When I was 17, I was given the opportunity to go on a Rotary exchange. I really wanted to go to France. Instead, I was sent to Mexico to a little town called Piedras Negras that borders Eagle Pas, Texas. It was an eye-opening experience. Life is very different in that little town in Mexico. Wealth and poverty are experienced differently. The latter can be quite visible. I learned that not all children could afford to go to school. Some would show up during the day to sell gum, hoping for a bit of change so they could eat.
I also heard stories of families who would buy a kilo of tortillas and split that with an egg or two between the entire family as their food for the day. I had friends who would invite me to their homes and generously share their sparse resources saying with true genuineness: “Mi casa es su casa”, my house is your house.
In my photo album from that time, I have a page which says: “La mas bonito parte de Mexico es La Gente”, the most beautiful part of Mexico is the people. The people were the true blessing of that experience. I doubt I would be the person I am today without that opportunity.
Then (Jesus) looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Recognising the extent to which people are a blessing means that the words of the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew are frequently used as we celebrate life. Jesus proclaims blessings to many in this passage because God’s love is good. We value that message. We feel blessed in the reminders of being blessed.
Notice, however, we didn’t read Matthew’s version today. We read Luke’s version. In Luke, Jesus doesn’t stop with feel good blessings. In Luke, Jesus goes one step further and reminds us that distractions, distortions, and disruptions can lead to woes.
‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
Proclaiming woes turns the blessings upside down reminding people that we stop being a blessing when we focus too heavily on ourselves. For example, when we become overly obsessed with the idea that resources are scare and we need to hold onto what we have, we move away from the ideals of caring and sharing associated with the genuineness of ‘mi casa es su casa’, my house is your house.
We see this happen in debates about minimum wage – where people argue that raising the wages of the lowest paid workers will raise the cost of goods for everyone else making it harder for people to afford basic necessities. Funny, we don’t make the same argument when the CEO’s get massive raises and bonuses to the point where they are earning sometimes 1000 times more than the lowest paid workers. The world has enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed. To horde goods and wealth is to no longer be a blessing. Woe to you who are rich. Woe to you who are full.
In Luke, Jesus reminds us there are two sides to the coin. We can choose on which side we want to land. To the extent that we choose to focus on ourselves and neglect the needs of our neighbours and the world, woe is us. To the extent that we open our hearts to the needs and gifts of others, to the extent that we can truly embody the spirit of mi casa es su casa, my house is your house, we are blessed and a blessing. Knowing that God’s grace and goodness is continually more than we could ask or imagine, may we continually choose blessings. Amen.