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Today's Gospel reading gives us Jesus's Sermon on the Plain, similar, but not identical to the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. This suggests to us that the Jesus referred to the same general teachings at multiple times, but in slightly different forms, modified to meet the needs of a specific time and place. Since the content of this sermon is considered to be among the most important of the core teachings of Jesus it should not surprise us if he preached about it more than once.
Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
The blessings of the beatitudes all refer to people who are blessed now and will attain a better state in the future. The more surprising part of that is the idea that the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those hated for the sake of the Son of Man are all already blessed even while the negative conditions continue. We can understand why it is fair to say that people who will be satisfied, laugh, and receive a great reward in heaven, will be blessed when those things come to pass. But it is harder to grasp in what way they are already blessed. Is it based simply on the fact that they have promises to which they can look forward? We can interrogate this idea better if we look at the contrary woes presented next by Luke.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Those who are rich, filled, laugh, and are well spoken of now would seem to be the ones that are blessed now. But the point is that this is not actually the case. They are like people who are too anesthetized to realize the danger of their condition. They are enjoying the ride on the first half of a collapsed bridge, or appreciating the light from an oncoming train. They are too numbed by what they have to realize how briefly they can hold it. They live as the this world is the final reality, but, as Paul tells us, "the world in its present form is passing away". This will, of course, be bad for them in the future. But it is also bad now. It is actually beneath human dignity to live at the level of appearances, to indulge in a shadow play as though it will never end. When we see no connection between our lives in the present and our eternal destiny, when we forget that, "time is running out", we begin to act in ways that are not only unsustainable, but also pathetic and sad. We begin to treat the sources of our riches, our food, our joy, and our reputation, as idols that can offer us ultimate happiness. Yet all they ever do is string us along.
By contrast, those who are not rich, or at least not dominated by their riches, have the freedom to live lives of meaning and dignity. They have consolation amidst their current trials of the rewards that will one day be theirs. Not only that, faith makes it possible for them to experience those rewards even here and now. It does this, not through the health and wealth Gospel giving them winning lottery tickets or sports cars, but by helping them to see wealth differently, to recognize the true riches that are theirs in Christ and in his Church. They may still be hungry, but at the same time they receive the food of eternal life that is the end of all hunger. They may still mourn, and that for many valid reasons. But they do so with the deeper underlying joy of the Spirit to sustain them. They may lose our worldly reputation. But they discover their true worth in the eyes of Christ and in his love for them.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
The blessings of the beatitudes all refer to people who are blessed now and will attain a better state in the future. The more surprising part of that is the idea that the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those hated for the sake of the Son of Man are all already blessed even while the negative conditions continue. We can understand why it is fair to say that people who will be satisfied, laugh, and receive a great reward in heaven, will be blessed when those things come to pass. But it is harder to grasp in what way they are already blessed. Is it based simply on the fact that they have promises to which they can look forward? We can interrogate this idea better if we look at the contrary woes presented next by Luke.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Those who are rich, filled, laugh, and are well spoken of now would seem to be the ones that are blessed now. But the point is that this is not actually the case. They are like people who are too anesthetized to realize the danger of their condition. They are enjoying the ride on the first half of a collapsed bridge, or appreciating the light from an oncoming train. They are too numbed by what they have to realize how briefly they can hold it. They live as the this world is the final reality, but, as Paul tells us, "the world in its present form is passing away". This will, of course, be bad for them in the future. But it is also bad now. It is actually beneath human dignity to live at the level of appearances, to indulge in a shadow play as though it will never end. When we see no connection between our lives in the present and our eternal destiny, when we forget that, "time is running out", we begin to act in ways that are not only unsustainable, but also pathetic and sad. We begin to treat the sources of our riches, our food, our joy, and our reputation, as idols that can offer us ultimate happiness. Yet all they ever do is string us along.
By contrast, those who are not rich, or at least not dominated by their riches, have the freedom to live lives of meaning and dignity. They have consolation amidst their current trials of the rewards that will one day be theirs. Not only that, faith makes it possible for them to experience those rewards even here and now. It does this, not through the health and wealth Gospel giving them winning lottery tickets or sports cars, but by helping them to see wealth differently, to recognize the true riches that are theirs in Christ and in his Church. They may still be hungry, but at the same time they receive the food of eternal life that is the end of all hunger. They may still mourn, and that for many valid reasons. But they do so with the deeper underlying joy of the Spirit to sustain them. They may lose our worldly reputation. But they discover their true worth in the eyes of Christ and in his love for them.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
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