Are you blessed? One of my favorite parts of every worship service is when I raise my hands at the end of the service to bless you. For over 3000 years God’s spokesman have been blessing God’s people with the very words that I bless you. In Deuteronomy 6:23-26 God instructed Aaron, the brother of Moses and the first priest over God’s people “23… This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 ‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Did you know that these words from Deuteronomy, that we know as the Aaronic Blessing, are the oldest surviving biblical text? They were found in a burial cave engraved on two silver scrolls from 700 B.C. Apart from absolving you all your sins in the name of Jesus, and this part here where I get to spend some time with you meditating on God’s Word, proclaiming to you this 3,000-year-old blessings is probably my favorite part of the service.
The reason I like it so much is because the blessing I say to you is different than the sort of blessing you might receive from other people. Like say when you sneeze. These days a sneeze is often associated with the spreading of the dreaded corona virus, so when a person says, “bless you”, after you sneeze what they really mean is, “get away from me!”. Likewise, the blessing I say to you is different than the way a southerner blesses you. Have you ever noticed when a southerner blesses someone it somehow seems insulting? When a southerner blesses someone, the blessing is usually preceded by some sort of disparaging comment like, “That boy is as dumb as a box of rocks… bless his heart”. Or “That poor girl got whooped with an ugly stick… bless her heart”. If you ever get blessed by a southerner it is at best it is an expression of pity, at worst it is a flat-out insult. But the blessing I say to you is different. The blessing I say to you comes from God. As God instructed Aaron the high priest of Israel so He has instructed Harmon the parish pastor of Messiah “… put my name on [them] the Israelites, and I will bless them.”[1]
But what does it mean to be blessed by God? I suppose it depends on who you ask and how they define blessings. If you asked your neighbors, they might look at the house you live in, the clothes you wear, and the car you drive and say that you are blessed. If you ask your friends, they might look at the trips you take, the experiences you have, and the adventures you go on and say that you are blessed. If you ask your family, they might look at how healthy you are, how happy you are, how successful you are and say that you are blessed. When it comes to understanding what it means to be blessed by God, it depends on who you ask and how they define blessings. Today, I thought we might ask Jesus.
In Luke 6:17-26 we find Jesus talking to his disciples about four conditions that determine whether or not a person is blessed. But, for us to understand these conditions it is good for us to compare what Jesus says here in Luke 6 with what Jesus says in Matthew 5. In Matthew 5 Jesus is speaking about the same blessings He is speaking about here in Luke 6. In Matthew 5 Jesus makes it clear He is speaking about spiritual things. He speaks of being “poor in spirit” and a “hunger for righteousness”. Therefore, it is best if we understand the four conditions Jesus speaks of here in Luke 6 as spiritual conditions.
In verses 20 and 24 Jesus talks about the first spiritual condition He looks for in a blessed person. In verse 20 Jesus says, “20… Blessed are you who are poor”. And then down in verse 24 Jesus says, “24 But woe to you who are rich”. Before Jesus considers someone blessed, He examines their worth. The kind of worth Jesus is interested in is the same worth the Pharisee and Tax Collector once found within themselves.
There are those who think they have more value than others as though they somehow inherited a lesser amount of sin from their parents or committed fewer transgressions than their brothers and sisters. There are those who think to themselves, “I’m not that bad. I haven’t killed anybody, I haven’t defiled a marriage bed, and I haven’t robbed a bank. I may not be perfect but surely, I am better than most.” There are those who stand at the front of the church and pray, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men”[2]; I thank you that I am not like all those dirty sinners out there. If you find yourself standing beside people who value themselves higher than others, it should concern you that Jesus says to such people, “24 woe to you who are rich”.
However, by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit there are those who do not value themselves so highly. There are those who look into the mirror of God’s Holy Law and see someone who has nothing of value; nothing of worth to offer a righteous God. There are those who see themselves as poor miserable sinners whose daily transgressions continually compound a damnable debt. There are those who fall to their knees, beat their breast, and beg, “God have mercy on me a sinner”[3]. If you find yourself kneeling in spiritual poverty beside those who beg for God’s mercy, you will be relieved to hear Jesus say, “20… Blessed are you who are poor”.
In verses 21 and 25 Jesus speaks about the second spiritual condition He looks for in a blessed person. In verse 21 Jesus says, “21 Blessed are you who hunger” and then in verse 25 Jesus says, “25 Woe to you who are well fed”. Before Jesus considers someone blessed, He examines their appetite.
