Ugly Betty Blessing
Luke 6: 17-26
A police officer pulls an elderly woman over to the side of the highway. “Is there a problem, officer?”
Officer: Ma’am, you were speeding.
Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer: May I see your license please?
Woman: I’d give it to you but I don’t have one.
Officer: Don’t have one?
Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.
Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.
Woman: I can’t do that.
Officer: Why not?
Woman: I stole this car.
Officer: Stole it?
Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner. His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk. Would you like to see?
The Officer slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. An investigator slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.
Officer 2: Ma’am, could you step out of your vehicle please!
The woman gets out.
Woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that this car is stolen and that you murdered the owner.
Woman: Murdered the owner?
Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car?
She does so, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.
Officer 2: Is this your car, ma’am?
Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.
The investigator is quite stunned.
Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driver’s license.
The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands the license to the investigator. He looks quite puzzled.
Officer 2: Thank you ma’am, one of my officers told me you didn’t have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Woman: Is that right? Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.
This morning I would like to consider with you the idea of what we call blessings. We look around at the situations we find ourselves in at times – much like our bewildered police officer – and see confusing and conflicting realities. We are sometimes told that God is responsible for disturbing behavior or unthinkable atrocity. Well, the presence of God here in this place invites us to see with new eyes. Perhaps we can look and see not just where the blessings are but also to distinguish what actually comes from God’s Spirit.
I have a confession to make to you this morning. I know that some of you will find what I am about to tell you deeply disturbing (and now that I’ve officially reached 50 I can even play the role of “crotchety old man”). Yes, I think it is important for you to know the truth: I am an avid fan of Ugly Betty. I know. There must be a support group for people like me somewhere. This TV show is a humorous and poignant look at the life of a young ordinary woman who takes a job at a glamour magazine. She is bombarded daily with the greed, the shallowness, the egos, the use of beauty as a weapon, and the need to succeed at any cost. Meanwhile she is a simple person, from a modest immigrant family, living in Queens – evidently that is light years away from sophisticated Manhattan. Betty Suarez is competent and resourceful and she is constantly finding herself in situations where she must resist being drawn down into the petty and self-centered wormhole that seems to have everyone around her in its vortex.
I think the show does a good job of exposing the real ugliness that is the underbelly of the success and prestige that Betty’s co-workers desire. Meanwhile, she exhibits the qualities of kindness, compassion, forgiveness and even “turning the other cheek” against an overwhelming onslaught of hubris. Betty, while certainly the hero in the show, has her own demons with which to wrestle, so we are not given a simple story of a goody two-shoes without temptation or struggle. We are simply exposed to what life looks like with Ugly Betty blessings.
By the way, to show the amazing ability to create illusion, the woman who plays Ugly Betty, America Ferrera, in real life is anything but ugly. When she received the Golden Globe for best actress, it was clear that she is a quality person with a depth and richness that is born out of her real-life experience of knowing blessing.
Have you ever experienced Ugly Betty blessings?
Our scripture for today is Luke’s version of Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount.” Here it is usually referred to as the “Sermon on the plain” because that’s where it happens when Luke tells the story. Luke does some completely different things with this story from the way Matthew used it. In Luke’s version, Jesus has just come down from the mountain-top where he chose the twelve disciples – those who will walk with him the closest. He comes down to the plain – the “normal” place after being in the high spiritual place (in scripture mountain-top experiences always signify heightened spiritual awareness) – and is surrounded by a huge crowd of sick, poor, diseased and troubled people. This was the true ugliness of life gathered in one conspicuous place. Luke does something intriguing that we almost miss if we read this scripture too quickly. We assume that Jesus sits down to address this desperate crowd clamoring around him. But that’s not what Luke says. He tells us about this huge throng of people in ugly situations pressing in on Jesus, and in verse 20 Luke says that Jesus looked, not at the crowd, but at his disciples and said: Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are those who weep. The disciples receive their initiation into ministry learning about Ugly Betty blessing.
What our society blesses, Jesus calls ugly.
Notice what Jesus warns against. “Woe to you who are rich, who are full now, who are laughing now, and when people speak well of you.” How could any of those things be ugly? How could Jesus not want us to have resources to live, food to eat, happiness and a good reputation? Those are the things every one of us in this room spends most of our time on. We work hard to make a living so that we are self-reliant and have enough to eat. We spend lots of our money on things to make us happy and we spend years earning a good reputation so that we are respected. How could any of that be ugly?
