For the last few weeks, we have seen Jesus in different teaching situations. In the beginning, the reactions were mixed… his hometown didn’t know what to do with him, seeming to reject or at least question his call, even driving him to the edge of a cliff, not going so far as to destroy his future ministry. As he continues, word travels about him, and after preaching from a boat and calling twelve disciples to follow him, he preaches before the largest crowd yet on a large flat place. This is Luke’s version of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.
When we study the differences between the gospel accounts, it’s good to remember that each gospel after Mark was written with a particular audience in mind. Matthew was written for the Jewish believers, stressing Jesus’ fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible’s promise of a coming Messiah. Luke’s gospel and the accompanying book of Acts, were written to the Gentile community, spreading the message that Jesus came for everyone. That’s why in Luke we see so many crowds gathered away from the synagogue and Temple, and out in the places where a more marginalized community would gather.
These people were familiar with difficult times. They were looking for a message that encouraged them and promised an eventual even playing field. Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain starts exactly that way. Here, Jesus redefines what it means to be blessed, turning their expectations upside-down. Here’s where it’s especially interesting about what the lectionary has skipped over. In verses 1-11, Jesus not only gleans grain from a field on the Sabbath but also heals a man with a withered hand, surely knowing that the Jewish leaders trailing after him would point out his sin and rebuke him in public.
And in verses 12-16, the list of 12 disciples is completed. Among them, Matthew – identified as a tax collected in other places and reviled by Jews and Gentiles alike, and Judas, whose sterling reputation hides the way that he will one day betray Jesus and the other disciples. Even so early in his ministry, Jesus hangs out with people on the fringes of acceptable society. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us at all that Jesus continues to push against the expectations of the religious norms and continues to preach, teach, and minister with people that most Jews and the Roman society found unacceptable.
Don’t you wonder what they were expecting? What compelled them – and us – to seek out Jesus? Yeah, they were probably expecting to hear a sermon or some kind of teaching. And that day, they got it in spades. Even so, Jesus’ reputation as a healer probably brought many to him. I’m guessing they would have listened to whatever he had to say if, in the end, they could hear, “Go, you’re well. Your illness has been healed.” Or maybe, “Rise, your faith has made you whole.”
As we follow, Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, teaching and healing. People with physical problems came from all around to have their lives made more whole. Most of them were unable to earn a living or to participate meaningfully in society because of their problems. Leprosy, mental illness, being lame or blind or deaf… whatever the cause, people came to hear Jesus’ voice. And to feel the touch of his hand, or even to touch his garment, all in the hope that Jesus could change their lives forever. And then they could go on with life.
But Jesus didn’t just touch their damaged bodies. He also gave them a message of hope. Luke’s version of the beatitudes is less well known than Matthew’s version. And probably less popular because they do not romanticize poverty or pain or hunger or of being an outsider by saying that it will be better one day. Instead, they hit us between the eyes, because they force us to redefine what it means to be rich or poor, on what it means to be blessed or cursed. Jesus’ blessing and curse are not just hypothetical – they are here and now.
Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, blessed are you who weep now and so on AND then he says, how terrible are you who are full now, for you will be hungry, and how terrible are to you who are laughing now, etc. It is as if he is saying, “You are rich now and there are poor now. You should be ministering to them. You are full now and there are hungry now. You should be feeding them.”
Jesus always deals in the moment of the now and we are called to do the same. As the ebb and flow of social structures change, those who are on top in one generation may very well find themselves on the bottom in the next. Those who are poor during this time of our lives may very well be the power-brokers during the next millennium -- Jesus always acts with us and through us in the now.
So, this is not so much about simply describing blessings and curses on the poor and the rich, but a statement of social justice in the now and a statement about the relationships we have with one another. And ultimately, it’s a statement about our relationship with God. For instance, how can we say we love God, when we hoard our goods as if they are ours alone? How can we claim to love God whom we have not seen, if we fail to love our brother or sister whom we have seen?
Jesus doesn’t go so far as to curse those who have plenty, but he does ask us to consider the attitude we have as we gather and save. Do we gather only to protect our status quo? How do we keep our bounty from bringing ruin to our spiritual and physical lives? I can see how easy it is to dismiss this version of Jesus’ teaching as too harsh or socialistic for the tastes of those who have worked hard to gain a lot. If that is where we fall, where is the hope in the passage us?