After feeding 5,000 people with five small loaves of barley and two small fish, Jesus called Himself the “bread of life”[4]. Jesus offered to give a Samaritan woman He met by a well, “living water”[5]. With that in mind, I ask you, “what are you hungry for”? Do you crave the Word of God? Do you salivate over the sacraments? Or have you lost your appetite for such things? Have you convinced yourself that an hour a week is just about all the Jesus you can stomach, and you think of bible study with your fellow believers or opening your bible during the week as an overindulgence? Do you find yourself so bloated with the things of this world that you don’t need to come to His Supper? To those who find themselves lacking an appetite for spiritual things, Jesus says, “25 Woe to you who are well fed”.
If, however, you are not satisfied with what you know about God, if you find yourself wanting to know more about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for you, if you like King David rejoice when they say let us go to the house of the Lord, if you long to gather with your fellow believers before the Lord’s table where forgiveness is served to you on a silver platter, if you find that God’s word is similar to Chinese food, in that hours after you eat it you are starving for more, than Jesus says to you, “21 Blessed are you who hunger”
In the second half of verses 21 and 25 Jesus speaks about the third spiritual condition He looks for in a blessed person. In the second half of verse 21 Jesus says, “21… Blessed are you who weep” and in the second half of verse 25 He says, “25… Woe to you who laugh”. Before Jesus considers someone blessed, He examines their emotions. The kind of emotion that Jesus is looking for is like the emotion that saint Peter expressed after the rooster crowed for the last time or like the emotion king David felt when he tried to hide his adultery from the Lord.
Do you have that kind of emotion? Does your sin cause you to bitterly weep like Peter did? When you try to hide your sin from the Lord does it cause your bones to waste away like it did to David’s bones? Do you have that kind of emotion, or have you learned to laugh it off as though your sin were just some silly misunderstanding? Do you have that kind of emotion, or have you found a way to cope with your guilt at the bottom of a bottle, laying on a sandy beach, or buried beneath a calendar full of social engagements? To those who try to laugh away their sins and transgressions Jesus says, “25… Woe to you who laugh”.
However, if you do not find your sin to be a laughing matter, if it breaks your heart to see your sin manifested as the nails that pierced the hands and feet of your savior, if you see the impact your sin has on people around you; people you care about and yet have hurt, and you find your knees buckling under the weight of the pain and suffering you have caused them, than you are filled with the same emotions that once filled saint Peter and King David. If your sin causes your heart to weep, then Jesus says to you, ““21… Blessed are you who weep”
In verses 22 and 26 Jesus speaks about the fourth and final spiritual condition He looks for in a blessed person. In verse 22 Jesus says, “22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” and in verse 26 He says, “26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” Before Jesus considers someone to be blessed, He examines their reputation. Jesus wants to know how well you fit in to this post-Christian age we are living in where people no longer accept the morality or submit to the authority of the Christian God.
We talked about this in bible class the other week when we asked, “Would your co-workers or classmates be surprised to learn that you are a Christian?”. Meaning, have you done such a good job blending in that you no longer stand out? It is easy to become popular in the post-Christian age. All you have to do is keep your faith to yourself and pretend like the sinful things people do are o.k. Be accepting of their alternative lifestyle, occasionally laugh at their dirty joke, participate in a little gossip and before you know it you will be the most popular person in your office or school. To all the secret Christians out there Jesus says, “26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you”.
However, if you occasionally make people around you as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, not because you are rude or offensive, but because when they look at you, they see a reflection of Him. If you speak the truth in love to people who are embracing sin and have the strength to turn the other cheek when they insult you for doing it, If you are no fun when the conversations turns foul, if you have a frustrating habit of taking people’s words and actions in the kindest possible way, if you find that in this post-Christian age you are about as popular as a porcupine, then Jesus says to you, ““22 Blessed are you when men hate you”.
So, are you blessed? Well, do you, as a result of the holy Spirit working in your heart, look into the mirror of God’s law and see a poor sinner? Do you, after learning who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for you, hunger to grow closer to Him? Does your lack of faith and constant need for forgiveness make you weep? Do you want to share the blessings of God with others? If, by the grace of God, you are able to answer yes to these questions, then as far as Jesus is concerned, you are blessed. Jesus said to His disciples, and He says to you who recognize your own spiritual poverty that you will inherit the “20… kingdom of God”. In that kingdom your desire to grow closer to Jesus will be “21… satisfied”. As you stand beside Jesus “21… laughter” will leap from your lips because sin will no longer frustrate your efforts. And you will “23… rejoice” and “leap for joy” because you and all around you will be spending eternity living in The Christian Age. So, regardless of what kind of house you live in, trips you go on, or successful you are, as far as Jesus is concerned, you are blessed.
One of my favorite parts of every worship service is pronouncing God’s blessing upon you. After taking a closer at our Gospel lesson for today, I hope, and I pray that you have a better understanding and appreciate of what it means to be blessed. Amen.
[1] Deuteronomy 6:27
[2] Luke 18:11
[3] Luke 18:13
[4] John 6:35
[5] John 4:10