by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
Luke 6:17-31
Jesus came down with the twelve and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “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.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”
Jesus said, “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Last week Fr. Bill told us about how meaningful part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is to him, that it is a defining scripture in his faith. The lectionary writers have been especially kind because this week I get to talk about mine. The beatitudes – and especially Luke’s version so important because they are a glimpse into the very heart and mind of God. This is how we know what God values. I think it speaks to us as 21st century people.
I prefer it to the version in Matthew’s gospel because this understanding about God makes all the difference in our lives and in the way that we respond to other people, especially those whose lives are different from ours. And most important, Luke’s version gives us a way to turn things around when we lose sight of what is important to God and gives us a path back.
Blessed are the poor Jesus says to them. Right on top, first thing. The poor receive the first and greatest blessing. Jesus reassures them. Theirs is the kingdom of God. You may have little here. But you are so loved by God that you have the entire Kingdom. You have everything.
Let’s remember who Jesus’ immediate audience was: fishermen, tradesmen, average hard working folks who had walked away from their families and livelihoods to become his disciples. At this time, the general feeling was that if you have lots of stuff, a lovely home and plenty to eat you have them because God loved you and cared about you and wanted to bless you. Jesus turns that inside out. Blessed are you, he tells them, when you have none of these things. God loves you too. God blesses you too with things eternal that will not change and will not fade away.
The poor today are often seen as lazy, as an embarrassment to themselves or society generally. They are seen as “the architects of their own destruction” as the saying goes. Can you hear the judgment in that? That’s the conclusion that we too quickly draw. Have you ever walked past someone clearly living in poverty and thought about how richly blessed that person is? No, me neither.
And yet, here is Jesus trying to shake us loose from those assumptions, and give us a different vision of life - one that has its foundations not in the world but in the very nature of God. Jesus’ words from the Beatitudes speak to us about people who were disenfranchised, powerless to make things happen. He told them there was another kingdom, not of this world, in which their aspirations were honored. He also assured them that God recognized their plight, and would uphold them.
There are people throughout our land who are in just such a predicament today. In February we observe Black History Month, a time to recognize a whole group of people who have been hated, reviled, and excluded because of their race. Their poverty has roots in the fact that they have limited choices in parts of life that most of us take for granted – where they can live, go to school, work, shop for the things they need. That’s what poverty really is, a lack of choice. Who hears the cry of their plight? Jesus tells us that God hears them, sees their predicament, and intends justice to be their reward.
Luke even adds a section of “woes” to the Beatitudes to show the coming reversal, when the poor, the undervalued, the excluded, and the reviled will be the joyous and those who have had it good will be impoverished, hungry, and grieving. It offers not only an outpouring of God’s love but also a way back.
When we find ourselves living lives that fall more easily into the “Woe To You” world than in the “Blessed Are You” section it’s because it’s tempting to downplay our own blessings. Doing so exempts us from helping those who have less. I might have a house and be able to pay all my utilities each month, but all the other costs and responsibilities feel heavy. I don’t always remember the blessing of having a home.
A friend who teaches ethics at a junior college asked her students to seriously consider whether they would give up their own comforts in order to ensure another person would have enough to survive. Most responded with uncertainty. They’re not used to thinking of themselves as rich to begin with. So the idea that they actually are is a strange proposition.
Her experience is that students are much more comfortable arguing why those two things are unrelated than they are with admitting that there are some things they’d refuse to go without. And besides, they assert, they have what they have because they have worked hard and made all the right decisions. And while that may be true, it doesn’t occur to them that they are where they are because of blessings – parents that supported them, teachers who took an interest in them, school districts who implemented programs allowing them to explore their gifts. Blessings that not everyone has.
The Gospel never settles for accommodation. Jesus makes no excuses for those who have plenty; their fortunes will change. As the lesson from Jeremiah reminds us, “I the Lord test the mind and search the heart to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.”
I’ve been reading about naturalist Jane Goodall. I’m sure you’ve heard about her work with chimpanzees in Africa. In the process of observing wild things she’s become something of an expert on how all living creatures treat one another and how it seems to have deteriorated during her lifetime. The question she has most often been asked is if she believes there is a hope for our world. Her answer is an emphatic yes. Hope is often misunderstood, she says. People tend to think of it as passive, wishful thinking.
But hope requires action and engagement. All these situations that Jesus talks about today – poverty, grief and hatred – seem so pervasive and well-entrenched that we can’t possibly do anything about it. The Good News today is that we can! Thankfully, Luke gives a roadmap of return to God’s blessings filled with hopefulness. As one of my favorite movie lines goes: “God loves you just as you are and loves you way too much to let you stay that way.”
Luke’s gospel is where we see how to turn woes into blessings. Luke’s gospel gives us reason to hope. Jesus tells us to love your enemies, offer a blessing when you are cursed, pray for those who abuse you, turn the other cheek to one who strikes you, give to those who beg from you. All these things have one thing in common. They break the cycle of violence. They allow love to be present where none can be found.
Jesus asks that our response to those who want to harm us not be predicated on their behavior and instead return good for bad. If we return violence for violence where will it stop? If we curse those who curse us, how can the nastiness possibly end? Where will we see God and allow God to work? Ending the cycles of violence puts hope into action, hope for being a part of God’s love for the world in spreading God’s love to all. Our actions inspire others. Hope is contagious.
It’s up to us. In the beatitudes Jesus offers us his picture of God’s values and God’s priorities; and he offers them as an alternative to the vision of life the world imposes on us. We can only act on what we see and embrace; and Jesus is giving us the chance to see farther, and clearer, and deeper than ever before. Blessed are you when the heart and mind of God live and act through you. Amen.
