For the past four years I have been a leader/participant in a weekend retreat for 13 year old girls, called "Daughters Arise."  It is a wonderful opportunity for Christian girls to claim their God-given strengths as they approach womanhood.  At the conclusion of the weekend, the girls individually are called into the circle of women, and asked, "Daughter, what do you seek?"  As they enter, each girl responds, "I seek a blessing."  With hugs, smiles, and more than a few tears, the women present offer a blessing for each girl, affirming what we have seen in them, and what we hope for them in the future. 

Indeed, I would guess that most of us here this morning come to church "seeking a blessing."  But what does that mean?

When we use the word "blessing," we associate it with the good things which we have been given and for which we're thankful.  We sometimes refer to a prayer before a meal as "the blessing," when we thank God for the food we will soon be eating.  We tell our children or grandchildren to "count your blessings" suggesting that they should pay more attention to what they do have, than to what they don't.  Those of us comfortable with "churchy" language might even say, "He's such a blessing or she's such a blessing...." when referring to a person who has touched our lives in a positive way.

Ask most parents about their hopes for their children, and you'll frequently get an answer that includes, "I just want them to be happy."  Happy, being another word for blessed!  Indeed, I have heard many of you here this morning say that you are blessed - often in reference to family or health, and sometimes in relationship to material security. 

The Hebrew scriptures are full of words of blessing, "beatitudes," which announce God's favor.  In Jeremiah we heard, "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.  They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream." (Jeremiah 17:7-8)  Psalm 1 which we sang together this morning begins, "Happy (blessed) are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked....but their delight is in the law of the Lord."  The book of Psalms and Proverbs are full of beatitudes, words which illuminate the kind of person God honors.

Beatitudes are short, two-part affirmations that sum up common knowledge about the good life.  Barbara Brown Taylor, whose insights on this passage were of great help to me this week, wrote that current day beatitudes might sound something like this:  "Blessed are they who have good 401(k) plans, for their old age shall be comfortable."  "Blessed are they who floss, for they shall keep their teeth." (Home By Another Way, p. 53).

So when Jesus began with "Blessed are...." it was a form of speech familiar to his listeners.  Both Matthew and Luke record similar words, with the beatitudes found in the gospel of Matthew being more familiar - and candidly, much more comfortable for us to hear.  This morning's reading from Luke's gospel confronts us with direct and challenging language.  In Matthew, there are nine beatitudes. Luke records only four, and he combines them with four parallel "woes," which read more harshly still.

These are not easy words, my friends!  The "woes" are akin to the "curses" that we also heard from Jeremiah, "Thus says the Lord: cursed are those who trust in mere mortals, and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes." (Jeremiah 17:5-6)

In Luke's account, Jesus has just chosen his disciples, and has been up on the mountain praying.  He comes down the mountain with them, and a great crowd has gathered on the plain.  There is a flurry of activity. People from all over have come seeking Jesus' blessing.  Many are in need of healing.  They want to get near to this person they have been hearing about.  They want a better life and they believe that Jesus can offer it to them.  Jesus takes his place in the midst of the people. 

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus words are always closely associated with his healing action.  So only after attending to their physical needs, does Jesus begin to teach them.  Jesus starts with four beatitudes.  The Greek word used for blessed is "makarios."  In Jesus' day, the word "makarios" had come to be used for the elite of society, those whose wealth put them above the people who struggled daily to sustain themselves. 

It was understood, assumed that if a person was wealthy, then they had found God's favor.  The consequence of faithfulness was a "good life."  Even today, while we don't necessarily equate wealth with faithfulness, if asked to describe "the good life" it ordinarily includes an abundance of material wealth! 

Given that understanding, the words that come out of Jesus' mouth absolutely shock those who have gathered.  Jesus begins, "Blessed are the poor.  Blessed are the hungry.  Blessed are you who weep  Blessed are you who are rejected."  And flipping over to the other side, "Woe to you who are rich, or full or laughing."  Jesus turned things on end, making things which were supposed to be good sound bad, and things which were supposed to be bad sound good.  These beatitudes do not in any way reflect the common wisdom of Jesus' day - nor ours!  They point to a world completely at odds with the ideas and values of a society that equates happiness with house, car and bank account.

