Blessings & Woes

And a prayer about the birds.

Jesus has a direct response to any who want to measure righteousness by virtue of wealth, possessions, or position. The sermon on the mount in Matthew has significant hold as the central core of Jesus’ teaching, and for good reason. But don’t miss the sermon on the plain here in Luke. While there are many parallels, there are some sharp and distinct understandings therein, including in today’s passage.

The beatitudes are one thing (“blessings”), but here Luke introduces some “woe” statements that speak against the notion that sinners are poor and the righteous are rich.

In the end, it’s not even really Jesus’ focus to determine who is blessed and who is not blessed, at least in terms of wealth and possessions. He is far more concerned on the actions of all. Note everything after, But I say to you…

This is where Job’s conversation with his friends becomes painfully relevant. Eliphaz returns to the same assumption we’ve been reading pretty much this whole time: suffering must mean sin. But this time he goes further. Instead of speaking generally, he begins inventing accusations. You must have taken pledges from your brothers for no reason. You must have stripped the naked of their clothing. You must have withheld water from the thirsty and food from the hungry.

None of these things have been shown to be true about Job. Eliphaz is not responding to evidence; he is defending his theological system. If Job is suffering, then Job must be guilty of something.

And this is exactly the kind of thinking Jesus confronts. Righteousness is not measured by wealth or reputation or religious certainty. It is measured by what one actually does: loving enemies, doing good, lending without expectation, showing mercy.

Job’s friends are convinced they know how God’s justice works. Jesus, by contrast, calls people not to explain suffering, but to respond to the world with compassion.

And in that sense, the question is not whether someone is blessed or cursed.

The question is much simpler: what kind of neighbor are you becoming? There sit Job’s friends heaping guilt and shame upon him, when what he really needs is mercy.

Jesus came to bring mercy.

Luke 6:24-31

But how terrible for you who are rich,
because you have already received your comfort.
How terrible for you who have plenty now,
because you will be hungry.
How terrible for you who laugh now,
because you will mourn and weep.
How terrible for you when all speak well of you.
Their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.

“But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.

Job 22

Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:

Can a human being be useful to God?
Can an intelligent person bring profit?
Does the Almighty delight in your innocence?
Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
Does he rebuke you for your piety,
bring you in for judgment?
Isn’t your wickedness massive,
your iniquity endless?
You have taken payments from your family for no reason;
stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
denied water to the thirsty,
withheld bread from the starving.
(The powerful own land; the favored live in it.)
You have sent widows away empty;
crushed orphans’ resources.
For this reason, snares surround you;
sudden dread brings panic to you
or a darkness that you can’t see;
rushing water will cover you.

Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
see how high the topmost stars are?
You say: “What does God know?
Can he judge through thick clouds?
Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
Will you keep the ancient way
traveled by sinful persons,
who were snatched prematurely
when a river flooded their foundations,
who say to God, “Turn away from us;
what can the Almighty do to us?”
Yet he filled their houses with good things;
a sinner’s logic is beyond me.
The righteous see and rejoice;
the innocent mock them:
our enemies are certainly cut off;
fire will devour what’s left of them.

Get along well with God and be at peace;
from this something good will come to you.
Receive instruction from his mouth;
put his words in your mind.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
if you keep wrongdoing out of your tent.
Lay your prized possession in the dust,
your gold from Ophir on a rock in a desert streambed.
The Almighty will be your prized possession,
silver piled up for you.
Then you will take pleasure in the Almighty;
lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you;
you will fulfill your solemn promises.
If you decree something, it will stand;
light will shine on your ways.
When they’re humbled, you will say: “Cheer up;
God will rescue the lowly.
He will deliver the guilty;
they will be saved by your pure hands.”

Prayer

God,

The birds are loud outside my window right now. They know something.

Teach me what they know, God. To be able and willing to sing so confidently is amazing. I’m not asking for a good singing voice, but for the countenance they have to so boldly declare it all in the darkness of the morning, before the sun even rises.

I don’t want to be bold in the sense of being an arrogant brute. But to have the beautiful boldness of the birds. No one will be afraid of them, but inspired by their small determination and consistent determination.

So help me, God: Make me like Christ who called us to look at the birds and reflect their positioning.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.