Listen

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.

Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and condemn your name as evil because of the Human One. Rejoice when that happens! Leap for joy because you have a great reward in heaven. Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.”

Luke 6:20-23

Think

I wonder if the disciples were taken off-guard by Jesus’s words — “Wait, did he just say that poor, hungry, and grieving people will be given God’s kingdom?” Wouldn’t the kingdom of God belong to people who have some money and food and share it? To those who have joy and can care for those who are grieving? To middle-class churches who have some funding and local respect and are able to rally the community to join in a winter clothing drive for needy kids?

The gospel of Luke is all about reversal: God brings down the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. God fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty. God’s true path is paved for those who are poor, oppressed, and overlooked. And it is important to remember that Luke wants these reversals to happen now, not just in a future heavenly realm. The poor and hungry are part of God’s kingdom — now.

Maybe the way of Jesus seems upside-down, but I’ve often thought of Jesus as turning the world right-side up.

Erin Spengeman Hutchison

Pray

God, forgive me when I think less of people begging on the street corner, people who live in housing projects, and people wailing with grief.

Remind me that your kingdom actually belongs to them.

Amen.

Go

As you go today, choose the loving path of God, remembering that God will guide you.