In our consumer driven culture we have something very basic backwards. Objects were created to be used and people were created to be loved. But now it seems that people are used and treated like objects yet objects like money, homes and cars are loved above all else.
And the first thing so many of us say when we get that promotion or windfall or new car is "I'm blessed."
People say it often. And those people are wrong. Because to say that it is material wealth and comfort that is the result of faithfulness or God granting our prayers, that leaves out the hundreds of millions of people who live in third world poverty. It leaves out those who we know personally who are buried in college debt or medical bills who can't seem to stay above water.
I remember when my wife worked at a hospital. She overheard patients on the cancer wing being told that if they had the faith to be healed they would be.And she saw how devastated those patients were when their cancer persisted. And she was devastated when those patients died.It's easier to say that people who live in poverty or who live with disease of any sort are at fault for their station in life. It's easier to blame the victim than to answer the hard questions as to why horrible things happen to good people. So that's what many people do, they blame the sick and they blame the poor. But the enemy is poverty not the poor. The enemy is disease, not the sick.We have made the idea of what is blessed rather trivial in modern lexicon.In scripture it is anything but trivial.
5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:1-12
Being truly blessed is a life changing thing. And Jesus wants those living in dire straits to know they are blessed. He wants the sick and afflicted to know they are blessed and love despite their ailments. He wants the outcasts to know they are included amongst Gods children and that they are blessed and loved.
I believe in a God who comforts the distraught. I believe in a God who is compassionate and mourns with those who mourn. I believe God loves all His children, especially those deemed unlovable by the rest of His children. I believe in a God who forgives the unforgivable.
And I believe in a God who blessed us all in ways big and small. I further believe it is wrong to compare our blessings with those who don't appear to have been equally blessed.
Jesus taught a parable about just such a thing:
20 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Matthew 20:1-6
This parable is very clear that we ought not be envious of those whom we judge to be undeserving of their blessings.
We need to feel blessed in order to be thankful for what God has done in our lives. But we shouldn't reduce the sacred idea of what blessed means to making God out to be a granter of wishes who will give us whatever we desire if only we have enough faith.
Faith is powerful. Faith can work miracles but often times things happen for reasons unknown to all but God. We should not hate those with abundance anymore than we should hate those who have less. Comparing blessings is wrong.
We should only look into our neighbors bowl to see if they have enough, rather than to see if they have more than us. Or to judge them for not having enough.
