Epiphany 6

Have you ever walked into a convenience store and found an unexpectedly long line? Chances are good those people aren’t lined up because there’s been a sudden run on overcooked hot dogs. No, they’re interested in buying something far less tangible: a sequence of numbers embedded in a distant and very secure computer. When they finally reach the head of the line, they’ll hand over a dollar or two — or possibly a good deal more — for a slip of paper with some numbers on it. They’re buying lottery tickets, of course.

Dollar for dollar, lottery tickets are one of the worst investments you could possibly make. Lotteries are not about reality, but fantasy: the pipe dream of instant, undeserved wealth. Currently, 45 states operate lotteries. And each one is counting on a large number of residents sharing that fantasy.

Haven’t you felt it? Whether or not you’ve ever lined up to purchase a ticket yourself, haven’t you ever daydreamed about what it would be like to win over $100 million? How different life would be! Oh, the things you’d buy, the places you’d go!

Most of us consider wealth to be a blessing. But Jesus doesn’t see it that way in today’s Gospel: “Blessed are you who are poor,” he teaches the crowd, “for yours is the kingdom of God.” Then, a little later, he has these choice words for the wealthy: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”

This is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. It’s strikingly different from Matthew’s version. To begin with, it takes place in a different location. In Matthew, it’s the Sermon on the Mount, and in Luke, it’s the Sermon on the Plain. But the biggest difference for Luke, compared to Matthew, is that Luke includes statements of woe. Not only is Jesus blessing certain people; in Luke’s version, he also curses others. Jesus blesses the poor, the hungry and those who weep. And he preaches woe to the rich, the satisfied and even those who laugh.

It’s no wonder most folks prefer Matthew’s version! Luke’s version raises troubling questions: Is it wrong to be rich? Is it a sin to be successful? And what does Jesus have against laughter, anyway?

A cynic may criticize Jesus for playing to the crowd. If this is a gathering of common folk — of the poor and nearly poor — then what better way to curry favor than to blast the rich? But Jesus is doing more, though, than simply telling the mob what they want to hear. He’s imparting a great spiritual truth. It has to do with the nature of blessings.

In times of trouble, a well-meaning friend may counsel us: “Just count your blessings. Look on the bright side!”

It’s like the final scene in the Monty Python movie, Life of Brian. As Brian hangs on a cross, the guy hanging next to him starts to sing:

Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse

When you’re chewing on life’s gristle, don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
And always look on the bright side of life

The world is always eager to count blessings. How blessed are they, with the fine house, the classy car, and high-tech gadgets to play with. And what a good-looking bunch their family is!

Counting blessings is really what lottery players are doing — only they’re counting their blessings before they hatch!

The world has its own set of beatitudes, in contrast to Jesus’ list: Blessed are those who have a big house in town and a condo on the beach. Blessed are those with children in Ivy League schools. Blessed are those who move and shake even the movers and shakers. Blessed are those who know what they want — and take it!

As Luke tells it, Jesus has no time for any of this. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus turns the world’s values upside-down.

When Luke reports Jesus saying, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” it’s a very unusual Greek word he uses for “consolation.” It’s a business term that means, literally, “having received what is due.” It’s the rubber stamp impression at the bottom of an invoice: “Paid in full.”

The self-satisfied high rollers, in other words, have been paid in full. They’ve been given much in this life, but they won’t receive a penny more.

There’s an old parable from the Jewish tradition describing a wealthy farmer who was visited by the prophet Elijah. (In Judaism, Elijah is something like the Holy Spirit; he can drop in and visit at any time — which is why, at the seder meal, a seat is always left empty for him.) On this visit, Elijah is accompanied by a young rabbi, who wants to observe how the prophet metes out divine justice.

The two arrive at the farm disguised as poor and weary travelers. The farmer banishes them to the barn, with only bread and water for supper. He has no time for visitors, he gruffly explains. He has to dig a well the next day.

After a cold and sleepless night, Elijah arises before dawn. He goes out from the barn and digs the farmer’s well.

“Why did you do that?” his young protégé asks him later. “Our host is cruel and heartless. He neglects the sacred laws of hospitality. But you’ve blessed him by digging his well!”

“Yes, it’s true that I’ve dug his well,” Elijah admits. “And the place where I have dug it will yield sweet water for many generations. What you don’t know is that this farmer was planning to dig the well in another place: a few feet below the ground in that location lies a secret treasure. Because I’ve dug his well, rather than he, that treasure will go undiscovered for a hundred years, long after our host has gone to his grave. What seems like a blessing is not always a blessing!”

The farmer has received his consolation. The debt owed him has been paid in full, and then some. But now that it’s been paid, that’s all there is. Beyond his present wealth, there’s no promise of future blessing.

Oscar Wilde once quipped: “In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants; the other is getting it.”

The wonder of God’s power to bless is that it happens regardless of our circumstances. It was Helen Keller — the blind and deaf mute who triumphed over her disabilities — who wisely pointed out, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” God’s way of blessing us, sometimes, is not to remove the cause of our complaint, but to give us power to prevail over it. It’s like what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “It is the wounded oyster that mends its shell with pearl.”

Who’s to say what’s a blessing and what’s a curse in the great scheme of things? From our human perspective, what looks like the greatest of calamities may, in a God’s-eye view, really be our salvation.

There’s an old story about a man who had a hard life. When he was 7 years old, his family was evicted from their home. When he was 9, his mother suddenly died. At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk.

He’d always wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn’t good enough. He went into business instead, and at age 23 became a partner in a small store. Three years later, his partner died, leaving a huge debt that took him years to repay. At 28, he asked the woman he’d been courting for years to marry him. She said no.

For a moment, his luck seemed to change. At 37, he was elected to Congress on his first try! But then, two years later, he was voted out. At 41, his 4-year-old son died. At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost. At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate. At 49, he ran for the Senate again and lost. Then, at age 51, he was elected president of the United States.

His name was Abraham Lincoln. Some people get all the breaks, don’t you think?

            It really doesn’t do us much good to count our blessings. Nor does it help to count our misfortunes, either. The Bible, in Romans 8:28, promises that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” Somehow, we’ve got to learn to trust that word, as hard as it may be to do at times.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor … the hungry … and those who weep,” he’s bearing witness to the truth that God is in charge of creation, and that God isn’t finished with us yet. God will inevitably bless us if we have faith. God may bless us some day with what we most desire. Or, perhaps more likely, God may bless us through what we desire but don’t receive.

It’s not counting our blessings that’s important. It’s the blessing itself that counts: God’s blessing that travels with us through wealth and poverty, health and sickness, laughter and tears.

Thanks be to God, for knowing us better than we know ourselves, and for blessing us in every circumstance.