Luke 6:17-26 (NRSV)
Read Luke 6:17-26 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Verse 18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. Verse 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Verse 20Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Verse 21"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Verse 22"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Verse 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. Verse 24"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Verse 25"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. Verse 26"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Devotion
The faithful love Jesus preached and taught is communicated in the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump.” Tom Hanks, who plays the title character, makes his way through life offering a naļve and generous love to others. Gump’s simple devotion to the people with whom he comes in contact serves as a mirror to the audience and other characters in the movie. Through Gump’s unflinching love of others, we see reversals. The hopeless receive hope; the powerful are humbled; the prodigal friend returns home. Gump, in turn, experiences a deepening of love and faithfulness.
To be blessed is to know our need and the need of the world around us and to know that God really cares about those needs. To be blessed is to trust God and do the works of God, the works of loving and caring and healing and sharing and forgiving.
Prayer
Give us, O Lord, a new awareness of our calling. Strengthen us to serve you faithfully, whatever our circumstances. Amen