Luke 6:17-26 The Beatitudes

Beati sunt. (bēatē sunt: sunt NOT soont) The first two words from the Latin Vulgate Bible for this pericope. Beati sunt. Blessed are. The beatitudes appear in both the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 as the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and here in the Gospel of Luke following a mob of people who came to Jesus to be cured and healed.

As usual, there are some differences between the two occurrences. Matthew is much more reader-friendly and uplifting. He gives nothing but blessings to people. Blessed is everyone! Blessed is you, blessed is me, blessed are all the creatures of the earth as creations of God. So positive and encouraging is Matthew. Many people enjoy this type of preaching. I am not one of them. I like a little more hellfire and brimstone.

Matthew is very spiritual person and likes to talk about Jesus Christ in terms of salvation of the soul and the next life. Starting out with blessed are the poor in spirit rather than Luke who talks about literal poverty. Luke is very matter-of-fact, practical, logical and more focused on this life than the next. Matthew says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Luke talks about lacking food. Philosophy versus science. Matthew continues on with more blessings and Luke jumps into “Woe to you!” Which one is right?

Both are of course.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

I just had a colonoscopy done this week so I have been reminded of what hunger feels like. I had to go a 36 hours without eating on top of the fun dehydrating and exhausting prep for the procedure. Which is how I know from my own personal experience Matthew and Luke are BOTH right. Whether you are literally hungry or hungering and thirsting for righteousness, both of these things will bring you closer to God.

Short side-note Luke is very adamant that this is STARVATION. Starvation is a problem, hungering is not. I went 36 hours without food. I did not starve. I was hungry yes, starving is a problem. Starving people can focus on nothing else but avoiding starving to death, it is not a religious experience that draws you closer to God, that is a shortfall of humanity for having so many food deserts and poor distribution of resources in the world. Hungering once in awhile is a good experience for human beings. Starving kills your metabolism while going hungry once in awhile can actually boost it. Fasting is hungering not starving. Hungering for a time can help clear your mind which might be why every major religion in the world practices fasting. Not starving. Don’t confuse the two.

Have you ever hungered for God?

I love those periods in my life where I can’t get enough Bible study, I find myself praying incessantly, where I just have this Spring in my step and joy in my heart, I can write sermons all day long. It’s great! Hungering for God is one of the most incredible feelings in the world. You have this spiritual energy that just emanates in every direction. You feel like nothing can go wrong and if it does you don’t even care. Hungering for God is awesome!

Our ancestors firmly believed that by creating a sense of physical hunger you could also induce spiritual hunger. Deliberate fasting can serve as a reminder to you that you mind has the capability to overpower your body. Weird how we forget that isn’t it?

It’s so strange how we can forget that the very thing that sets us apart from animals, our ability to control natural urgers with our minds, is something we can forget. Alright, let’s be honest here, maybe it’s not so much forgetting as sometimes we just don’t want to take responsibility for it.

You know what I wanted to eat after my procedure? It was not a salad with a side of celery. Cake! Oh, and Bonnie Bells had this Butter Pecan cake that was absolutely amazing. Sure, I could have taken this period of fasting and embraced it and used it to jump start a weight-loss program to shed a few pounds but nope. I ate cake. It was delicious and… made me feel sluggish. We don’t always want to take responsibility for the ability to control our natural bodily urges with our minds.

All too often we focus our attention on hungering for food instead of hungering for God. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Amidst all the things in this world we actually do have control over compared to all the things in this world we don’t have control over, we still manage to occasionally choose poorly the things we can control.

Most of us are well aware that when we are spiritually sated. When we have everything we want. When our bellies are full and most of our clothes no longer fit but we can afford to buy new clothes so it doesn’t matter, we don’t think a lot about God and how God wants us to be healthy both spiritually and physically.

When we’re not worried about how we’re going to pay our utility bills, our phone bills, our car payment, and we can afford to go on a vacation, we don’t think as often about God and how God wants us to help others as we are able or how blessed we are to be able to do those things. When we are physically and financially sated, we stop hungering for God too. Woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort!

But, when we’re struggling and we’re not quite sure how we’re going to keep the lights on, you can bet we stop and pray before we send that check out in the mail, don’t we? You can bet we are praying when we get a shut-off notice. We pray hard when we’re trying to figure out how we can afford our child or our grandchild’s uniform so they can play some kind of sport in school.

We’re on our knees when we haven’t a clue how we’re going to make that mortgage payment. Our hands are clasped tightly together before bed each night when we’re surviving off ramen noodles and peanut butter. When we are hungry, we most certainly are hungering for our God to rescue us.

We’re keeping in constant conversation every time we take that car out that we can’t afford new tires or brakes for and the snow starts to fall.

But what are we doing we have everything need and we’re not really worried if an unexpected bill pops up because we’ve got a little in our savings? Are we still hungering for God? Not as much.

So when Matthew talks about hungering and thirsting for righteousness and Luke talks about not having our belly filled with delicious food the two are directly linked together aren’t they?

You don’t beg God “Please get me through this day!” when you have no worries or woes. But shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we each and every day be saying “Please God, get me through this!” I’m hungering for you even though I know you’re here with me each and every moment of each and every day. You aren’t like that delicious Butter Pecan cake that is going to give me a tummy ache and eventually I’d stop eating it and wanting you. You are the living water that makes me never thirst. Yet you are also the bread of life that I cannot get enough of and will always want more. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Beati sunt.

Rejoice this day all you who are poor, hungry, weeping, hated. Leap for great joy. Your reward is coming. It may already be here.

Blessed are you who hunger for God everyday whether your needs are met or not. For you will inherit the kingdom of heaven and understand how blessed you are.