Devotion for February 8, 2022

Luke 6:17-26
He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

America is a country obsessed with celebrity. We love the rise and the fall of those whom we put on pedestals. Perhaps the only thing we love better than the crash and burn story is the redemption story. I offer the saga of Tiger Woods as an example. It is probably less about American culture and more about human nature that causes us to see things this way. Perhaps the celebrity represents something we wish we could be, and when it becomes clear we will not be, then we hope to see them drawn back to earth through hardship.

I wonder what the celebrity of Jesus was like. People came from all around to hear him. They stood on hillsides and plains. They crowded into homes, even cutting holes in other’s rooftops. Jesus could even be found escaping the crowds by boat. So it is that he finds himself be crowded into as people look for healing, strength, and a good word. Merely touching him seemed to be all that was necessary. And it is in this context that he blesses the least of these, while offering cautions to those who were far more privileged.

I’m left to wonder if Jesus wanted those who clung to him for celebrity or status to realize that life following him was not one paved with wealth and fame but rather sacrifice, hardship and pain. These very things are born out of compassion for the least of these, not to celebrate the greatest among us. In an age of celebrity preachers and cults of personality, perhaps we should heed the caution as well.