In a sense they are prettied up by Matthew and don t have quite the cutting edge in his Gospel that they do in today s reading. Jesus seems to be saying in them that how you and I value things is not the way God values things. He is saying that how you and I value people is not the way God values people. You might be surprised at where some blessedness lies. I look out on an Episcopal congregation on a Sunday morning, and I see well-dressed people and brightly scrubbed faces.
Hair is in place.
Any person who casually looked at us might think that all was well with everyone. I know better. I haven t been a priest for 45 years not to know otherwise, not to know that behind the faces and the coiffures there lays such a lot of pain. I know there are a lot of reasons to weep in everyone's life. That's why the casual observer might think that all was well.