Show by the raise of hand if you would love to be poor, starving, weeping, and hated by everyone. I’m sure many would not want those. Show by the raise of hand if you would love to be rich, well fed, laughing and well-spoken of by all. Those who won’t raise their hand just want to give the impression of humility, and maybe a false one.
The Gospel message of today would have us all wrong. We appear to be on a slippery slope with these words. What could be going on in Jesus’ mind that He presents discipleship as a topsy-turvy world? In answer, we must enter into the mind of St. Luke, the Evangelist. Although the same Holy Spirit inspired all four evangelists, each person’s audience is different. While Matthew’s audience consisted of Jewish Christians who were faced with a spiritual landslide that called for new attitudes, new mindset, transformation and awakening, Luke had a different demographic. Himself a convert from paganism, Luke addressed fellow converts; his audience was poor, persecuted and marginalized. Luke’s version of the beatitude, unlike Matthew’s places Jesus, not on the mountain, but on the plain—that is, on the same level with the poor, the suffering and the persecuted. Hence, Matthew’s beatitude is called “Sermon on the Mount” while Luke’s beatitude is “Sermon on the Plain.” And while Matthew had eight or nine beatitudes, Luke gives just four.
Let’s examine these four beatitudes. The poor are those who recognize their dependence on God, not on possessions. They may be wealthy, yet poor because their stuff really means so little to them. Years ago, a former parishioner’s home was gutted by fire. When I paid a visit to commiserate with the family, the mother told me: “Father, we’re strong; we have the Lord. What got burnt were stuff.” She identifies with the beatitudes. The hungry are not just starved of a well-cooked meal; they hunger for the Lord, and His word. Those who weep are the ones who feel for others in their suffering—like the victims of the hurricanes and fires. They weep for those living in the darkness of sin and error, unbelief, addiction and immorality—those throwing away everything for so little. People will hate you, insult you and call you names for choosing Christ and the truth. Do not be afraid of them. The Lord is with you.
Turning to the woes, these are not the kind of things people want to associate with a Jesus whom they have appropriated for convenience. In fact, looking at our lives from the lens of today’s Gospel, we don’t like what we see. Everything we appear to love and crave for is on the list. However, we need not cringe, because the woe is not for those who have worked hard to earn a living for themselves, but those who neglect the poor while we piling up more than is necessary for them. No woe will befall us because we have enough to eat, but because we overeat and overindulge—with waistlines dropping to the floor while children go to bed hungry. No woe will fall on us because we are happy and laugh, but because we perhaps laugh about things we should cry about, or because we celebrate iniquity, immorality and indecency. No woe will fall on us because good and righteous people praise our virtuous life, but because those who sing our praises are the corrupt and depraved who care nothing about virtue and who refuse to make up their mind about anything true and valuable, while they boast they’re being broadminded.
We learn from Luke’s beatitude that the spiritual life does not just involve a number of platitudes that many would love to talk about but never live. Luke’s beatitudes have a level of starkness that make them just blunt, really challenging and to the point, preventing them from being overly spiritualized or explained away. You’ll have to be deaf, blind and utterly closed-minded to claim that these beatitudes haven’t spoken directly to you.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo