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.