I

often do my studying and sermon writing at a local Starbucks, and

every once in a while I take a moment to watch people. In a coffee

shop like this, one often sees hip-looking people buying expensive

drinks and pastries from Millennial baristas. But sometimes something

happens that sort of flips the script a bit. A homeless man walked in

today and asked for some water. Everyone looked uncomfortable. He got

his water, meandered around for a bit, and left. Then everything went

back to “normal.”

In

his teaching to the crowds, Jesus often flipped the script, saying

and doing things that were not expected. “Blessed are the poor in

spirit”? “Blessed are those who mourn”? “Blessed are those

who are persecuted . . .”? This makes no sense to

our “normal” way of thinking, and most of it makes us

uncomfortable.

But

faith isn’t formed in comfort. It is formed when challenged and

when we aren’t allowed to sit smugly in our preconceived notions

about people and the world around us. Faith is formed when Jesus

looks at a crowd of people and points out that the ones who are

blessed are those who ­realize they are not self-sufficient but

depend totally on God. When we wake up to that realization, we are

blessed as well.

Though

we don’t deserve it, God’s blessing is available to all of us.

Blessed are you, dear reader, when you know you depend on God,

because his love will see you through.