Blessed To Need One Another

“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.” –Luke 6:20b-21

“…make us ever mindful of the needs of others, and of our need for one another.”

Many of you hear me pray this way, adding the petition that we must remember how we need our neighbors, just as they need us. I like the way it presses us beyond merely being a giver/doer of good and into the realization of our own need. It’s not always a comfortable place to dwell, but it’s a place we may encounter the holy.

When Jesus speaks to his disciples and the multitudes who come for healing and relief, he presents a teaching that sets painful realities right next to the presence and providence of God. Blessed are you who are poor, he declares, for yours is the kingdom of God. To the hungry and weeping, he proclaims fullness and joy.

The linking of these experiences of desolation to the reality of blessing may catch us off guard or raise our eyebrows in skeptical reflex. How might we imagine someone in poverty experience blessing in a state of deprivation? Can I know blessing when I am hungry? The things that make us weep likely feel a long way from laughter.

Whenever I find an itchy corner of scripture – something that stands out, doesn’t fit, or irritates in some way—that’s usually an invitation to work with it a bit, or to let it work on me. What makes it difficult to imagine the presence of God in what feels like forsaken places?

Scripture is rich with images of God bringing life and hope into scenes of despair. Think of the valley of dry bones and envision God breathing life there. Recall the prophetic declaration that, in the wilderness, uneven ground will be leveled out and rough places will become a plain so that all may travel God’s safe and holy way. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, God will be present.

With these stories bearing witness, we can see the Beatitudes (as these “Blessed are…” verses are known) stand in the same tradition. The promise remains that God does not leave us to face our perils alone. Blessed are we when we know how we need God, the giver of every good gift. Blessed are we when we know how we need our neighbor, the reflection of the divine.

With the shifting status for refugees and immigrants, Episcopal lay leader Julia Ayala Harris wrote these words of encouragement and gratitude to those who find themselves on the margins:

When you gather courage to enter our sanctuaries, when you share your stories of hope and heartbreak, when you trust us with your fears and dreams—you reveal Christ's face to us anew. Your presence among us is not a burden but a blessing that enriches our common life.*

May the connections between despair and blessing recall to us our own need for God, and for one another. 

Peace, Ann +

*Read the fuller reflection on the Episcopal Church’s theological and biblical grounding for our witness around migration here.