“Blessed are the poor in spirit … those who mourn … the meek …” (Matthew 5:3-12).
 
“Blessed are the _____.”  We think we know where this is going: the blessed are those who have it together, have all that they need, are secure, healthy, attractive, popular and well-regarded.  When we listen to these words of blessing from Jesus it can be more than a little disorienting!  Want to be a blessed person and have a blessed life?  Welcome to the world of the poor in spirit, the meek, the mournful, those hungering and thirsting for a world made right.  Welcome, even to a world of the persecuted – who wants that for a blessing?
 
We’re starting a new series – “Right Side Up in an Upside Down World” —and to explore that we need to realize how upside down our world actually is.  Upside down: what the world prizes highly may not be all that valuable; what the world attends to may merely be a distraction, or worse, a delusion; what the world ignores and dismisses may in fact be where God’s kingdom is actually happening.
 
Blessed is a strong word.  A blessing is not advice or a vague hope that some nice things might occur.  A true blessing is a word from God that releases the favor and life of God into a person or situation.  When God speaks, what God says happens!
 
So yes, in these words of blessing, Jesus is turning the world right side up again.  These words are counter-cultural in every time and place, especially in our time and place.  Turning a world right side up doesn’t happen magically or instantly or easily.  But here’s the good news: God begins the righting of the upside-down world, not by commanding or rebuking or punishing, but by coming in person and speaking words of blessing. Blessing gets life going -- true, real, and abundant life!
 
So as upside-down as these words may seem, let them go to work on you.  A blessing is not a reward to be earned, but a gift to be received.
 
This week, try spending five minutes each day with these words of blessing from Jesus.  Read them out loud each day, maybe with the members of your household; read them in some different versions of the Bible; maybe even memorize them!
 
As you read these blessings, where do you sense that your personal world may be upside-down?  What might the righting of your world look like?