The prophet Elisha was a wanted man. The king of Aram (a nation to the northeast of the Holy Land) was at war with Israel. Aram is also called Syria and it was pretty much in the same area as modern-day Syria. But Elisha was frustrating all of his battle plans. Through God’s power Elisha was allowed to know anything the King of Aram planned. Even what he planned in secret. Time and again Elisha tipped off the king of Israel concerning the plans that the king of Aram was making. This enraged the king of Aram! But one day he thought he had Elisha trapped inside a city called Dothan (not the one in Alabama.) Under the cover of night he sent horses and chariots and a strong force to surround the city. The Prophet Elisha and his servant got up and went out early the next morning. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” We can imagine the servant looking around. He counts himself and Elisha. “Okay there are two of us and thousands of them. What am I not seeing?” Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw the hills around the city full of horses and chariots of fire—God’s angel army!
Have you ever felt like Elisha’s servant? You look at a situation in your life and things seem desperate. It looks like God has abandoned you and is far from helping you. I don’t know what you have been through, or what you are going through, or what you will go through in the future. We know that life in a sinful world will always have trials and troubles. And for those of us who follow Jesus we may experience additional grief as those who oppose God attack us. We need God to open our eyes to see his powerful protection and his tender care. Again and again we must ask God to help us to see how he is working everything out for our eternal good.
With that thought in mind brothers and sisters in the faith let’s direct our attention to our Gospel Lesson for today. As we hear our Savior say that those who are poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted are blessed we need him to open our eyes to see how that can be so. Let’s make this our goal for our sermon together. Let’s ask Jesus to enable us to:
“HAVE A BELIEVER’S EYE FOR BLESSINGS”
1. We are spiritually poor, yet very rich (vv. 20, 24)
2. We are spiritually hungry, yet very satisfied (vv. 21, 25)
3. We are weeping spiritually, yet full of laughter (vv. 21, 25)
4. We are persecuted, yet greatly rewarded (vv. 22, 23, 26)
Although I routinely give you some background and context for every sermon text, the background is super important in this lesson. List again to how Luke’s Gospel sets the stage for Jesus’ astounding words. “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.” Let me ask you a question. Why does it seem that the majority of those people came to Jesus that day. For the most part life wasn’t easy for them! Some were searching for meaning in life. But it sounds like many were suffering from diseases and were struggling with evil spirits. Perhaps even demon possession! Do you see how that context helps to explain what Jesus said? Desperate people with desperate needs—both spiritual and physical—have flocked to Jesus. Of them southerners might say of them with pity, “Well, bless their hearts.” But all of them have listened to Jesus’ teaching about God’s Kingdom. Dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds of people, are reaching out to touch Jesus. Power is coming from Jesus healing each and every one of them. The point that the context makes for us is that those in the greatest need are often the ones blessed abundantly by Jesus. Understanding that helps us adjust the way we look at things in our own lives. Afflictions. Problems. Challenges. Sickness and diseases. If those things bring us closer to our Savior, they are blessings.
1.
The first blessing for our believer’s eyes to see is seeing what is truly valuable. Our Gospel Lesson went on to tell us, “Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” And then a few verses later Jesus gave the corresponding perspective. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” There’s much to unpack in these verses.
First of all, we need to be clear that being financially rich doesn’t prevent someone from being a believer. The Bible has many examples of wealthy individuals that were saved. Abraham was very wealthy. Think of Job and of course kings like David and Solomon. In the New Testament there was Joseph of Arimathea, Lydia, and many others. But remember what Jesus said about the challenge wealthy people face regarding putting their faith in God. He said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) And much of Jesus preaching and teaching was about the dangers that material wealth can pose to a person’s faith. The takeaway for believers is that we shouldn’t value worldly wealth like unbelievers do. If the focus of your life becomes being rich and you lose out on salvation then wealth is all you will ever have.
With those thoughts in mind, we can then understand why it is more likely that Jesus was emphasizing those who think they are spiritually rich not those who are financially rich. Those who come to God like spiritual beggars will be made wealthy by God’s grace. Through his Son God forgives their sins and brings them into his Kingdom. Then instead of just having money, property, and possessions the person has a relationship with God and a place in heaven. God answers their prayers. He sends his angels to protect them. He works out everything in their lives for their good. Now when we think back to those who came to Jesus that day we can more fully understand his words. Those folks didn’t go to Jesus because they thought they had all the answers. No, they were looking for answers. For most of them it seems as though life wasn’t worry free and problem free. No, they went to Jesus because they were looking for him to help them.
So how can we have a believer’s eye for the blessings of being spiritually poor? That can only happen when we are listening to God’s Word. He reminds us that without him we are bankrupt! Our best efforts without him fall short of his demands. And, yes, although we might not want to think about it sometimes God has to allow things in our lives that remind us that we are poor and helpless without him. We heard an example of that in our Second Lesson. The Apostle Paul had some physical challenge that God used to remind him not to rely on his own strength. But to let God’s power be made perfect in his weakness. Or maybe God takes away some of the material possessions we have become overly attached to make us poor before we can see the spiritual wealth he wants to give us.
2.