Again, Barbara Brown Taylor beautifully highlights how shocking these words would have been to those earliest listeners.  She writes, "Perhaps if I said, ‘Blessed are you who suffer from cancer, for you shall be made whole,' or ‘Blessed are you whose prayers are not answered for you shall see God face to face.'  Perhaps if I said, ‘Woe to you who drive new cars, for you shall walk on foot,' or ‘Woe to you with college degrees, for you have received your reward.'"  (Home By Another Way, p. 54).  That pushes a few buttons, doesn't it?

What are we supposed to do with these pointed words - especially given that by world standards there is not one of us here this morning that is not "rich" materially?  Feeling guilty doesn't do anyone any good.  And few of us are planning on to give away all that we own any time soon, I don't think. Do we really need to be miserable in order to be blessed?  Is there an alternative besides filing this passage away as something nice, but totally unattainable?

What's important to notice is that these beatitudes are not given by Jesus as advice on how to live.    He doesn't say, "Be poor.  Be hungry.  Be sorrowful."  No.  Jesus is not glamorizing the pain of those who have lived with the reality of poverty. The point is not that we must obey a rule that says, "thou shalt be poor and persecuted."  Rather, Jesus is simply making a statement about how God sees things.  In the kingdom of God, in the new world which Jesus is inaugurating, things will not be as they have always been.  Those who have been stuck on the bottom of the heap will have their turn on the top.  And vice versa.   God's light is showing us a different way to see things.  Jesus is promising that he is not interested in keeping things the same.

In reading various commentaries and sermons on this passage this week, it's clear that these apparently simple words have caused more than a little discomfort among Christ's followers.  Perhaps some of us do need to hear them as a word of judgment.  Perhaps others need to hear the reassurance that their tears will not be with them forever.

Yet for all of us, and for all of our readings this morning, the question is this:  Where do we put our trust?  In ourselves and our own ability to create wealth and happiness?  Or in God?    I don't think Jesus is saying that it is bad to be rich or have enough food, enjoy a good laugh or the approval of others. (Indeed we probably take ourselves too seriously much of the time). 

But when we have all of those things, it is tempting to believe that those are what matter the most.  Jesus doesn't mince words - here or elsewhere.  Having wealth can be a significant impediment to following Christ.  Here's why.  It is too easy to place it at the top of the list of goals and priorities.  When all is going well on the surface it is simply too easy to think that we earned it, we deserve it, and we don't really need God or anyone else.  We are deceived into believing that we are self-sufficient.  We hear the words of Jeremiah echoing in our ears:  "Cursed are those whose trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord." (Jeremiah 17:5) 

Alternatively, when we acknowledge our emptiness, then we admit we can't make it on our own, that our only hope is in God.  William Willimon says he has a Jewish friend who comments, "Jews have two major beliefs:  1)  There is a God. and 2)  You are not it." (Sinning Like a Christian:  A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins, p. 42).  We are being asked to give up our agenda and trust Gods - even, and especially when it stands in such stark contrast to what we've always known. Biblically, to be blessed or happy is to entrust your life to God, to live with God's values in the forefront, and to depend on God as the only adequate resource for facing life's challenges.

An amazing thing occurs when God's agenda takes front seat, instead of our own.  We begin to understand why Jesus put himself on a level playing field with the crowds who came to see him.  Admitting our own vulnerability and frailty, we can also see the vulnerability and needs of others without judgment.  We begin to see the needs of others as our own needs.  We become willing to make their issues our issues and to live on the same level ground as they do - all in the presence, and with the blessing of Christ.  Blessedness, as Jesus tells it, is not about "the good life."  It's about a life that is good. (Susan Andrews, Holy Happiness, goodpreacher.com 2007)

Indeed, God's people are blessed for one reason - to be a blessing to others.   Think about someone who has been a blessing in your life.  May each of us live in such a way that God's blessings flow through us!