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If somebody says “I want to level with you”, they probably mean “I want to tell you straight” and the news may not be good! Jesus gathers his disciples, after coming down from the mountain for a bit of straight talking. He is on level ground, literally and metaphorically. He was clearly addressing his disciples, as we are told that his eyes were fixed on them – but who are these “attitudes” meant to be for now?
“Happy are the poor” – could this be said to the people of Haiti, who, from the little they ever had, have lost everything and it will possibly take decades to replace and re-build what they need? Poverty doesn’t get much more severe than that.
“Happy you who hunger” – could this apply to the people of Kenya, or other parts of Africa where they still wait in vain for the rains?
“Happy you who weep” – maybe this applies to the three families who buried loved ones from St Richard’s during the last week or those who continue to lose relatives and friends in Afghanistan on a weekly basis.
It would seem almost cruel to suggest those “happy attitudes” to people in such extreme circumstances. Pastorally, surely a more empathic and sensitive approach would be desirable. So who are they meant for?
Certainly, the people for whom Luke was writing were no strangers to poverty, hunger or grief. If they were rural dwellers, they were probably subsistence farmers eking out a precarious living, if they were from the towns, many would probably be casual labourers. These people were poor, frequently hungry and with life expectancy no more than what we would call middle-age – the majority would have been well acquainted with loss and grief.
These words of Jesus, no doubt intended to be reassuring, must have, nevertheless, been hard for the average Galilean crowd to hear.
They may be slightly easier for us to hear, we who are relatively well-off; rarely, if ever hungry, and most of us, most of the time, do not have too much sorrow and grief to bear. But there again – there are stark warnings for those who choose to grow complacent in the shallow happiness of material comfort.
So who are these words for? They are for all of us.
This is Jesus levelling with us, straight talking and not actually being selective about his audience. There is only one Gospel.
This is not in any way to glorify or glamorise poverty, hunger or grief. These are generally experiences we want to avoid and poverty and hunger are usually the consequences of sin as they degrade and diminish the human condition.
There is certainly an imperative here for those of us who are better off to show solidarity with those who suffer. We are called to “com-passion” to “suffer with” and we see this acted out in a practical way with the aid agencies work in Haiti, work which we are rightly associated with through CAFOD. We cannot ignore that these “attitudes” wake us up to social justice issues and there are plenty of other references in the gospels pointing us in that direction.
However:-
What we are looking at here is an unashamedly spiritual teaching – it is aimed at everyone, including those suffering in extreme circumstances, in other words, those to whom it most directly applies – as it first applied to the mainly poverty stricken audience in Galilee. The Gospel doesn’t come with a get-out clause, but we should not forget that at the heart of the beatitudes is a promise of deep joy – a joy that will leave us rejoicing and dancing!
This is a real case of the Gospel comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable.
Of course, these can only be words of comfort for people of faith; a faith which shows that:
The joy of God’s Kingdom cannot be earned, won or bought; it does not outweigh the poverty of this world because it cannot even compare.
It is not merely our hunger for food that will be satisfied – but our longing for truth, justice and love.
There is no higher prize than our personal integrity – hold on to that at all cost and that day of rejoicing and dancing will be ours.
Ironically of course, the words of the beatitudes will only succeed in disturbing us if we have faith – otherwise, why would we be bothered?
We should be disturbed enough to enjoy what gifts God has given to us while realising that we are only ever stewards of God’s creativity.
We should be disturbed enough to be wary of short-lived and superficial pleasures which come to us cheaply but cost the lives of others.
We need to know that temporary happiness is no substitute for lasting joy.
Finally we need to be convinced that we are the audience for this gospel and these attitudes. Jesus is levelling with us!
Whichever way you look at it, the basic message is: the best is yet to come!
Photos: Haiti earthquake - BBC News; Kenya - Fr Kieron