[Luke 6:20-26] And he lifted up his eyes on 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 shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers 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 shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
Up When You’re Down
We’ll start today with a short test, a quiz. I won’t make it too hard. I won’t ask you all 10 Commandments, but only the first. What is the First Commandment? You shall have no other… gods.
But here’s the next question: What does it mean to have a god? That question takes a little more thinking. What does it mean for a someone, a something, or a god to be my God? Whether a false god or the true God.
We have, in our churches, the Small Catechism, which you probably used for confirmation. We also have what’s called the Large Catechism. In our Large Catechism, we ask this question, “What does it mean to have a god?” And here’s the answer given:
“What does ‘to have a god’ mean, or what is God? Answer: A ‘god’ is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart… Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.”
“There are some who think that they have God and everything they need when they have money and property… So too those who boast of great learning, wisdom, power, prestige, family, and honor and who trust in them have a god also, but not the one, true God.” [Martin Luther’s Large Catechism, the First Commandment]
The good things in life can be blessings from God, for which we give God the credit, or, so often, those good things can become false gods, false idols, that rule our hearts. And “no one can serve two masters” [Matthew 6:24].
In our Gospel today, our Lord Jesus speaks blessings and woes which seem contrary to our natural experiences in life – yet they make perfect sense when we understand what a blessing it is to have the true God as our God.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” – “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
With God as my God, I am rich even when I have nothing else. I have God and His kingdom, which are more than all else. But if earthly riches become the love and trust of my heart, I am all the poorer for having them.
And it’s not only the wealthy who cling to riches. “Riches” can be any cheap thing – or a dream of riches – whatever has strings pulling at my heart. But the more God is my God, the more I can say, “Blessed am I” in all circumstances.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied” – “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.”
With the Lord as my God, I have the One who is the “Bread of Life” who alone satisfies – “The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven… Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” [John 6:33-35]
Only when Jesus is our Bread of Life will we ever be satisfied. We are never satisfied by an abundance of food – we still eat like we’re starving, more and more. In this life, we either suffer the hunger of want or the bad health of abundance. Our food lets us down.
Jesus is heaven’s Bread. A little satisfies us, yet the more we have the more we can eat. The more we overeat the Bread of Life, the better our health of soul and heart. A little crumb of the Word of God leaves us full, yet no great amount is ever too much.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” – “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”
Jesus says, about His final coming on the Last Day, that all the world will be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” and that day will come upon them suddenly, unaware and unprepared [Matthew 24:37-39].
Eating and drinking, laughing and enjoying each other, getting married and celebrating – these are all good things, blessings from God who made them. But these good things can also become our reason for forgetting God. When all is well and life is joyful, our sin-fallen nature forgets that there even is a God.
But our times of weeping send us more deeply into that One who is our only Consolation. If our weeping, grief, and trouble sends us closer to God, then these truly are our greatest blessings. Blessed are we when heartache and troubles direct us to our Savior.
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day… for so their fathers did to the prophets” – “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
The favor or good opinion of others – especially that of my coworkers or family or friends or neighbors – can become the false god of my heart. We do not like to be isolated or excluded.
But it’s far better to be isolated from man, for what may seem like strange beliefs to them – like our belief in the physical resurrection of the body [1 Corinthians 15:1-20] – than to be isolated from God by being ashamed of Him and His Word [Mark 8:38].
Speaking the truth in love, as fits the occasion – and being faithful to God’s Word in our speech and conduct among other – if we suffer bad opinions for this, this is pleasing to God and an undeserved honor for us sinners to be counted worthy to suffer for Jesus’ name [Acts 5:41].
“Blessed are you.” “Woe to you.” The truth is, we do sin against the First Commandment. We do find ourselves on the “woe” side of these statements. We do cling to riches. We do forget God. We do sometimes value our neighbor’s good opinion of us over God’s.
Who alone is the Blessed One who fully held God His Father as the only God of His heart? It’s Jesus Himself, God’s own Son. He is the blessed one.
Jesus was poor, with no place to lay His head – Jesus was hungry for forty days in the wilderness [Matthew 4:1-4] – Jesus wept [John 11:35], bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows [Isaiah 53:4].
“And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” [Philippians 2:8]. Jesus alone lived by unwavering faith, trusting even on the cross and committing His spirit into His Father’s hands [Luke 23:46].
Jesus alone lived perfectly, and Jesus alone died perfectly for us – giving His perfect life into death as the redemption price to forgive our sins [Colossians 1:14].
Jesus alone was perfectly blessed, and we are blessed in Him.
“You shall have no other gods.” As a commandment, we fall short of the test. But as a promise of God – as a promise of His work of salvation in Jesus – you do have God as your God and as your Savior. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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