Wincing at the words of Jesus

“Looking at his disciples, he said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God...’”

Jesus

“It will not do to run to Matthew and emasculate Luke's words of verse 20. The point Matthew makes about ‘poor in spirit’ (Matt 5:3) is a true one, but so is the note that Luke raises.”

Darrell Bock, Luke: The NIV Application Commentary, pp. 196-97

The scene is a familiar one. As Luke tells it, Jesus has spent all night on a mountain in prayer prior to choosing those who will soon be referred to as The Twelve. As morning breaks he comes down, and selects out of what could be hundreds of followers those who will be his authoritative representatives of the Kingdom of God. But as usual, word has got out about his whereabouts and like a rock star people flock to him from all points of the compass – from highly conservative Jerusalem in the south to areas dominated by Gentiles in the far north. They are all converging on his locale primarily to get a piece of him, to touch him or be touched by him if they can. Wherever he goes, people are healed and delivered from unclean and tormenting spirits and in Jesus' day apparently there are a plethora of people in that condition. Either after he has tended to them or while he ministers he begins to articulate what the Kingdom of God is like. And the first thing he says is,

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God...” (Luke 6:20, NIV)

Something like this....

As Matthew relates this same event, however, he inserts this brief caveat - “in spirit” (see Matthew 5:3). But Luke doesn't attempt to spiritualize anything. It's those who are on the bottom rung of things who Jesus pronounces the blessing upon. Frankly, Luke's re-telling of Matthew's account is unsettling to me because I do not consider myself poor. Now, I don't think I'm rich either but in comparison to a whole lot of other people in Barron County, to say nothing of the rest of the world, I'm doing okay. I own a four bedroom house, two vehicles, a camper and a canoe. In various places around my house I seem to have two of every kind of foot ware that comes to mind - running shoes, dress shoes, sandals, boots, snowshoes, slippers, a pair of hiking shoes, as well as a couple of pairs of old running shoes that I use to work in the garden or run around town. It's fair to say my feet are adequately covered for every possible contingency. I look in my closet and even though I just culled the herd, as it were, of shirts and sweaters I no longer wear, the pole still remains full of shirts, dress pants, jeans and suits (of which I have two of those, too.) I'm guessing this description is little different than a lot of other folks in my income range. Never mind that many of my clothes have come by way of Christmas or birthday presents, I am more than adequately clothed.

I am well fed, too. Not only does my girth reveal it but I can say I eat three meals a day (except those days that I choose to fast) and often indulge in some snacking in between. We do not dine on filet mignon but we eat well enough that no one goes hungry at our home unless they choose to do so. In a world where countless children go to bed every night hungry, my children have never suffered even one lost meal save for sickness. So that is why I say I am not poor.

So, how am I to respond to Jesus' words? Am I to feel guilty because I eat well while others do not? Or feel bad because my wardrobe is more than adequate compared to others who have less than I do? But I work hard, pay my bills, am in good standing with my creditors. As long as I am meeting my obligations, why shouldn't I be allowed to take my wife out for lunch or my family out to the movies?

Conservatives like we are who attend a fellowship like Refuge think of the needs of the poor now and again. We are not a group of high-rollers by any stretch of the word. We are, for the most part, blue collar folk who live simply and more than likely prefer hot beef and mashed potatoes than sweet potato chips and anything dipped in humus. But going by the banter I sometimes pick up in the entryway of our building, the poor are that way because they're lazy and they expect the government is entitled to provide them 3-square and a nice house to boot. If they would work as hard at finding a job as they seem to work the system, they wouldn't be so poor and needy. And on it goes.

I suspect that one of our challenges is that a lot of us really don't personally know any poor people. We know they're out there, know that some of our hard-earned money goes to paying taxes so that the less fortunate may benefit but are not on a first-name basis with any of them. Add to the fact that most of us already consider ourselves “poor,” - or at least poorer than those fat cats who live on the lake – and its easier to put emotional distance between us and “them.” What’s more, it's always easier to come up with a solution of a stereotypical, faceless poor person from a distance. But get closer to the matter, put a name and a face on it and it gets more complicated. People aren’t as quick to think in terms of the Golden Rule anymore so that if our neighbor is in trouble we’re more than likely to hope there’s a government program somewhere “out there” to help them. “It's not my problem,” we say to ourselves. “Besides, I have small kids at home and it would be plain stupid to open my home to someone in need whom I hardly know.” I agree but what if it's someone you know just a little better ...? What then?

Personally, I struggle with the “social gospelers” who would rather feed a man a piece of bread instead of sharing with him where he might find the true Bread from heaven. At the same time, I’m not comfortable with just praying with a hungry man and asking for God to bless him with a good hot meal. I’m not at ease with either position. It's one of the reasons I eventually had to step away from my involvement with the Food Shelf and the Salvation Army. I saw and spoke with people all the time who needed food, who needed help with their rent or a utility bill that was past due. At the same time they also had serious life-issues that needed addressing as well. In my opinion, they were bleeding out. But once I helped them get a few bags of groceries on their table or got their landlord off their back for the time being, they thanked me and went on with their day. I felt like a doctor who knows his patient has a serious life-threatening condition but had just prescribed cold medicine. They’ll make it through another month but what about the rest of their life?

I go back to Jesus' words as Luke retells them:

“But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.”

“Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will go hungry...”

“Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”

(Luke 6:24-26, NIV)

And, honestly, I squirm. Because I'm presently “rich” (by comparison to much of the world), “well fed” (I'm overweight), “laugh” (life is good) and have, I think, “a good name” (but hopefully not because I only soft-sold the message). By the sound of it, I'm in some kind of trouble.

One artist's rendition of a Morlock

“The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus told his disciples when some of them were put out by the women of Bethany's extravagant display of affection as she essentially bathed him in hundreds of dollars worth of perfume. And it's true. They remain to this day an ever present and mostly silent majority. And while America's poor compared to, say, the poor in the Philippines is a matter of degrees, those who live in such a state are certainly people who are hungry, sad and rejected. Jesus promise to them is that a time is coming when they will be well fed, have a good laugh and enjoy rewards that are eternal. In this election year, some of the candidates vying to be the Republican candidate for President resent what they perceive as President Obama's tact at class warfare by fixing blame on “the rich” for their unwillingness to shoulder their fair share of the tax burden. Whether that is an accurate claim or not, throughout history there have always been “the haves” and “the have nots”, the “Eloi” and the “Morlocks” of H.G. Wells' Time Machine-fame. And like it or not, uncomfortable with it or not, Jesus expects me to share with those who are less fortunate than I. But it simply won’t do for me to keep my hands clean of the matter by just sending an offering to the Chetek Food Shelf trusting that my donation will go to help “a good family” in need. He commands me to love my neighbor whether he is a worthy man or not.