The car I’ve driven for several years is beginning to show its age.  I like that car, but the time to replace it is growing near.  My search for a replacement is made easy by the websites that publish reviews of automobiles.  Although every automotive journalist has her or his own perspective, the common practice of listing “pros” and “cons” is very helpful.   

There are some “pros” that I would want in a new vehicle and some “cons” that I know I should avoid.  The possible choices for my next vehicle necessarily include those that are suited to stop-and-go suburban driving.  If I choose a vehicle that, in its list of “cons” is judged to be ill-suited to driving short distances, I will be choosing to make myself unhappy when I drive.   

The common practice of listing “pros” and “cons” provides an easy way to understand today’s Gospel reading.  In the so-called “sermon on the plain” in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus lists “pros” and “cons” that are possible in every person’s life. 

The lists of beatitudes in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are often misunderstood due to modern unfamiliarity with the literary forms that were common in the ancient world. When Jesus said, “Blessed are you .  .  .” and “Woe to you .  .  .,” he was neither blessing nor cursing anyone.  The practice of listing potential causes of happiness(*) or woe was one of the most common forms of prophetic speech in the ancient world.  This formula of “blessing” and “woe” appeared in ancient Hebrew prophecy, ancient Christian prophecy, and even in pagan prophecy such as the statements of the priestesses at the Delphi Oracle. 

Jesus employed this familiar pattern of prophetic speech in his preaching so that his hearers would be able to interpret his meaning accurately.  Here, in the “sermon on the plain,” he speaks prophetically about the potential outcomes of freedom of choice.  Jesus’ list of blessings and woes is easy enough to understand when seen as a list of “pros” and “cons” about living.   

According to Jesus, there are some choices that lead to lasting happiness and other choices that lead to woe.  Because Jesus’ preaching is entirely about how to live according to God’s will and, therefore, within the reach of God’s mercy, this list of “blessings” and “woes” is a description of the choices that make one to be either righteous or unrighteous in God’s sight. 

In Jesus’ prophetic description of the life that leads one closer to God, the “pros” include material poverty, hunger, mourning, and marginalization.  His list of “cons” consists of material wealth, satisfaction, rejoicing, and public adulation.  It is necessary to keep in mind that this is prophetic preaching and, as such, it is an instance of the reversal of fortune that is the central theme of Luke’s Gospel. 

In Luke’s infancy narrative, Mary sings a hymn in which she praises God who blesses the lowly but rejects the arrogant, deposes earthly rulers but lifts up the downtrodden, satisfies the hungry but turns away the wealthy, and is perfectly faithful to those who keep faith.  This theme of a reversal of fortune promised by God for the benefit of the faithful appears repeatedly throughout the Gospel.  In Luke’s Gospel, the characters who pursue earthly power, pleasure, and prestige find what they seek but are diminished by it because of the limitations of created things.  Conversely, those who pursue holiness of life are raised up because God is the source of inexhaustible joy. 

In his “sermon on the plain,” Jesus says neither that some individuals have been included by God in the kingdom of the righteous, nor that some individuals have been excluded.  Rather, this is prophetic preaching about what is possible in each person’s life: it is possible to live in a way that is pleasing to God or in a way that is not pleasing to God.   

Jesus described the life that is pleasing to God as a “great reward in heaven.”  It is important to understand that “the great reward” is not something one chooses in the same way that television game show contestants choose a prize from among the options offered.  The “great reward” is the result of the way one lives; it is inclusion in the salvation God offers the world through belief in Jesus’ resurrection.  Those who choose the rewards offered by the world, get those rewards but nothing more. 

Luke’s “pros” of human existence are instruction about the choices and actions that make one suitable for participation in God’s kingdom of the redeemed.  Similarly, the “cons” are warnings about what can exclude one from God’s favor.  One can choose one or the other, but not both. 

Each person enjoys unfettered freedom to choose a path through life.  One is free to choose blessing or woe, with the caveat that choosing one option also means rejecting other options.  The life that leads to the “great reward” is not one of wanting, desiring, or obtaining created blessings.  The life that leads to the “great reward” is the life that is humble before God, does not find rest in the limited good of this world and, consequently, is not bound to this world. 

The self-effacing choice recommended by Jesus’ prophetic preaching isn’t as daunting as it might seem.  Although there are desirable “pros” on the list of attributes of this world, the “cons” are warnings that none of the “pros” are permanent.  Permanent and lasting blessing results only from conforming one’s life to the example set by Jesus who gave his life for the world. 

---

(*) The word translated as “blessed” in this Gospel passage can also be translated as “happy.”  In context, the word does not refer to the sort of blessedness or happiness that one might associate with good fortune or success in life.  Rather, “blessed” or “happy” are descriptions of the experience of finding oneself judged by God to be righteous, just, and holy.