I don’t think I’ve ever finished a fortune cookie.
Normally, I crack it open, pull out the little paper, eat half, and leave the rest on the plate. I’m there for the fortune, not the cookie. Lately, though, even the fortunes have been disappointing. After three plates of shrimp fried rice, I don’t need a tiny piece of paper telling me to exercise more.
Sometimes, I think we want Jesus’ words to work like that little slip of paper. Something pleasant to read before we get on with our day.
So, when Jesus says, “Blessed are you,” in Luke 6, we like that. But let's remember that he’s looking at people who are poor, hungry, grieving, and pushed aside. People who have heard plenty of reasons they aren't blessed. Jesus looks them in the eye and says they are.
Imagine hearing that when the world has been telling you otherwise.
But Jesus doesn't stop with the encouraging stuff.
He then says, “Woe.” Woe to the rich. Woe to those who are full now. That’s the part I want to just leave on the plate because what if he means me?
Have I gotten so used to having enough that I can’t see someone who doesn’t? Have I called something “just the way it is” because changing it might cost me something?
Jesus’ blessing tells people who have been pushed aside that God has not forgotten them. And his woe calls the rest of us to pay attention.
Maybe you need to hear Jesus say, You are blessed. That you don’t have to prove your worth to God.
Or maybe, like me, you need to sit with the woes for a while.
This isn’t a fortune tucked inside a cookie. It’s Jesus telling us what God’s world should look like, and inviting us to live in it.
Stay blessed...john
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