I swear, most weeks feel as though I am getting challenged by God to rise up to the challenge of following Jesus to the cross in more than a metaphorical way. That's life in the first month of this presidential administration.
We're all living in this Hell together. And so I am also hoping that through the words given to me to speak it might motivate a few more people off the sidelines.
Could that be you?
Texts: Jer. 17:5-10; Ps.1; Luke 6:17-26
It can be easy when we hear stories from the scriptures that are so well-known to just kind of gloss over them.
Familiarity with something like today’s
reading—the Beatitudes—is one where we hear it and think:
“Yeah,
yeah. Blessed are this group and that group.”
My guess is that most of us were
listening and thinking of the other version of the Beatitudes—the one from
Matthew’s Gospel—which is part of what is called “The Sermon on the Mount.”
But this reading is NOT that reading.
And this passage from Luke has some
details that I think require us to slow down and pay attention to what our
evangelist wants us to know about Jesus.
So let’s dig in here for a moment.
Unlike Matthew…Luke places Jesus not on
a mountain…but on the plain…on the ground.
And not just on the ground.
Luke’s Jesus is looking up
at his disciples before he begins to speak.
Instead of being elevated above
them…Luke wants us to remember that Jesus is “with” the people.
Around his disciples is the crowd….all
those folks who have come from miles and miles on foot…seeking to hear a word
from him.
These are the lost…the lonely…the
disenfranchised…the people with disabilities.
The ones the Empire is trying to crush
like bugs.
This crowd is straining to hear what
Jesus is saying to his ragamuffin group of followers.
So Jesus begins:
“Blessed are you who are poor for yours
is the kingdom of God.”
What?
It’s a blessing to live month to month trying
to figure out how to make ends meet?
“Blessed are those who are hungry now
for you will be filled.”
Seriously?!
We all know it’s a lot harder for a
child to learn anything in school if they aren’t getting enough food to sustain
their bodies.
Just these first two mentions of who is
“blessed”…or the “fortunate ones” is just strange.
But then…Jesus is strange.
And he’s called the disciples to join
him in this upside-down way of looking at things.
Is it virtuous to be poor?
To be hungry?
No…not really.
But this isn’t virtue signaling or just
talk about material wealth.
This is about the Way of Love.
And the Way of Love is the ongoing effort
to bring about a more just and fair society.
And that requires taking the
conventional wisdom that says that wealth and prestige makes one great…and flips
that idea on its head.
The Way of Love requires us to come
together…be in relationship and not separate ourselves from each other…or even divorce
ourselves from our own hearts and minds.
Most of all…this Way of Love… this blessed
path of Jesus… demands that we not turn away from God.
Jesus is preparing his disciples….and
anyone else willing to listen to him… that our call is to trust and lean into
that Universal Source of Love…the Love that is of God…as our true inheritance.
Live it. Breathe it. And share it back
with the world.
We are to look to God and feed our
hearts…not our stomachs… with that Love.
That was his message in the Beatitudes
then.
Today…Jesus is looking at you and me…the
disciples of now…and saying, “Blessed are you.”
And with that blessing…comes the
responsibility.
We are called to not look away…but to
sit with and stand by those who weep…continue to make contact and connection to
one another.
And as we watch the news each day…there
are many who are weeping and in need of those who will be with them in this
time of uncertainty.
It reminds me of some of the things that
Mother Leeann Culbreath was sharing in the migration with dignity forum we held
last week.
She asked us to give…in one sentence…a
story of an immigrant that we have known in our own lives.
And everyone at that forum had a story
they could share.
Everyone knew someone who had come to
this country in search of a better life.
And…let’s be honest…all of us who are
white and not claiming a heritage of one of the many indigenous tribes…we’re all
here because our ancestors came from somewhere else.
Mother Leeann shared about her
experiences…and the stories of immigrants who faced dangerous treks through areas
known for gang violence and civil war to get to the United States.
Some of them have been waiting for months
and years as the immigration courts slowly process thousands of asylum cases.
There are simply not enough judges to do
the work
And now…these innocent people are living
in fear.
Without the proper papers…they could be
sent back to places where they face almost certain death.
These are just some of the people
waiting and weeping.
And Jesus invites us to weep with
them…until those tears can turn to joy.
Not through punishment…but through
properly fixing the systems that have been broken for too long.
None of this work of love is about being
popular.
In fact…for those who are the
fortunate…the blessed…those who follow in the Way of Love are courting trouble
from the forces that deal in fear.
That’s Jesus’s warning to us.
He’s telling his disciples…both then and
now… to prepare to be hated for not going along with the status quo advocated
by the powerful.
And yet…sticking to that Source of Love
is the answer and the way to stay strong in the face of opposition.
I’m reminded of a quote I heard recently
from the late Bishop Barbara Harris…who was one who leaned into the Love of God
as she faced the challenges of being the first woman bishop in the Anglican
Communion…and was the first black woman bishop to boot.
Bishop Harris said, “Remember that the
power behind us (God) is greater than the challenges ahead of us.”
In the Beatitudes…Jesus is saying the
same thing.
He’s drawing upon the words of the
prophets such as Jeremiah…warning of the “woe” that comes to those cut
themselves off from others…and by doing that…cut themselves off from God.
Pay attention to what Jeremiah says:
“Cursed are those who trust in mere
mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the
desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of
the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.”
Jeremiah’s words tell us what the curse
is: separating one’s heart from the Love that is the Lord.
Jeremiah goes on:
“Blessed are those who trust in
the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by
water,
sending out its roots by the stream.” (Jer.17:5-6a)
The ones who live their lives by the societal
standards that rewards those with “power over” others have lost touch with God.
As Jesus puts it…there is woe coming to those
who have full stomachs but are still greedy for more because their greed is
separating them from the Way of Love.
Blessed are the ones who fix their
hearts on God…share in bearing the burdens of life with others…
These are the people who will be like
the trees…with deep roots…fed by the living waters.
The woes are for those who withhold
compassion… mercy… and justice.
The blessings come to those who…as
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote…stand in the shadow of the cross.
The Beatitudes are meant to prepare us
for the hard work of Love that is before us…sharing that love with all…and not
just the few who look like us…sound like us…or worship like us.
Are we ready to respond to a call to
love…without any expectation of a reward?
Can we stand with Love amidst the crowd
of hurting and broken people in our communities and shoulder some of their
burden?
In other words: we will seek and serve
Christ in all persons loving our neighbor as ourselves?
Hopefully we answer, I will…with God’s
help.
I will trust in God.
I will look to Jesus as my guide through
these trying times.
I will allow the Holy Spirit to work
through me…and shine that light of love to those who are looking for it.
As our psalmist says:
“The Lord knows the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.”
(Ps.1:6)
In the name of our One Holy and
Undivided Trinity.
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