None of those things in and of themselves are bad. It is when we begin to place our purpose for being in their care that calls a warning. And you and I know that it happens so easily and so often that we hardly take notice. Being rich is a gift, but only if you use your wealth to assist those less fortunate. Having a full belly is a gift, but only so we have the strength to use our lives for good. Being happy is a gift so that we know the heights of joy, but not as a way to pretend that suffering isn’t part of our lives and world. Having a good reputation is a gift, but only so you can use your influence to make the world better. Every time we are blessed with a gift and we don’t use it for the purposes it was given – that is, to bless our world – then that gift becomes ugly.
It happens all too quickly and easily. Wealth becomes greed. Having food becomes hoarding. Happiness serves as a buffer to keep suffering at a distance. Having a good reputation becomes a way to boost one’s ego at the expense of those around you. Jesus called that ugly. “Woe,” he said. He could just as easily have said, “Whoa!”
The fundamentalist side of all of us wants to turn this truth into rules when Jesus was explaining important spiritual principles. You’ve heard it. Jesus must have been saying rich people are evil, having enough to eat is wrong, being happy is of the devil and you don’t need to care what kind of wake your life has trailing behind you. I want to suggest there is another way to hear Jesus’ words. Think of it this way: Where are you investing your resources (time, money, energy)? For what purpose? If we’re honest all of us would have to look at how we’ve used the blessedness of our lives and say, “woe!” or at least “whoa!”
Like Betty Suarez we are surrounded by the clear messages that the purpose of life is to get ahead for one’s own benefit and to live the good life no matter what the costs to our neighbor, our planet, or our soul. You and I have to constantly be aware of that pull on our hearts and remind ourselves again and again, “I am blessed to be a blessing.” That must become our mantra this year.
But that’s not the whole story. Not only does Jesus call ugly what our society blesses.
What our society calls ugly, Jesus blesses.
Blessed are the poor, the hungry and those filled with sorrow. Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile you and defame you. Whoa! Not feeling the blessing during those times, Jesus. Poverty, hunger, despair, hate, and defamation are ugly realities. We rage against them with righteous indignation – as we should. How could Jesus call these realities blessing? Are we really being asked to elevate poverty, hate and despair to some exalted status? That is the message some Christians have clearly taken away from this passage. These verses are the foundation for the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience some people feel are necessary for a call to ministry. Other Christians, just as sincerely, read these verses and gather the idea that it is only in misery that God loves you so you need to consider yourself the most miserable, worthless worm over against the pure unapproachable holiness of God.
Let me offer another possibility. Think about those times in your own life when you have experience deprivation, hunger, sorrow, addiction or being hated. What do we do that is helpful in times like that? Well, our inclination is to realize we’re often powerless against such forces so we look to build community or find ways to rely on God’s grace. Ah ha! (that’s the opposite of “whoa!” by the way) Could that be the blessing Jesus was revealing? Could we take the lessons learned from those natural inclinations we have during times of difficulty and live recognizing life as a gift of grace all the time? When we learn to rely on the grace of God’s presence that is ever calling us to deeper, healthier, more honest and holier places, then we are less likely to be seduced by power, greed or prestige. Instead we can use these ugly Betty blessings of life as vehicles to draw us closer to each other and more aware of God’s grace holding us near.
You were not created a worthless worm to show how holy God is. You were created a holy beloved incarnation of God’s presence. Poverty, hunger, hate and defamation don’t exist because God wants to teach you a lesson. What we learn about our character and souls during those times of suffering is an opportunity for blessing that sustains us to meet whatever hand life may deal. Poverty, hunger, addiction, hatred, cruelty, and sorrow are neither exalted states nor curses from God. They are simply realities of life. How we respond to these and every experience life gives us determines the depth of our spirituality – the beauty of our soul.
I began today by telling you a joke about some police officers and a cunning driver. The officers in that story had lots of choices in how to respond. They could have gotten angry at the woman and thrown her in jail. They could have been ashamed that this woman got the best of them. They could have asked the legislature to write some new laws to prevent this kind of infraction happening again. They could have implored divine judgment on this driver as just punishment for her sin. Or they could have laughed at the situation, learned whatever lessons they needed to take from it and renewed their desire to be the best police officers they could be as a gift of their lives to the community. Which response is a blessing?
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com Dog Ugly! February 2007.