Scripture: Luke 6:20-21
Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said: “Happy are you who are poor, because God’s kingdom is yours. Happy are you who hunger now, because you will be satisfied. Happy are you who weep now, because you will laugh…”
Thought for the Day: How many people have heard these words and thought to themselves, “Nonsense!” Or maybe said out loud, “Rubbish!” How can someone claim that happiness will be in the future for someone who is poor, hungry or grieving? Other translations say, “Blessed are…” That might sound a little more spiritual, but again, what’s the guarantee? Throughout history, there have been plenty of faithful people who spent their entire lives in poverty or hungry, and never could imagine what it would be like to be happy or blessed. And there are plenty of wealthy and full people, who might have appeared to be happy and blessed, but were in fact miserable. I don’t believe Jesus was giving false hope or suggesting escapism. In fact, he is stating that people are happy/blessed, not in some future reality, but now. I wonder if Jesus is pointing toward the power of hope, not as some dreamy wishful thinking, but a power that impacts how we view both the future and the present. After a surgery and you’re feeling miserable, the doctor says that you’ll be feeling so much better in 4-6 weeks. In the moment, you sure don’t feel it, but the promise of what is to come changes how you perceive the present and even inspires your physical therapy in the present…even when it is painful. And if enough people have hope in God’s future, a hope that has implications for the present, then don’t you imagine the future will begin to be present in the present. Maybe it will!
Prayer: Give me hope, Lord Jesus! Give me a hope that is more than some unrealistic wish. Connect me to your vision through a faith that begins to see what shall be as something that is already beginning to emerge within me. Amen.