Maybe the questions are partially answered by another question: who do we trust? In the eyes of Jeremiah and Luke, those who are blessed are those who trust in God, often abandoned to him because no one else will care. And those who are woeful or cursed are the ones who either place their strength and trust in others, in themselves, or in the things that own them.
I have to believe that it isn’t being poor or hungry or persecuted that makes us blessed. It is knowing that we need something more than we already have. And it isn’t being rich or well-fed or laughing or well thought of that curses us. It is believing that we are self-sufficient… that we can provide for all of our own needs, and that we can be self-sufficient. Neither is the case.[i]
One of the things that a global pandemic will do is show where the cracks or breaking points in society are. Virtual classrooms are great unless you don’t have access to broadband services or computers necessary to attend. Recommendations to isolate and wear masks and take tests are intellectually sound, unless you can’t afford to take time off from work, or if masks and tests are unavailable. I’ve volunteered in several communities with backpack ministries, where low-income children took home shelf-stable foods each weekend to stave off hunger – those programs reported difficulty when kids were not in class regularly, or when caregivers were not able to provide basic needs during the week.
Think about the communities in which you have lived. You’d be shocked to know how many working families are taking advantage of programs that provide food, clothing, and housing assistance. One hospitalization or ER visit, one chronic illness like diabetes or lupus, one company downsizing… many people just like us – and maybe even us – are only a few paychecks short of becoming a family on the margins.
And even when we have “enough,” however you define that, we often feel empty. Jesus reminds us that our value is not measured by what we do or do not have. Jesus reminds us that our identities are anchored in our need for God and our connection to one another. We are called to be people who belong.
Jesus isn’t telling us that it’s preferable to be poor and hungry and sad. Or that it’s evil to be rich and full and happy. I know who I am and how rich I am by the world’s standards. The key is to use those blessings to serve others, to serve God. The choices aren’t so much about being rich or poor, hungry or not. The choices are about how we choose God and what that choice will mean for how we live our lives and use our resources to serve.
As we continue to read in 1st Corinthians, Paul continues to explain why believing in Jesus’ resurrection is so important, even if we can’t understand it, prove it, or explain it. Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t about life taking over a once-dead body. It wasn’t mass hallucination. Those heresies were rejected by the apostles and the early church. After his resurrection, Jesus was alive and continued his work in the world. And before his ascension, he promised, “I am with you always.” And on the day of Pentecost, that promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit rushed through the Upper Room and out into the world.
Resurrection changes the focus of everything we proclaim about Jesus. We can’t just be people learning lessons about who Jesus was. We have to believe that he is with us still – today – and that he is still doing the work of transformation in us, and through us, in the world.[ii]
That’s why it’s important to see that Jesus’ words here are not prescriptive – they are descriptive. They are meant to get us to pay attention to the ways we are living our lives… they are like a scale that helps us measure our progress in the way of faith. They ask us to look into the mirror that Jesus holds up and see what Jesus sees. If our behaviors repeatedly favor ourselves over the needs of our neighbors, the woes Jesus speaks of may follow. They are a reminder that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not easy and does not come without cost. And if there is no cost, then maybe it’s not Jesus we are following.[iii]
Most of us spend a lifetime looking for the answers around questions of identity, belonging, and purpose… Who am I? Where do I belong? And what is my purpose?[iv] I think Jesus speaks to all three of those questions in this sermon. And in the process, turns our world upside down. Perhaps we could call this sermon “The Great Reversal”. The riches of life come from being in God's Kingdom. The poverty of life comes from not letting God in. Ultimately, these are the questions we must consider: Would I rather be poor or rich? And which is which?
In the name of the Holy Trinity, Amen.
[ii] Pulpit Fiction, Epiphany 6C -https://www.pulpitfiction.com/notes/epiphany6c/#1Corinthians15%3A12-20=
[iii] Rachael Keefe, Blessings and Woes, https://beachtheology.com/2022/02/11/blessings-and-woes-a-sermon-on-lukes-beatitudes-for-epiphany-6c/
[iv] Powell, Kara; Griffin, Brad M.. 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager (p. 34). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
No comments:
Post a Comment