Blessings and the Blessed
Scripture for This Week: Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31;
and Matthew 5:1-12
 

Not that long ago, many of us sat around the Thanksgiving table and named our blessings with gratitude: food, family, friends, home, health. It is good to give God thanks. In the Beatitudes, however, Jesus teaches a countercultural lesson: God’s gifts (blessings) should not be confused with God’s favor (the blessed).
It’s understandable to be confused. When counting blessings, we don’t include being broke or heartbroken. We don’t thank God for feeling like a loser or being full of doubt. We don’t note a terminal diagnosis in our gratitude journal. God’s blessings, God’s gifts, we learn over a lifetime, are not all hoped-for or sweet. In a hospital room, for example, emptied of personal power and control after a difficult diagnosis, we can still be blessed with the fullness of God’s presence.
So, hear the good news: God blesses each and every one of us. God gifts the deserving and undeserving. Those who have permanent disabilities and those who are temporarily abled. Happy, sad, sick, well. God favors the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who search for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers, and those persecuted, hated, and slandered because of their belief in Jesus (Matt. 5:3-12).
In this good news, also hear God’s invitation to show favor to God’s blessed. To help neighbors known and unknown enjoy God’s abundant life on earth as well as in heaven. To be merciful.
Spirit-led, we are merciful with acts of compassion, hospitality, and advocacy for justice. We bring meals, make quilts, organize letter-writing campaigns, offer respite, remember, notice, invite, comfort, reach out, and draw in. And, when we are open to receiving as well as giving, being merciful can turn into a mutual relationship. An “other” becomes a friend, reciprocally blessed and a blessing. Loving God leads to loving our neighbor as ourselves.
 
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