Looking Forward to January 25, 2015 -- Beatitudes and Woes

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Matthew 5:1-12
• Luke 6:20-26

The Sermon title is Blessed or Cursed??

Early Thoughts:  Blessed or cursed.  Which are we?

I am sitting here on Martin Luther King Day and have just finished scrolling through Twitter posts under the hashtag #MLKalsoSaid.  You can read them here.

And then I go back to the Gospel passages.  And are we the hungry  or the poor or those who weep or the persecuted?  Or are we in the other categories....

Whenever I read Matthew's version of the Beatitudes I, to a degree, hear Luke in my head.  Partly because I prefer Luke's version (well actually I prefer Luke's Gospel as a whole as it is my "favourite" of the four) as I find it strikes closer to the bone.  I suspect it says more of what we need to hear as we strive to be followers of the Way.  Does Luke make clear what Matthew only hints at?  If some are blessed than others are not so blessed.

Dr. King reminded (and continues to remind) us that to live into the Kingdom of God means acknowledging that the world is not currently a just place.  And in order for it to become a just place we need more than minor changes.  Luke's blessings and woes reminds us that there are winners and losers in those changes.

So which are we?  Which should we be?

Or maybe the real question is WHEN are we blessed and WHEN should we understand that we are on the wrong side of the equation?  Because then we can consciously choose to work towards the Kingdom.

Dr. King said that the moral arc of the universe is long but is bends inexorably towards justice.  HOw will we ride that arc?
--Gord