don't get enough food
to fully develop mentally and physically.
Did you know that there are
40,000 hunger-related deaths every day.
Did you know that Americans spend
$3,000,000,000 annually on pet food.
Boy are we blessed!
BUT Luke says, NO!
Woe to us.
It is those who are hungry and malnourished
who are blessed.
It is those who starve to death who are blessed.
It doesn’t make any sense.
OR DOES IT?
Leith Anderson, a pastor, shared an experience:
As a boy, he grew up outside of New York City
and was an avid fan of the old Brooklyn Dodgers.
One day his father took him to a World Series game
between the Dodgers and the Yankees.
He was so excited,
and he just knew the Dodgers
would trounce the Yankees.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers never got on base,
and his excitement was shattered.
Years later he was engrossed in a conversation with a man
who was a walking sports almanac.
Leith told him about the first major league game
he attended and added, "It was such a disappointment.
I was Dodger fan' and
the Dodgers never got on base."
The man said, "You were There?
You were at the game
when Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game
in all of World Series history”
Leith replied, ''Yeah, but uh, we lost."
He then realized that he had been so caught up in his team's defeat
that he missed out on the fact that he was a witness
to a far greater page of history.
(As told by Dean Register in Minister's Manuel, 1995, 339)
Isn’t that the way it is with us?
We get so caught up in the things we think are important
and miss the real blessings of life.
What strange blessings.
But you know, the blessing is not in the poverty,
the hunger, the mourning, the dishonor in and of itself.
The blessing is in being a disciple of Jesus,
come what may.
The blessing is in the following, whatever the price.
We are not called to seek poverty, hunger, grief
and defamation of character,
as if that is what will make us blessed.
We are called to seek Jesus and His way,
counting the cost.
The blessing is in the following.
And whatever comes our way
in the process of following Jesus
are but the strange blessings
that come with being a disciple.
Jesus̓ admonition in today̓s passage
that “woe” will come to those who are now
rich, full, and prosperous
is not a curse or condemnation
but rather a statement of fact.
Those who are wealthy and comfortable
often forget their need for God.
They have chosen a different way.
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
We have experienced so much that causes us to weep.
Death that has come in many unexpected ways.
Accidents taking the lives of
our children & grandchildren,
our brothers and sisters,
our husbands and wives.
Cancer, Heart attacks, & other diseases
that invade our lives
Accidents that cripple our bodies.
The cruelty of diseases that transform loved ones
Drugs & alcohol destroying families & individuals
How in the midst of our weeping can we feel blessed?
Mother Teresa may have explained it best.
She said, “You will never know that Jesus is all you need
until Jesus is all you’ve got.”