Jesu Juva

“Blessed Are You”

Text: Luke 6:17-26; Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-20

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

You heard it over and over again today. In the Introit, in the Old Testament reading, in the Holy Gospel. You would have heard it in the Psalm appointed for today if we had sung that - which you will, actually, sing a hymnic version during communion in a bit. You heard blessed is the man . . . You heard what it means to be blessed. You heard where such blessedness is to be found. Which is a very important thing to know. And even more than know - to believe.

Because I’m not sure we do . . . For do we really believe what Jesus said today, that blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the hated and excluded and reviled? And woe to those who are rich and full and laughing now, and when people speak well of you? Or do we not think Jesus really got it backwards? He was not really having His best day when He said those things . . .

Do we really believe as we sung in the Introit today, that blessed are those who walk in the law, or Word, of the Lord and keep His testimonies? Or as Jeremiah said, that Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord? I mean, we do . . . we say we do . . . we want to . . . we’re Bible-believing Christians, after all! And yet at the same time, do we demonstrate and live something else? That this really doesn’t work? Not in real life. Been there, tried that. Or, it works in this part of my life, but not this part. Yes, in church, but not in the world. Not if you want to get ahead. And so we wind up living a kind of dual life. The religious part of me, and the secular part of me. That’s hard to do. To live one way here and another way there. And it’s usually the religious part of me that suffers when I try.

But it’s not just us. It’s the same old story. Think of all the stories you know of people in the Bible and how they, too, struggled with this. The great Abraham believed God . . . and yet went down to Egypt and lied about Sarah being his wife. Job struggled mightily with what happened to him. David, the great king of Israel, writer of psalms . . . became an adulterer and murderer. James and John, apostles, two of Jesus’ inner circle . . . wanted for themselves the seats of glory next to Jesus. Remember what that one desperate father cried to Jesus one day: Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24) Sounds about right.

Luther thought about this a bit. What it means to be blessed. What and how we think about being blessed. And he realized that how we answer that question depends a lot on our stage in life. When you’re in school, when you’re a young adult, when you’re middle aged, and when you get to retirement, and beyond, you have different thoughts about what it means to be blessed. And how you answer that depends on where you live in the world, and at what time in world history. An orphan in Nigeria, a widow in Russia, and a suburbanite outside Washington, DC are all going to have different thoughts about what it means to be blessed. And then there is also living in peacetime or wartime, bull market or bear market, sickness or health . . .

Yet through it all . . . Jesus. He is the common thread through it all. Through all of history, through all ages, through all parts of life, and throughout all the world. And the bottom line is this: with Him, you are blessed; and woe to you if you are without Him. With Him you are blessed, even if it doesn’t seem or feel like it. And without Him, even if everything seems and feels good and successful, woe to you.

We see this in the Holy Gospel today. People from all over, people who no one would consider blessed, came out to Jesus. People who were confused. People who were diseased. People who were troubled with unclean spirits. And Jesus taught them and healed them and cured them. And after He had done all that is when He then said, blessed are all these people. Because these things - these unblessings, if we could call them that - drove them to Jesus. Because they had no place else to turn, they went to the source of every blessing and were not disappointed.

And so it is with us. Woe to us when everything in our lives is going well, for how easy is it to forget about Jesus. Oh, maybe not all the way. We still might go to church on Sunday. But during the week? Forgetting to pray, neglecting His Word, Walking in step with the ways of the world. And instead of blessing us, those things put us in danger.

But when your life is not going so well, things are falling apart, friends are betraying you, everyday is a struggle . . . like the people in the Gospel today, we are driven to the only place we have to go, to the only One we can turn to - to Jesus. And then from woe comes blessing. For then - whether things improve or not - our lives are on a more firm foundation. We are focused on more than just the here and now, but what is truly important and what truly lasts - Jesus, His Word, and His life.

I saw our fellow Athanasian and the patriarch of our congregation Roy this week, just a couple of days before he died. He was very weak. I had to talk loudly because he had trouble hearing me. He had had trouble swallowing for some time, and so couldn’t eat what he really liked. I don’t think he could really walk anymore - or if he could, not very far. He had oxygen on for his breathing. Everything was being taken away from him, except for one thing: Jesus. Roy’s firm foundation, no matter what life threw at him. So we read Scripture, we prayed, and we received the Body and Blood of the Lord. And then, a couple of days later, Roy received the blessing of all blessings: he was called home to his eternal rest. To continue living the life given him in his Baptism, just now in a new place and time and way.

Now, you could say, Roy was old so of course it was a blessing. But even those 67 who perished a couple of weeks ago near Reagan National, some of whom were very young . . . I don’t know anything about them, but I can say this, those in Jesus, they were blessed. Even when helicopter and plane collided in a deadly fireball. Blessed with a life that cannot end, even with a life that could end at any moment.

That’s the sure and certain hope Paul was talking about to the Corinthians, as we heard today. A resurrected Christ who is with us always. Not just in the good times, for what kind of God is that? But a Jesus who is with is on the battlefield against satan, who is with us here in life, who is with us in death with His death on the cross and His time in the grave, and then rose victorious over it all - not for Himself but for you! That’s a Jesus worth having. Blessed is that man. Blessed are you.

And if that’s true, which it is, and which I know you believe because that’s why you’re here! Then why not live that blessedness all through your life? Not just now and then or here and there, but in all times and in all places? Wouldn’t that be better? Oh, it’ll be a struggle, no doubt about that. And you’ll have to keep coming back for forgiveness, and falling to your knees in prayer, and opening that mouth that lied and spoke harshly to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. But think of it this way: just as the living Jesus died for your sin and laid in your grave and then came out alive and victorious, so too does He enter your sinful mouths and dying bodies to come out of you alive and victorious. Your sin and your grave didn’t overcome Him - He overcame them! And He is doing the same even now in you. Overcoming your sin and death with his forgiveness and life. Overcoming your sinful life with His Spirit and love. That you live a blessed life.

And that looks like not only going to Jesus in all of your needs, but also going to others in all of their needs. Or, maybe to put it like Jesus did . . .

Blessed are you when you forgive, but woe to those who hold a grudge.

Blessed are you when you serve, but woe to those who demand to be served.

Blessed are you when you love, but woe to those who belittle and neglect.

Blessed are you when you give, but woe to those who only take.

Blessed are you whose riches are in heaven, but woe to those whose riches are only here.

Blessed are you who bear the cross, but woe to those who look to place their cross upon others.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Blessed are you when you live in Jesus and Jesus lives in you.

And in that list of blessings and woes I just spoke, if you heard yourself in that, and maybe heard yourself a little too much on the woe side and a little too little on the blessed side . . . first of all, good! Be driven to Jesus in repentance and faith. Go to Him for the forgiveness and life you need. And then second, come and receive His healing, restoring touch here in His Supper. For the Body and Blood that touches you here and enters into you here is the very same that touched all those that day who were healed of their diseases and cured of their unclean spirits. To those of whom Jesus could then say: Blessed are you . . .

And so blessed are you, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Blessed indeed! At all times and in all places. Because of Jesus. To look at life different. To live different. For you are different. Blessed are you. Not because you feel it, but because Jesus has done it. So rejoice . . . and leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.