My wife and I were driving down the road a few weeks ago when we pulled up behind a big, black SUV at a red light. Stuck to the lower left side of the back window were these stick figures of what appeared to be a Dad, a Mum, an adolescent boy and girl, a couple of toddlers, and even a stick dog and a stick cat. Now I’ve seen stick characters like this on folks’ automobiles before, but this one was a wee bit different. Under the Stick Family were the words “We Are Blessed.”
I wondered to myself, what does it mean to be blessed? Does being blessed mean having an intact family and riding around in the comfort of a large, relatively new, highly polished sport utility vehicle? If so, what does that say about those us who are reduced to driving an old beater, or worse, having tragically lost one of those represented by the stick figures? Do we get the get the razor knife out of the toolbox and scrape off the stick representation of the divorcee, or the stick representation of a child whose tragic death has devastated us, then change the words to say something like “We Are Blessed But Not Quite As Blessed As We Were”, or “We Are Blessed But Not Quite As Blessed As Others”? The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that there is something very wrong about this.
When I was just a kid, my 22 year old, newlywed cousin dropped her motorcycle off the edge of the road, hit soft sand, and was thrown into a light pole and tragically killed. Had it been in vogue in those days, I can assure you that she was the type that would have had a sticker or a license plate frame that said “I Am Blessed” on it. She had met and married the man of her dreams only a couple of years before this and had recently learned that she was going to have a baby. They were as happy as any couple I have ever known, before or since. Prior to her accident, that couple, their Mums and Dads, and all of us uncles, aunts, and cousins could have sung “We Are Blessed” around the campfire together. So what do we sing now, “We Are Cursed”?
This whole thing revolves around what it truly means to be blessed. I personally have an intact family, an excellent, fulfilling job, and a snazzy little drop-top sports car, all for which I am extraordinarily thankful . . . but I’ve come to believe that none of this is evidence of God’s blessing. So I’m still left with the question, what does it mean to be blessed?
Well leave it to Jesus to turn conventional wisdom on its head. I don’t know why I let these kinds of things confuse and frustrate me when, if I only take the time to look, He has the answer. In the introduction to His Sermon on the Mount, as recorded by His disciple Matthew in the first eleven verses of chapter five of that Gospel, Jesus is pretty clear about what it truly means to be blessed . . . and unless you’ve read it, you’re going to be surprised, because it isn’t at all what we’ve come to believe it means to be blessed. He says we’re blessed when we’re poor (so much for the SUV and that snazzy drop-top of mine), mourn (although my cousin’s untimely departure left a hole in our hearts, she did get to go live with Jesus), are meek, (you may not get to be a Wall Street investment banker, but you will eventually inherit the earth), long to do the right thing (which could be tough if the right thing isn’t the popular thing), are merciful (so be kind to that grouchy neighbor . . . he is a blessing), are pure in heart (heart disease is what makes us act snidely and speak unkindly), are a peacemaker (in peace negotiations, both sides typically have to make concessions), are persecuted (there’s that grouchy neighbor again, or worse), and when you are insulted and falsely accused (well that sure isn’t anything like my preconceived notion of being blessed.)
So sure, be thankful for your SUV or snazzy drop-top, or whatever you drive, but get rid of that misguided notion that those things are somehow tied to God’s blessings. According to His Son Jesus, it’s a little more involved, and a whole lot deeper than that.
One thing is certain . . . you’ll think twice before the next time you wish God’s blessings on someone. They may actually get what you wish, and it isn’t an SUV.
