Wednesday Wonder – February 19, 2025

No matter how often I read the scriptures there is always something new there. I have been attending some biblical storytelling workshops this year and as I learn ‘by heart’ the passages seem to have more in them to speak to me.

On Sunday, had we not been snowed out, the gospel passage for the day was Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. I was reading them again on Sunday while I curled up under a blanket and it struck me, how sometimes things are so obvious but we miss them while we look for other things. Let me explain.

Whenever we begin to prepare a sermon, we preachers tend to look at the big picture, the big lessons to be learned. Not the more personal aspects, except as they enhance the big picture. Both Matthew and Luke have what we call the Beatitudes. But they tell the story differently. They use different words, have things happen in different places or ways. Yes, I enjoy getting lost in this type of discovery.

What struck me this time, aside from the fact that Matthew places this sermon of Jesus on the mount and Luke puts it on the plain, is how Jesus is talking to the crowd. In Matthew, he says, “Blessed are those…” Luke has him say, “Blessed are you…” What a difference that makes. A difference that for some reason, spoke directly to me this time. Just like Jesus seems to be doing.

Matthew’s way of sharing the Beatitudes makes it seem more like Jesus is a professor or something, giving generalized points to the gathered. Luke, however, has Jesus speaking directly to the people in front of him, directly to you and me who are reading the passage all these years later. I knew this difference, but in my wintry cocoon it seemed to speak louder.

Maybe it has to do with the state of the world. So often we hear how this group or that group is being affected by something. Or, that there is a change that affects ‘people’, but it still feels different. There is a difference in saying grocery prices are getting higher and some people are going to find it harder to buy what they need, and standing at the check out and hearing that the two relatively small bags of groceries that used to cost $60 now cost $120. The state of things just became personal, not something that happens to other people, but happens to me!

Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor…” “Blessed are you who are hungry…” “Blessed are you who weep…” “Blessed are you when people hate you because of me…” He doesn’t say it is ‘those who are poor, hungry, crying or hated’, he says it is me. He speaks directly to me, to you.

The promises Jesus makes for a better time for us as the kingdom of God will be ours, we will be filled, we will laugh again, and we will receive a reward in heaven, is reassuring when it isn’t for others, or a crowd, but for me.

Of course, if we keep reading he also says ‘woe’ to me if I am the opposite to those he is blessing. Again, very personal. Makes me more aware of what I have and how I use it. I am the one being held accountable, not ‘those’ people.

For whatever reason, as the snow and wind blew around my nice, cozy house, the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-26 and beyond but that was the part I read) became much more personal. It was aimed at me. It reminded me I am blessed and that because of those blessings I need to be responsible with how I use them. Despite years of preaching on the text, it touched more deeply this weekend. Maybe because I have been learning passages by heart and began to do so with this one as well. When we take things into our heart, they touch us more deeply. This passage certainly did me.

There, enough mini sermon for today. May we be reminded every day that we are blessed, that others may struggle and our blessings allow us to reach out. As the sun shines today, may our light shine into the darkness our world finds itself in, that all may know the blessings of God.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane