Listening to NPR on my morning commute to the office, I heard a brief news story about the founder of Instagram, who quipped about how luck is what drives the world. He mused that maybe life was about recognizing luck when it was around you, and acting on it. Something like that.
Then I pulled into my parking spot and realized I had forgot my laptop at home. So much for feeling lucky this Monday morning!
In the gospel story this morning, we read about Jesus heading to the home of his disciples Simon and Andrew for dinner and rest. Seeing as Jesus was homeless, he was always grateful for the hospitality of others. When he arrived at their home, he was told that Simon’s mother in law was ill in bed with a fever.
Fortunately for her, this was her lucky day! Jesus went up to her, sat at her bedside, gently took her hands, prayed over her with great love, and then helped her up to her feet. Now it was Jesus’ lucky day – she was ready to throw a huge feast in gratitude for his healing touch.
But word got out, and Jesus never got his dinner – so much for luck. The village of Capernaum found out that Jesus was there at Peter’s house, and as the sun set over the Sea of Galilee everyone brought anyone they knew who was sick, diseased and demon-possessed.
It was lucky for the townspeople that Jesus was there and able to heal, but unlucky for Peter’s household, as their whole evening was disrupted. Sure, the whole town got healed, but what about their dinner!
What is luck? I don’t know. But for Jesus, every day, every moment, was an opportunity to be good news. Luck is usually something good that happens to us, maybe unexpected, but also hoped for. But Jesus is more than just lucky, and way more than a bringer of luck. He comes to bless. On purpose. With a plan. For the flourishing of all.
You feeling lucky? Unlucky? Ready to ground your Monday mornings and future hopes on something more than luck? For Christians, everything good that happens ought to be received as a gift, as a blessing.
We don’t get “lucky” with God. He is loyal to us more than we can imagine! He gives sunshine and rain on the righteous and the wicked – which is another way of saying that he gives us goodness even when we don’t deserve it. That’s more than luck, that’s love.
Is everything bad that happens to you a curse, a sign of being unlucky? Or, is God at work in everything, and bad things that happen to us might actually be a doorway to some of the greatest blessings we’ve ever received? Maybe, with Jesus, even the worst things that happen to us, even our most unlucky Mondays, could be the gateway to great opportunities to bless, love, and cherish?
You don’t have to wander aimlessly through life, hoping for a lucky break. Join a Jesus-community that will help you see what God is doing around us, and what he is inviting you to do. Break bread with a close friend, share a cup over prayer, and together submit your grief to the Lord.
Next time you feel unlucky, maybe even cursed – take a moment to pause and say thanks – this may be your moment to stop and get ready for a moment to bless someone unexpectedly. Sometimes our own healing comes from blessing others amidst your pain.
Life is more than luck, it’s a gift. May you take it all as a blessing, even if at first it feels like you’re unlucky, late, and forgetting your laptop.