Blessedness and Woe

Blessedness and Woe

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…”[1]

To begin the New Year I start a new series of Life Notes titled, Blessedness and Woe. This series will reflect upon what are commonly called the Beatitudes[2], contained in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount[3], and a similar set of teachings called the Blessings and Woes[4], contained in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain[5]. Whether these are two different accounts of the same teaching is debated by scholars, but the difference in their titles is due to the preface to the Sermon on the Mount recording that Jesus “…saw the crowd…went up the mountain…(and) began to speak…”[6] The Sermon on the Plain, alternatively,gives the context of “He…stood on a level place…”[7] as he began to teach. Believing, as I do, that the biblical authors were not as concerned about historical accuracy as they were in conveying a message, I tend to think the Matthew and Luke passages were inspired by the same teaching of Jesus, and the differences in the texts are due more to how the authors received and processed the teachings. Regardless, the differences provide interesting fodder today for wrestling with what Jesus is recorded to have taught. Of course all of the books in the Bible were written for specific audiences, so the authors shaped their messages accordingly.

Both of these teachings occur relatively early in Jesus’ ministry and form the basis for much of his later teachings. Not surprisingly, these teachings of Jesus are interpreted and applied in different ways. Some even use them to justify inaction toward the poor and suffering, an interpretation that would contradict much of what follows in Jesus’ ministry. My bias is that we must interpret everything, particularly in the New Testament, in the context of the overall picture Jesus painted throughout his ministry of life lived as a child of God. The life and teachings of Jesus must guide our understanding and application of what it means to live a Godly or Christian life.

Each of the individual pairings contained in the Beatitudes and the Blessings and Woes present contrasting and counterintuitive imagery. In the words of author and teacher, Brian McLaren, they show us “the disadvantages of advantages, and the advantages of disadvantages.”[8] They acknowledge human suffering while assuring that suffering is balanced by causes for joy, if not experienced in our current awareness then certainly in the larger picture of our life experience. Yes, we do and will suffer, but that suffering does not stand alone, nor is it ever the whole or end of the story. What we experience as good or as difficult times are not the separate, independent events that they seem in our limited, three-dimensional, time-and-space perception. There is always reason for gratitude in the totality of our experience, and if we cannot find it we are not looking expansively enough – we lack eyes to see. Our causes for despair are also causes for rejoicing because the intensity of the despair generally matches our experiences of joy. Both, however, are transitory states based on how we experience our reality. They have nothing to do with whether God loves or is punishing us. The old adage This too shall pass is wise counsel in good times and in not-so-good times. Ultimately, there are no such thing as “good” or “not-so-good” times since both are necessary and are defined in relation to each other – they are two sides of the same coin. The problem is not in the experiences themselves but in how we choose to relate to or interpret them.

Far from being a cry for unpleasantness to visit us in abundance, the Beatitudes and the Blessings and Woes provide hope – hope that even as we experience what feels like we are approaching the limits of our tolerance, something greater is happening simultaneously on some level we cannot yet perceive. In order to gain a glimpse of the eternality of our lives and, more importantly, of the greater life of which we are a part, we must see past, present, and future as a single whole – a single unit that unfolds gradually for us in time. It is our inability to perceive eternality that blinds us to the good being birthed in the not-so-good. We can only have faith that this is happening and will be revealed to us one day, although not necessarily during our days on earth.

The overriding message of the Beatitudes and the Blessings and Woes is this: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…” It is left to us to believe that or not. For me, it makes for a much richer and more pleasant life-experience to believe it.

This is the 1^st in a series titled Blessedness and Woe. Life Notes are my explorations into mysteries that interest me. They are invitations for readers to explore more deeply into life’s mysteries. Engage with me or explore contemplative spiritual direction at ghildenbrand@outlook.com.

---

[1] Matthew 5:12a

[2] Matthew 5:1-12

[3] Matthew 5-7

[4] Luke 6:20-26

[5] Luke 6:17-49

[6] Matthew 5:1-2

[7] Luke 6:17

[8] Brian McLaren, Naked Spirituality, HarperOne, 2011, pp. 59-60.