That leads to second blessing that Jesus mentioned that can only be seen by believers. Jesus went on to say, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.” And then of course he gave the related statement, “Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.” Again, it seems as though it is best to not take this as literal hunger where a person’s stomach is growling. No, it seems better to understand this as a spiritual hunger. Or the opposite which would be spiritual fullness or not hungering for God and the salvation he offers.
I am guessing that the most familiar restatement of this is found in Mary’s words in what has become known as the Magnificat. Those words also happen to be in Luke’s Gospel. After the angel Gabriel told her… Mary went on to give glory to God for the first Christmas because of her understanding of what God was doing through Jesus. God was taking action out of his mercy toward the whole world. Mary went on to say, “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” Mary gave praise to God for his acts of mercy toward a world that desperately needed them. Those who desire to find that mercy won’t find it in human wisdom or earthly greatness but in humility. In His humble Son and in God’s humble Word they will be filled.
So what things might make a person spiritually hungry? Once again we could point to the same things that brought all of those people to Jesus the day he spoke these words. When life is running along smoothly, we may find that we only have a hunger for more of the things the world has to offer. But when life is filled with challenges, trials, troubles, and crosses we hunger for the peace that is found in Christ alone.
3.
The third blessing that only believers can see is that those who are weeping spiritually will be full of laughter. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” Once again to have a believer’s eye for blessings we need to consider what kind of weeping Jesus might have been talking about. This doesn’t mean that Christians need to spend their lives with no joy—crying all the time. In fact, I think we could say Jesus wanted just the opposite for his followers. In Luke 10:21 we are told that Jesus was, “full of joy through the Holy Spirit.” And in his prayer for his disciples on Maundy Thursday Jesus said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
So then what kind of weeping is a blessing for a person? What kind of weeping will Jesus turn into laughter? The pattern that we are seeing in our Gospel lesson is that all of these seemingly negative conditions are spiritual. The spiritually poor become rich, the spiritually hungry are filled. And now those who weep spiritually we laugh spiritually. This can really only be true when we realize how pitiful we are without Christ. Our sins separate us from God and stifle even our prayers to him.
And I think you would agree that the weeping in this life that comes from everything from death to life’s disappointments opens the door for a person to look to God for their joy. There’s a great poem that makes a powerful point about suffering by an author named Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It’s called Solitude: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone; / For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, / But has trouble enough of its own. Sing, and the hills will answer; / Sigh, it is lost on the air; / The echoes bound to a joyful sound, But shrink from voicing care. // Rejoice, and men will seek you; / Grieve, and they turn and go; They want full measure of all your pleasure, / But they do not need your woe. / Be glad, and your friends are many; / Be sad, and you lose them all,—/ There are none to decline your nectared wine, / But alone you must drink life’s gall. // Feast, and your halls are crowded; / Fast, and the world goes by. / Succeed and give, and it helps you live, / But no man can help you die. / There is room in the halls of pleasure / For a large and lordly train, / But one by one we must all file on / Through the narrow aisles of pain.” A true reflection of sorrow and suffering. The world flees it but God can use it to turn us back to him.
4.
The final blessing for believers’ eyes is persecution. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.” And then we have the final counterpoint, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” When we have talked before about persecution, whether during a sermon or a Bible class, we have acknowledged that here in the U.S. we don’t typically face blatant persecution. Christians aren’t being jailed or having their property seized. But we do face the kind of persecution Jesus mentioned in these verses? Yes, I think we do. There is plenty of hatred toward Christians. Some say that Christians are a problem that needs to be removed. And yes, when we live according to God’s Word and actually take a stand regarding what God says is right or wrong people will exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil.
So what blessing is there in persecution? Jesus says that it is a great way to know where we are when it comes to living our life as one of his followers. If we aren’t living as the salt and light we have been called to be life may be peaceful and unbelievers will love us. On the other hand, if we are living a life that differs from the unbelievers around us people will likely criticize us. This doesn’t mean we have to go looking for persecution. No, but when it comes Jesus tells us to reflect on it as evidence that we are following him.
Persecution also serves another purpose. When Christians are hated, excluded, and insulted there will be some even among those doing those things who take notice and may be led to become a follower of Jesus themselves. That may sound like a stretch, but it does happen. Unbelievers may take notice and want to know more about why Christians are hated. 1 Peter 2:12 reminds us of a blessing that can come to others by how we handled persecution. “ Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” Or as Romans 12:20 describes it in a more graphic way, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Brothers and sisters, obviously if we are going to see any good coming out of persecution we need Jesus to give us a believer’s eye for blessing. Persecution is evidence that we are on the right track in our discipleship. And persecution is a non-confrontational witness to unbelievers.
So what happened to Elisha and his servant? It turned out God’s angel armies didn’t need to jump into action. Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. He then led the blinded soldiers of Aram to the King of Israel. That day those who thought they could see were made blind. And the one who was blind to God’s angel armies was allowed to see them.
Brothers and sisters in the faith, today we ask God to give us a believer’s eye for blessings. To see blessing when we are spiritually poor. To see blessing when we are spiritually hungry. To see blessing when we weep over our sins and over so many of the things that come because we live in a sinful world. And to see blessing when we are persecuted because we love Jesus. Yes, like he did for Elisha’s servant, may God open our eyes to see! Amen.
